This review is for a custom built T61 with: 2.6GHz with 6MB L2, WSXGA+ screen, NVDIA Quadro NVS 140M 128MB, 4GB of RAM, 200GB hard drive, 1GB Intel Turbo Drive Cache, DVD DL writer, integrated fingerprint reader, Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN, Bluetooth, and Windows Vista Business 64.

I have always been a Toshiba Tecra fan, with my first Tecra purchased more than 10 years ago. Since then, I have only strayed once with a Sony Vaio. The Vaio was small, light, and snazzy-looking. I used it for a couple of years and switched back to another Tecra the moment it kicked the bucket. Like all Sony products, the Vaio looked great, was full of wonderful gadgets, but short on durability and drivers.

My latest Tecra M series laptop had been a bit more trouble-prone than my previous systems. Memory swap, hard drive failure, and heating problem being a few issues that came to mind immediately. Three weeks ago, it finally succumbed under the strain of business travel, being transported thousands of miles, covering three continents in an overhead bin or the back of an airplane seat over and over again finally did it in. After my last trip, an inch-wide black strip suddenly took up permanent resident in the middle of the screen, going from the top to the bottom. Just like a black hole, no visible light could escape from this black strip, and it rendered the laptop pretty much useless.

My company offered me the choice of a MacBook or another Toshiba Tecra M9 from the corporate asset management process. I also had the option to purchase one on my own. I opted for a change and chose the latter option.

As I set about finding myself a new laptop, I came up with the selection criteria:
-A business laptop, not a gamer or multimedia laptop
-Sturdy, durable and reliable
-Travel-friendly - not too heavy, not oversized, must be able to open up on the plane in economy class cabin.
-Wide screen format, but not larger than 15"
-Discrete graphics card with at least 64MB of discrete graphics memory
-Excellent networking capabilities - all laptops are equipped with WiFi and 802.1 Ethernet, but I wanted a laptop equipped with a good network adapter.

After seeing all the broken Dell laptops in my travels and hearing all the horror stories from associates and friends alike, Dell was a no-go from the start. HP and Compaq were ruled out due to my previous experience with systems from these two vendors. I toyed with the idea of another Sony Vaio but stopped myself just in time.

I have always liked the ThinkPad line for their durability even though in the IBM days they had a reputation for driver scarcity, proprietary technologies, and non-compliant equipment, etc. However, as a solid business laptop, ThinkPad has a great reputation and history. All the ThinkPad owners that I have spoken to(my brother included) have great things to say about the product line. Even after the label (and technologies) was acquired by Lenovo, I was pleased to find out that the new vendor was able to maintain the reputation and product quality. So I decided to get a ThinkPad for a change.

The Purchase
It turned out that the best way to purchase a ThinkPad these days was through the Lenovo website directly, unless you were able to find the laptop with the right configuration at your local computer store.

The Lenovo website was very well designed and within minutes I was able to zero in on the laptop model that addressed my requirements. I then proceeded to configure the laptop to my liking.

At the time, the site was running a 10% off sale with an additional 25% off on any laptop over $1400. I found an e-coupon online that gave me an additional 10% off on top of the 35% discount. In the end, I paid less for this system than the one sold at the local Lenovo dealer that had a slower CPU, less drive space, less RAM, and inferior screen. Even though my company was paying for the system, I enjoyed getting a good deal regardless of who was footing the bill.

After placing the order, I needed to make a minor adjustment. I called Lenovo twice and spoke with two different service personnel - one was kind of grumpy and the other one was superbly friendly and helpful. The laptop was put into the production queue 2 days after I placed the order. About 9 days after placing the order, I received an email informing me that the laptop was en route across the Pacific. I received the laptop 16 days after placing the order. In terms of logistics and shipping, I believe 16 days from web to door by way of China is not too bad at all, considering USPS sometimes takes over a week just to get a package across the US/Canada border.

First Impression
When the laptop came out of the shipping box (which looked exactly the same as the IBM ThinkPad shipping box) "solid" was the only word I could think of to describe it. A lot of laptops tend to flex or sag when they are picked up, especially by the corner. A lot of them make creaky noises as they flex too. The cheaper the laptop, the more it flexes, and the creakier it gets. All the ThinkPads that I have encountered seem to be the exception. The T61, due to the internal roll cage design, was very sturdy.

The machine looks and feels well-built. There is no question about the build quality. The roll cage and rigid chassis no doubt add to the overall weight of the unit.

