My $29 Retro ThinkPad T61
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มี.ค. 2018
- The T61 (along with the X60/X61 series I reviewed previously) was the last of the great ThinkPads, with the classic design and features that Lenovo teased us with in the "Retro" 25th Anniversary ThinkPad, but failed to deliver.
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![Does the ThinkPad T60 still hold up 16 years later? [T60 in 2022]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4l0V9rfHaQI/mqdefault.jpg)
![fellow fellow - Proud [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9uZF7BlUQPE/mqdefault.jpg)
Very good find, especially for $29. ThinkPads, even older ones are highly desirable machines imo, because of their durability, ease of repair, usability and price of used ones. I have a T420 from 2011, had it for 4 1/2 years now and I'm not getting rid of it anytime soon. It has taken me through high school and is now taking me through college. I love my ThinkPad.
need an update, did you graduate college with it?
my t430s got me through HS but it's finally time to upgrade. bought a untested t800 used for $60, hopefully it works
I still have my T61. Bough it used back in high school and still works like a charm.
Retro T61?? I'm still using my T61!!! :P
the T61s will be our tombstone ;- ;
I have a T60 from 2006
Most laptops feel like a sidegrade when you can do everything on the machine you already have!
I have a TP25 from 2017
I picked up a T61 on ebay for 30$ shipped still in original box. He took out the hard drive though.
I threw a 240gb ssd, 6gb ddr2 ram and a T9500 with the bios update.
It out performs my 300$ daily driver from 2017.
Hopefully you installed the following custom BIOS to enable SATA II speeds www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Middleton%27s_BIOS
@@paulgjackson I'm waiting for battery to flash Middleton BIOS on my T61. It has T7100. Now thinking if play safe with Merom CPU T7800 CPU or take a risk of putting in Penryn T9300 CPU. I read about the analog vs digital temperature sensor. I know Middleton bios will remove the warning, but I wander how safe it is to run Penryn CPU on Merom board.
@@zgagacz How did the flashing go?
Instead of buying a new fan I've taken apart and oiled it in my T60. Now it isn't noisy any more.
Which he mentions at 8:47.
Thanks to You I found my new favourite artist! ProleteR is just my thing, thank You for that!
It may be retro for you, i'm using it as my main laptop right now.
Melvin Harris They were using it while Win7 was still in support, and I assume that's what they used for the machine. Best to say they either installed BypassESU on it, or chucked it for security lmao
Me too
It's my main laptop too
@@damian9303 Or installed Linux? Mine would have already had it installed, and these machines are supported very well.
Haha, "retro" I have an ibm lenovo thinkpad T60 from 2006, thats retro lol, if you're using the one he's saying is retro, I personally think its not, its pretty modern
I just ordered a T61. Can't wait for it to arrive!
Nearly two years of having one, I love it. Still updates the drivers, still runs strong (especially with Nvidia), and plays music and edits videos really good. I could spend $500 on a newer laptop (I have it for backup incase my desktop needs work), but for what I do, it's not necessary. Ten years old, and still is great. Lenovo/IBM really put together quality products, they never really cut corners unlike a few other mfg's out there.
Research the Middleton's Bios for T61 if you haven't already, it'll let you use Penryn processors and unlock SATA 2 speeds in the main bay.
As usual, love your videos, and welcome to the ranks of T-61 fans. When my company forced me to upgrade to a new laptop a few years back, I went looking for one of these beasts, found A 15 inch version on ebay for $35 sans HDD, battery and memory.
For another $20 on Ebay I upgraded the processor to a T7600, maxed out the memory to 8 gig from my big box o memory sticks and stuck in a 1 t drive. I highly recommend a SSD on this beast. Boot time is now 20 seconds from cold iron to desktop... And for when I need additional storage I've got the terabyte drive in an ultrabay.
29$ for that awesome condition?? thats a rock solid thinkpad man, even in my country T61 price is still around 150$.
