Buying Lenovo Thinkpad: Need suggestions

Hi friends,

I'm planning to buy a refurbished/used Lenovo Thinkpad with Windows XP operating system, 14 Inch screen size, and at least 2GB RAM. I'll be using the laptop only for browsing, watching movies, and office work. Please give me suggestions. I'm going through the reviews and T60 looks a reliable option.

I would really appreciate your suggestions. Thank you.

Cheers!

 

Welcome to the forum!

T60 is a six-year-old platform, although still more than powerful enough for daily use.

What are your plans once the support for XP ends in 2014?

 

The T60 isn't a bad choice at all, just note that there'll be no warranty on it and you'll be on your own if you need any parts or whatnot. Otherwise, I'll make sure that you don't buy any T60 with a nVidia GPU (typically, the T60p) since those GPUs had some major, major issues.

Perhaps after XP support ends, you could try out a Linux distro that's lightweight enough to run fast on your system. Internet browsing and movie watching is easy enough to do, and unless you need specialized features found in Microsoft Office, OpenOffice can serve you well.

 

AFAIK, T61/p are the ones with the nVidia GPU issue. IBM had contracts with ATI (FireGLs that didn't fail) for the T60/p.

T60p
ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 (256 MB)
ATI Mobility FireGL V5250 (256 MB)
T60
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 (64 MB)
ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 (128 MB)
T61
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M
nVIDIA Quadro FX 570M
T61p
nVidia Quadro FX 570M (128 MB) (Only in 14.1")
nVidia Quadro FX 570M (256 MB) (Only in 15.4")

 

Actually, no T60/p units were equipped with nVidia GPUs - those belong to T61/p and R61 series.

T60 shipped with Intel integrated graphics or ATi X1300/X1400 GPUs. T60p offered ATi V5200 on early models, and V5250 on later ones.

 

Ah, my mistake then!

 

Given the age you could even look for a T61 or T400 if it's within your budget. The latter is better given the updated architecture and upgrade potential (i.e. 8GB DDR3 RAM).

Both can easily cater Windows XP right up to the recent Windows should you want to switch later.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII LTE using Tapatalk.

 

Thanks for the reply. XP is the only option for me. Some of the applications, like remotely connecting to my company's network through VPN, work only if I've XP installed. They still don't support Windows Vista and 7. So my basic requirements are - Windows XP, 14 Inch screen size, and at least 2GB RAM. Which one would be the best option in this scenario? Among the laptops that work with Windows XP with no issues, are the ones from T-Series the best? What about the laptops from other series? Please let me know.

Thanks!

 

All of them will run XP with no issues...R60, T60, T61, T400...

Upgradeability-wise, T60/p is limited to 3GB RAM as is the R60. The rest of the crew can take 8GB.

Something to bear in mind if your company decides to move to W7 or W8 in the future.

What are you looking to spend?

 

My budget is around $300.

 

If you plan to obtain a refurbrished T60/T61/T400, check the screen resolution. Usually, its preferred to have large resolutions for more productivity and easier to watch movies with. The worst resolution they offer is 1024x768 (XGA).

 

That will get you a T400 easily...presuming you're in the U.S.

A standard 14" T60 in very good condition can be had for half of that, maybe even less.

 

As I go through the reviews on other forums too, I'm leaning towards T60. It has gotten more positive reviews than any other laptop.

What would be your suggestion between a standard 14'' T60 in a good condition Vs T400?

Thanks!

 

Heh...it all depends on what's important to you.

T60 feel sturdier when in good shape - I've got several and love them dearly.

T400 is a more modern as well as definitely faster machine. Got one of those as well, but it doesn't see much use...

 

If the only difference between T400 and T60 is the performance, then I think T400 would be a better option, right? Of course, I'll have to pay a bit more.

 

Assuming the refurbished/used computer is usable (not broken in anyway), there shouldn't be any problems when using either of the computers. The upside of the T400 is the choice of upgrades, in the near future or maybe never. They also have newer and more powerful CPUs.

