Review of Lenovo ThinkPad T61 7658 Notebook

Customer Ratings:

Great reliability, tough, fast, workhorse, but on my third set of NEW hinges (they last about 3-6 months max before they start to become wobbly bad design, every one of these I've played with has the same crappy hinge problem).

I like being able to swap out the memory, hard drive, keyboard easily by yourself. Since Lenovo took these over from IBM, the quality has been going down, but this one is still nicely made (again, except the damn hinges!)

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I reviewed the Lenovo 3000 N200 Lenovo 3000 N200 0769 Celeron M 540 / 1.86 GHz RAM 512 MB HDD 80 GB CD-RW / DVD GMA X3100 WLAN : 802.11b/g TPM fingerprint reader Vista Home Basic 15.4" Widescreen TFT 1280 x 800 ( WXGA ) Microsoft Office Ready when I bought it earlier this year after my HP died. I had always been a big fan of the IBM Thinkpads and hoped that the 3000 N200 would be an economical replacement. Proving that you get what you pay for, I was very disappointed. I have subsequently wiped the N200 clean of Vista, installed Windows XP and gave it to my son. It works MUCH better under XP -much faster.

I had always wanted to get the T61 because... well, I like thinkpads. I like the feel of the keyboard. Their displays are crisp and beautiful and the build is solid and durable. But at the time, my budget just wouldn't allow it. But after a few months, I was finally in a position to upgrade.

I was a little hesitant since all my experience with Thinkpads had been while they were still being made by IBM. After my disappointment with the 3000 N200, I was concerned that the poor quality was indicative of Lenovo rather than just the model. But I decided to give the T61 a shot because frankly, all of the other brands out there (...cough... HP.... cough) are known failures that I had to try.

I'm VERY happy to say that the T61 is NEARLY as good as the IBM Thinkpad counterparts. The look and feel are still nearly the same. The display is probably the most similar to the old IBM thinkpads. The speed and all the Lenovo support features are excellent making recovery in the case of catastrophic virus infestation etc a breeze.

What isn't QUITE the same (and the reason I knocked a star off my rating) are a few relatively minor quibbles compared to the old Thinkpads. The keyboard doesn't feel quite as solid as I would like. The touchpad is smaller than usual -even smaller than the 3000 N200 (the one feature of that model that I actually prefer). In addition, the edge of the touchpad is very "prominent" so it is annoying when your finger is constantly bumping up against it. The case isn't quite as pleasing from a "tactile" perspective -it feels more plasticy. And finally, the finger print reader is not as good as the 3000 N200.

However, I can tell that the build quality of this system is substantially better than the lower priced models. In addition, it doesn't have the annoying "shiney" display which the 3000 N200 has and it runs MUCH quieter and cooler than the 3000 N200.

All in all, this isn't IBM's thinkpad but it is far superior to any laptop on the market today in terms of quality and it is truly worth the money.

BTW, my T61 came preloaded with Vista. I have subsequently come to the conclusion that XP is truly a better OS in terms of speed and reliability. Unless you can afford the extra 300-500 for 3gb of memory, "downgrade" to XP. Otherwise, you might as well stick with a used T41.

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Let me tell you a story. A great many years ago, I had an IBM T30. That thing was a tank. It got dropped, battered, and abused. At one point it even flew out of a bicycle toddler trailer and into the middle of a road with very minimal damage. After the life that thing lived in my care, I sold it to a friend, who abused it for 5 more years before the motherboard gave up.

After that machine, I was sold on Thinkpads, and I saved up to custom build a T61. I ordered mine direct from Lenovo and had it customized... 4GBs of RAM, nVidia graphics, Windows XP.. Later on, I put a 500GB hard drive in it and Windows 7.

Lenovo carried on IBM's legacy with the Thinkpads. The quality on this unit is fantastic.

The casing is solid and reliable, all of the components are incredibly reliable. I've never had an issue with my T61.