I'll just leave this here for you then: www.ebay.com
I pulled out a slightely newer thinkpad t400 from a dumpster in mint condition, it also has the very rare and good looking 1400X900 display. I also pulled out my best deal yet, a thinkpad x230 in near mint condition, still awaiting more... (typing this on my thinkpad t400
Thinkpads rock :)
and durable like a rock
Exactly
This was really entertaining, you deserve more subscribers.
If you use the laptop a lot at home, just take off the battery and just plug in the power cord. Really great video and you got the laptop for a really good price.
I got one with a battery that lasts 100 seconds on a "full" charge lol, but I just leave it to act as a crappy backup in case the cord gets bonked
"just take off the battery and just plug in the power cord."
No, this is useless. If you want to save the battery, stop charging at 90% (start recharging at 86%). Because High-Voltage charging damages LiIon cells extremely. You can do this in Lenovo Energy Manager.
segoiii My laptop is slower with the battery, is there something to fix it? Thats why i have always unplugged rhe battery if im using it at home for a long time. Been doing it since 2010 or so.
LeiserGeist Aye, the more you use the battery the more it gets worn. Basically for anything in electronics that heats.
"My laptop is slower with the battery, is there something to fix it?"
This shouldn´t be the case. I don´t know why. There is no special menu for the situation (running on AC with battery inside). As long as it isn´t deeply discharged, it should be okay to take it out, too. But if you just want to protect it, it isn´t necessary. As i said: LiIon extremely dislikes to be fully charged. It´s better to do 10 times 0% to 90% instead of 1 time 0% to 100%.
Thta´s why, for example, Tesla recommends to stop at 90%. and only when doing long distances charging to 100%. LiIon is a bit like reversed PB battery. PB doesn´t like to be discharged below 30% while charging them to 100% is okay for them ...
I have a few of those 4:3 14" T61s myself... one running Windows 10, one running Windows 7 (Japanese language), and one running Windows 2000... all with 8GB of RAM (in the case of Win2K, I put Advanced Server to get 8GB recognized and surprisingly all drivers work even with PAE enabled)
Whoa that's amazing!!
Never heard of PAE on Windows 2000 Server!!
Who said server??
The commenter I replied to did! (Danika Sidoti)
Love your videos! I recently got an IBM X60 for $40, love it! My main laptop is a ThinkPad x240, the TrackPoint sucks but I’m going to upgrade it to the normal track point on the x250. The x240 is speedy with the 500gb ssd I threw in it
That's an amazing find! Super jealous!!
it's not really. it had no hard drive, no battery, no charger...a functioning t60 can be had for $100 (max), and the only way he stayed below that is by already having a charger and HDD laying around (the latter of which he caddied with cardboard?!?), and buying a shitty battery, which is a mistake -- I would take a fully functioning one, in good condition, for $100 every time over this frankenstein.
I'm jealous.
T61 was my favourite workhorse that time... Thank you for another nice video, sir!
After seeing your ThinkPad X60 video (christmas 2017), I started searching for one, because I need a small, light, portable and powerful machine for the kind of work that I do on a laptop. So, after a week of searching for a perfect ThinkPad, I've settled on a X61. It has a T7100 Core 2 Duo, 3 GB of RAM and a 320 GB 5400 rpm HDD. It's my first ThinkPad and out of all the laptops that I own, it's the best. If you hadn't posted that video, I wouldn't have bought it
"Furniture"
Matt John
The best kind of furniture
i use it as a chair
Yes, they make good door stops... 😃
What a find! Love this channel.
As an owner (also a thrift store find) of a T520 I LOVE the older generations of ThinkPads! Purpose built and beautifully designed to be a WORKHORSE..not something that is built for style. That being said seeing an earlier generation than what I own, the T61 looks interesting. Great find sir!
VWestlife . I like that way you review old things like this
I recommend that you flash the Middleton BIOS onto the Lenovo T61. With that you'd get the ability to put in a Core 2 Extreme, 8GB of RAM, and an SSD with fast speeds.
I had one of these until very recently. Mine had the quadro graphics and c2d, great machine that served me really really well. I run linux primarily, so it sang on this hardware. Great find!
Another ThinkPad video. Nice!
