Meet Jin, a senior technician here at Laptop Broker. Like all our technicians, Jin knows his way around a laptop and has upgraded and rebuilt thousands of computers over the years. We asked Jin to review a few laptops he is familiar with and have posted them for our customers to review. We hope you find this information helpful and welcome your feedback.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t Review

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61T is among the multimedia oriented notebooks. It is a subtle combination of convenience and mobility of a notebook with functionality and performance of a desktop. It is easily manageable and very reliable. The widescreen display is the first of its kind, ever on a ThinkPad.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor with speed of 2.0 GHz. This 1.83GHz T2400 notebook supports a maximum RAM memory of 3 GB while the in-built memory is 2GB. Operating system is Windows XP Professional. It has a DVD recordable drive and a 60GB hard disk. Bluetooth connectivity is present but there is no infrared. It has a three-year warranty.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has a World Bench 5 score of 81. This is definitely a good score for a machine with these specifications. The score could prove surprising. However, this system does not support gaming systems. The security scanner works well and proves very compatible with all applications.

Features

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has a wide-screen display and multi-card media reader. It has a built-in webcam. You can play with digital media without the support of any powerful gaming or editing workstation. Volume and mute controls are above the keyboard for quick media control.

This laptop supports many design enhancements. It has a cage-like metal protection plate around the hard disk. This safeguards your hard disk from static electricity and any other physical shocks. A similar feature guards PCIe and PCMCIA card slots. An overall active system sensor can detect any sudden falls and protect hard drive’s read/write head. Speakers on either side of the laptop offer clear and crisp sound. However, the sound quality is insufficient.

Rating: 4/5

The Looks on the Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has a solid built. It has a decent titanium cover on the outside. The inside of the laptop is of high quality plastic in black color. The inner build is rugged and sturdy. Two metal hinges support the display. These not only provide necessary strength. They also minimize lateral torque of the display. This is different from the plastic hinges commonly seen on other laptops.

You have to use both your hands while opening the laptop screen. However, there is no wobbling of screen even if you open it with one hand. This laptop is one inch thick. The overall design and exterior looks are standard. The main outstanding factor is the titanium lid and the sleek edges that distinguish Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t from other notebooks.

Rating: 4/5

Screen

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has a 1440X900 WXGA+ screen. This 14.1-inch wide-screen display has a resolution of 1280 x 800. The display is within magnesium alloy. This reduces flex, which could otherwise damage the LCD. There are no dead pixels on this LCD display.

The full contact display takes off possible pressure from the front display when your laptop is in a closed position. This offers greater protection to the LCD.

The screen is just as common and nothing to really appreciate. Screen text is small and could stress your eyes. If you try to adjust the settings, text appears blurred. If you use your laptop outside, it could prove problematic. Screen is overall crisp and clear, although it lacks the brightness seen in other recent notebooks.

Rating: 2/5

Keyboard and Touchpad

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t offers an appreciable keyboard. Typing is simple and easy. You can type at high-speed. However, the keys make a lot of noise, although it is not necessarily annoying. Keyboard comes with a protective spill cover. It prevents any damages to keyboard due to accidental spills.

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has a five-button touchpad with two buttons at the lower side and three at the top. Touchpad offers easy movements across the keyboard. However, absence of scrolling pad is very evident while usage.

Rating: 4/5

Battery Life

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t comes with a four-cell battery. It can definitely offer more than three full hours if you operate your laptop totally on the battery. If you use the 7-cell Lithium ion battery, you can get a little more than six hours of battery life. This comes at extra costs.

Rating: 4/5

Heat and Noise

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has three vents for letting out hot air. These are on the left side, at the bottom and at the back. A microprocessor-controlled heat pipe keeps away heat from the CPU. While working with the built-in 2GHZ processor, your laptop will definitely become warm after little time of normal use. You have to accept the fact and continue working. However, if you have to work long hours, it proves uncomfortable and difficult to work. The fan is always on but not noisy enough to cause disturbance.

Rating: 3/5 (because of inconvenience due to heating)

Wireless and Networking

Wireless networking on Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t is through 802.11a/b/g. This is in addition to wired networking via a Broadcom NetXtreme gigabit Ethernet port. A modem port is also present on the left hand side. Connectivity is good. It houses the new Verizon WWAN that allows you to go anywhere and yet access the Internet. You remain truly mobile.

Rating: 4/5

Ports

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has many ports. Ports on the front include IR port, headphone, WiFi/Bluetooth on/off switch, 3-in-1 card reader, and microphone jack. Ethernet port, VGA-out port, and modem port are on the left side. Fire wire, three USB ports, security lock, and PC card slot are on the right side. Power connector and S-video port is on the backside. There is no Express Card slot.

Rating: 5/5

Webcam

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t has an integrated webcam at the top left side of the screen. The camera remains well hidden and is difficult to locate. It proves useful for videoconferencing. Picture quality is good, even in lowlight conditions.

Rating: 5/5

Security

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t offers a biometric security fingerprint scanner. This is perfectly compatible with all applications and only requires password authentication. It comes with the latest Think Vantage client security solution and offers updated password manager software, easy and powerful disk encryption, and complete system security audit that ensures you use the system perfectly.

Rating: 5/5

Software

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t does not offer exclusive software. It is much the same as available in other notebooks. The Think Vantage suite of software is good. It offers special encryption software to safeguard all your data. Further, it is always best to have a backup of all essential data even if your laptop offers complete security.

Rating: 4/5

Support and Service

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t offers a three-year warranty period. Battery warranty is only for a year. You can register your warranty at the Lenovo web site. This will detect your machine configurations automatically and offer necessary support. The knowledgeable database offers necessary support for simple troubleshooting problems. However, you can use the services of professionals for serious problems. Telephonic and online support is easily available at Lenovo.

Rating: 5/5

Overall Conclusions

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61T has a different built than other available laptops. The system offers in-built support for the most common mishaps with a laptop like spills, drops, and shocks. Lenovo ThinkPad Z61t is a good and advantageous buy. It is functional, except that you better not combine playing games and work or run many graphical intense applications at the same time. It proves beneficial for corporate buyers as most of the products have a long lifecycle.

Lenovo offers the ultimate combination of all possible requirements of a traveling businessperson with essential compatibility, functionality, and durability in its ThinkPad Z61t. This laptop can be a good replacement for the desktop computer. It has some consumer features and a very upscale usable notebook for the busy professional.