First week with my T61.. LOVE IT!

I recently purchased my Thinkpad T61!

15.4" WXGA, (LG panel)
T7100,
2GB
Intel X3100 graphics
120GB 5400rpm (Hitachi)
4in1 card reader.
Ultrabay slim
Chicony keyboard
6 or 4 cell, can't remember right now.

It's a preconfigured system, I wasn't able to take advantage of ordering it from their website from my country (South Africa)

I'm in love with it. It runs cool, it's solid, fast! I took the time to backup the Vista install and nuke the HDD followed by installing XP, runs like a dream! Going to install Ubuntu on the remaining 20GB partition I created.

The screen has some light leakage, verticalviewing angle isn't great but it's perfectly fine with me for what I use it for (I'm a sys admin), the LG panel is plenty bright enough for me. If the panel had better colour and a stronger contrast ratio then it'd be super! 300:1 is nothing fancy.

Bit of flex on the right palm rest.. but man, it's so minor.. you have to really look and prod for it!

The chicony keyboard is a bit fidgity, it's a lovely size keyboard (compared to the Acer I had) it's a bit low quality since the last Thinkpad I typed on and compared to my OLD TP 390E. But it doesn't really bother me, might organize an NMB when this one starts to wear. But either way, it's a dream to type on, and I touchtype pretty fast (90wpm).

It runs cool, played some Quake 3 and Max Payne 2 and some other things, heated up to the point of being warm. When I'm web surfing or doing minor tasks it's cool. The hard drive so far, has ranged from 34 to 38 degrees celcius, perfect, plenty of room to put in a 7200rpm later.

It's the sexiest notebook I've ever seen! I love it's black simplicity.

and I've named it "Hiro"

Thankyou Lenovo/IBM.

And thank you all @ Notebookreview forums for all the feedback, answers, motivation and encouragement!

Respek.

 

15" wxga?? WHY!!!

 

Small text and icons isn't for everyone.

Congrats on your purchase! And I agree.. The Thinkpads are indeed sexy.

 

'Cause you can't order anything else. Bleh. Lenovo ONLY offers T61 now, with 14.1" WXGA or 15.4" WXGA. BLEH!

 

Hey when did you order and what was your ship date? Am interested cause your system and the one I've ordered are almost identical

Thanks,
Auxin

 

''It's a preconfigured system, I wasn't able to take advantage of ordering it from their website from my country (South Africa)''

 

Ah OK well good luck with it, hope you have fun

Cheers,
Auxin

 

the thinkpad line is sooo ugly
its like a black box with keys and a screen - theres none of the extra little features and designs that make it special/unique
personal preference i guess, but i would never be caught in public using one of those =\

 

you mean like flashy leds, hinges with logos on them, chrome everywhere, and glowing fruit logos?

honestly, you shoud research what a thinkpad can do in the realm of "extra little features and designs that make it special/unique" since it does alot more than other laptops can do. The "black box" has been held as the gold standard in business class laptops for a very long time. As image seems to be such a big thing to you, the image a thinkpad delivers is that of a professional. You won't get a cheap silver colored plastic, you used to get carbon fiber reinforced Polymers and a magnesium alloy top...but that's all changed, you should really look it up before you knock it

 

oh man, you have the guts to say thinkpad's ugly?

rest in peace...

 

Im sorry but this is the Thinkpad forum, not the Alienwaste Ricer Laptop forum. Bye bye troll.

 

Just because we have a little bit more class then you doesn't mean you have come in here and insult our precious thinkpads.

 

Just curious, how does 15" WXGA compare to 14.1" XGA? Which has larger (more blurred) text? I have 14.1" XGA and am wondering if it's the most blurred among all.

 

IN LOVE with my T61 as well..

 

And I wouldn't be caught in public using one of those 'toys' from HP or another manufacturer.

 

There there, now. HP makes several damn fine business models. But, some of the consumer niche items are over the top.

 

15.4 WXGA":
Honestly, I find 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) rather satisfying, I'm also running a higher DPI, yes, it's nice and large and it's comfortable. I'm a (pardon the 'Hackers' movie phrase - keyboard cowboy, I have 4+ virtual desktops, hotkeys for nearly everything and it's comfy to sit back with good quality bold text.

My 19" 5:4 1280x1024 display is lovely, I wanted a res closer to what I am used to.

Just curious, how does 15" WXGA compare to 14.1" XGA?
I don't find it blurry - sure it's not super crisp but c'mon, optimize your cleartype and you're set.

It's not healthy on the eyes to cram megapixels into tiny screens.

Sexy/ugly debate.
*I* think it's sexy, personally.
And personally, All the Thinkpads and Dell lattitudes I've ever seen, generally age well - they don't have scratches that show from a mile away, the paint doesn't fade - wear through from rubbing on the wrist area like Acer's do.. a Thinkpad is a laptop for someone who wants a reliable, minimal yet powerful workhorse, or at least, someone who has a fixation on 2001: A Space Odysee

 

Oh, and I got the IBM Thinkpad logos, ace.

 

Thanks n1hilist. I also think it's not good to look at tiny texts all day long. (tiny texts, not tiny screens )

As for the screen quality, I don't even see any ripples when pressing the screen.

Same here--really glad

 

She places extreme importance on the appearance of the notebook. She has to find something to make herself look cooler. It puzzles me why she went with the HP?

 

Eww!

I'm glad I ordered when I did, then!!!

Anyways, congrats on the ThinkPad ownership!



I love mine as well. It, without doubt, is the best notebook I've ever owned. It'll be great for uni this Fall.

 

Me too, T61 is fantastic.

 

I got my t61p , its great , i love it like i loved my t60p ( even more lol ) great laptop and i agree one of the sexiest one that my money can buy

 

they are still offering the 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT [add $75.00]...so how is it gone?

 

So i guess you would rather not put on an appearance of a professional?

 

There have been no alterations to the Education portal I use. All models have been and continue to be available.

 

First of all congratulations on a nice notebook. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I might be getting a T61 as well to be used as a home workstation.

Good thing that you are glad. I just don't understand why some are still so thrilled to get an IBM sticker. ThinkPads are not made or owned by IBM anymore so doesn't it feel wrong? I guess not.

In any case, I for one, like the new silver logo better - looks much fresher in my opinion. But I respect others' preferences.

Regardless all ThinkPads will come with the new logo early 2008. But I guess you could always buy the old sticker and replace it. According to my information none of the former IBM PC division products will be sold with any IBM logos starting next year.