Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Review Discussion

The ThinkPad T61 14.1" widescreen notebook was recently released by Lenovo as an update to the T60 series. The T61 uses the new Intel Centrino Duo platform (Santa Rosa) and offers a number of design updates. Following is a full review.

Read the full content of this Article: Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Review

 

Excellent, long anticipated review Andrew. Thank you!

 

I'm reading as I type.

 

Beautifully written. I love it like a fat kid loves cake. This review far exceeded the expectations. Let the good times roll....


One night and one more time. Thanks for the memories.

 

When you tested the battery life, was that with Aero on or off?

Also, does one of the battery saving option allow you to automatically disable Aero when it uses the battery?

 

Great review, thanks! Just one minor thing, under specs you listed "1 S-Video" when there is no S-Video on the T61.

 

why T series always lack at lcd screen???

The screen doesnt look nice as HP,Toshiba or Fujitsu...

 

Nice review, but did I miss the bit about the weight?

I like the screen resolution but not the dimness. There shouldn't be a problem with increasing the brightness.

John

 

Nice review! I was extremely suprised that the X3100 actually outperforms ATI's X1270 in 3Dmark 05. Seems like Intel finally did a gob job with an IGP. In fact those 3DMark 05 scores are about on par with those of a dedicated ATI X1300.

 

Good review, thanks.

 

I don't recall Thinkpads ever having a good LCD screen, besides the FlexView ones of course. I guess it's just one of their traits.

 

Thanks for the review Andrew!

Wow that intel X3100 IGP performs really well for an IGP.

 

I've waited for this, thanks, andrew!

 

Nicely written review. The Thinkpad T61 seems to have met my expectations.
Also, the Intel X3100 sounds quite promising. The only question now, is it worth the price difference over the Quadro NVS 140?

 

Since the x3100 is integrated, it will cost less. Nice job Andrew.

 

screen being off center is ugly.

very nice review, by the way.

 

Hmm they eliminated the bump on the lcd panel of the old T60 by off-centering the screen on this one. I think I like the old way better.

Nice review, btw.

 

Thank you for the review. For those of us in the market its going to be an interesting time.

 

Incredible review! Thanks... it seems like ThinkPad cannot be beaten again. Great quality. Although I would prefer the FlexView screen and a centered screen.
And what a great 3dmark05 score!

 

SuperPI & PCMark seems to have great scores...looks like the X3100 isn't all that hot of a graphics chip.

 

very nice review. hope you will write one for X61 when it comes out.

 

Great review! Thanks

 

at last what we all were waiting forthanks for the great review andrew
cheers

 

Aero was on when I tested, and it was not an option for turning off in the Lenovo "Battery Stretch" application, though that's a good suggestion and one they might want to add. If you really wanted to go nuts there'd be other ways to save battery life too, such as turning off ports you know you don't use.

Oops, deleted that one, don't know how that snuck-in.

You did, and thanks for calling it out, as I forgot to include it but have now.

I think the important thing to remember is that the configs for the T61 are going to be widely varying so hopefully others that order this system will be able to provide reviews based on configs that they get and their experience.

 

A most excellent and comprehensive review. One question though -- How are the drivers for the X3100? Looking at the video for 3dmark05, it seems that the gpu is not rendering some things correctly... the smoke when the cannon fires looks especially hideous and blocky (in the first video, not the second). Was that just some random glitch? Or are there other rendering problems too.

 

Thanks for that highly anticipated review Andrew. Much appreciated and well written.

Unfortunately, it also pretty much killed that laptop for me. The off center screen was annoying enough, but the battery life is abysmal. I was hoping that the nVidia Quadro was the reason for the poor battery life performance found by PCMag/Cnet, but it seems that's not the case. 2:14 in the DVD test is inline with other reviews (I believe they were using 6 cell batteries as well) and 3:41 could only be achieved with med/low brightness (which I'm guessing is quite low, considering the already low max brightness) and more importantly no wifi.

On the other hand, the Dell D630 seems to have improved in the battery life department, if early reviews are to be trusted. Close to 4 hours in the DVD test with the 9-cell would indicate it being better than the D620 which could only muster 3:30-4:00 in regular use.

Ah well.

 

Nifty review, was looking forward to it all week. BTW, do you know how many nits the screen is? I'm guessing around 200 or so but I prefer a more certain answer.

 

I just ordered my T61 and was told the 6-Cell battery also remains flush to the laptop, only the 7 cell sticks out the back?

Are you sure the 6-cell sticks out?

If so I may change to a 4-cell and also order the Ultrabay battery when I need extendend battery life...

 

Great review Andrew!

 

The 6 cell definitely juts out. Only the 4 cell is flush with the chassis.

 

Thanks for the review.

