I am going to buy a Lenovo Laptop, need some advices

[legolas_w]

Hi
Thank you for reading my post
I want to buy a laptop and after alot of research I decieded to go with Lenovo.

When I saw the Lenovo site they have two line of laptop which looks to be suitable for me, the first one is Tinkpad T61 the other models are T400 and T500 which looks like to be some new models.

I am wondering whether I should go with T61 series or T500, T400 series.
Also, I do not know whther I should stay with the already selected Wlan card or I should select another model for better compatibility with ubuntu.


Thanks.

[hvac3901]

Hi
Thank you for reading my post
I want to buy a laptop and after alot of research I decieded to go with Lenovo.

When I saw the Lenovo site they have two line of laptop which looks to be suitable for me, the first one is Tinkpad T61 the other models are T400 and T500 which looks like to be some new models.

I am wondering whether I should go with T61 series or T500, T400 series.
Also, I do not know whther I should stay with the already selected Wlan card or I should select another model for better compatibility with ubuntu.


Thanks.

You should read that last part of this. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=5575101

I love my T61, as do many others here in the forum. The word isn't exactly in on the new Tx00's.

[Fused]

I have a Lenovo R61i that I got from laptopsdirect.co.uk ; I dual boot with Ubuntu, and I'm pretty happy with that :)
Lenovos are amazing laptops, good choice.

[wubrgamer]

Has this been investigated further?

I'm looking for a manufacturer direct purchase of a thinkpad, and the t61 in the 14.1 inch screensize is no longer for sale.

So I'm stuck with the tX00 series for the 14.1 T series laptop

which I'm not sure if I'm alright with...

where should I go to see if th et400 works with ubuntu?

[legolas_w]

wubrgamer, we are in the same wagon, have you checked with lenovo and they said that they will not sell T61 14.1" anymore?

thanks

[wubrgamer]

wubrgamer, we are in the same wagon, have you checked with lenovo and they said that they will not sell T61 14.1" anymore?

thanks

It's just not in their shopping interface anymore...like...

you can't go configure one, unless if you can find me a link, I'm pretty sure it got taken off of the "virtual shelf"

[jimrz]

It's just not in their shopping interface anymore...like...

you can't go configure one, unless if you can find me a link, I'm pretty sure it got taken off of the "virtual shelf"
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=19C791A03AF24034A0011B825513BCED
This, though it is the 15.4" model, is on their site as of 28 Aug 2230 US Mountain time. You might try calling their sales line to see about the 14.1".

EDIT: or they have several 14.1" on their outlet program under the new section [ Order canceled and never shipped.]
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/LenovoOutlet/Notebook/New/ThinkPad%20T%20Series/

[wubrgamer]

nope, sorry, haven't had a chance to call them...

I think I'm just going to push forward with a newer laptop though, it seems to get much better battery life

[washeddang]

The T500 & T400 reviews I've seen so far have been pretty positive. The only complaint seems to be with the keyboard: it's not as sturdy as previous models. However, it's still better than most/

If you're considering a T61, you might want to take a look at the R61. It's 3 mm thicker, pretty much the same weight, but a little cheaper. Having tried a friend's T61, I do not regret getting an R61... :D

[LaRoza]

The T500 & T400 reviews I've seen so far have been pretty positive. The only complaint seems to be with the keyboard: it's not as sturdy as previous models. However, it's still better than most/

If you're considering a T61, you might want to take a look at the R61. It's 3 mm thicker, pretty much the same weight, but a little cheaper. Having tried a friend's T61, I do not regret getting an R61... :D
I have an R61i also. I love it.

[TekNullOG]

I would prefer the TX00 series because of the new hardware.

Are there any noticeable flaws other than the keyboard?

I have a T43 and have been slowly looking to upgrade when the budget frees-up. (thanks to Ubuntu, the need to Upgrade hardware is less present(

Personally, I was pretty excited about the TX00 because of the great success of the X300.

[nate_2001]

If it helps, I'm running 8.04 on an X200 which has the Montevina platform like the Tx00 series. I like it a lot. I had to install new compat wireless drivers for the wifi, but it was easy, and there is a .deb floating around with the newest intel drivers for the new video chip.

The new chipset is faster and uses less power and the format is wide screen (which is more important for the ultraportable line because the x200 now has a full sized keyboard).

[legolas_w]

If it helps, I'm running 8.04 on an X200 which has the Montevina platform like the Tx00 series. I like it a lot. I had to install new compat wireless drivers for the wifi, but it was easy, and there is a .deb floating around with the newest intel drivers for the new video chip.

The new chipset is faster and uses less power and the format is wide screen (which is more important for the ultraportable line because the x200 now has a full sized keyboard).

Hi
Can you please let me know which wifi network card you are using?
Are you with intel 5000 series or Lenovo's wifi cards?
Do you have a discrete graphic card or integrated one?
thanks

[Miguel]

Hi
Can you please let me know which wifi network card you are using?
Are you with intel 5000 series or Lenovo's wifi cards?
Do you have a discrete graphic card or integrated one?
thanks

I don't know what card he has, but I know what wireless card you should get: an Intel one, if possible the 5300. Chances are you will get a Broadcomm if you go for the Lenovo wifi, unless you are lucky and it is an Atheros. Should it be a broadcomm, then may the force be with you, since some 43xx models are hit and miss. Intel cards, on the other hand, work out of the box in all linux distributions that don't consider proprietary firmware too harmful (all except Blag, gNewsense, and other FSF-approved distributions).

BTW: Getting the dedicated ATi card in a T400/T500 means getting both cards, and on Windows Vista they will switch on the fly whether you are running games or on battery. It's an extremely cool technolgy, but unlikely to work in linux for at least a year. In that case, you will have to force which GPU you use in the BIOS.

EDIT: Getting the Intel WLAN 5x00 cards to work in linux requires a 2.6.27-rc3 kernel or newer. This means you will have to run Intrepid Alpha 5 or newer in order to get those wifi cards to work. It isn't much of a deal, since Centrino2 is such a new platform you will need Intrepid for at least good processor support, plus Intel X4500 support and it's likely that also for the Gigabit Ethernet card too.

Link to the relevant LKML message (http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/8/13/435)

[legolas_w]

EDIT: Getting the Intel WLAN 5x00 cards to work in linux requires a 2.6.27-rc3 kernel or newer. This means you will have to run Intrepid Alpha 5 or newer in order to get those wifi cards to work. It isn't much of a deal, since Centrino2 is such a new platform you will need Intrepid for at least good processor support, plus Intel X4500 support and it's likely that also for the Gigabit Ethernet card too.

Link to the relevant LKML message (http://lkml.org/lkml/2008/8/13/435)

Thank you for the extensive reply.
Can you please let me know whether the final version of Intrepid has that kernel or a newer version?

Thanks.

[legolas_w]

bump up

[Miguel]

Thank you for the extensive reply.
Can you please let me know whether the final version of Intrepid has that kernel or a newer version?

Thanks.

As far as I know, the Ubuntu devs really intend to put kernel 2.6.27 final in Intrepid. 2.6.27 is the current default kernel, in case you wonder. I feel they are going very bleeding edge with this release, which will be good for folks with new hardware and good for the next ubuntu version, but stability won't be "Debian-like".

Sorry for the late reply. A mix of possible different time zones plus travel to a congress are my excuses this time ;-)