Got my first Thinkpad

I just recieved my first Thinkad, a X61. I bought it used but it is in great shape. It has a T7300, 3GB's memory, wireless N, bluetooth, and a nine cell battery. I think I got a pretty good deal on it at $700. I have only started playing with it but so far I am pretty impressed. The size is even better that I imagined, it is going to be great on trips. The larger batter does add a good bit of heft, I may pick up a smaller one.(do the six cells extend out of the back?). The keyboard is surprisingly roomy but the small ctr key is going to take a bit of getting use to. The trackpoint has been surprisingly easy to get used to.

I have also been pleasantly surprised at the performance. This thing is pretty snappy running Vista. It does get a bit bogged down installing software while trying to surf but not bad. I am certainly glad I went this route instead of a netbook, I couldn't deal with anything slower. I am used to a 3.6Ghz quadcore with 4GB'f of ram so it is an adjustment.

Now I am off to finally pick out a case for it. I have been looking and just make up my mind. I am leaning towards a Samsonite L35 but am not in love with the luggage look.

I am sure I'll be around here a lot more now. It feels good to be part of the club. This is a whole different ballgame than the Dell's I have used in the past.

 

gasp no pics? gasp!

 

In get some up later this afternoon.

 

boomhower,
Congratulations on the X61 purchase.

Did you get any restore disks with it? If not you might want to see if you can create them now. You might also want to check out the procedure for restoring your harddrive to the factory image.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=52133

It is highly unlikely you'll ever have a harddrive failure or ever need the restore cds but it is good to make sure you have your restore cds before you need them, not after.

 

No I didn't. The previous owner performed a restore but I am less than enthused about the amount of junk on it still, i.e. Norton and AOL. I still need to pick up a USB->IDE converter for and old burner. A reinstall would be about the only time I would need. For everything else I can just use a thumb drive and virtual disks.

 

Pics as promised

 

Nice thinkpad! I have a Brenthaven case for my similarly sized X23 and it has worked great for me, but as far as cases go you are going to really have to get out there and check a bunch out to see what will work well for you.

 

Thanks, I really like it so far.

Can you link your case? I think I am leaning towards the Lenovo UltraLight bag but am not sure. There is no where local that sells notebook cases so in person is impossible unless you count Wal-Mart.

 

Congratulations, boomhower.

So nice. I kind of wish I had bought an X series ThinkPad for the smaller footprint, lighter weight, and longer battery life since I'm not using my T61's graphics or processor power as much as I had expected.

 

Congrats man .

 

I see yours has the Windows Vista Basic sticker too.
They must save the Vista Business stickers for the Tseries.

 

I would think it would depend on what version of Vista you pay for. On my desktop I have Ultimate but for this I'll probably just leave it at Basic.

Now I am actually looking forward to going out of town next month!

 

I rip off all stickers for timeless classy all black finish. Thinkpad

 

boomhower... that case you have in the picture looks like an NZXT Rogue. Beautiful beast. Congrats on your Thinkpad!

 

My T61p came with Vista Ultimate but I got the Vista Basic sticker too.

Nice pics by the way, but more importantly, what's that soft toy you have on the top shelf of your computer unit ?!

 

That is kind of crappy about the sticker.

I am a big Nascar fan and that is hampster with racing helmet, goggles, and steering wheel dressed in a Mark Martin outfit that sings and dances to Greased Lightning. My wife stuck it in my stocking last Christmas.

 

Two things:

First, the question: How did you get the IBM logo?

Second, a comment: Your computer room setup is really nice.

 

That is how I got it. I'll have to contact the original owner and see if it came that way or if he put it on there.

Thanks for the compliment. Actually it's not a computer room, just the corner of the living room. Otherwise my wife would never see me!

claudione314: You have a sharp eye, that is a Rogue and it is a beast. I have it stuffed with an Corsair 520HX PSU ,Asus P5E-VM HDMI, Q6600 @3.2-3.6Ghz(depending on what I am doing), 4GB's Crucial Ballistix Tracers, 2 Seagate 7200.10 250GB's HD's in RAID 0 with a 500GB drive to back it up, and a EVGA 8800GT SSC. The monitor is a 22" Dell, and I use a Logitech MX5000 to control it all. As you can see I like my toys.

 

I just heard back from the original owner and he said it came with the IBM stickers.

 

You've every right to like your toys. Respectable setup.

As for IBM stickers, you can get one on eBay for $3. I already ordered mine: there's no way my X200 will be Lenovo only.

 

Closest thing to it that they currently make is the Pro 12/15

I've used a lot of others for work, including the Thinkpad branded PORT cases, and this Brenthaven is the best I have used.

 

I ordered the Samsonite L35. It seemed to be a pretty good compromise. The Lenovo bag caused me concern of whether it would fit correctly with the larger battery. But its not to big either. The more I thought about it the only time its going in a case is when I travel so the design really isn't a big deal. I don't do the coffee shop thing. Plus it seemed pretty comparable to the other bags out there for 1/2 to 1/3 the price. I couldn't find anything that could make me spend double or triple the money.