[ltp] ThinkPad R61 NF5DEGE

[Micha]

On Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:20:09 +0100
Fabian Henze <CC.Fan@gmx.de> wrote:

> On 20.11.2008 at 13:30:57, Michael Meese wrote:
> > Hello List!
> >
> > After my ThinkPad SL500 disaster, I searched a new ThinkPad for me. Now
> > I found the ThinkPad R61 NF5DEGE.
> >
> > What are your opinion/experiences on this Modell and Linux/Ubuntu?
> >
> > Thank you for your advice!
> 

I have the t61 so it's not an exact reference

> Hi Michael,
> I have a Thinkpad R61 8919-6VG with
>  - NVidia Card
>  - T7300 (2 GHz)
>  - 4 GB RAM (previously 1 GB)
>  - 200 GB 7k2 upm hitachi hdd (upgraded from 120GB)
>  - no webcam
>  - 9 cell battery
> 
> Almost everything works perfectly (suspend2ram, hdaps, all function keys, 
> ultrabay hotplug, cardreader, bluetooth, wifi, ...) but there are some
> annoying points too, like the nvidia graphics card ... I strongly
> disrecommend this card, as the nvidia drivers are a pain-in-the-ass(tm),
> especially on notebooks. If I would buy a new notebook today I would either
> buy a T61 with intel or a T500 with ati graphics. 
> What I have not tested:
>  - Firewire (but I guess it works)
>  - suspend2disk (don't need it)

The nvidia can be an issue. up to driver 173.(don't remember) which works with
kernel 2.6.27 it suspends to disk fine. The newer drivers needed for the
2.6.28.whatever kernel don't suspend at the moment with the nvidia card
(actually they just don't resume)

>  - the touchpad (I use the trackpoint)

Works great. It's either the synaptic which is better or alps which is not as
good but also ok. Both will work.

>  - fingerprint reader (It seems to work but I don't use it regulary)
>  

It works but sometimes has an issue with not turning off properly. Look at the
list history, I there is some talk about enabling usb suspend or something like
that. My current machine doesn't have the fingerprint reader, the previous one
did and had these issues.

> Also note that the power consumtion is usually very high. While writing this 
> mail with full brightness and wifi on it consumes ~22W. My old T40 would 
> consume about 15W. However this might be due to the nvidia card ...
> 

The nvidia is a culprit. For some reason the previous laptop went down to about
15W the current only to about 18 but this is with the nvidia and a stronger cpu
(T9300 2.5Ghz) and more memory.

It also depends on the screen size, this is with a 15.4" screen.

> -- Fabian