Meet Tim, a senior technician here at Laptop Broker. Like all our technicians, Tim knows his way around a laptop and has upgraded and rebuilt thousands of computers over the years. We asked Tim 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 X61 Review

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is an ultraportable laptop. The X61 is a condensed version of X60 albeit only in its physical size and weight. There are no compromises on quality, speed, or features. Lenovo ThinkPad X61 has been able to clamp on small shortcomings of X60 model so that X61 is an impeccable successor. The 7200-rpm hard drive proves to be the greatest beneficial factor as it gives loads instantaneously.

Features

The overall design of Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is according to Intel’s new Santa Rosa. It has a solid and yet rugged feel. The black matte finish is truly appealing and makes it a perfect attribute for the articulate businessperson. Every internal component is designed perfectly so that repairs or adjustments do not hamper functioning of other components.

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 comes with 2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 7200-rpm hard drive, and 2GB of RAM. The operating system is Windows Vista Business. It can support 4 GB RAM maximum memory. This 56kb modem offers 10/100/1000 Ethernet connection, Bluetooth wireless, and includes battery of standard capacity and power adapter.

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 has a certified warranty period of a year only. It also supports advanced security features and has few innovative battery controls that offer you more hours of unplugged working. Built-in speakers of Lenovo ThinkPad X61 are weak. You should wear headphones to receive better sound quality.

Rating: 4/5

The Looks on the Exterior

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 has a unibody structure with stainless steel display hinges, full-size keyboard, and complete port selection. The entire unit has a compact finish. The outer covering is sturdy and offers complete protection for all inner components even with rough handling.

All panels and covers offer easy options for opening and replacing. You do not have to undo the entire unit to change any specific part. There are separate panels at the bottom of X61 for easy access to hard disk and RAM. Removing few screws at the bottom helps you reach the wireless cards, keyboard, or backup battery for any necessary repairs. Further, these easy-to-remove panels and screws allow you to have a take at any minor repairs instead of waiting for professionals to come and set things right.

Rating: 5/5

Keyboard and Touch point

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 surprises its users with a full-size keyboard. The keyboard layout is functional. All function keys and number and alphabet keys are of the same size. Only the outer keys are smaller. You do not have to adjust your typing skills if you are accustomed to the earlier larger models of Lenovo.

Every key offers perfect build quality and works with great precision. Keys work with hardly the slightest noise, rather equivalent to noiseless typing. Keys are very responsive providing the perfect setting for a fast typist. Keyboard has a spill proof layer that prevents any possible harm to your keyboard due to accidental spills.

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 offers a touch point in place of the touchpad to save on space. The touch point is overtly sensitive in the sense, sometimes the pointer drifts off by itself. Although a minor issue, it does come across as a fault.

Tablet pens of X61 are very comfortable for use. It is of solid plastic and the eraser works fine. Lenovo also offers some useful replacement tips for pens.

You may find the touch point as a different feature from the touchpad as available in Lenovo ThinkPad X60. Transition from touchpad to touch point is not difficult. Touch point is definitely a space-saving feature on X61. Yet, you cannot undermine its utility and superb sensitivity. Sometimes, you would have to tap it a little hard to make it stop. However, this is not a permanent feature, which could require remedial steps.

Rating: 4/5

Screen

The screen of Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is bright and clear without any dead pixels. There are no defined blacks or contrast. Screen color is white and all colors come along impressively. There are no grains on the screen.

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 sports a superb touch screen. The secure hinge pivots a precise semi-circle to convert your screen into a tablet mode. The screen thereafter automatically adjusts to all tablet orientations.

However, vertical viewing angles are improper. The display cover offers excellent protection. Hinges are strong and easy to handle. You can click open the display with a single hand, as the small hinges offer less friction and are less tight. There is no backlight leakage in the screen.

Rating: 4/5

Battery Life

Battery life of Lenovo ThinkPad X61 is four to five hours on use of extended eight-cell battery. Often, Vista and ThinkPad power management settings cause internal conflicts causing your laptop to consume excessive battery power. This causes frequent shutdowns and requires rebooting.

Battery recharging is comparatively faster than X60 model. This is specifically evident when battery recharges at higher levels. Power adapter is a small 65w model and weighs just 8 oz. It is the perfect accessory to superlite X61.

Rating: 4/5

Sound and Heat

Lenovo ThinkPad is a small laptop. Yet, heat output far exceeds its small size. The fan is always spinning at a low speed and does expel considerable amount of heat generated. Fan causes little noise, which comes under negligible category.

Both the wireless cards are on the right side. After you use your laptop for around half-hour, you will feel the right palm rest getting heated up. If you work for few hours continuously, this place would become quite uncomfortable to continue working due to the heat generated.

Rating: 2/5

Processor and System Performance

Core 2 Duo L7500 1.6GHz processor of Lenovo ThinkPad X61 offers no-complaint performances. You can run multiple applications at the same time. It is slow in booting, although this drawback is more of Vista than of X61. You can increase memory to 4GB, which will allow more space to store your documents and files.

Rating: 5/5

Ports

The front of your X61 laptop has only the wireless on/off switch and screen latch. On the left side, there is one USB port, 1 GB LAN, CPU heat sink output grill, VGA connector, and PCMCIA Slot with SD card reader below it. On the right side, there are four fire wire ports, headphone and microphone jacks, 2 USB connectors, 56k modem jack, HD access panel, power plug, and Kensington lock port. Battery is at the back and there is an expansion slot at the bottom for a docking station.

Rating: 5/5

Wireless and Networking

Lenovo ThinkPad X61 offers little different wireless settings. The built-in system provides easy connectivity and you can effortlessly move from one location to another. Bluetooth connectivity is useful if you are also using other wireless devices. X61 additionally offers optional WWAN connectivity through Verizon Wireless' EV-DO service. Hence, connectivity is not any problem. You only have to decide your preferred settings.

Rating: 5/5

Overall Conclusions

Overall Lenovo ThinkPad X61 offers the ultimate in combining business with easy traveling. You get all benefits of a huge machine but in a much smaller size and lesser weight. X61 is surely expensive. However, available features always come at a premium. Design may not be exclusive or fancy to the eye but responses and functions are definitely exclusive and something to rave about. Advanced security features assure total security of your data.

Upgrading the RAM is easy and is by just removing the access panel at the bottom. You may not even have to remove your palm rest. The major drawback possibly is from Windows Vista. It would be better to install Windows XP Professional in Lenovo ThinkPad X61 to overcome this problem.

This laptop ideally suits users in need for a laptop with superb transportability but without any compromises on functionality, performances, or durability. There are no unused spaces within the laptop. Every single inch is used sensibly and effectively.

Pros:

• Ultraportable
• Fast access
• Lightweight
• Good Battery Life
• Good Wireless Connectivity

Cons:

• View angles on screen improper and disturbing
• Palm rest gets heated
• Touch point drifts off intermittently
• Expensive
• No built-in optical drive, although this saves on laptop weight