Lenovo ThinkPad R60 14-inch Screen Notebook Review

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by Ted Lynch

For your consideration is a review of my recently acquired 14” Lenovo ThinkPad R60. The R60 comes in 14 or 15” screen sizes. It is designed to be a more wallet friendly business class notebook, but if you get all the options it can get quite expensive. The R60 lacks the rock star status of the T series ThinkPads even though they share a lot of parts. It's sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of the ThinkPad line – no respect. I think the R60 offers great value for someone on a tight budget who wants a well built and serviced notebook. The R60 is not a perfect notebook, but has many admirable qualities and a few blemishes, all of which we will get into in more detail in the review.

The ThinkPad R60 (view large image)

Usage

Until recently I owned a 15” screen ThinkPad T42. I liked it quite a bit, but in the end I decided I wanted something smaller, not just lighter, but physically smaller as well. To me the 14” notebook is the perfect sized notebook. I mostly use my notebook around the house, with the occasional trip out to jobs I take to supplement my income or over to a friend's house. In addition to all the qualities everyone wants on a notebook like build quality, I desired a notebook with a higher resolution screen while the eyes are still good and I also preferred a notebook with docking station options. I would not call myself a power user. Internet with a little Office, burning discs, light Photoshop and music are probably 95% of what I do.

Buying

It has been kind of a long journey getting here. I sold my T42 on eBay in June. I had planned to purchase a 14” T60 to replace my T42. A scam artist purchased my notebook on eBay, I know you're shocked. The fraudulent sale delayed the purchase of my notebook a few days thereby causing me to miss the $200 rebate Lenovo was offering at the time, significantly increasing the cost of getting a new T60.

I decided to look around. I then purchased a Dell Latitude D620, I mean how bad could the screen be? Unfortunately, the screen on the D620 I received was poor. It was blurry and grainy, making it difficult for me to use. It is too bad as I liked the Dell quite a bit, everything from the customizing it on Dell's website, to the build quality to Dell's customer service in returning it was first rate. I decided to go in a different direction the next time.

Around this time I had the opportunity to install some software on HP's new dv2000t. I liked it straight away. It was small and light with a very good screen. I customized its Compaq twin, the V3000T, at Costco.com. I picked the Compaq V3000 since I like darker colored notebooks and my first notebook was a Compaq; they have a soft spot in my heart. The V3000T had a lot of admirable qualities: the screen quality on the unit I got was excellent, I liked HP's new Imprint Finish technique and I thought quality was good considering the low price. I disliked the low resolution and glare screen, I had the touchpad issues which I know have been documented in the NotebookReview.com forums and my battery was loose. If HP would have offered a WXGA+ resolution option like the Inspiron e1405, I might have kept it.

I noticed the R60 went on sale. I decided to order one. I was going to keep one or the other because quite frankly I was getting sick of looking for a notebook. Ultimately, I decided to keep the R60. It's not the perfect notebook, but I think it is the one that best meets my needs. I customized the R60 on Lenovo's site. Lenovo has done a nice job of making customizing easier since the IBM days, though they’re probably still not as good as Dell. The only upgrades I made were the SXGA+ screen which was free, upgrading from the Celeron M to the 1.66GHz Core Duo and the DVD burner upgrade. It cost $860 plus tax. Shipping was free. I ordered on 09/29/06. My original ship date was 10/26/06, but I received the notebook on 10/10/06.

Specs

Here are the specifications of the model under review; I included a few of the upgrades I made in the meantime:

