Another T60 review

This was posted on another forum. It has some nice internal photos...

T60 review

 

Link missing?

 

I'm glad to have purchased a ThinkPad before it was slashed and hacked by a
crazy Chinese company. Needless to say, I heartily dislike the new drab looks.

What's got me puzzled is that my ThinkPad R52 has Firewire, but a T60 does
not. Firewire is not multimedia-domain limited. A professional laptop worth its
value should have things like Firewire, Bluetooth, USB and IR ports. Many
common devices like external HDD enclosures uses Firewire.

 

Same people who designed the T42/43 did the T60. I don't think most business users have a need for firewire.

 

This bashing of the new ThinkPads is just idiotic.

 

As far as I understand, the firewire provides roughly the same speed as USB 2.0 connention, both are around 480mbps [1][2]. So I really don't see the point that people are so into to the firewire connection, since there will be at least 2 USB 2.0 ports in the new laptops and so many gadgets require USB connection rather than firewire. Personally, I don't use firewire at all, even my laptop (Gateway 600 YG2) does have one. Just a thought, I might be wrong.

[1] http://www.macspeedzone.com/archive/5.0/de/gifs/firewirevsscsi.gif
[2] http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118808,00.asp

 

Not to mention multimedia users who don't use it unless they have a camcorder made for it, or an older iPod that supported firewire (new ones are usb only).

 

Product designers may not have changed, but the management decisions and preferences have.
As for other people heavily defending Lenovo's decision to not include a Firewire port in T60s,
well ...WHY DOES MY BUDGET R52 HAVE IT THEN?

Don't tell me that, for my very own Vantec enclosure is using Firewire.

 

Not more idiotic than this stupid reply of yours. Care explaining what makes you think so?

 

Firewire has a guaranteed through-put of 400Mbps while USB 2.0 has a through-put of up to 480Mbps. Sure, USB 2.0 and Firewire are similar, but many people have Firewire video cameras and Firewire external hard drives (myself being one of these people) and would be unable to use their devices, except for going out and buying a PCMCIA Firewire card, if their computer did not support the connection

 

I'm not talking about just you and my comment wasn't even directed at you, so don't start making harsh retorts.

The vast majority of people who are making negative comments about the new ThinkPads have not even touched or seen one in person. They are going by the sporadic review that comments that its build quality isn't quite up to ThinkPad standards. What most people fail to realize is that these comments in reviews are comparing the Z series to the T series. You can't do that. The T series is meant to be the cutting edge, highest build quality machines that IBM/Lenovo makes. The Z series is more aimed at the business user who will also use the computer for home uses and does not want to pay as much of a premium for as rock solid a laptop. When people comment that the build quality of the Z series is not up to ThinkPad standards, they are also failing to realize that, when compared to every other laptop out there, the Z series still beats down the competition in terms of durability. You'll have a tough time easily damaging a magnesium alloy roll cage with a Titanium covered LCD back.

 

I agree that theoretical speeds of both USB 2.0 and IEEE1394 are very close.
But in case of USB, data transfer occurs in form of bursts or chunks, while
Firewire keeps a steady rate, hence it performs better in case of file transfers
etc. See:

1. http://www.usb-ware.com/firewire-vs-usb.htm
2. http://www.digit-life.com/articles/usb20vsfirewire/
3. http://www.g4tv.com/freshgear/features/39129/USB_20_Versus_FireWire_pg3.html

Firewire is an intelligent peer-to-peer connectivety design, while USB is built
on the traditional Master-Slave concept where all processing is done by the
Master, or the PC.

Not only Firewire, I also object to the omission of the parellel port. I know
a few Electronics Engineers who do some of their work with Serial/Parellel ports
to program intelligent devices. Such people will surely make a switch over to
the Panasonic Toughbook or the likes.

 

Only at the very top has the management changed. There is no evidence to support that the designs would have been any different had IBM still been in charge. Lenovo is not going to piss off their loyal customer base. While you use a firewire device, I don't know many who do.

 

Alright! But I still think it was stupid to not have explained why it was idiotic
to bash T60 design.

I'm not complaing the built quality of the T60s, only rather drab looks and
missing essential features. I never liked Z-series anyway. No square, no ThinkPad.