Now it's getting tough to find the last IBM brand models, but still could find one of those easily at my place.
Wow, what a great find. So lucky!
The R61 is similar...I rescued a gently used one from a Goodwill in may area this week for only $20. Had
a bad ram stick under the palmrest so it was in the "scrap laptop" bin. These and the T61 are both rugged
and compact. The classic black design is indeed...timeless !
I am a thinkpad enthusiast! I run an x220 with Linux, it’s a brilliant combination, we bought another one to run windows 7 for my daughter, good for homework and runs SIMS 4 very well. I think your channel was the incentive to get a thinkpad!
8:40 "It's like Eurotruck Simulator except on real life".
Killed me.
Back in November of last year I wanted a laptop for my personal needs for Christmas. I was thinking about buying a brand new Chromebook. Because they ain't that expensive and some were brand new at the time. But I did some research, and saw that some old (not really old) ThinkPads like the T410 and the T420 are still good machines today. So I instead bought a used ThinkPad T420 and it was my best decision ever. The keyboard is nice, and I instantly fell in love with the trackpoint. So much better than the trackpad
I love retro thinkpads love the lights Under the screen and on the lid on the retro thinkpads
I found one of those about 4 years ago at a thrift store ($25!) and it was in rough shape (missing keys, busted hinges). Ended up losing the graphics due to a heat issue (BGA desolder) -- somehow it had become hot enough to warp the chassis by the previous owner. Watched a video that LGR released and reflowed the main board and it came back to life. Ended up getting it back to working order. It's a very capable machine for its time. Loved it. Miss it too. I've had 3 T series IBM laptops and they're all great. T20, T30 and T61. Highly recommended if you can find them for a decent price.
One of the de-facto late 2000s Thinkpads. Fantastic little machines.
Congrats on your find, it appears to be a great laptop.
Haven't seen anyone else make a comment about this, but seeing as I've got a couple of R61's, I thought I'd pitch this in there.
The holes on the bottom with the icon of the keyboard and the droplet are drains for spills. There shouldn't be any screws in those ones. That caught me a few times taking them apart and putting them back together again.
I personally have a T41 Thinkpad over here! I believe that was one of the last really great ThinkPad models.
i just found this channel and it's like druaga1 + ashens mix
perfect
Definitely standing the test of time, I'd browse the web on one. Upgrade to 4GB if its not already there, put a SSD in there, and it will do very well. I've got a bunch of videos on my channel for upgrading these and doing maintenance. Keep the Thinkpad videos alive!
Watching this on my T400 :) and I have a T42 arriving in the mail in a few days
I'm watching on a Thinkpad T450! Even though I don't have that model, I still always use thinkpad since they're built like a tank!
still dont understand why people hated vista and still do... after service pack 2 it was really good
cuz it was the os that bluescreened if you launched solitaire
People typically didn't give Vista enough ram. There were also a lot of default services that were running that could be turned off to increase performance. It wasn't great but if setup correctly, was perfectly fine.
It was pretty rough at first, but most of that was from manufacturers not updating their drivers to support it properly.
Then by the time Vista got pretty much fully sorted out MS released 7 so nobody really ever tried it.
Agreed. I never had any issues with it.
because most peoples first experience with it was on a store bought PC with 512mb ram, 2ghz core 2 duo, and intel gma graphics. And also the UAC came up for literally doing anything.
I sure love my T60. Still run Win XP for a few apps I use from time to time.
Great video. I am watching this on my X201T.
Retro thinkpads are awesome! Period. If one considers C2D based laptops "retro" ;) They are still alive and kicking.
Personally I consider core 2 duo more classic than retro.
@@archygrey9093 fair enough :)
I wish Lenovo would make their new 14" models with upwards firing speakers.
they do now!
that T61 heavily reminds me of my old T500. the old T500 I used until last December when someone hit it with a basketball and cracked the display.
I will be buyng one of these
IM SOOO EXCIDED WOOOOOOHOOO
Just bought 2 of these with T7100 CPU. UP graded the cpus to T9500 and the ram from 2gb to 4gb and the speed difference is outstanding.