• Model: R60 9456-55U
• CPU: Intel Core Duo 1.66GHz T2300e
• Chipset: Intel i945GM
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 P5300 2 Slots, 0 Open
• Hard Drive: 100GB Seagate 7200.1 SATA
• Screen: 14.1&quot; SXGA+ 1450x1050 Matte 150 Nits
• Modular Optical Drive: Matshita UJ-850 DVD+/-RW/-RAM
  • 8x DVD+/-R
  • 4x DVD+/-RW
  • 2.4x DVD+R DL
  • 5x DVD-RAM
  • 24x CD-R
  • 16x CD-RW
• Graphics Card: Intel 950
• Network/Wireless: Intel Wireless 3945A/B/G, Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet, Modem
• Inputs: 89 Key Keyboard, Two Button Touchpad with Scroll Bar, PointStick with Separate UltraNav Buttons
• Buttons: Power, ThinkVantage, Power Up and Down, Mute, and WiFi/Bluetooth On/Off Switch.
• Other
  • Security Lock
  • ThinkLight
• Ports:
  • 3 USB 2.0 Ports - Two Right Side, One Left Side
  • Four Pin Firewire
  • Port Replicator/Dock Connector
  • VGA Out
  • Line Out
  • Headphone
• Slots:
  • 1 PC Card Slot Type II
  • 1 ExpressCard Slot 34/54
• Battery : Six &amp; Three Cell Modular Batteries
• Dimensions:
  • Width – 12.4”
  • Depth - 10.2”
  • Height - 1.4”
• Weight: 5.7 Lbs.
• Operating System: XP Home
• Warranty: One Year Warranty

Build &amp; Design

When you buy a ThinkPad, you should pretty much know what you are getting as they tend not to change a whole lot from one year to the next. It will be black and sort of boxy regardless of the model. I had the opportunity to work on a ThinkPad R31 not too long ago, it looked almost the same as the R60 save for the coloring on a few of the buttons and the addition of the Windows key. I personally happen to like black notebooks. The dark color and squared edges are simple and elegant for my tastes anyway. It is probably not for those wishing to make a statement or overly concerned about looks. Stylishness is very low on my list of characteristics I want in a notebook. I want it to be well built and work. If anything breaks, I want it fixed quickly, all areas where ThinkPads excel. The R60 is a bit heavier than the T60, but not enough to make a noticeable difference unless you are overly sensitive to these sorts of things in my opinion. I did notice the extra thickness on the R60 right away. It gives it a meatier feel compared to the super model slimness of the T series. I would have no problems carrying the R60 on a regular basis.

Size of the R60 (view large image)

The build quality on the R60 is excellent, especially in light of what the same amount of money will get you from Dell or HP. The case is made from plastic, but is a rugged plastic and has a good tactile feel. It has a stiff roll cage which you can see down below in the picture of the memory modules. The case does not creak when being picked up by the side. Since it lacks the mag-alloy lid of the T60, screen protection is not as good, but I could only find one small spot on the back where I could make the ripple. On the plus side it does not attract fingerprints like the T60. Like all ThinkPads, the screen is secured to the base using metal hinges. It is very stiff and does not move at all when in use.

Screen

My previous notebook was a ThinkPad T42 with the vaunted FlexView screen. I knew this would be an area where the R60 would not be as good as the T42, but I am not doing anything where the FlexView would be advantageous and going smaller was my goal. The R60 has seven brightness levels which can be adjusted via the keyboard controls. The screen is a 150 nits and the brightness ranges from pretty dim to fairly bright. It is basically as bright as you need it to be. It has been an adjustment coming from the Compaq V3000. With V3000’s glossy coating, the screen is quite a bit brighter than the R60. It took me a few weeks to re-adjust to the dimmer screen on the R60, but it seems fine now. The quality of the screen is good.

The R60 showing the Simpsons. (view large image)

Images and text are clear and crisp. There is no light leakage on the unit I received and I had no dead/stuck pixels. As expected, viewing angles are narrow, but as long as one remains on center, it looks pretty good.

The R60 screen at various angles. (view large image)

I ordered the R60 with an SXGA+ screen which is new for the 14” R60. I like the standard aspect screen on the R60. I am not a big fan of watching movies on a notebook, nor do I like to have multiple screens open side by side. Since web surfing is one of my primary tasks, I personally find the 1050 resolution of SXGA+ to be more useful than the 1440 of WXGA+ like I had on the D620. Plus it is one of the few less expensive notebooks offering a high resolution screen.

CPU &amp; Performance

CPU

My own personal philosophy on buying CPUs, be it a desktop or laptop, is to get the lowest performing CPU of the best class of processors, unless of course you have specific needs. At the time of purchase this was the Core Duo, but now the Core 2 Duo has taken center stage. This way you won't be paying an exorbitant premium for a marginal increase in power while still having the latest and greatest. My R60 has the Core Duo T2300e.

