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Thinkpad T61, Dell D830 Thoughts

July 9, 2008 4:11 am John Hardware, Laptop, Uncategorized

September 2007, I was in the market for a new laptop. My trusty, yet heavy and Asus Z80K was having DVD-ROM drive issues again and I didn’t want to shell out another $80 just to replace it.  There were some other issues with the laptop as well. The battery was shot as well.

The Asus Z80K is known as a “desktop replacement” laptop. It was big, it was heavy, it ran hot…but it was really awesome!  Hardware wise, it was an AMD64 3200+ with 2Gb of RAM, Wifi, a great looking 1400×1050 screen, and an ATi 9700Pro video card. It was really nice to be able to take that rig to a LAN party and be able to play Battlefield 1942 with the built in ATi Radeon 9700Pro.  The machine was a beautiful 8.5lb silver beast.

After a while, I just started to get the itch for a new laptop. I decided to really think about what I wanted from a laptop this go around.  I had decided like many out there that a desktop really is the best way to go for gaming. You get a lot of bang for the buck.

I decided that what I wanted for my personal laptop was a dedicated Linux workhorse, and came up with these requirements.

1. As fast as a CPU as I could afford.
2. As much RAM as I could afford.
3. CD/DVD Burner
4. Must be pretty rugged since there are little kids present.
5. Good battery life.
6. Blue tooth
7. Highest resolution display that I could afford.
8. No “Windows Tax” if possible.

Based on these requirements, I began my search to see what fit the bill. I looked at Dell, Apple, HP, Sony, and Lenovo/IBM.  I limited my research more to the business class machines as I wanted to do more code and less gaming.

I pretty much wrote off Apple, HP, and Sony for a few reasons.  For the Mac that I would want, it would wind up being rather pricey for what I got. Don’t get me wrong, I have a sneaky suspcision that one day I will wind up with one. Just as soon as Apple “invents” a second mouse button. The other reason I opted not to go with a Mac was that they are just too shiny and slick looking. I know that sounds really stupid, but again, keep in mind that I have two kids. How long do you actually think that Mac would stay shiney and scratch free?

HP’s new business class machines were also rather slick looking and looked like they fit the bill, but at the time they seemed to lack customization and they were about as expensive as a Mac, so no joy there as well.

Sony had nice style, but again, I didn’t want to pony up for an expensive sleek laptop. I wanted a no nonsense “pony car” of a laptop.

So this narrowed the field down to the Dell Lattitude series and the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad line.  I had lots of positive experience with Thinkpads when I worked for CSC back in the 90’s and knew them to be a rugged workhorse, but my current employer buys only Dell and I could get a reasonable discount if I bought a Dell.

Dell had some really good deals and was rather tempting. They offer a line of laptops that are Microsoft Windows free and reduce the price by the cost of the license…or some such. All I knew, was that it was about $100 cheaper than getting the same laptop with Windows. But alas, this was not the Lattitude line but rather the personal Inspiron line of computers.

After spending a few weeks on the forums of a few notebook forums and researching both the Lattitude and the new Thinkpad T61, I was able to decide on a “best fit” set of components for the laptop.

I had decided that the chosen laptop would utilize integrated graphics, have an extended life battery, a 15.4 1680×1050 screen resolution, a 7200RPM SATA drive and a dual layer DVD burner.

Both Dell and Lenovo/IBM offered all of these options at very reasonable prices. After specing out both, I ultimately decided on the Thinkpad T61 with the following specs.

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.20Ghz
• 2Gb RAM
• 100Gb 7200RPM SATA HDD
• Intel X3100 Integrated graphics
• MMC Card Reader
• Blue Tooth
• Fingerprint Reader. (Not a necessity, but its just damn cool!)
• Intel Wireless Pro 4965AGN
• Ultra-Bay Slim Dual Layer DVD burner
• Ultra-Bay Slim tray for extra HDD
• Lenovo backpack carrying case. (This was one of my GREAT ideas! I LOVE IT! I no longer have shoulder pain from shlepping an 8.5lb Asus Laptop on one shoulder! YAY!)

There were a few things that really sold me on the Thinkpad. One being that everyone was touting how great the keyboards were. Now, I had remembered the two old Thinkpads from back in the day with some mixed reviews. The original Thinkpad I had with CSC was a Thinkpad 760CD. The keyboard on this puppy lifted from the back to provide a raised typing surface. I remember this particular keyboard to be hell on typing after it was broken in! But it ran OS/2 2.x and Windows 3.11 well enough.  The Thinkpad 770 was much better and much more “tankish” since the keyboard did not lift and separate from the main chasis.  With a lot of people talking about how good the keyboard was I decided that there may just be something to this.

A few of the other deciding factors were mainly trivial, but the big ones were the Ultra-Bay slim slot, the optional long life battery, the option to slap a battery in the ultra-bay slot, it weighs a bit less than the Lattitude (if I recall correctly) and is a bit thinner.

