ThinkPad T61 Hardware Compatibility

Hey everyone,
I'm looking at buying a new notebook soon and am going to choose between the ThinkPad T61 or a MacBook. I'm leaning towards the ThinkPad but want to make sure that Ubuntu Gutsy will be compatible with the hardware. I've posted the specs below. Should most features work out of the box?

I believe that's everything. I'm going to try and lose the Intel Turbo Memory as I've heard it's not worth it. Is it also not compatible with Linux? I think any issues will be with the graphics card, audio and networking. Thanks for your help.

 

Interesting link: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Ubuntu_7.10_(Gutsy_Gibbon)_on_a_ThinkPad_T61

 

i got Gutsy to work on my T61p by just booting from the Live CD in safe video mode and installing.

 

Question for you, why are you going with the NVidia card? Are you a gamer? I ask you this because I recently purchased a T61 and decided that for me the intel built in card was a better option. It gives you much better battery live and it doesn't heat up as much, which results in quieter performance (less fan action). With the money I saved on the card, I ended up getting the 160 GB 7200 rpm hard drive.

I did a writeup on my experiences trying out different distros on it.

http://temporaryland.wordpress.com/2007/11/23/finding-the-right-distro-for-my-thinkpad-t61-part1/

If you like Ubuntu, Linux Mint is sure to fit your bill and more. It is working great on my laptop, Compiz-Fusion and all.

 

Thanks for that writeup on all those distros. There are a number of reasons I think I'm going to go with the nVIDIA card. I wouldn't mind playing a few games, but I am in no way a gamer. Any high end games I have a desktop for. Also, I'm buying this from the EPP Canada site and the best deal that I've found is configured with the nVIDIA chip. Also, desktop effects seem to work with the nVIDIA card according to the thinkwiki page and you've had issues with desktop effects on Ubuntu with X3100. Although better battery life and quieter performance will make me reconsider this choice. I could probably swap it out like I want to with the Intel Turbo Memory.

 

The issues I had with dekstop effects are easily solved by commenting out one line in one text file, as explained on another post on this forum. I don't think you can swap out the nvidia card that comes with the ThinkPads, it soldered in. The performance of the intel card is very good see this review for example:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3708&review=ThinkPad+T61

The thing about this card is that Intel is making an open source driver for it, so I fully expect this card to be indefinitely supported under Linux. Cards that rely on proprietary drivers may loose support when the vendor decides. While it is true that the distros are just now starting to work out the support for this card, it is already working quite well. I think it is the way to go.

 

I have the exact T61 you have configured, except I have 2gb RAM, and no turbo memory. Ubuntu Gutsy works perfectly on it. Desktop effects work great too (Compiz). I also dual-boot XP.

Work issued me this laptop so I didn't have much say, but I would prefer the x3100 video. I get about 2.5 hrs battery using XP Pro, maybe 2 hours using Ubuntu. I don't play games so I'd much prefer that extra hour of battery life.

I suppose it'll come in handy if I ever install a game on this machine but I don't see that happening.

Greg.

 

Thanks Greg, are those numbers with the 6 cell battery?

Edit: It's a whole hour difference in battery life between the X3100 and nVIDIA chip!? Hmmm... I'm going to have to go this some serious thought. Any idea of how much money CDN I would save downgrading to the X3100? I'd check the site but it's an absolute disaster right now... =(

 

That is with the 7 cell battery. I also have a 6 cell and it does slightly worse as you would imagine. I have been told by x3100 T61 owners that they get around 3.5, up to 4 hours on a battery.

OK, just for fun I took it off the dock and connected via wireless. It tells me I have 3:26 hours remaining at 99% battery. I know this won't be the case though, it might get 2:45 if I'm lucky. I've enabled one of the power-saver profiles in XP and I even lowered the brightness a little.

In Ubuntu the battery is life is definitely worse. It's due to the added Lenovo battery minder settings.

If you configure your own Lenovo I think the x3100 is about $100 less. Not sure though.

Greg

 

The 15.4 T61 with all default options and the intel card is:

$951.75

With the nvidia card is:

$1,026.75

Also, while we are at it, have you decided on whether to get XP or Vista. I went with XP because it performs better, the license allows one to run it on a Virtual Machine, and because it upsets MS. I was then able to use VMware Converter to convert the MS installed OS into a Virtual Machine and not need to pay for another Windows license for it. From what I understand, the license for Vista Home does not allow this.

 

I'm definitely going with XP for performance reasons as well. Also, my girlfriend has Vista on her new laptop and I really don't like it. I plan on using the Windows partition only for compatibility reasons anyways when a plugin required for my school work doesn't have a Linux alternative.

I'm planning on ordering the computer by phone on Monday because the Canadian site is a mess. I will still be able to use the EPP code I have right? I will also determine the price difference between the X3100 and the nVIDIA, although I'm kind of leaning towards the dedicated graphics just so that I can play some of my games but battery life is also a plus. I'll have to see how much money I'll save.