CPU-Z (view large image)

With the Core Duo, a fast hard drive and 1GB of memory, performance to say the least was very good. It is more than enough for my modest needs. Everything from Nero to Office to Internet ran like a charm. I did some more intensive things like coding some Mp3s while running a virus scan, it didn't even breathe hard.

Graphics

I ordered the R60 with the integrated Intel graphics. I don't play games on my PC other than solitaire or the like. I have an XBox 360, PSP and DS. I play the DS far more than the others. The Intel card runs fine for me and has better battery life to boot. I won't bore you with the details of my very low 3DMark score. The x1300 and x1400 are available for those who wish to do a little gaming with their R60.

Benchmarks

Super Pi

Super Pi is a tool to measure relative CPU performance. As you can see from the chart below, the T2300e scored four seconds slower in Super Pi than its 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo equivalent on the Fujitsu A6010. I don't think four seconds was worth the extra $200 it would have cost me to wait for the Core 2 Duo.

Notebook	Time
ThinkPad R60 (1.66GHz Core Duo)	1m 26s
Dell Latitude D820 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s
Toshiba Tecra A8 (1.83GHz Core Duo)	1m 18s
IBM ThinkPad T42 (1.8GHz Pentium M )	1m 58s
Fujitsu A6010 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 22s
Asus V6j (2.16GHz Core 2 Duo)	53s
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s
HP dv6000z (1.8GHz Turion64 x2)	1m 54s
Toshiba Satellite U200 (1.66GHz Core Duo)	1m 28s
Lenovo C100 (1.5GHz Celeron M)	2m 19s
Sony VAIO S380 (1.86 GHz Pentium M)	1m 45s

HD Tune

HD Tune is a useful hard drive diagnostic and performance measuring tool. The Seagate offers a big performance boost over the slower Hitachi.

The Seagate 7200.1 on the left vs the Hitachi 5k100 on the right. (view large image)

PCMark05

PCMark05 gages relative system performance. Take it for what it's worth. For my business, the GPU doesn't mean all that much whereas the faster hard drive gives a big performance boost.

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Lenovo ThinkPad R60 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, Intel 950)	2,975 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI X1400)	4,177 PCMarks
Fujitsu LifeBook A6010 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo, Intel GMA 950)	2,994 PCMarks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600)	4,236 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (2.6GHz FX-60, Nvidia 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B (1.83GHz Core Duo, Nvidia 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Toshiba Tecra M6 (1.66GHz Core Duo, Intel GMA 950)	2,732 PCMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, ATI x1700)	4,555 PCMarks
Asus G1J (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, Nvidia 7700)	3,427 PCMarks

The R60's PCMark05 score.

Drives &amp; Storage

Optical Drive

The R60 came with the Matshita UJ-850 DVD+/-RW drive. It burns all types of discs including DVD-RAM. Having owned several Matshita drives, I am not a huge fan of them, but it works as an occasional burner. I do most of my burning at home for which I use an external desktop drive which is hooked up through the dock via USB. As for the Matshita, a full CD burn comes in at six minutes and a full DVD just under 14 minutes. I have not had any issues with any of the discs I have burned yet, but I am using the very high quality Tayio Yuden media. Since desktop drives offer better speed and quality it is a better choice for burning though not quite as mobile. The optical drive is modular on the R60. The bay also supports a battery, an extra hard drive or traveler's drawer to help keep the weight down.

The Matshitsa UJ-850 and three cell battery, two of the four modular options for the R60. (view large image)

Hard Drive

I ordered the R60 with the 40GB hard drive knowing that I was going to get a 7200RPM hard drive upgrade elsewhere. There was 26GB of free space on the drive after accounting for Windows/Apps and the recovery partition. The drive's performance seemed in line with other 5400RPM drives. When I received the notebook I burned off the recovery discs, dumped the IBM folders onto my network, wiped the drive including the recovery partition, and installed Vista Ultimate RC1 while I awaited my new drive, more on that later.

The Seagate 7200.1 with bumpers. (view large image)

I first ordered a Hitachi 80GB 7k100. The drive I got was noisy so I sent it back. On a whim I decided to get the 100GB Seagate 7200.1 drive. I did have to set the drive to compatibility mode to get Windows to install. I have been nicely surprised by the Seagate. It is near silent. In all likelihood it is the quietest hard drive I have ever used. Maybe in the lab the Hitachi scores a few points better, but in real world performance the Seagate is equal to the Hitachi in my opinion. I'll probably just hang onto the old drive as it probably does not have much eBay value and I already have a 40GB external notebook drive. I can use it as a backup in case I have to send the Seagate in for service. The R60 also supports the hard drive active protection system. It parks the heads on the drive if it detects a sudden increase in velocity like if you were to drop the notebook. A nice plus on a lower cost machine.

