3+ years later, still enjoying my T61 :)

Well, with all the posts with problems, I figured I'd post something positive

It's been about 3 years since my T61 arrived at my door. It has traveled across the US 2 times, been though dozens of airports (being thrown around by Airport Security), it survived several drops to the ground, and as been in use EVERYDAY since NEW, and still looks like NEW. (All knock on wood of course lol).

I think this is saying a lot. The past laptops I've owned (Toshiba, a Dell, and HP), most of them after 2 years would look like they went though hell and back. The Thinkpad just keeps on going day after day. I say kudos to Lenovo for building such a great machine ! !

So, any other positive Thinkpad stories of the day ??

 

My ol' T61 is also humming along nicely. It has NEVER had a hardware problem since the day I got it. Mine also looks like it did the day that I got it. It has survived me stepping on it multiple times and even has the Nvidia GPU that seems to have failed in everyone else's laptops. And it was free! (Free to me anyways )

 

Hey hey hey, granddaddy T41 is still doing great over here

 

Make way....X41T running vista here.

 

And I'm still loving my X61s. I actually have to update my signature. I bought the MBP and tried to get into it for a couple months, and gave the Thinkpad to my mom. I ended up trading her the MBP to get the Thinkpad back, and it's actually my only computer at this point, for almost a year now. I'll be relegating it to more of a netbook role soon as I need a higher resolution on the road more and more, but the thing is still running just as well as day one. Better, actually, with the X25m-G2 I have in it.

 

I've had a couple of IBM ThinkPads, but my "latest", a T20 (Piii 700MHZ/512MB/60GB) just keeps humming along. Of course, it's running Linux (Kubuntu 10.04) so there are no worries about compatibilities, drivers, and the like.

Mine has hit the floor more than once, but it does have a small superficial crack over the hard drive bay. It has been on numerous trips, also with all the same loving care that TSA can dish out , and no complaints

I probably could get a newer machine, but it's tough to upgrade perfection!!

 

You'll like it even more after upgrading to OEM Win 7. Just did it to my near 4-year old Z61m. It runs like a champ on SSD.

Windows 7 / Vista OEM Method

 

I got a working 600x that I bought for 20 AUD.

 

Another satisfied T61p owner, even with the dreaded nVidia GPU with the 15" widescreen. Great keyboard, still completely adequate speed and power for my needs. Three years plus in Service (knock on wood) without any hardware complaint, period. ThinkVantage Rescue and Recovery, as well as Lenovo's auto Updates and great documentation have kept me happy - and impressed.

It travels every two weeks and yes, I would buy another one over any other brand out there. It's a Thinkpad "pride of ownership" thing for some of us. Great accessories and support by Lenovo - and the great people you meet on this Forum! TPF

 

My T61 is second hand and I had it for over a year, but its lifetime has been well over 3 years for the system now. There isn't a lot I can fault with the T61 as it has been reliable and a great asset to me, plus it was a bargain as it set me back only £250 at the time.

After a few tweaks and upgrades my system can still outpace the budget offerings of newer laptops today. Normally it’s not very easy to stretch out a 3+ year old laptop but ThinkPad’s are very easy to maintain which makes it possible.

So all I can say really is Lenovo… thanks for building a great laptop!

 

Congrats! I too was as smugly content as you all are with my 3+ year old T61p until yesterday.

 

3+ year my t61 dying now.

with nvidia issue.

now im thinking whether still worth to repair.

i still have t23 without hdd tough.

 

@kaede have you tried to call lenovo about the free repair?

 

So....

• A 4.5+ year old z60t. It had worked well until my small son spilled a cup of apple juice on it (it is now used as a 'webtop': its DVD player is a wreck, so is the touchpad).
• A 4 year old second-hand z61m is still working flawlessly (save the rather loud CPU fan) although it was once 'airborne' (shortly).

 

My T61p is going on 4, come August 2011. I had the NVidia issue after three years of ownership, but it is now fixed and continuing to hum along.

 

My T61p is also doing well. It's about four years old. I knew the history of the board that was in there at one time because I bought the t61p new. Just before the insurance expired the T61p developed a power problem and I sent it in. They did a board swap and as a result, I no longer know the history of the board.

Not just for the GPU but because I believe in computer insurance I recommend for everyone to purchase insurance. I just renewed mine.

