Give me all the reliability issues with T61 lenovo

Hi, NBR Friends

I am planning once again to buy a lenovo T61 from the EPP site. The current laptop is $1132.26 CDN shipped with tax. I want to know all the bad reliability issues with this current model. I would i also like to know if this price is a steal or should i wait longer. I will be needing it through out the summer but buying in September is not ideal for my situation.

 

i know this doesn't help at all, but how did you figure in the tax on lenovo's site? how far into checkout do you have to go to see what the tax is?

 

The T series have awful displays and currently you can't get a battery bigger than the 6 cell so battery life is poor.

 

Err what? The display on my T61 isn't "awful"... it's actually quite a bit brighter than my T40. Also, I've got a 4, 7 and 9 cell battery for it. I use the 4 at home, the 7 in the office, and the 9 for traveling. This is a 14.1" Wide T61 w/the NVS140m. I dunno where you got your information, but it isn't exactly right. 14" T61 4:3s get 6 or 9 cell, 14" T61 wides get 4, 6, 7 or 9 cell. I'm not 100% sure about the 15" T61 wide, though.

 

Awful may be a bit of hyperbole. My R60's screen is a bit dim for my tastes, but has no dead/stuck pixels and is evenly lit. I don't know that getting a Dell or HP will bring you something better.

There's a battery shortage right now which is why the bigger batteries aren't available. Time will cure that issue. A six cell is fairly standard. I don't know that getting one on something else will get you significantly better.

 

Some experience hinges with undesirable give on theirT61's.

 

I believe the 9 cell battery is often out of stock due to a shortage - you can order it separately but I don't think it usually gives the option as the default battery. As for battery life, Thinkpads are some of the best for a non-LED panel, but the 4 cell battery is going to be pretty weak in general for any laptop. The new Montevina based Thinkpads will have improved batteries (10-20% better?), but they have been delayed until fall (late July at the earliest but I doubt you can get one until September or so).

As for display, the Thinkpads have pretty nice matte displays - the LG panels are generally better than the Samsung panels. The panels are definitely not what I would call fantastic, but the text is very crisp and my panel doesn't have much grain (some Samsung panels have graininess issues). The brightness on battery power is my only real issue - it is definitely bright enough on AC power, but I have to turn up the brightness too high on battery to get a decent picture, resulting in faster power drain.

As for other complaints, some people don't like the off-center screen, but it wasn't an issue at all to me. Also, some people have screen hinges that are slightly loose, and the palm rest might click slightly due to how the palmrest is designed (it is removable to add extra memory).

 

The 9-cell battery is typically listed on as an option on the ordering page (up until three to four weeks ago).

The Montevina Thinkpads won't have any improved battery technology, their performance gains will come from better display efficiency due to their LED backlighting and more efficient processors (TDP of 25w for most).

 

They look awful to me. I had a T41, T60, and a X61s and none of them compare to my Macbook Pro matte screen. The Flexview were awesome though. As for the batteries I got my information from trying to order a T61p with a 9 cell at Lenovo.com and you can't do it right now.

 

don't get the 14.1"

take the 15.4" full sized have all the memory card reader, space, no ugly 6 cell battery at the back.

if u think 14.1" will be smaller ultra-portable. no, it still heavy not that small.

 

I just posted some problems with one I just received 14.1" t61 and a video demonstrating. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3443806#post3443806