Memory

I ordered the R60 with one 512MB stick of PC5300 DDR2 memory. Thankfully, ThinkPads do not use slower PC4200 memory like a lot of other manufacturers do. I ordered with 512MB with the thought I would add another 512MB stick when I received it, which I did.

Accessing the memory slots on the R60. (view large image)

The memory slots like other ThinkPads are located under the touchpad. It takes a little bit of extra effort to access them, but it's not a huge job.

Keyboard Area

It's a ThinkPad, 'nuff said.  I suppose I'll elaborate a little more.  The keyboard on the the R60, like all ThinkPads I have used, is magnificent.  The keyboard is firm and key travel is excellent as one would expect of a ThinkPad Keyboard.  I miss some of the port markings along the edge that you'll see on some more consumer oriented notebooks.  The R60 also has the ThinkLight for use in dark situations.  It works pretty slick.  The color has changed from white to amber since my T42.

The R60's keyboard.(view large image)

The touchpad on the R60 seems a bit small, but otherwise works well.  The buttons have smooth action and good feel.  Being a ThinkPad, the R60 has the little red knob pointing stick in the center of the keyboard.  I know some people swear by them, but I never got used to it despite having owned several ThinkPads.  I usually set the red knob up for scrolling.  It's still the best one out there, despite my apathy towards it. 

I opted not to get the fingerprint reader.  I had one on my T42 and rarely used it.  I was content to type in my password for Yahoo Mail or my bank accounts.  I'm not doing anything where I need it anyway.

Battery &amp; AC

I opted for the six cell battery for my R60, primarily to help keep the weight down.  Having the smaller screen and integrated Intel graphics card will help extend battery life.  Using just the six cell battery with the screen at four of seven and WiFi on, I was able to get 3:15 minutes of battery life.  I also bought the modular battery for the R60.

The Lenovo Power Manager.  Oh-no, the battery is manufactured by Sony. (view large image)

The modular battery has three cells.  I didn't run a battery test on it since I just got it, but with 50% more cells I would expect 50% more battery life.  Around four and a half to five hours seems about right with both batteries.  If you are a battery life fanatic, there is also a nine cell battery option.  The bezel on the battery is flat whereas the bezel on the drive is curved like the laptop.  It is not quite flush with the rest of the laptop.

The AC adapter is small and light.  My adapter does seem to get a bit warm while charging.  Not so hot you can't touch it, but you might not want to keep it next to anything flammable.

Heat &amp; Noise

I tend to run my machines in low power mode because I don't do anything where I really need the extra juice. Along with better battery life this has the side benefit of keeping a lid on noise because the fan isn't used as much.  Coupled with the Seagate drive, it has been a very quiet machine.  During the time I was playing musical notebooks, I was using my desktop quite a bit. I forgot how much quieter a docked laptop is compared to a desktop with its fan running all the time.  With normal usage the R60 only got mildly warm  It has three vents on it.  Perhaps the extra thickness helped with the airflow.  Overall it is a cool and quiet machine. 

Wireless &amp; Networking

My R60 has the Intel 3945A/B/G wireless card.  At the time I ordered the ThinkPad wireless card was not an option you could configure.  I opted not to install the ThinkPad wireless manager.  Windows does a fine job in this regard so it seemed redundant.  Performance on the card has been good in Windows.  I haven't got the card to work with Linux yet.  The R60 has the Broadcom NetXtreme 10/100/1000 Ethernet card as well.  Since I can't get the WiFi card to work with Linux it has come in very handy. 

I decided not to get Bluetooth with the thought that I can add it later if needed.  I have a nice Kensington Bluetooth Pocket mouse, but the truth is I don't use it much and I don’t really have other Bluetooth devices where it is a must so it seemed not worth the extra cost.  One the rare occasions I sync with my phone to transfer files, I can whip out the cable.

