The midsize ThinkPad Z60m is a slightly less portable but more
multimedia-oriented version of the similarly priced
thin-and-light
ThinkPad Z60t. Like the Z60t, the ThinkPad Z60m offers an
optional titanium lid and an excellent design in addition to a
bigger wide-aspect display, longer battery life, and the option
of a discrete graphics card.
Design
The ThinkPad Z60m's case measures 358.14mm wide, 264.16mm deep,
and 40.64mm thick. Its weight varies widely depending on how you
configure it, coming in at 2.7kg with a black-plastic lid and a
six-cell battery and 3.3kg with a supersturdy titanium lid and a
huge nine-cell battery (which also adds 25.4mm to the laptop's
depth). The ThinkPad Z60m's AC adapter adds 0.4kg.
Thanks to its excellent design, the ThinkPad Z60m is a pleasure to use. The laptop features a wide, comfortable keyboard; an average-size touch pad with two corresponding mouse buttons; and a red eraser-head pointing stick that includes its own pair of mouse buttons, plus a third scroll button. Three more buttons for volume up, down, and mute sit in the upper-left corner above the board, along with a fourth ThinkVantage button that launches the robust preinstalled help utility. Like the ThinkPad Z60t, the Z60m has two holes under the laptop for draining liquid from accidental spills, and its arrow keys double as multimedia controls by pressing the function key.
Features
Our ThinkPad Z60m test unit's broad, 15.4-inch wide screen had a
very high 1,680 x 1,050 native resolution that helps graphics
appear especially crisp and affords a large amount of screen real
estate but makes text tiny. A 1,280 x 800 resolution screen is also
available. The two speakers that flank the keyboard offer audio
that's clear but not full bodied. The ThinkPad's classic reading
light remains integrated into the upper edge above the screen,
letting you illuminate the keyboard when the cabin lights
dim.
The ThinkPad Z60m offers all the connectors included with the ThinkPad Z60t, plus a few that aren't. One S-Video-out port, two USB 2.0 ports, and a swappable media bay line the right edge; our laptop's bay came filled with a single-layer DVD burner. The opposite edge integrates one Type II PC Card slot, one ExpressCard slot, a four-pin FireWire port, headphone and microphone jacks, 56Kbps modem and Gigabit Ethernet jacks, and one VGA port. The front edge accommodates a wireless on/off switch, as well as a 3-in-1 slot for Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, and Secure Digital cards; a third USB 2.0 port lies on the back edge. Corresponding to these ports are icons that line the left and right sides of the keyboard.
The Windows XP Professional operating system came preloaded on our ThinkPad Z60m. Though the laptop doesn't ship with a productivity suite, it does include some nice security features, such as the TPM-like Embedded Security Subsystem and a fingerprint sensor.
Though our ThinkPad Z60m costs AU$3399, it offers a satisfying selection of components for the price, including a fast 2GHz Pentium M processor, an ample 1GB of speedy 533MHz memory, a giant 100GB hard drive rotating at a brisk 5,400rpm, and a high-end ATI Mobility Radeon X600 chip with 128MB of dedicated VRAM.
Performance
In CNET Labs' productivity tests, the ThinkPad Z60m proved itself
a solid, if not spectacular performer. It sped 32 percent past
the Sony VAIO FS680, which carried a slower processor and memory,
but it ran 16 percent behind the similarly configured Acer
TravelMate 4650. In our Labs' drain tests, the Z60m's mammoth
nine-cell battery clobbered both the VAIO FS series' and
TravelMate 4650's smaller cells, lasting for 5 hours, 43 minutes
compared to the VAIO's 2 hours, 14 minutes and the TravelMate
4650's 4 hours, 1 minute.
NOTE: Products in this test are for comparative purposes only and are not necessarily available in the Australian market.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
BAPCo MobileMark 2005 performance rating | Â Â |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
BAPCo MobileMark 2005 battery life in minutes | Â Â |
Service and Support
Lenovo provides a yearlong warranty with the ThinkPad Z60m, which
is the standard among consumer laptops (though many business
laptops ship with three-year terms). You can choose from several
different warranty extension options; 24/7, toll-free phone
support lasts for the length of your warranty. Lenovo's support
Web site displays the requisite troubleshooting information yet
lacks helpful elements, such as a user forum.
Lenovo ThinkPad Z60m (2GHz)
Company: Lenovo
Price: AU$3,399
2%
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