I love these things, a total addiction. Need to produce upgraded boards for these and conversion kits.
There are people upgrading the ThinkPad X61 into the unofficial "X62": geoff.greer.fm/2017/07/16/thinkpad-x62/
Serviced one of these a while ago. Old beast but quite well built.
With an SSD, I bet it would still be decent enough for basic browsing and media playback.
One of my all-time favorite ThinkPads! Mine was the 15.4" version with nVidia card. It just kicked the bucket since the video card went out :-(
I'm sure you can remove the video card and swap it for an Intel card. Unless it's soldered to the motherboard. This is coming from a mainly Dell enthusiast though. I'm pretty familiar with the Inspiron E-series and Latitude D-series. I know in the Inspiron 6400 that the dedicated GPU is connected via daughter card. I haven't actually seen a T61 with dedicated graphics.
I do have a 15.4" T61 with the 1650x1050 display. Currently typing this comment from that very laptop.
@@FSM_Reviews Sadly it's soldered to the board on the T61. The nVidia versions were notorious for GPU failures, the integrated graphics and earlier T60(p) with ATi graphics didn't have the issue.
2:37. The Centrino isn't actually a processor series; in order for a laptop to qualify for the Centrino badge, there has to be an Intel Core processor of some type, no dedicated graphics (only Intel integrated graphics), Intel branded wireless cards, and/or Intel-provided Bluetooth cards.
I know that.
Lucky that this is an integrated graphics T61 - the ones with dedicated nVidia GPUs failed often.
it is precious!
i still use a T61p. ...1920x1200, 4 gigs, 750 gigs WD black.... but no Bluetooth.
VWestlife, I actually took a hard drive from a bios based Windows 10 laptop and put it in a 2009 EFI MacBook. Defying all odds, it booted into Windows 10! So yes, hard drive swapping usually works. In this case, I'm not sure how it pulled that off, but still amazing!
Windows 10 uses an image of the OS rather than just files. This makes it easier to upgrade hardware/change computers.
Windows has been doing the image-based install since Vista.
Good condition, especially the Brezel and keyboard, but the fins of the radiator look slightly bent, could explain the noise of the fan. You can buy cheaply on ebay faster CPU, there is even a Quad COre modding how too.
The LCD display can also be easily replaced or alternatively, if a good LCD is installed, it is possible to convert the old CCFL lighting to a LED Backlight.
P.S. it's not the slowest CPU built in,was also sold with T5250, Pentium Dual Core T23x0 or Celeron M
it is possible to install X9000 CPUs which are very cheap on eBay
Even if people were disappointed with the screen of the T25, I still want a ThinkPad 25th Anniversary Edition so badly.
Omfg THAT WAS MY FIRST LAPTOP 😭😭 I still have it stowed away in my closet. Great laptop. I ran the hell out of that thing back in the day haha !!
Edit: I am talking about the 1st thinkpad you showed, not the t61
Just ressurected mine with a new ebay battery and Lubuntu. Runs very well for most daily task like coding, youtubing, etc and kinda fun in a retro minimalist sense.
I had one of these in undergrad, best windows product computer I've had
The loss of 16:10 displays in everything is just horrible.
Retro!? I still rock one every day!
My T61 originally came with Vista too but after a few hours or sheer horror and realizing that nothing i wanted to run on it would run under vista i completely nuked it and installed my trusty Windows XP on it and you can tell that this machine is totally made to run perfect with that OS.
I still have one, It was my first computer! I installed windows 8.1 and it works (slowly but It works)
I still use the original battery
Ah, wonder if my old T61 still works.... first I gave it to my mother for basic web browsing, then it went to my brother as a spare until he got a new one. This made me feel that I want it back and see how it's doing. Probably no issues. I remember that my kids walked over it when they we're toddlers, didn't do anything to the beast. Indestructible.
