Performance
Our high-end test unit was configured with a solid set of components, including a 2.0GHz Intel Pentium T2500 Core Duo processor, 1GB of speedy 666MHz DDR2 SDRAM, a midrange ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 graphics card with 128MB of video RAM, and a SATA 100GB hard drive spinning at 5,400rpm. Unsurprisingly, the ThinkPad T60 turned in a strong score on CNET Labs' benchmarks, performing as well as the other similarly configured dual-core systems we've seen and significantly ahead of the previous generation of Pentium M-equipped business laptops. Our ThinkPad T60 test unit shipped with a high-capacity 9-cell battery (which adds AU$249 to the price) that lasted just shy of 6 hours in our drain tests, which is about as good as it gets for a thin-and-light laptop.
We found the Vodafone 3G Internet service to be fairly speedy for the tasks we needed to accomplish. Although it starts to slow down when you've got multiple browser tabs each trying to load pages and instant messaging conversations happening concurrently, it's certainly no slouch. Using the YourSpeed3 speed test, we recorded average download/upload speeds of 320/122kbps, which is in line with the 384kbps theoretical maximum bandwidth of 3G (non-EV-DO). A direct link to our results can be found here, should you want to take a more detailed look.
Support
Depending on which configuration you buy, the ThinkPad T60 is backed by an economical one-year or lengthy three-year warranty, during which you must carry in your system to an authorised repair centre; upgrades for longer terms and onsite repairs are reasonably priced. The company's support Web site includes a handful of troubleshooting topics as well as the expected driver downloads; the site lacks interactive features such as customer forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.
(Longer bars indicate faster performance)
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
(Longer bars indicate longer battery life)
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes |
NOTE: Products in this test are for comparative purposes only and are not necessarily available in the Australian market.
Find out more about how we test Windows notebooks.
System configurations
Dell Latitude D610
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X300 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K80 80GB 5,400rpm
HP Compaq nc6140
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Intel Pentium M 760; 512MB DDR SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express 128MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K00 60GB 5,400rpm
Lenovo ThinkPad T43
Windows XP Professional; 1.86GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X300 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 60GB 7,200rpm
Lenovo ThinkPad T60
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Core Duo T2500; 1GB PC4300 DDR2 SDRAM 666MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 512MB (256MB shared); Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 100GB 5,400rpm
Give me a break. If there is one thing I am sick and tired of it is Telco Bundling. We are a Thinkpad shop for notebooks because most of our execs travel internationally and they are the only model that survives the punishment over time, but we change Telco's every year so this idea of only working on Vodaphone is a joke! Not only will we have to buy an Optus card anyway which is unneccesary extra cost, but if the internal card interfears with the Optus 3G card, then we can no longer buy Thinkpads.
It doesn't make any sense??? No upside and high risk for Lenovo. Why restrict your market of potential buyers to customers of a single Telco?