Renee

 

I bought my T61 new in August 2007 and it is still running as good as Day 1. I never had problems with the Nvidia GPU (yet) and I don't plan on upgrading to a newer model any time soon.

 

the only old thinkpad i still own is a PII/233 600 i bought new in 1998.   it still works and functions flawlessly.

 

" I never had problems with the Nvidia GPU (yet) and I don't plan on upgrading to a newer model any time soon."

That's because I suspect it was the best Thinkpad ever made.

Renee

 

It's so nice to hear everyone also faring well with thier T61's (and some with older Thinkpads as well) ! It's nice to also belong to a forum where you can chat about your machine, and have TONS of people here to help you if there ever is/was a problem with your machine.

I've been on NBR since January 2008, and I just now figured I'd say this lol

I do feel bad for the people with the T61p (with the Nvidia GPU issue). As Lead_Org suggested, give Lenovo a call, and see what they can do. If you are out of your warranty period, chances are you'd have to pay for a new GPU.

 

Mine is into it's 4th year, just ended 3year warranty and still going strong.

Hope it stays that way. Love them thinkpads esp. ones with the venerable IBM logo.

 

It's been over 3 years that I have my T61. All I did recently is add an extra GB of ram for a total of 3GB and it still runs great

Yeah it has the defective Nvidia chip, but I had no issues yet, so.... yeah.... I'm hoping it stays solid because it still performs great!

 

Second-hand, 3 years old R61i with Nvidia GPU (2 years out of warranty btw...) = rollin' perfectly as my main machine for 3 months and, hopefully, it will do the same for next ~3 years

 

Got my T60 over 4 years ago and it is still running like a champ.

 

My T61 that I gave to my sister is 3 years old is still going strong and my t400 is 2 years and 5 months old and I haven't had any problems with it.

 

woohooo t61p 1920x1200, 2.5ghz penryn (UV to .95v), 8gb ram, nvidia gpu. Humming along. This thing is a beast except for the 1 weekend I had to send to ibm for the vid. It has never crashed on my since installing windows 7, and I've run as much at 6 virtual machines on it. Best laptop so far.

 

My wife is still using my 4-5 year old z60m. Loved the solid lid casing on that unit. Still feels well made. Original battery too!

 

I have a 4:3 14" T61p that i use everyday, practically all day, as my workstation in a dock. Still going strong, this past Thanksgiving, just upgraded the HD to an Intel SSD. Funny, my new T410s w/discrete gfx that I got back in April rarely gets used since I only use it when I need to go mobile.

 

I'm rocking a T61 that I bought second hand. It was in immaculate condition. I swapped out the RAM for 4GB, put in a 500GB Hybrid Drive, and loaded Windows 7 Professional on it. So far, it does everything I need it to do and more. I use it for typing up work documents, playing music, and letting the wife watch movies on. It's not my first T-series, but I definately don't see this one leaving my hands any time soon.

 

the new rules according mark. it's at least 6 month after warranty expired. my warranty is expired long time ago. my bad luck.

 

I'm another T61 owner, love my baby, on its 4th year now, and is still in immaculate condition, hinges solid, no heat issues, everything's perfect still. Even though they're built like AK47's I still treat mine with great care.

I've upgraded it over the time I've had it from 1gb RAM and a 120GB HDD that it came with, to 4gb RAM; 500GB + 320GB in the Ultraslim bay using a cheap aftermarket adapter I scored off eBay. The adapter sometimes causes the BIOS to stall and complain that there's a HDD error, but after a reboot it's fine for the entire duration the system is running.

I do have to credit Lenovo here in South Africa for their service. My LCD had quite a bit of light bleed, typical of LCDs in notebooks but they still came out the next day and replaced it with a slightly better panel. Even though the LCD was fine and nearly all laptops have the same problem, they still helped me out. And were very understanding about my eye problem (I run white on black themes in my OS, so light bleed on a black background is crap)

I also acquired an old Thinkpad X24 (1.3ghz P3, 640MB ram) and apart from the battery this thing is in rock solid condition.

Next year I may upgrade to a T510 / W510 or whatever is out by then. But I can't bare to sell this one, I'll keep it around as a spare machine.

Btw, if anyone read this and knows of a reliable battery for an X24, please PM or reply to this post. I've found many on eBay and other sources but I'm very skeptical about buying batteries.