Ports &amp; Connections

The R60 comes with a decent set of connections.  Like the T60, it lacks a card reader.  I cannot understand why Lenovo continues not to offer a card reader on the R or T series.  I can't believe a significant amount of their customer base wouldn't find this a useful option.  There is space on the case to put one.  I would have paid extra for the option, but I guess they are being stubborn.  I still have the old external one I used on my T42, but it is much more convenient to have it on the notebook.  The left side of the R60 has a four pin firewire connector, VGA, Ethernet/Modem, line in/out, a USB port, a PCMCIA and ExpressCard slots.

The left side of the R60. (view large image)

The right side of the R60 has two USB ports and a lock connector.

The right side of the R60. (view large image)

The front of the R60 has the WiFi on/off switch and the speakers.

The front of the R60. (view large image)

The rear of the R60 has the power connector and a vent.

The rear of the R60. (view large image)

The bottom of the R60 has the docking connector.

The bottom of the R60 (view large image)

Docking

One of my preferences was to get a notebook that had a docking station option.  I like the idea of having one PC whether I am at home or elsewhere.  I do have a desktop hooked to my TV.  You never know when one might go down, but I rarely use it.  Plus it means I have one less PC to maintain.

The R60 docked. (view large image)

Universal docking stations are a possibility, but those tend to be not as good.  There are three dock options for the R60 which work with the T and Z series as well: the Essential Port Replicator, the Advanced Mini Dock and the Advanced Dock.  The Essential Port Replicator is pretty basic and an AC adapter must be purchased separately, unless you want to use your notebook's adapter.  The Advanced Dock had way more options that I personally needed so the Advanced Mini Dock seemed the best fit for me.

The Advanced Mini Dock Connections. (view large image)

I purchased the dock refurbished off eBay for about $50 less than new with a 30 day DOA warranty.  It is a fairly low tech part so I felt it was worth the risk.  I can confirm that the integrated Intel card does not work with the DVI connector on the dock, at least with the R60.  It does work fine with the VGA connector.  My Dell 2001FP which runs at 1600x1200 looks the same as when I had it hooked up to my T42 with the DVI connector through its dock or my desktop.  The dock works great.  When I want to sit at home and use the big monitor or do some burning I can plug into the dock and have at it.  When I want to be more mobile, like to the couch to watch a movie, I can do that too.

Sound

The speakers on the R60 are good for a notebook.  They are clear with decent sound quality.  The problem lies with the speaker placement.  They are located on the front of the notebook and face in a downward fashion. Kicking back and watching a movie is fine, but if you place your palms on the palm rest to type, your arms will be in between you and the speakers, muffling the sound.  As always with a notebook, a good pair of headphones is recommended.

Software

My R60 came with XP Home.  I have a few extra licenses of XP Pro at home (pun intended) so I saw no need to pay for the upgrade.  The Vista upgrade was not being offered at the time I purchased.  I like to do a clean install anyway.  Like other ThinkPads, bloatware is thankfully kept to a minimum.  My machine had Google Desktop and a couple of desktop icons, that's it.  Despite being, at least at the time I bought it, quite a bit cheaper than the T60, the R60 has all the same ThinkVantage tools as the T60.  It is a comprehensive set of software allowing one to backup, secure, restore and protect their data.  It is the envy of other PC companies.  Just press the ThinkVantage button and get a wealth of knowledge --though I personally can't since I wiped the recovery partition!  Some tools can be a resource hog.  You may wish to pick what you need and get rid of the rest.  As for the other software, there is Sonic for burning, WinDVD for movies, PC-Doctor, Diskeeper Lite and the dreaded Norton.  It was pretty light on software, but not unexpected for an inexpensive machine.  Luckily for me there is free software for most of the things I do.

As I mentioned earlier, I installed Windows Vista Ultimate along with the Office 2007 beta on the R60 while I waited for my new hard drive to arrive.

The re-worked Windows Explorer in Vista. (view large image)

Vista ran well, even with only 512MB of memory.  As you can see from the capture above, Aero was not an option which doesn't personally bother me all that much.  With the integrated Intel card, I didn't expect it to work anyway.

After I got my 100GB hard drive, I partitioned it into three: one for XP, one for storage and a last one for Linux.  I installed Unbuntu Linux 6.06 onto the machine.

