Would you buy a T61P for a school student

[Fat Tone]

https://www.svp.co.uk/ibm-lenovo-thinkpad-t61p-core-2-duo-15-4inch-laptop-with-4gb-ram-160gb-hard-drive-and-windows-7-free-gift.html

On the face of it this is not a bad price (£180) for the spec, it was a very powerful and expensive laptop in its day.

I have a friend with two school-age kids who need something for homework etc. A couple of i5 machines would be my choice but are beyond his budget.

The only reservation I have is the CPU, a Core2Duo @ 2.5GHz.

Any thoughts? Does the high-ish spec of the rest of the components compensate for that enough?

Thanks,

T.

[UtwigMU]

https://www.svp.co.uk/ibm-lenovo-thi...free-gift.html

On the face of it this is not a bad price (£180) for the spec, it was a very powerful and expensive laptop in its day.

I have a friend with two school-age kids who need something for homework etc. A couple of i5 machines would be my choice but are beyond his budget.

The only reservation I have is the CPU, a Core2Duo @ 2.5GHz.

Any thoughts? Does the high-ish spec of the rest of the components compensate for that enough?

Thanks,

T.

If the price is right (compared to ebay on your local market) you might. I'm typing this on 14" T60p and they are fine laptops. My brother uses 14" T61. With enough RAM, SSD or fast HDD, they'll be responsive. The CPU is fine, it doesn't seem slow in any way. Just add SSD. If you need it to be portable check battery pricing. I get 5h of web and typing with new battery out of T60p.

Problems are: The p laptops are beefed up and they have high spec CPUs and GPUs (for laptops), so they tend to run hot. If cooler starts grinding, you can solve it with a drop of oil. Another problem is that screens are CFL tube backlit and T60p is now 6 years old and backlights tend to fail after 5 years of heavy use (I replaced screen in my T60p). Replacement screen costs about 80 EUR. Also T61 use DDR2 so if it doesn't already have 4GB, add the cost of memory (they can go to 8GB unofficially). Another issue is nVidia GPU. This generation has problems with nVidia GPU and Thinkpad forum members tend to prefer Intel graphics as they don't stop working and are more reliable, run cooler. A friend had nVidia GPU die on T61 but I replaced motherboard for about 70 EUR with Intel one.

The T500/T400/W500 are same but they use DDR3 and fit on same docks. The T410/510 are first with LED backlight but they cost 400-500 EUR or more. The parts for Thinkpads are easy to obtain and cheap. In Slovenia I order either from IBM as original parts apart from screen and motherboard are cheap or from ebay. The Thinkpads are easy to fix with service manuals and howto movies available online.

If the laptop is in good condition (not beat up, screen lights up immediately without any reddish colour cast, DVD working...) then go for it.

I would buy used Thinkpad over cheap new laptop any day of week.

[Fat Tone]

Many thanks.

I think there are so many caveats that I'll steer clear and persuade him to get something new, probably an i3.

Cheers

Tony.

[dZeus]

Many thanks.

I think there are so many caveats that I'll steer clear and persuade him to get something new, probably an i3.

Cheers

Tony.

for cheap laptops with good value for money, have a look at Chromebooks that run on Intel/AMD CPUs and that can run Windows.