Opening the laptop is a two-handed affair, such is the strength of the hinges. When the screen lock snaps shut, there is very little free play between the screen and the keyboard - everything remains closed and tight as it should be.

The T61 is about 1" thick and weighs over 5 pounds. Compared to some of the behemoths weighing in at close to 8 lbs, the T61 is not too bad.

The screen measures 15.4" diagonally and it is sharp, crisp and clear. In 1680x1050 mode with 96 DPI font, the picture and text are both clear and easy to read. The built-in speakers are quite good, they are able to handle music and movies alike, without sounding tinny at all.

Features
In addition to the sturdiness and build quality, there are other features that set the T61 apart:

Thinkstick
I was never a fan of those little nubs/joysticks on most laptops. However, ThinkStick made a convert out of me. ThinkStick is a lot more precise than its functional equivalences on other laptops and it is more efficient than the touchpad. I made the mistake of trying it out when I booted up the system for the first time, and I have not touched the touchpad since.

Fingerprint Reader
The integrated reader works really well in conjunction with ThinkVantage Password Manager. I can use it for hard drive encryption, system login, and even website login.

Thinklight
There is a small white LED light embedded into the middle of the screen’s top edge. Its location makes it perfect for illuminating the keyboard when working in the dark. I know it is a small thing but it comes in handy more often than you think.

ThinkVantage
There is a blue button (another IBM hold-over) above the keyboard that, when pressed, will bring up the ThinkVantage menu. Under Windows, this menu allows the user to backup/restore data, tune up the system, get updates, and configure the laptop. During boot-up, if the ThinkVantage button is pressed, it will bring up the pre-OS menu offering options such as BIOS configuration, backup/restore, restore the factory image, and other rescue features. This ThinkVantage utility is cleverly designed, and very well integrated into the hardware as well as the O/S. I am not normally partial to hidden partitions with proprietary management firmware, but the ThinkVantage does it well enough that its benefits outweigh my prejudice.

The unit does not come with rescue disks or O/S on disks. It is through ThinkVantage one generates rescue disks as well as O/S backups.

Keyboard
For a laptop keyboard, it offers a surprising long stroke depth. The keys are a little stiffer than most keyboards and less noisy. The keyboard is very comfortable to type with once you get used to it. If you like clicky clacky keyboards, then the ThinkPad keyboard may not be for you. Dell users will be pleased to know that the keyboard is NOT glued to the underside of the laptop shell like some Dell models so there is no fear of the keyboard detaching itself from the laptop.

Other Nifty Features
-Shock Detection for the hard drive - it will temporary shut down the hard drive when the system detects impending impact.
-Drainage and Spill Resistance - it can handle up to 60cc of liquid spilled on the keyboard, with a drainage hole in the bottom of the laptop for the liquid to drain out.
-Radio Antennas - WiFi and Bluetooth antennas are placed behind the LCD screen for better reception and performance. As a result, the WiFi reception and sensitivity is great, likewise with Bluetooth.

Usage
The unit came with Windows Vista Business 64 installed - it was my choice and it turned out to be a bad one. While the factory technician did a decent job loading the O/S, it was not the best image I had encountered. For one thing, the T61 came with a slew of trial-ware and other offers, cluttering up the drive and making it very inconvenient to install the software that I really wanted to use. For example, I wanted to install Office 2003 instead of 2007 or XP but I had to remove the 2007 trial version first. Ditto with Outlook, Norton Antivirus, etc.

To make matters worse, Vista 64 posed some serious problems of its own. For example, it was not compatible with my Cisco VPN client (which I need to connect to my office), and Cisco was not planning to release a 64-bit friendly version any time soon. In some ways, it reminds me of the NT Serveri/Workstation O/S of the bad old days…

After a lot of trial-and-error experimentation, I finally got fed up with the O/S and planned to "downgrade" back to the old trusty XP. Before making that drastic move, I decided to give the factory image stored in the hidden partition one more try. I fired up ThinkVantage during boot and started the re-load. It took close to 3 hours but the resulting O/S load was much cleaner (without the score of trial-ware) and a little more stable.

I am now living with that image and keeping my fingers crossed that Cisco, and other vendors, will start support Vista-64 really soon.

Conclusion
So far, after spending hours migrating from my old Tecra and reloading the OS on this new T61, I am still convinced that the Lenovo ThinkPad line lives up to the reputation of its IBM predecessor. It is definitely one of the best business laptops one can acquire with confidence.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 1850
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50