Oh, BTW when I was out to get a ThinkPad for my-idiotic-self, I closely compared
both T43 and R52. I didn't find any significant differences, since the R52 I chose
[1860A33] came with all T-series features like Fingerprint Scanner etc. The
only difference I could notice was the smooth and cold lid cover. Aha, metal!

But it seemed unwise to pay 50% more for an ATi dedicated card, which I
didn't need anyway, and a metal lid-cover. Enlightenment had me!

 

Wow what did thread really turn into? When I posted the link initially it worked so I'm guessing I'm not allowed to post it? Was it changed by a moderator?

 

I'll try again. Here it is....

http://www.nottes.com/notebook/main...y=board&board=review&control=view&boardid=424

 

That Notebook = BLAH Blah Blah blah umm blah!

 

You sure you were looking at a T series? T series didn't have titanium lids as an option, the Z series did.

 

Thank you. That clarifies everything.

Seriously, though, thanks for the link; there really just isn't much reading material available on the T60 right now. Now, I can't read this particular source, but that's a separate issue.

 

I didn't say Titanium, I said 'metal'.

 

Oh...that's a new one.

What essential features is it missing?

 

Grr...! How many times do I have to repeat the same stuff? It's missing Firewire
and Parallel ports. I can add S-video too, but it's of no use for me.

 

You can't expect people to remember why you don't like something. Therefore, in life, you're going to have to repeat yourself.

There you go, you just said it yourself.

"It's of no use to me [you]." However, this does not mean that ThinkPads have been "slashed and hacked by a
crazy Chinese company."

Taking away FireWire was a mistake. However, if having FireWire is that important, you can remedy it.

The lack of parallel ports I cannot personally complain about, but S-Video would be nice to have, although, again, not something that, I feel, should make or break your purchase.

 

I'm glad they ditched parallel. I wish I could replace it in my T43 with a fan or USB or something I would use. Losing the S-video on the T60 sucks. I couldn't care less about firewire, never had it and never missed it.

 

I don't think the T-series ever had Firewire. And if it was a change in management that effected the loss of firewire, I would assume that the Z series would not have firewire (which they do). The T60 looks like an evolution of the T4x series cosmetically. My guess would be that they just didn't want to mess with a successfule product, so they didn't add it because not enough customers complained or missed it. Personally, I prefer the Firewire HDs that I have to the USB 2.0s. i liked the daisy-chain function and its usefule when you have over a TB of external HDDs.

 

just curious... what is everyone using S-video for?

 

Well, if you want to hook up your computer to a TV you'll want S-video.

I hook mine to the TV every evening to watch TV shows, DVDs etc.

 

1. I am mighty sure that Lenovo Management screwed up in the looks department and had IBM been in charge they would have never made the stupid change because they spend several years giving the unique identity to their ThinkPads.

2. Secondly the only reason Lenovo made rounded edges for their Z-Series and the Plain look of the new ThinkPads are to copy the competition. IBM never copied competetion... they did things their own way... Its sure that Lenovo top brats changed the looks and they screwed it up.

 

And you know it's only a sign of things to come! Lenovo rounded off some ThinkPad edges! Clearly, the end of the world is neigh!

 

Obviously. EVERYONE, QUICK, GET E-MACHINES!

 

wow Lenovo sure did make the T60 look cheaper than its predecessor. Look at those shortcut/power buttons. Not only they are square, they look flimsy and cheap! And what the hell happened to the touchpad? It looks worse than ever before and cheaper than ever before -- more plasticky.

 

Concerning the lack of FW or S-Video---there is a reason for the Express 54 slot..

 

nothing personal but i suggest you try T60 of lenovo before you start dishing out on what you call "crazy Chinese company". you cannot just pass judgement on something that you haven't tried at all. Yeah i admit it doesn't have firewire but this is too little a disadvantage in comparison to the many advantages it gives.

I believe that my T60 (2 ghz core duo) is better than the rest of previous thinkpads and can outperform most of the lappys in the world not to mention how more rugged and secure it is.

again nothing personal... if i ever i hurt you by this reply i have no intention of doing that.

 

it doesn't look cheap to me! it's not plasticky either!