 

The main difference is that T400 only comes as a widescreen 14", while 14" T60 was a conventional, "square" 4:3 shape.

T400 is definitely a lot more future proof...

 

Thanks guys. Your suggestions are really helpful. I appreciate your help.

Cheers!

 

If you don't mind going a bit above the budget, I've got a really nice T410 with factory warranty remaining (and extendable) listed here:

FS: Lenovo ThinkPad T410 (2537-EB2), loaded, nice, on-site warranty

And yes, it will run XP...

Happy hunting either way.

 

T60 all the way, since it is equipped with a 4:3 screen.

 

Stretch your $300 budget just a wee small bit to $470 and buy a refurb Lenovo X220 from Lenovo's outlet store (outlet.lenovo.com with no preceding www). They currently have a number of X220 to choose from. Key things you want (use "compare") are especially IPS screen and to a lesser extent i5-2450 (minimum), and wifi Intel 6205. Again choose "compare" to get better details.

IMO the Lenovo ThinkPad X220 qualifies as one of Lenovo's GREAT most portable and still full function laptops of the past 30 months! Great keyboard and lightweight and still full function!

However be very very very careful (!!) what you do there (outlet), and be sure to either print your selection out fully, or even better do a screen capture if "print" doesn't work.

Additional pluses are that these X220 units typically come with the proven and still very current Win7/64_Pro operating system licence/ID, which you can get around to doing a fresh install on, in order to get zero bloatware and better overall performance on the X220.

Odds are that a boot 256GB mSATA SSD, together with a 7mm thick 500GB 7200 HDD, will make it within a whisker of as good as it currently gets for any current portable ultrabook laptop, and with 756GB of total drive space taking it over the top! More money of course, but still currently over the top!

 

One left at $475, i3 and no IPS..

 

Ah Mr. Toughbook. aka "ajkula66" to NBR.

How interesting; I just checked, and for under $500 only the single X220 i3 is still unsold.

Roughly 32 hours ago there were something like 6 or 7 X220 i5 units for sale at $470 each, with various attributes.

To the quick go the spoils???

If however you currently go over $500 then there is perhaps a better selection? (I didn't try to sort through that!)

 

Mr. ToughBook...? Geez, there's at least two dozen people around here who would deserve that title far more than me...

And I've been using this screen name long before I joined NBR...so I kinda lost you there...

 

Friendly greeting is all that was intended by my "Mr. Toughbook" salutation.

With reference to our/my recent great keyboard comments.

BTW are you in USA?

I mean, your Citroen pic suggests France/Europe but "Location:The FlexView Farm" and your use of language/English suggests maybe USA???

 

One transplanted European here...maintaining a FlexView farm in the mountains of NEPA.

I'm not French, though...can't even speak the language (shame on me) although I've spent years driving and restoring D-series Citroens in one of my previous lives...

 

Thanks guys. Good discussion so far. I'm looking for one more functionality in my laptop. It should have HDMI port (or at least a Display Port) so that I can hook it up to my Samsung HDTV. What would be your suggestions on that?

 

Current Thinkpads have a full-sized DisplayPort or mini-DisplayPort on them, so connecting to a TV won't be an issue. Just make sure you have a DP-to-HDMI cable that carries both video and audio if you want to use your TV's speakers.

 

Due to budget constraints, I won't be buying a new Thinkpad. Would you please suggest me T Series Thinkpad which has a Display Port? As per my research so far, Thinkpads in T series are highly rated.

 

I believe all the T, X and W series have had them since the T500, X200 and W500.

 

Well, taking the T60 as an example:
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Review (pics, specs)

Machines that old pretty much only have VGA as a display out. Though the Txxx and Wxxx series should have some sort of DisplayPort output.

 

True...but you can use a dock and run a DVI through there, and the docks for T60/61/400 are dirt cheap nowadays...