Product Notes: Lenovo ThinkPad T60 Widescreen

November 28th, 2006

Lenovo announced the ThinkPad T60 widescreen today. This 15.4-inch widescreen is the first widescreen T-series and does not replace either the 15.0-inch or the 14.1-inch 4:3 screen options. It is expected to become generally available sometime in December 2006.

Several notes when ordering a ThinkPad T60 widescreen:

1. The ThinkPad T60 widescreen retains much of the same basic design as the ThinkPad T60 15-inch 4:3 laptop, but is slightly shorter, wider, and lighter. It weighs from 5.7 to 6.1 pounds, depending mostly on battery size and slightly on optical drive choice and uses the same batteries and docking solutions that other T60s do.
2. All ThinkPad T60 widescreens include Intel's flagship Core 2 Duo processor, though not all 4:3 T60s do.
3. Having at least 1.0 GB RAM is essential for the optimal functionality of a modern mid-weight laptop and most ThinkPad T60 widescreen configurations ship with 1.0 GB.
4. There are two widescreen display types available with the ThinkPad T60, both in the 15.4-inch size. The first is the standard WXGA (1280 x 800) display while the second is a WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050) screen.
5. Information Systems & Computing (ISC) strongly suggests purchasing the ThinkPad T60 widescreen with a discrete video card.
6. As with any mid-weight laptop, ISC suggests that LSPs consider purchasing both a high-capacity (9 cell) and a mid-capacity (6 cell) battery along with an extra AC power adapter for the ThinkPad T60 widescreen. Providers may also wish to consider Lenovo's range of port replicators and docking solutions, which include a port replicator, a mini dock, and a full dock.
7. The T60 widescreen includes many connectivity options including 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, WWAN connectivity from Cingular and Verizon, and Bluetooth 2.0. The 802.11n standard has not been finalized as of November 2006, and so currently shipping 802.11n products may not work correctly in the future without at least a firmware update. ISC is not actively discouraging their purchase and use, but advises that the buyer beware. ISC believe that Bluetooth is a good choice for most T60 users and that WWAN connectivity is useful for many 'road warriors'.
8. The ThinkPad T60 widescreen is also available in a workstation class version which is designated the T60p and is independent software vendor (ISV) certified. ISC believes that T60p is not appropriate for users who are not using graphics-intensive workstation applications - they are better served by purchasing a "normal" T60.

See ISC's Laptop Computer Purchasing Guide for more configuration hints. As of November 2006, configuring a ThinkPad T60 widescreen to these specifications can be done for approximately $2,250.

All ThinkPad T60s include both a Type II CardBus slot and an ExpressCard34/54 slot.

Though late to market, ISC sees the ThinkPad T60 widescreen as a very competitive 15.4-inch widescreen design: a worthy adversary for the Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch and the Dell Latitude D820, with some advantages over each. The Computer Connection will have at least one T60 widescreen configuration available shortly.

--John Mulhern III, Senior Project Leader, ISC Technology Support Services (November 28th, 2006)