The R60 running Unbuntu Linux 6.06. (view large image)

As expected I have had a few issues with Linux.  The WiFi doesn't work out of the box.  The resolution is messed up.  I have heard 6.10 offers better driver support, but I haven't had time to install it yet.  Linux worked with the dock as well.

Warranty &amp; Support

I configured the R60 with the base one year of depot repair.  My notebook doesn't leave my dwelling a whole lot and I am not a clumsy person.  I felt the need for accidental coverage was unwarranted, but those options are available for those who wish to get them.  I also purchased it with my American Express card which extends the warranty an additional year, usually longer than I keep a notebook.  IBM (now Lenovo) annually leads the PC industry in support satisfaction.  I am not a person who calls support often.  I usually figure things out for myself.  I haven't had to call them in regards to my R60, but when I have had to call in the past for a part failure, I have found them to be helpful and competent.  I have never been put on hold.

Conclusion

Buying Choices for the Lenovo ThinkPad R60 14-inch Lenovo | $565.00 100.0% of people recommend this product - view 2 opinions | rate product

The R60 has been a great choice for me.  I get all the things ThinkPads are known for such as great build quality, a fantastic keyboard, and industry leading service and support all while paying less than I would have for the T60.  I know since I purchased a few months ago, the cost margin between the T60 and the R60 has lessened, but I still think the R60 offers great value for someone who needs a well built notebook and can't quite afford the goodness of the T60.

Pros

• Good Build Quality
• High Resolution Screen
• Good Software Bundle
• ThinkPad Keyboard
• Docking Options
• Minimal Bloatware

Cons

• Thin Viewing Angles
• Poor Speaker Placement
• No Card Reader

 

Thanks for the informative, detailed review ZaZ (as per usual!). You've just convinced me to get a Thinkpad as my next computer...

 

Wow, $860! That's a great deal on an excellent system. I really like what the R60 offers.

Great review! Very thorough.

 

Excellent review there ZaZ. The R-series is a very solid notebook for the money; it's definitely a better option than a competing notebook, such as the HP nx6325 and the Dell Latitude D520.

 

Nice review! The R60 is a good notebook for the money.

 

Great review, nice to see supports for other OS running on the notebook. I feel sorry for you though that you had to change 3 notebooks before finding the right one.

Charlie

 

I like the Rodney Dangerfield analogy there, the R60 really is easily overlooked and forgotten sometimes, despite the fact it might suit some people's needs just fine instead of paying more for the T60.

Great info on the Linux and Vista tests there too.

Yup, I'm one of those people that swears by them, I'm sort of screwed in that I'm so used to using it I find it hard to use anything else.

 

Another person converted to the dark side(Insert Darth Vader breathing sound here).

I saw a nx6325 a few weeks ago. I thought is was pretty decent. Considering its larger screen, it was almost as light as my R60, maybe a smidge heavier. I'd agree on the Dell.

The funny thing is a ended up right back where I started with a ThinkPad just the R60 instead of the T60 and I saved a few bucks along the way. It's always good to look at other options. God bless Costco for their loaner program. I think for the money the R60 one of the best notebooks out there for someone who needs just a well built basic notebook. Unfortunately, right now the jump to the Core 2 Duo from the Celeron M is a $200 upgrade, which puts it fairly close to the T60. When I bought it was $35 from the Celeron M to the Core Duo, making the T60 about $400 more with a similar configuration. Hopefully it will last a while, but I suspect in about a year or so I'll get the itch as I always do.

 

Hey, Zaz, thanks for the tip on the red knob. I don't use it as a pointer, and thought I had to hold down the middle button to scroll. I figured out how to change that -- nice!

Chris

 

What about the secondary battery as I found it is made by Sony. Is it free from battery-related problem known for Sony-made batteries in the past.

 

You can check if your battery was one of the recalled ones on Lenovo's site. Mine was not.

 

Nice review!

Phew, in the photograph it looks uglier than Z series. It is almost look like a tank, a military vehicle. But it spear sturdiness somehow.
I red R50 review in this site, and i think R series look better overtime. But the design have not won me over. Maybe it looks better in reality. I never see R series in Best or other retailer for preview.

Frankly, i dont know if it is the result of bad photography, but why the notebook look dusty?