So I ordered my Thinkpad T61, and after some mis-communication with Lenovo on my order, they finally shipped it out.

I’ve had my Thinkpad now for about 10 months now, and I have been EXTREMELY happy with the unit since receiving it. The build quality is exceptional with a little bit of a nit on how the extended battery fits in place. The battery locks in just fine, but there is a bit of a very slight “wobble” to it. Oh well, not that big of a deal.  It should be noted that since Lenovo did not offer Linux over Windows at the time, I was unable to escape the Microsoft tax. GRRR!! BAH!  To their credit, they now offer Linux options for the Thinkpad line.  It should also be noted that Windows Vista lasted on my new T61 about as long as it took me to back up the system software and install Linux, so roughly an hour or so.

I use my T61 everyday, for everything except gaming. I code, I blog, I research, I surf, etc. Weather if its while I am sitting up in bed typing away before I pass out or on the front porch having a nice cigar enjoying the weather. The T61 has really been one of the best tech items I’ve purchased…and yes, the keyboard is all that and a bag or twelve of chips!

The desktop unit I had was rather weak for the type of development we are doing, so I was of course using my trusty workhorse, the Thinkpad, at work. This really wasn’t a problem at all with my employer, who by the way is really great.

Last week, my company ordered and received a new Dell Lattitude D830 for me to use.  Before they ordered the unit I was offered the opportunity to give them some specs for the laptop. I was able to get 4Gb of RAM and Windows XP instead of Vista. Other than that they really did a great job on getting me a powerhouse of a machine.

Here are the specs of the new Dell D830

• Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.20Ghz
• 4Gb RAM
• 120Gb 5400RPM SATA HDD
• Blue Tooth
• Dell Wireless…I’m not sure…I need to double check.
• WUXGA screen
• Intel X3100 Integrated graphics.

All in all a great box. Though, I can’t help but compare my T61 to the D830 since they are the same class of machine.  After using the Dell for about a week now, I am really starting to see all of the little “niggle” thinks that crop up.

• The keyboard on the Thinkpad is lightyears ahead of the D830. The D830 feels “gummy” to me. I know this could be due to the keyboard not being broken in, but I don’t recall the T61’s keyboard being anything like this. The T61 keyboard is just “fast”.
• The CTRL and FN keys are flipped on the D830 vs the T61. I keep hitting the FN key on the Dell when I want to hit the CTRL key.
• The D830’s keyboard does not light up and there is not a light to illuminate the keyboard like the Thinkpad’s light
• The D830’s Trackpoint system lacks a third button. This is annoying as hell since I’ve been using my T61’s middle button for scrolling.
• The D830’s Trackpoint movement is hyper-sensitive. I am sure there is a way to adjust this somewhere.
• In contrast the D830’s touchpad is super-slow…what gives? Again where can I adjust this?
• When I attempt to use the D830’s trackpoint system and left-click, I ALWAYS hit the damn chasis instead of the button. The button is flush with the chasis. The T61’s buttons have raised bump/ridges and the area around them is “hollowed” out.
• While using the D830 on the porch tonight, I noticed that it definitely felt a bit heavier than my T61 which is a bit odd since my T61 actually has more hardware in it.
• The Dell also seemed to heat up my lap nicely. While that would be great in the fall or winter, it kind of blows in the middle of the summer.
• No MMC card reader! I mean, WTF! C’mon!

Now the T61 isn’t perfect either, but its damn close. Here are a few things that I found that “annoy” me on the T61.

• When using the Trackpoint my right thumb joint has a tendency to rub over the touchpad sending my mouse off to destinations unknown and since I use Linux it often flips the desktop workspace to another desktop
• Under Linux the wi-fi light doesn’t light…yeah, yeah, I know big deal and its a Linux only niggle.
• The left border surrounding the display is wider than that of the right giving it an off centered look. Though since the unit is black and you are really focused on the bright part of the screen you really never notice it. Whats more annoying is people asking you, “why?”. If I recall correctly it has something to do with how the antennae are mounted. You have Blue Tooth, Wi-fi and sometimes cellular wirelss built into these puppies. So I guess thats its.
• Again, the slight wobble with the extended life battery
• Battery life isn’t as good as the Dell D830. My T61 reports about 3hours and 55minutes. The D830 is 4hours and change on the standard battery…well, the one that my company ordered anyway. I have no idea which one they ordered.
• The extended battery sticks way out of the back side.  Everything on the D830 is flush.

Its been difficult getting used to the D830 after using a T61 for so long. The T61 felt like a natural extension since the day I got it. And to be honest the Asus Z80K felt rather damn good in that respect as well. The D830 is going to have to grow on me. Its not that the D830 is a bad machine, not in the least. Its just not as “comfortable” as my T61.

When its all said and done these are two rather capable machines that compete head to head for corporate dollars. Based on what I personally like in a laptop, I would definitely recommend the Thinkpad over the Dell Lattitude D830 in a New York minute!