receieved t61 yesterday...

It is a solid machine. However, there are a couple things that I'm baffled about:

1. the right palmrest gets quite warm...never had this problem with my x41t or t60 widescreen...don't really know what's going on.

2. the trackpoint seems to be very stiff. Perhaps it is pushed in too much, or i don't know. i adjusted sensitivity settings and all that. but my finger feels like it's been given a workout each time i use the trackpoint, which never happened with my x41t or t60wide.

3. things seem to be slow, believe it or not. for internet explorer, when i open a new window, there is a considerable lag time...this is the case even when i open a new tab.

my system has nvida graphics and turbo memory, 1g ram, 5400 rpm hd. vista business...

it is unforunate because i anticipated the system so much but it is not "perfect..."

 

1gb is not enough for Vista.

 

You wouldn't by any chance have the ThinkPad wireless chipset instead of the intel chipset would you?

furrycute is right. You need at least 2GB for Vista.

 

So does the ThinkPad wireless chipset put out substantially more heat than the intel? and are there certain ThinkPad wireless chipsets that put out more than others? I ordered my unit based on input that the ThinkPad wireless chipsets had better reception. What chipset does everyone now recommend.

Mark

 

I noticed zero difference with my T60p which it originally came with the Intel chip and I bought a thinkpad chip and swapped it out. after HOURS of useage, the right hand palm rest is just mildly luke warm, but it also has to do with the fact that my palm is warming up the palm rest area as well through constant contact.

 

Does your T61 have the WXGA+ screen? Could you comment on its brightness? Is the screen dimmer than average?

Thanks

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll report back when I get mine; hopefully next week.

 

I ordered mine with Windows XP, too early for Vista
Trackpoint - it's not extra convenient anyway, use a vireless mouse, so much better!

 

As has already been said, you need 2GB. Situation would be worse if you hadn't chosen discreet graphics (due to shared memory,) but you'll still be swapping a lot with 1GB. The fact that your T61 has a 5400rpm drive is hurting you even worse than otherwise because of lack of memory.

Get another 1GB and you'll notice a substantial improvement I'll bet.

 

wxga+ screen is great. i put my windows bar on the side and it's just great. screen brightness is fine. just the right palmrest gets hot. id on't know what wireless i have...but yea it's noticible...what's most annoying is the trackpoint isn't as great as my previous experiences...

 

How's the battery life? What kind of battery did you get?

and

When did you order it?

Thanks.

 

i ordered on may 10 got it on may 23. quicker than expected. battery is 6 cell. haven't tested batery life yet.

 

Any Pictures? We need some pictures. Does it come with bloated software?

 

Can you compare the screen brightness to T60 or R60? my R60's screen is dim.

 

About the trackpoint -- it might loosen up over time. I received my new T60 3 weeks ago and even after adjusting the software to maximum ease it seemed a bit stiff and slow. But it has gotten much easier since. Either I have broken it in OR my index fingers have gotten stronger...

 

So using your ThinkPad counts as exercise! Perfect!

 

Can you please post pics and talk about the screen brightness and battery life!! Those are my two concerns!!

 

how about nvidia nvs 140m？
3dmark 03、05 score?

 

It's not perfect because you picked a nerfed version. You should have at least 2gb, 4gb's preferrable of course, and a 5400rpm HD is asking for mediocrity. If you're unhappy with your machine I suggest you count your 21 days, eat the 15% restocking fee, ship it back for $25 via USPS 3 day Air plus $25 for insurance, and get a T61p which will make the laptop act like you expect a Thinkpad to act. my 0.02.

 

i think they'll waive the restocking fee if he upgrades by at least 15%... a t61p would do it.

 

I'm not familiar with Lenovo machines, but can't he upgrade the ram and/or hdd himself?

I'm seconding 3dmark06 scores on the nvs 140m. I'm considering a T61, but I'm wondering how well it'll handle my light gaming habit.

 

I always had the impression that 5400 rpms was fine as long as you got 120-160 GB. Plus 2 GB of ram and Intel Turbo memory and Vista shouldn't be swapping after it loaded everything in memory.

It would be a pain in the ass if Vista required 7200 rpms, 2 GB of ram and Turbo memory just to run smoothly.

