Dell D630 v Thinkpad T61

dx052

Anyone got any experience with both these laptops? which one edges the other? Heard the Dell is supposed to be quiet good as well.

cit_k

not used that thinkpad model, but can comment on the d630.

Its built very well, it has a solid magnesium alloy base, so does not flex, lid is the same stuff, but not as thick.

Stay away from the versions with nvidea graphics, as they had a design problem that means they fail over time, needing a reball of the chip (not cheap to fix).

Quite fast, reliable, durable etc.

I have used older thinkpads (talking r32 here so quite old) and they were solid too, both are probably good makes.

The dell (and probably the IBM but only know for sure about the dell) has a plentiful supply of parts available on ebay so you can cheaply upgrade or get problems sorted.

One ram slot is underneath and easy to access, the other you have to remove the keyboard to access, but that just means prying of the power bezel strip and removing 3 small screws.

Once thats off, the wireless card and second memory socket are easily accessible.

As is the wwan card socket, the dell has a simm socket so you can add a wwan card and be truly mobile for internet without needing to plug in a dongle.

Battery has a feature where you can press a button to see if its charged.

Optical drive is easily removable by a user (just press a button and pull it out) - so you can easily slot in any other drive from a wide range (the dell D series drives are all compatible) - or even a battery into the drive socket, or a second hard drive into a optional caddy.

Wireless can be upgraded if need be to wireless N, by changing the wireless card, as the wireless N ariel cables are in the lid already (assuming you get a model that has wireless).

GunJack

T4x series thinkpads are, IMHO, pretty much the dog's danglies, having taken apart, rebuilt, sold and generally played with lots. Not actually played with a T61 but would expect the same high standards. Both have a good supply of parts on ebay. Think hammyman has flogged a few of each, so might be worth getting his input

hammy - if you see this thread and get a sale, do I get comission ??

dx052

I have been biding on both recently but always seem to loose out, probably as I am not sure of ceiling limit price, don't want to pay other the odds. Think I am going to stick with trying to source the D630. As I don't have anytype of computer/internet connection at home at the moment its becoming a pain in the !!!!.

Hammyman

dx052 wrote: »

Anyone got any experience with both these laptops? which one edges the other? Heard the Dell is supposed to be quiet good as well.

I've sold both and both are good machines so this is my take on them.

For design features, the T61 wins - has nice touches such as drain holes through the keyboard and a LED built into the lid you can turn on to illuminate the keyboard.

For build quality, again the T61. It is a real pig to take apart as in stuff doesn't come unclipped easy.

Performance, a tie.

Battery life: D630 gets more out of the stock battery - T61 needs an 8 cell to get the best but then that pokes out the back.

Design: D630. T61 is well dated - basically IBM/Lenovo have stuck to the same design for their Thinkpads for 20 years.

Known issues: nVidia chipset on the D630 - the ones with Intel graphics are fine. The Thinkpad does come with a nVidia chipset as an option but in the Thinkpad it is the Quadro NV which didn't have the same issues as the one in the D630.

Portability: D630. The D630 is heavy but the T61 is really heavy - downsides to having solid metal plate under the lid to protect the screen and a solid metal frame - basically a roll cage for the laptop.

Ultimately:

I SELL BOTH OF THESE BECAUSE THEY NEVER COME BACK. I can sell them as 4 year old laptops with a 6 month guarantee safe in the knowledge I'll never see them again because they are both well built tanks.

Just to confuse you, if you want portability, look at the Thinkpad x200s with a smaller screen.

Hammyman

cit_k wrote: »

As is the wwan card socket, the dell has a simm socket so you can add a wwan card and be truly mobile for internet without needing to plug in a dongle.

Wireless can be upgraded if need be to wireless N, by changing the wireless card, as the wireless N ariel cables are in the lid already (assuming you get a model that has wireless).

Thinkpads are the same for both WWAN and Wireless-N. OTTOMH They're under the palmrest which is held in by 4 screws.

And you can also easily eject the DVD/DVDRW/Combo drive as well on any of the Thinkpads with optical drives.

Hammyman

GunJack wrote: »

T4x series thinkpads are, IMHO, pretty much the dog's danglies, having taken apart, rebuilt, sold and generally played with lots. Not actually played with a T61 but would expect the same high standards. Both have a good supply of parts on ebay. Think hammyman has flogged a few of each, so might be worth getting his input

hammy - if you see this thread and get a sale, do I get comission ??

Yeah - 10% OK???
Thinkpad T42's were one of my bread and butter laptops along with the Dell D610 but the T42s are getting seriously thin on the ground now and Pentium-M is getting hard to shift.

As for the commission its just a shame I've run out of T6x Thinkpads - last one went to Austria this week, am down to my last two X60s's and there's only a couple of X61s's in next auction on Monday. There's a couple of D630's as well so I'll probably grab those.

dx052

Cheers, I found a D630 which I just bought, without the nvidea graphics card. One question I have though? it has a standard 80gig HD which isn't the end of the world for me but how much can I upgrade it to if I feel the need. I am sure it came with 2GB ram already!

Hammyman

dx052 wrote: »

Cheers, I found a D630 which I just bought, without the nvidea graphics card. One question I have though? it has a standard 80gig HD which isn't the end of the world for me but how much can I upgrade it to if I feel the need. I am sure it came with 2GB ram already!

You can upgrade it to the largest capacity drive you can find - I've put 320GB ones in with no problem and have no reason to believe a 500GB or 1TB wouldn't fit. To find the drivers for your laptop, go to the Dell website, click on Home User then Support. A window will pop up. Enter in the service tag which is on the base of your laptop and it will take you to a page with the specific drivers for that specific laptop.

dx052

Cheers....

GunJack

Hammyman wrote: »

Yeah - 10% OK??? Yup, do me nicely


Thinkpad T42's were one of my bread and butter laptops along with the Dell D610 but the T42s are getting seriously thin on the ground now and Pentium-M is getting hard to shift.

If you search ebay there are still T41s around, however I've noticed an increase in BIOS/HDD password-locked ones around


As for the commission its just a shame I've run out of T6x Thinkpads - last one went to Austria this week, am down to my last two X60s's and there's only a couple of X61s's in next auction on Monday. There's a couple of D630's as well so I'll probably grab those.

if I se any T42s around I'll send you a pm