Does the metal rollcage make a difference in T61 ?

For those of you have have handled both a T4x and a T6x, does the rollcage make a difference ?

Rollcage:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/07/10/lenovos-t61p-packs-uwb-and-rollcage-for-the-ham-fisted-road-war/

 

IMO the rollcage is a cost-cutting measure + marketing gimmick.

A lot of literature back when the Z61 was released talked about how the roll cage mimicked the rollcages in race cars and what not, adding extra framework protection, etc., etc. Thing is though, that race cars are made out of tough metal in the first place, and the strong roll cage is just icing on the cake, err....in the cake.

But for the ThinkPads? What happened is that Lenovo changed the outer shell to plastic when they implemented the rollcage. In sum, less magnesium was actually used than before because the rollcage isn't a complete underlying chassis, it's just wrapped around certain internal components. The rest of the holes are now covered by our "carbon-composite" plastic. Whatever.

If rollcages were the end-all solution, HP and Dell would implement them in their business laptops already. It's not like roll cages cost more or are patented by Lenovo.

But of course, Thinkpads no longer cost $2000, so roll cages are fine with me.

 

Looks like the saying that the change to plastic is to allow more radio waves to go through is a marketing strategy, too?

 

I guess if that was true, than Dell Latitudes and HP business laptops would have a hell of a time trying to connect to Wi-fi networks.

 

So the thinkpad is plastic with a metal cage, and the dell is all magnesium alloy?

Interesting. I guess a roll cage is a cheaper way to provide -some- protection, without having to get all fancy.

 

I do not know if that analogy is exactly correct. The panels do not protect the driver that much in a crash. The roll cage and chassis mainly protect the person in the crash. Since the panels do not really protect the driver, the panels of the race cars are made of lightweight material such as fiber glass, aluminum or carbon-fiber.

However, the question is whether the laptop would survive an impact that would destroy the panels and reach the roll cage.

It would be really cool if Lenovo gave the Thinkpad a carbon-fiber monocoque chassis / rollcage with carbon-fiber panels. That would be a tough and ultra expensive notebook.

 

Lenovo needs to produce a video like done by those car makers to show in real life what kinds of impact a Thinkpad can withstand.

 

They have. Several can be found on youtube. I'm not going to bother finding them and posting the links, though.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1817720005010703910 is the point of a roll cage in a car. Hopefully nobody tries that with their T61.

 

I think that it's definitely an improvement.

The old screen with no roll cage if you pressed on the cover you would see the effect on the screen with the roll cage it is really protected.

I wish they kept the metal cover though


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My thoughts exactly. Magnesium cover (t4x) > plastic w/roll cage (t 61) >>>> plastic w/no roll cage (z/t 60)

Biggest burn in getting a t 60 was having another notebook with a plastic lid that has no reinforcement, because the display actually went out in thirds on my z 60m within two years, and it was also built that way (plastic no cage). So I would have appreciated if not the magnesium lid, at least the roll cage in the lid. I just couldn't handle the display of the t 61 they sent me or I'd have kept it instead. I now have to be scareful to protect this flexview- no closing it fast or opening from the corners. And while the only times it ever "dropped" was a couple of feet from my truck's seat to the floorboard (not a hard surface), I should probably invest in a brain cell + brain bag (currently using an oversized, overpadded 90's computer "briefcase" monstrosity, but it IS well protected).

Even my old vaio which was dropped from my open backpack to concrete (I'm 6-02) lived longer after sustaining a crushed corner. I like magnesium cases. Was hard to ignore dell this time around. Next time, I won't. Especially if IPS panels still haven't made a comeback in tp's or elsewhere.

As always, imo, sdbafd, because ymmv.

 

T60 actually has a magnesium lid. That's why they were saying crap like "here's a plastic lid on the T61 so you can get better wi-fi signals."

 

Mine doesn't (14.1" only).

 

So T60's with different screens may not have mag lid? Hmm....

 

The 15" and 15.4" T60's had carbon-fiber lids anyways. The mag alloy lid was only for the 14.1"...

Now, I think they added a roll cage in the lid for the 15.4" models, so that's an improvement here.

It's just that people heard something about magnesuim replaced by "cheap" plastic and repeat that like parrots all the time... and most of them probably haven't owned or seen a ThinkPad at all.

 

Although the t61's outer lid is plastic, doesn't it have a metal roll cage inside the lid itself?

 

Isn't that the point of this thread itself?

 

how about X60/X60s?

My lid is quite 'soft'... and I found mark left by tracking point and palm rest on the screen

 

Afaik, they are mag alloy...

 

then they are soft mag

 

How to tell whether the lid is mag or plastic?