I haven't messed with Vista much since beta so I really don't know had bad it can be. Even on my beta machine I didn't use it beyond playing WoW.

 

Some of Lenovo authentication software can slow down the PC. Try to search the forum. There was a thread about Internet explorer plug-in from Lenovo, which was crashing the explorer regularly

 

i isntalled another gb of memory and it's sitll not blazing fast like i expect...indeed me 1.5 yr old desktop outperforms it which is quite sad.

 

Think about uninstalling some software like Thinkdisadvantage , there are posts here about it

 

I’m sorry but there is no excuse for a top of the line business machine to be running Internet Explorer (or any other non demanding program) upon delivery. That is completely ridiculous is my opinion. If it is because of Lenovo bloat ware than that is even worse b/c Lenovo should know the customers they are targeting do NOT want their fuking crap on their machines. If it’s b/c of ****ty parts than that is just as bad!! Oh and I don’t want to hear that it is Vista b/c Vista is not THAT big a resource hog. I am running it on two other machines (one with 1 GB RAM and one with 2 GB RAM) and it runs beautifully on both!!! I am SERIOUSLY considering cancelling my order at this point and going with the Dell D630. Thoughts?

 

A few thoughts -- my 15" T60 arrived a month ago and it booted a lot slower than I had expected given the specs (T7200, 2 gigs ram etc...) Reading this board quickly provided solutions. First, (and this is a criticism) Lenovo doesn't install the latest software even on new, custom machines. I had to update system update, a whole host of drivers, and install the newest rescue and recovery plus CSS (client security). Most of this is automated, but still a hassle. However, my system now boots and runs much faster.

On the subject of bloatware, I disagree entirely. With the exception of diskeeper and symantec (arguably useful products for many), all of the above software were Lenovo utilities (fingerprint, thinkvantage, rescue and recovery etc...) that I personally find very useful and easy to use. They provide cheap (free) security that is essential for business. What is blessedly missing is all that third-party trial software (read crippled) that expires immediately and won't uninstall without going through the registry line by line.

 

The one thing I will say is that when I installed Vista on my desktop is did run very slow. After installing all the updates it began running just as smooth as XP. I hope you're right and that is the cause of the slow running machines we are hearing about!

 

Well if you read miliu's other post he has 100 processes running on his computer. I don't know vista well but I really think that is way too much. I'm sure a good portion of that stuff isn't necessary.

 

not true
vista 32bit doesn't let you have 4GB of ram
people are reporting problems with as little as 2.5 -> 3GB of RAM

 

Depending on how badly you want to get to the bottom of this, you could look at the Resource Monitor tool (accessible via the Performance tab in Task Manager) and see if your problem is memory usage, CPU, disk, etc.

One of the first things I do when I get a new PC is immediately wipe the disk and install a fresh, non-OEM copy of Windows. I'll be doing that as soon as I get my T61. That usually makes it MUCH faster in my experience.

 

turnerpr i'm curious: what eactly did you do? i did windows update...that's about it. id on't know what else to update, how to update drivers, install new rescue and recovery, etc...if you'd kindly pm me or post here i'd really appreciate it. thanks.

 

Question?
Did your machine come with the install dvd/cd. if it did then you have nothing to worry about. I can surely tell you that your performance has nothing to do with your hardware. Just do a clean install and you'll be Straight.
Install what you want and leave all the other gunk off. when mine finaly gets here, i'll immediately do a clean install. All i need my machine for is Adobe CS, Office 07, and maybe a Starcaft 2 when it comes out.

 

Spec says 3GB max on T61 as well.

 

I was about to ask him the opposite. Atheros cards usually perform better, but I've heard that Intel cards still run hotter.

HERETIC!

 

Where did you choose XP? I've seen only vista flavours on lenovo site. I wanted XP with t61 as well..

 

It was an option when they first released the T61, but it's no longer listed.

 

Unfortunately, a clean install won't be possible unless you already have your own copy of vista. The system does not come with any disc. You can reformat your thinkpad using the image of vista which is in a partition on your hardrive. This will only restore vista to how it was when you first turned on your computer out of the box. If you want to clean your computer you will have to do it manually.