After watching this video I was inspired to fix my IBM T42 laptop. Right now I'm in the process of restoring it I would love to throw windows 7 on it but it can only support 2 gigs of really old ram and it has one of those older style hard drives with those needle like connectors on it . so I cant really do much as for upgrades, but I will be able to get a copy of windows xp running on it soon.
Very nice laptop I just bought the 4 x 3 aspect ratio version of this off eBay for £105. It has a 14 inch screen, 1024x768 resolution, a core 2 Duo T 7400 processor with 2 GB of RAM and dedicated Nvidia graphics. I'm really looking forward to using it.
I once bought a ThinkPad for upwards of 200$ second hand. I tried to play games on it, but was annoyed that it only had certain sounds. I did not know at the time that it did not support OPL2 sound, although digital audio worked fine. I don't know where it is, but I might get it working again. Emulators worked great on it.
Some Thinkpad models have soundchips that have soundblaster compatibility. They need to have this chip built in: www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/CS4297
I miss my dad's old T60. I wish he didn't have to get rid of it, but it was issued to him by IBM, so he had to turn it in after they issued him a W510, which gave him nothing but problems.
0:27 AA Computers and Technology :D
SuperDoomz ya
Lol spot on never knew so many people where watching his videos kudos
Finkpad.
Looks kinda like the T410 someone gave me, Pretty nice with an SSD for running light show software
I have a handful of T30's. I use them for playing Runescape on an account just for them. It's fun for kicks and giggles.
I hear a magic eraser works wonders on the rubberized coating of the thinkpads.
I wanna get an x61s soon. Thinkpads are great!
I have the W530 with 32gb of RAM and absolutely love it. It is a total beast of a laptop. I love the chiclet keyboard. I know people love to hate on the newer thinkpads but compared to other laptops they are pretty awesome.
There are quite a lot of 'unseen' features to the new type of Thinkpad: www.pcworld.co.nz/article/print/525149/research_development_behind_lenovo_t440s_ultrabook/; it would be nice to have a "best of both worlds"-type model...
I won't disagree they kind of lost their way with time. The W530 was possibly the last truly great thinkpad with downgrades in several ways after that, but even their newer P series is pretty darned nice and I'm likely going to eventually replace the 530 with one. Even though I have a backlit keyboard, I kind of love the overhead keyboard light built into the monitor bezel.
I had a T61 for a couple years at work - - great machine - had a T20 before that which I still have along with some R40's - all good... I still prefer the the trackpoint over a trackpad (assuming you don't have a separate mouse).
You can still get trackpoints on modern enterprise laptops from (besides Lenovo) Dell, HP, and probably some others.
I got a free T61, last year at this time. It works well.
Nice find,for the stickers on the battery use a heatgun and go back and fourth trying not to stay in one area for to long and then peel a corner of the sticker up and peel it off. I use this method all the time when removing windows os stickers from computer cases.Also for the sticker residue on the top of the laptop use some lighter fluid and it will come right off, stay away from rubbing alcohol as it will remove the matte finish.
I've got one of these. Great computers for light web browsing and document stuff. Mine is currently running XP Business with the original hard drive intact. Might eventually upgrade the drive to a low capacity SSD.
I'm not sure I follow?
Regarding "Impossible to install a already installed HDD/SSD in to a different PC": I do that all the time (for testing). Since Windows Vista that works absolutely flawless, as long as you watch out for AHCI/IDE and GPU drivers, because switching from AMD/Intel/NV to something the likes can cause problems.
And i like that Lenovo is thinking about bringing back the old style keyboard as an option on new ones. I'd love a Ryzen Mobile Thinkpad with the old style keyboard...
This reminds me, I remember upgrading all my pc hardware, including a replacement HD, all with the same windows installation, and it worked fine (I imaged the existing drive and switched them). I think that windows install lasted like 6 years.
I was a little late to the thinkpad game, so I prefer a touchpad to the eraser. Consequently, my biggest gripe about the modern thinkpads is that they removed the physical mouse buttons at the base of the touchpad! If they brought them back I'd definitely replace my 2 aging T530s, but they will do for now.
