[ltp] t61p vs t41p

[Richard Neill]

Jim Rockford wrote:

> I'm in the market for a new Laptop and would love to get a T61p, but I'd
> like to be instilled with some confidence that the Thinkpad T series
> hasn't gone down the tubes now that Lenovo is making them.  Any opinions
> from those who know the T series well.  Among my questions are:
> 
> (1) Is the T61p keyboard the same (in terms of the feel of the button
> presses, the tracker button, etc)?  Worse or better?

Basically the same - though the Ctrl and Alt keys are a little smaller
to make room for the Windows keys.


> (2) Is the T61p as sturdy as the T41p (i.e. equally immune to typical laptop
> abuse)?

Pretty much.

> (3) Does the fingerprint reader work reliably?

It's a moot point - fingerprint authentication is somewhat dubious
anyway. It's great for "showing off", but not as secure as a decent
password. Most people here have found it reliable.

> (4) Is Lenovo customer service of reasonably high quality?

I had one issue with the power supply being noisy, and got excellent
service. However, this was from the re-seller, Hemini.co.uk, and not
directly from Lenovo.

> (5) No new complications running linux (i.e. wireless issues) with the
> T61p?  (I will run Fedora)

It depends on exactly which mini-pci card you get. There are various
versions made by different people - get the right one, and all's well.

> (6) (maybe most important) Does the T61p run as *quiet* as the T41p?
> 

If you get a Core2 duo machine, then these run much cooler than the
older chips. So they should be quieter. Noise is rather subjective - and
depends on how busy your system is. Assuming that you care mostly about
the noise when the system is idle, the T6x series are pretty good.

> These are among many of my concerns about investing in a new Thinkpad now
> that Lenovo is running the show.

If you order by credit card, you have 14 or maybe 28 days money-back
refund anyway.

Regards,

Richard