I just saw a few typos I would like to comment:
On "Specs" section: Processor: Intel T730 -> Processor: Intel T7300.
On "Super Pi Comparison Results" section: Lenovo ThinkPad T60 ( 2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7400). The T7400 processor has a clock frequency of 2.16GHz. The T7200 it's the one with 2GHz clock frequency. For the result of Super PI I guess it's a T7200(2.00GHz) processor.

Regards.

 

Andrew

Very nice review. Yours is so much more thorough than anyone else's (cnet or pcmag).

As usual, there is no perfect laptop. Although the T61 sounds pretty close. I had a D620 and got rid of it because the screen was so dim. I had a T60 and really like it (15"), especially the screen. But recently, I've been using a Macbook Pro and REALLY enjoy the nice bright LCD.

Although I have a T61 on order because I need a Vista Aero laptop for testing (I'm a software developer), I'm just wondering if I wouldn't be better off with the D630 since the LCD nits has been increased to 220 and I'm guessing the T61 is around 180 or 185?

I guess I'll wait for your D630 review and then decide. You the man, Andrew!

 

nice review, nice laptop.

 

Nice job Andrew!

 

Nice review but the batt life seems... meh?

*Toss up between Thinkpad and Mac in Steven's own world*

 

I think that was a random glitch, I just ran it again and didn't get that. Weird though.

Yes it sticks out, the dimensions for each are:

4 cell is 8.14" wide x 1.57" deep / weight is 221 grams / battery life is 3.6hrs with integrated graphics, 2.4 hours with dedicated
6 cell is 8.81" wide x 2.51" deep / weight is 325 grams / battery life is 5.5hrs with integrated graphics, 3.7 hours with dedicated
7 cell is 8.81" wide x 2.51" deep (same as 6) / weight is 386 grams / battery life is 6.4hrs with integrated graphics, 4.3 hours with dedicated

Thanks, I corrected both of those typos now.

 

Awesome, thanks for the review, good job . Glad to see these are on the market so soon. I am tempted to buy one now and not wait for the T61P

 

What is the pro/ con of the Intel X3100 versus the nVIDIA Quadro NVS?

 

I would say pro is better graphics rendering such as gaming or 3d rendoring applications, also better DVD/Blu-ray playback. Drawback is *potentially* needs more power and costs more.

 

Andrew, great review!!!! Very informative!!

The 6 cell battery sticking out is just ugly =(

P.S. censor your vista license key =)

 

Very well written and in depth review, thank you.

By the way, does anybody knows if lenovo will offer a flexview option later on? If so then it might worth waiting a little some times before buying.. at least for me.

 

Hi Guys,

In your review, I'd like to see you STRONGLY reiterate the need for Lenovo to introduce a 15" screen version of this machine. I have been running an 15" IBM A30 (which has performed flawlessly) since 2001 and I'm finally about to upgrade. For Lenovo to get my business the larger screen MUST become available soon.

And when I say 15" screen - I'm NOT interested in a 15.4" widescreen, which is wider but shorter than the original 15" screens.

I don't watch movies for a living - I use my laptop for strictly business.

I almost purchased the 15" T60p in January and decided to wait for the 800Mhz FSB Santa Rosa chipset to become available. If I lose both my screen and the high quality GP and I'm forced to a wide screen format I'm not going to buy Lenovo again.

A Lenovo T61p in 15" 4:3 ratio would be a machine I would buy immediately.

I'd also like to see the turbo memory and verizon wireless available on the same machine.

Best Regards,

gregormacgregortheprinceofpoyais

 

Thank you for the review Andrew.

I've been looking forward to buying a santa rosa thinkpad for a while now but with the X61's in the pipeline I'll have to defer my final decision for a while longer.

As for the T61, looks to be fine but for the few quirks I wish it was without

 

No more IR port? There goes the 500 dollar Polar heart rate monitor connectivity. GMPOP

 

i think you are in a ever shrinking minority on the standard screens. Have you done work on a widescreen before? I find them perfectly usable, and dont miss the old formats. In fact, ive used 17, 15.4 14.1 and now 12.1 widescreens, and even the 12.1 is great.

 

I was considering the T61 with the 14,1" widescreen and Quadro graphics to be my next laptop but the offset (dim) screen and lacking 4Cell (flush) battery are definite turn-offs. D630 seems so much better compared to T61 right now.

 

dont let it discount this computer, most new laptops havent provided this for a while now...just get a usb ir adapter

 

This review would definately be hard to match

 

Does anyone know the height and width dimensions of the typical 15.4 Wide Aspect vs the 15 Standard Aspect (both were T60 options circa Jan 07, for instance). Maybe I'm misled but I was under the impression that the 15.4 Wide Aspect was wide but the same height as a 14.1.
Thx... MGPOP

 

Physically I'm not sure but as far as pixels, a 15.4" (widescreen) with 1650X1050 is as tall as a 14" (not widescreen) with 1400X1050.