$29 + battery is an amazing bargain! The general opinion is that the T500 or W500 is identical but easier to upgrade. These tend to cost more though on Ebay, especially in the UK where prices are often stupidly high.
Very nice! What's the fastest CPU that you could install in this laptop?
We have exactly both the X60 and the T61 at home, sadly not working :(. My T61 was my laptop in sophomore year of high school and loved the keyboard. Ran XP and Windows 7's betas on this thing, and loved it!
I use a new T470 through my work. So far I have been enjoying the chiclet keyboard and the matte touchscreen.
I wish I was issued a T470. My job gave me an old Toshiba Tecra Z40-A that's a little over three years old. I never knew IBM had an agreement with them.
grandma has one similarly-specced. upgraded her to a T7700 and 4GB a while back. haven't heard any complaints for her very small workload.
the 15.4" T61 was a different chassis. the widescreen T61 and T500 shared quite a number of similarities in parts. the T400 and T500 were technically the last of the great thinkpads, but you still have to replace some parts to get them to snuff-- the keyboard on the much later-branded models are flimsier underneath the newer into the 2010s they go, and thankfully uses the same connector and layout for both on the T400 and T500 for the T61. they were also the last 16:10 (or 8:5 if you really want to piss someone off) thinkpads that made sense. the improvements over the T61 including the ability to shove T9000/P9000 CPUs with 6MB of cache that have a faster FSB than the T61 make them much more desirable from a performance standpoint, and the W500 has a lot of interchangeable parts with the T500 as well, making parts-a-plenty on hand. some T500s also included switching Mobitlity HD3650 graphics, whereas it was an always enabled HD3450 with no way to turn it off on the T400. these models are getting extensively rare and I'm glad to say my T500 has one. it rarely gets turned on ever, but it does exist. some pressure modification is required to keep the GPU part of the heatsink properly clamped to the die so it doesn't fail, but it does the job. (if you ever get one of these and need to install the drivers, you need to install the Lenovo-supplied ATI/Intel switching graphics driver first, then update the Intel side of things afterwards with one of those drivers. from there, switching graphics is still selectable from the power manager battery tray icon context menu. )
I still remember in 2011 while laptop shopping I was looking for a lenovo think pad or whatever they called it. It had a Web Cam I believe or a light on the lid to light up the keys. And then it had a fingerprint reader for "added security" however I couldn't get at best buy at the time but that's when I got my Toshiba Satellite c655 which I still have plus swap a hdd for Linux so I don't lose windows 7
I use a T61 daily. Someone was throwing it out and I completely rebuilt it. Great laptop.
that is a nice laptop the keyboard looks good to type with.
the CPU fans in the ThinkPads often need replacement after a few years because they just die off and wear out. Had to do this with my T410 once because it was totally dead and didn't really cool anymore. It was quite a hassle because it required some Laptop surgery because i had to take out the copper cooling vent and pipe as well but it was worth it. Afterwards the thing worked fine again and it sounded a lot healthier than before. So if you don't mind some hardware puzzling it's something you might wanna consider doing. Replacement parts are thankfully not that expensive.
Currently, I'm using this old ThinkPad T61 that I recently put back together. Not such a bad experience with Windows XP so far. I'd say the speed of this machine can compete with my newer Dell Inspiron 3252. Fan is kinda noisy though. Sounds like it has bad bearings, but it runs smoothly. Came with Vista Home Basic.
What about converted into a Chromebook? This be better?
I've got one of the original complete ones like in the add worth anything or should I chuck it???
Nice machine!
Hey , when you are going to upgrade the cpu will you do a video about it?
Ha. My first laptop was the T60 with XP.
I was thrilled at the fact of having a mobile compact PC that could run for an hour without being plugged in.
Judging from the thumbnail I was hoping you had either found some Thinkpad "Retro" logos or had found a way to replicate the look and done it on your T61, lol. I'd love to have the multicolor Thinkpad logo on my X220t.
Another thinkpad video yes!
I have a ThinkPad T61p that I got a couple of years ago. It's a very rugged laptop, with metal hinges and supports. You probably can fix the noisy fan issue easily.