 

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit!! I WANT A DELL D630 INSTEAD!!!

 

With Santa Rosa, the Intel chipset drivers might not be mature yet, or even the BIOS for that matter. And there could be some settings in the BIOS that need tweaking. Does Lenovo have different settings for memory speeds like a desktop does? These are reasons that I might still pull the trigger for a T60 or a D820. I hate growing pains.

 

Just borrow a Vista 32bit disk from some one who has a retail or upgrade vista disk. Do a clean install and use your PID from lenovo. Just that simple.

 

Win XP is still there - only for integrated graphics for some misterious reason.

 

I'm pretty sure most companies do it this way, and dell is probably one of them. You could look into it if you want but I'm pretty sure it's the same thing with them.

 

Regarding upgrading the installed software, I ordered my new T60 with XP so it is possible that Vista will be different. However, to my knowledge, the Thinkadvantage software (fingerprint, rescue and recovery, Client Security etc...) functions the same, so there are a few things I would try before giving up the ghost and settling for a ____....

1) On the lenovo download page, look for "system updates." You want System Update 3. You might already have it, but my custom system arrived 3 weeks ago without it. Download and install this first.

2) Pressing the Thinkvantage button will bring up a utility menu, one of which is "Updates" It will search for updates for all utilities and drivers. When I ran it upon getting my machine it found over 400 mg of updates (! -- this is unacceptable but there you go....) Install all the updates.

3) Another item on the Thinkvantage utility menu is "Rescue and Recovery" Check which version you have. If it is "rescue and recovery 4" skip this step. If not, you need to uninstall (using Vista's remove software utility) your current version of Rescue and Recovery. Then go to the Lenovo download site and download and install Rescue and Recovery version 4.

4) Again, on the Thinkvantage menu is the "Client Security Solution" Check to see if you have version 8.0 If not, use Vista to uninstall the currrent version and then download and install version 8.0 from Lenovo. NOTE: CSS 8.0 cannot run without R&R 4 which is why you must install it first if you don't have it already.

When I did all this on my new T60, the system booted twice as fast -- and that's with all the security features enabled (fingerprint etc...) I did delete diskkeeper and I will probably move to another anti-virus program soon. Lots of posts have commented that symantec is bloated and slows down the system.

Sorry for the long post -- Hope it helps. Unless you are a devotee of Vista (does this rare breed exist ), you might also consider doing a clean install of XP. There is a general consensus that it does run faster compared to the just-past-beta Vista (I'm personally waiting until the first service pack to upgrade)

At the very least, by upgrading to the latest drivers and software, you will have a real sense of what your T61 is capable of....

 

Dell is actually worse (I realize they didn't use to be, but they are now). They charge extra to get a recovery disc, and it now includes the bloatware as well. Same story with HP and Gateway. At least Lenovo will still send you the disc for free if you call.

One option might be to..."acquire" a fresh copy of Vista and install it using you CD-Key. I'm not completely clear on the legality of that, but it should be fine (since you own that key).

 

According to tabook specs for the T61, the screens for models equipped with the dedicated graphics are 15 nits brighter than screens on models equipped with integrated graphics.

 

not true at all.

the WXGA + is 15 nits brighter than the WXGA screen; regardless of the graphics card *!


* which in cnet test performs poorly in games (see R61 review) and uses 35-40% more battery (according to TAbook)

 

I assume that you are basing that off of the max 5.7 vs. 3.8 hour battery perf that is documented in tabook? If so, that's a difference of 33%, not 35-40%. I would also wait for "real" benchmarks on battery performance instead of relying on Lenovo's information in tabook.

It would also be interesting to see how nVidia's PowerMizer affects battery life. It's supposed to be able to turn off power-consuming features of the card for extending battery life.

 

i was rounding up, nice calculator pull though; especially for a saturday morning

 

Rounding up from 33 to 40?

All kidding aside, I agree with your implication that we're looking at a tremendous impact on battery life with nVidia. Personally, I do a lot of 3D graphics work, and because the 140 is well-suited to that kind of work, it's worth it to me. It will also be nice to finally have a card that supports the current OpenGL standard.