Circuit City - Lenovo Thinkpad R61 or R61i

So based upon an earlier thread by an NBR user it seems as if CC has incorrectly marketed their so-called "R61" when it should be an R61i...I LOVE the specs on the R61 CC advertises, but in actuality it ostensibly still lacks a SD Reader (which I use infrequently) and a Firewire port (not going to cry about it, but would have been nice)...Frankly I'm more of an AMD person to begin with, however, given how I could buy a Thinkpad with solid specs for $850 it's pretty tempting. So my question to all Lenovo/IBM Thinkpad users is this R61 or (R61i) a REALLY GOOD deal?...

Link to CC webpage - http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-R61-14-1-Widescreen-Notebook-PC-7732A12/sem/rpsm/oid/187190/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

 

hmm no thoughts?

 

I actually had so many thoughts on this (read, 'obsessed'), I'm still editing them! Back soon...

8>)

Dave (new R61i owner).

 

hmmm im not sure what the difference if on the lenovo site you can only build a 14.1 inch laptop thats an r61i so im not sure what the "i"means. i just built one from the lenovo website and im sure u could build one about the same or better then the one from CC directly from lenovo. my R61 has shipped out and i cant wait till i get it to play with it and check out what its like. the base line thinkpad on the lenovo website is right around the same price as CC even after tax and stuff. plus you can build it the way YOU want on the lenovo site the only down side is the wait time for shipping it to you but i ordered mine on the 11th and i even had a billing delay and its shipped on the 18th.

 

Hmm so it appears according to HrJustin that I might perhaps be better off purchasing an R61 with similar specs for the same price as CC...but i will wait until Dave releases his thoughts on the R61i.

 

It depends what you want/need and what you’ll do with it. Keep checking Lenovo website, the deals area on this site, and slickdeals.net until the next deal comes along. The rebate at CC should be good for a while (I hate rebates and you pay the tax on $150 by the way) but get the Saturday edition newspaper and check the CC circular and see if the deal is listed for the week starting Sunday. Compare Lenovo vs. CC and see how it works out.

Edit: It’s a fine computer. You can keep spending $50, $100 more and get more incrementally. It’s up to you where to stop.

 

Hi Wallstreet - sorry to take so long to get back.

I've had a ton of thoughts on the R61i, having been totally obsessed this past week with the machine.

Until a day ago I was considering returning it and trading up to a custom T61, but I've really come to like it.
It's plenty fast and powerful enough for what I need - basic Photoshop, sound recording, DVD burning, and email/Internet use.
In my case, I had to admit that spending an extra $500+ and jumping through all the hoops (worst of all, the waiting!) probably doesn't make any sense.

Sure I might end up with a sexier machine, but by my reading of at least 3 Lenovo forums, there's no guarantee whatsoever that a custom-ordered Lenovo will have better QC, a better screen, or greater reliability. It could as easily end up being a lemon.

Waiting for an R61 from Lenovo makes even less sense to me. At least with this one I had it the same day, and if necessary I can go to CC and hand it back to them (within limits) if something goes wrong. (The lack of Firewire was admittedly a minor drag, and both the fingerprint reader and Bluetooth I can do without, but there you go.)

Re the ad: You're right, it's not the same processor as CC advertised (my local CC recently had the tag pencilled out and rewritten) but it's not that far off. Would I even notice the difference between the 1500MHz and the 1666Mhz processor? I very much doubt it (I'm guessing they both have the same 2MB cache, etc.)
[In any case, I suspect they'll never even get the T5450 ones in stock, so the promise I got to upgrade will go nowhere except to a return of merchandise.]

As I said, I've just spent the better part of a week immersed in the machine, applying all the tweaks I could find online, and it's really paid off in speed and stability (fingers crossed). I've also managed to successfully install most of the old software I ran on XP, so far without any major glitches. I'm pretty sure it will do me just fine for at least a couple of years.

I've sobered a little in my appraisal of the build quality. There are a few dinky bits here and there - a slight kink in the top metal casing, a slight bow and resulting gap at the rear of the LCD/lid when closed. Not terrible though, and that sort of thing is impossible to avoid in most brands anyway.

All told, it's decently-enough built, has a great keyboard, and the overall down-to-earth design appeals to me more than other laptops anywhere near the price. So yeah, I think if it'll do what you need, it's pretty decent value.

Cheers
Dave

 

the R61 not the R61i

 

correct me if I'm wrong, but R61i does not have touchpad?

 

My R61i [T5250 1500MHz processor/ 160GB 5400rpm Hitachi HDD/ 2GB RAM/ DL-DVD-RW/ etc.] has:

Touchpad
Bluetooth
Fingerprint reader
PCI card slot

No Firewire port

Also, great display (no light leakage, no dead pixels) 8>)

[PS - Scores up to 385 in Passmark, 3349 in PCMark05, 3.5 in WEI]

Dave

 

This is a good deal: www.Lenovo.com/shop/deals/3234

enter code USXYPWWP at checkout

 

UPDATE: Comparing the Circuit City R61i with the same machine ordered from Lenovo...

The CC R61(i) comes with D-L multi optical drive, 160GB HDD, 2GB RAM, Bluetooth, fingerprint reader.

All these are optional extras on the Lenovo site. Adding them to the base R61 adds nearly $300 to the CC price (after CC mail-in rebate). A Lenovo discount may apply too, of course, so maybe there wouldn't be that much difference.

So the only advantage I can see to custom ordering an R61 is that you can get a faster processor and/or a Firewire port. Otherwise it's close to the same machine for (possibly) more money.

(As you can probably guess, tomorrow is the last chance to return/upgrade my CC R61i..!) 8>0

No, really, I'm fine! At least I won't have to wait 6 months! 8>)

Dave

 

well the custom built r61i from the lenovo website doesnt have the top processors but thats pretty much the only thing different and u can only build an r61i in a 14.1 inch version on the website. i ordered my r61 from lenovo with the t7300 and it will be here on monday i thought maybe it was going to be here today but it didnt make it so i have to wait the weekend . the r61i just seems to have a little bit older hardware but otherwise it should preform just as good as the r61 version. i cant wait to get my r61 its my first laptop i hope there isnt any major problems with it