This thing has been taken all over, dropped, stepped on, and battered. And it's taken all of this abuse with just one little piece of plastic breaking off. The lid hinges are solid stainless steel, the top is solid magnesium, the bottom is thick rugged plastic. This is one well built laptop.

The nVidia NVS Quadro graphics used to be able to play most games with ease. The most modern of games tax it pretty heavily though. Considering it's a business laptop and not really a gaming one, this is pretty good.

All features work well on it, including the kinda gimmicy keyboard light, which actually is quite helpful in the dark. Parts are readilly availble for it as well, so it's an easy machine to fix.

Lenovo's support is second to none. After reinstalling Windows on this machine, the only thing you need to download is the Lenovo update utility and it will take care of the rest. Never seen another manufacture do that!

The only things I've really had issue with is the power supply, which failed on me after a couple of years, and the sound card, which, like most modern systems, is this little Realtek thing that sounds terrible.

But, those are my only real complaints. This poor laptop has been through a lot, and it's been a tough little beast.

I would recommend this product.

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I did not buy this laptop through Amazon but I wanted to share my thoughts here. I'm a poor counselor, living from paycheck to paycheck in highest-in-the-nation-cost-of-living state of Hawaii, and in college working toward my MSW. I needed a robust laptop to put up with college/work/personal life so I bought this T61 from a refurbisher for $130. It came with Win7, 80GB HDD, 2GB RAM and integrated graphics. Key tops were half-worn on the Home row and the LCD is wobbly from worn hinges. When closed, there is still a bit of play with the lid not latching down tightly. 6 years of existence and the laptop does creak a little on sides. I'm not complaining as this is a used T61 and I didn't expect roses.

I upgraded the HDD and RAM and installed Windows 8. The T61 boots/runs faster with all the upgrades. The non-glare LCD is easy on the eyes, although dimmer than other non-glare LCD's I've seen (this is likely not due to age, since I read similar comments written back in 2007 when the T61 was first released). The touchpad is the smallest I've ever come across on any laptop and took me a while to get accustomed to. The T61's Trackpoint is a relic from the 1990s and I feel is outdated as a mouse control device and useless like a human appendix or a vestigal tail is. Lenovo still insisted to include it (and still does to this day) apparently to keep Trackpoint fans happy. The keyboard is louder/noiser and less firm than other keyboards I've used on other business/professional-grade laptops; however perfectly usable and comfortable to type on happily for hours without fatigue. Speakers aren't loud; a bit tinny to my ears but clear. The LCD lid's rubber coating mars easily but is easily cleaned up with a wiping of Windex. Contrary to another review written here, the lid itself is not solid magnesium: instead, it is a composite plastic (not carbon fiber) over a magnesium frame. Its construction still does the job in keeping it solid and near-flexible. The T61 is of the "thin-and-light" category when "thin-and-light" was defined at around 4-5lbs (the weight of this T61 is 5.2lbs with the stock batt). I got a new 7800mah batt off Amazon.com ($25) which bumps the weight up past 6lbs. Thin, yes. Light? No.

Incidentally, batt life is 9+ hours with this new 7800mah batt under Win8 and in Power Saver mode, wifi off, and LCD dimmed to 50%.

My T61 is good, solid-feeling (and solid-looking) laptop. Everything just works. The T61's early-1990's conservative looks, severely angular lines and all-black color make it look either 20+ years old or modern and contemporary, depending on who's eyeing it (I just think it looks "classic"). Other resellers sell T61's with better specs for up to $400 (and likely in better condition than mine) but I'm happy with the one I got and the price I paid for it. //

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The T61 is too hot to handle. Since it was new, the laptop is too hot to put on your lap and becomes very uncomfortable to even lay your palms on it while typing. It inadvertently goes into sleep mode at the most inoportune times due to overheating. I read some of the posts on the web and they suggest cleaning the air intake. However, I doubt it was clogged when I bought it new and it ran very hot then. It is so hot, you cannot consider this a laptop as you couldn't possible keep it on your lap. Makes it very difficult to use.