 

Ted/Zaz: Thanks for the review of the 14 inch! Question on fan -- sounds like when you run it at low power, the fan does not come on often and does not stay on long when it does? Also, does "low power" mean you need to work with a dimmer than usual screen? Last, have you noticed what happens with the fan at "full power" -- does it come on often and how long does it stay on? (I've had some experience with the T60 integrated graphics 1.83 GHz Core Duo, in which the fan is on alot, even at low power settings. Have been searching various forums and some with the 15 inch R60 say it is quiet, with fan rarely on, but less information from 14 inch users. I'm thinking the 14 inch R60 may be my solution to my quest for a quiet think pad, but wonder if I need to be prepared to operate on low power for that quiet and whether low power will have any negative effects, such as dim screen. I just use office, so probably not much impact there?) Thanks again!

 

I almost always set the Power Manager to the lowest setting even when the notebook is plugged in or docked. Low power mode refers to the CPU, not the screen. When in low power mode, the CPU downclocks to 1GHz thereby using less power and extending battery life. Since you are using less power, the CPU doesn't get as hot so the fan isn't needed as much. For Office related type stuff, it is unlikely you'll notice a difference in performance in low power mode. I never hear the fan when running in low power. You can set the screen to anything you like. It has no effect on the fan, but the brighter the screen the lower battery life. The one thing I do that I crank the CPU up to max is coding video for my iPod. The fan does come on from time to time as expected, but it is mostly fairly quiet and not nearly as bad as some others I have seen.

If you are planning on getting one of the dedicated graphics cards they are known to produce more heat which will increase fan usage. I have the integrated Intel graphics card. Intel chipsets are very low power and cool. There are a few posts over in the Lenovo forum of people complaining about the fan who have the x1400 on the T60. The T60 is a bit thinner so it is probably a bit more susceptible to heat issues.

The hard drive is the other big noise producer on a laptop. I upgraded the drive to the Seagate 7200.1 drive. It is the quietest drive I have used, but I have heard from others that have the same drive, theirs is not as quiet. It may be a little more hit or miss. SilentPCReview.com test hard drives for noise levels. You might want to check it out. There is not way to tell in advance which drive you are getting. I have seen all kinds in ThinkPads.

If you are looking for a well built basic notebook, the R60 is a great choice. Good Luck.

 

You typically don't see business class notebooks in stores. Office Depot was carrying them for a while. I think I heard CompUSA was going to as well. The world is a dusty place.

 

Hi Zaz, thanks for the great feedback on how the R60's fan behaves! I have an additional question on how you set the Power Manager to the "lowest setting" to get the CPU down to 1 GHz. Do you use one of the pre-designed settings in the Power Manager -> setting properties window? (Or, do you design your own set of settings with the green bars for each of performance, system temp, fan sound level, and battery life?) Do these settings remain in effect until you change them again, or do you need to redo each time you boot up? (Or, am I way off and this is something that needs to be done in bios.) Note- I still haven't purchased my R60 yet but had tried to play around with the power manager on the T60 with little success in keeping fan noise down, so was just wondering how it works on the R60, just so I can feel confident I can do it myself if I get one! ; ) Thanks!

 

I use the power manager software from Lenovo. It is part of the ThinkVantage Tools. You can create a power profile and put all the settings you want like the CPU on the lowest. It sits in the taskbar and is easy to switch among power profiles.

 

hi well..I'm pretty lost in the jungle...willing, wishing to buy me a laptop able to run smoothly my 3D renderings stuff and be at same time a lit modell to carry around whenever I go..(I'm small frame and have back problem!)
So I herad lots about Lenovo ThinkPad T61p
but got a chock with the price...and also with the weight...2,5 kilo.
Any of you guys can give me a better choice here?
I need, it's a must to have a great video card. So far it would do a Nvidia (any) with dedicated 512Mb or a Quadro with it's 256 MB.
CPU (ok a Quad Core will do fine! but I read the Phantom and do NOT want to carry the Monster size) so as I say a CPU with minimun 2 GHZ Core2Duo- Able to run a 64 bits XPPro in it..if possible. Also 4 GB ram or at least 2 Gb.
Anyone with a good solution?
Weight is a sensitive part: less than 2 kilos will be HEAVEN!
Thanks
Cris