Lenovo ThinkPad R61

Lenovo ThinkPad R61 Review

Design and Features

Lenovo Group Limited is the fourth largest personal computer manufacturer in the world, and their laptops have reminded me of business suitability in a sleek, although uninspired design. Lenovos ThinkPad R61 is the budget item of the ThinkPad series, although its packed with the power to prove its a major contender on the market.

Today we will be looking at the 14.1 WXGA+ version, which is of very similar design to the T61 14.1 widescreen. There are also 15.4 widescreen versions of the R61 available, although they are clearly larger and heavier than the sleeker 14.1 widescreen models.

Design
The ThinkPad R61 comes in matte black, with rounded corners and a ThinkPad logo emblazoned on the bottom right of the lid. There are two silver hinges visible, which exhibit smooth travel as well as a powerful look. The speakers are placed on the inside of the unit, flaring the top of the keyboard. The R61 is excellent at being inconspicuous, and its a great choice for business travel weighing in at 5.43 lbs (2.46 kg) with the 6-cell Li-Ion battery.

Keyboard
The keyboard houses 89 keys with an interesting touchpad layout toward the bottom. The touchpad is a no-nonsense dark grey, with mouse buttons located both above and below the touchpad area. This allows you to be flexible in your button choices, and theres even a nubbin in the center of the keyboard if thats how you like to input. The keyboard is a bit cramped for my taste, and takes up disproportionately small real estate on the notebook. It would make more sense to expand the keyboard, and put the speakers somewhere else.

Front

(Left to right) IEE 1394a port, Wireless On/Off Switch, headphone-out, and microphone/SPDIF.

Rear

(Left to right) Lock Slot, Battery, AC Adaptor in, and air vents.

Left Side

(Left to right) Lenovo houses an additional air vent, VGA-out, Modem, Ethernet , 2x USB 2.0 ports, ExpressCard slot, and a 4-in-1 card reader.

Right Side

(Left to right) Optical Drive, 1x USB 2.0 port.

Heat and Noise
The vents displace a decent amount of air, so heating was never an issue during our testing. The fan was quiet the entire time. I traditionally write my reviews on the notebook Im reviewing, often with music playing in the background. With the Lenovo, the fan noise didnt distract me during the entire review process.

Upgrading and Expansion
The R61 has room for 2 DIMMs worth of DDR2 SDRAM. You can have up to 4GB of RAM when its all said and done, or go with 2x 1GB 1 DIMM cards to save some dough.

Display
This unit came with a bright 14.1 WXGA display boasting a native resolution of 1440 x 900. The screen lacked the gloss finish that is prevalent on so many entertainment notebooks, although the neutral finish matches the utilitarian design of the R61. Although the viewing angle wasnt exceptional, that same matte finish means less reflection. This resulted in a viewing experience that was functional in a host of lighting environments.

Audio
The Lenovo has two rectangular speakers located on either side of the keyboards top row. The sound produced by the stereo is full, although it lacks distance and volume. Also, the speaker design is understated. This is a theme youll notice in the R61 in particular, and Lenovo in general. It may not look flashy, but it packs solid-performing equipment under the plastic.

Webcam
The 1.3 Megapixel webcam sits above the display, and is non-adjustable. However, I rarely see business users actually video-conferencing on these, and this webcam is adequate for most needs.

Connectivity
The Lenovo connects to the outside world via an Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN, which picked up a few stations I didnt even know were in my area. Additionally, this model came with Bluetooth as well as the obligatory Ethernet and Modem ports.

Battery
The Lenovo comes with a 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery. Thats pretty standard for notebooks of this size, although it suits the R61 well with its power saving ThinkVantage technology. In this picture, you can see the R61 on the bottom paired with its nearly-identical cousin, the T61. Performance and Conclusion

Specifications
Our Lenovo ThinkPad R61 is outfitted with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 (2.4 GHz), sporting a 4MB L2 Cache and 800 MHz FSB. Its running Windows Vista displayed on a 14.1 WXGA+ with 1440 x 900 pixel native resolution. That display is powered by an NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M graphics card with 128 MB of discrete RAM. Our R61 featured a 6-cell battery, while 4 and 7-cell versions are available. Storage is more than adequate on a 160 GB 5400 RPM hard drive with Full disk Encryption. The Optical Drive is a DVD Dual Layer Recordable, with CD-RW capability as well. Our test model came with a 2 GB stick of RAM at 677 MHz, although its upgradeable to 4 GB if you go the 2 DIMM path.

Performance
The Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 2.4 GHz processor isnt a huge power draw even with 4MB in the L2 cache and an 800 MHz FSB, although its much more power-hungry than the single core Core processors. The NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M is more energy-efficient than the rest of the Quadro line, and you end up getting above-average battery life in a notebook that has significant power. The 128MB of discrete graphics is a welcome performance gain, although youd see better battery life if they went with virtual memory. However, it does let you get some good gaming runs in, and we got F.E.A.R. running at 54 FPS at the default setting, which is at 800 x 600 resolution. Battlefield 2142 didnt fare as well, although its expected in a gamescape with a much higher draw distance.

The Lenovo performed average in the DVD test, running for a grand total of 2 hours and 10 minutes. You can see the PCMark 05, 3DMark 06, and Worldbench Scores below, in handy line graph form. If youre interested in how we test, and how much fun it is, check here. Its not too exciting though, so check later.

These results seem a little off at first. After all, the R61 is sporting a top of the line Core 2 Duo T7700 compared to the AMD-powered Ferrari and Lenovo's last generation Core 2 Duo T60. However both the Ferrari and T60 were tested on Windows XP and the R61 runs Vista. Rest assured the R61 has plenty of horsepower for all of your general computing and number crunching activities.

Lenovo's switch from the ATI Mobility Radeon GPU's to the NVIDIA Quadro FX line makes perfect sense looking at these results. The Quadro FX 140M powering the R61 turns out a very respectable 3DMark06 score, despite being more of a mainstream GPU than a gaming model.

The FEAR results tell a little different story than 3DMark06. The Acer's more gaming oriented ATI GPU takes off, while both the ThinkPads are neck and neck. We will likely see more of a split with a higher resolution.

Battery Testing
DVD Drain	2 hours 10 minutes
Gaming	1 hour 30 minutes

Our battery test results were pretty encouraging. Over 2 hours of DVD playback isn't bad for a 56Whr battery and the 90 minutes of gameplay was impressive as well. The 7-cell battery adds about 25% more capacity, so expect that much more run time if you opt for the "High Capacity" option.

Conclusion/Recommendation

Pros:

• Powerful processor
• Discrete Graphics Card
• Productive Lenovo ThinkVantage Software

Cons:

• Uninspired Design (not much to look at)
• Lack of Video Output Options (DVI, HDMI)
• Low Audio Power
• Small Touchpad

The ThinkPad R61 is a significant piece of hardware. It packs above-average processing power and 128 MB of discrete graphics, so if youre a business traveler who does some light gaming, youll enjoy this offering from Lenovo. Although some may bash this unit for the uninspired design, it wouldnt pay to walk into a cost-control meeting in a glossy red laptop with decals emblazoned on the lid. The real staying power of this notebook occurs under the hood, and Lenovos ThinkVantage software is helpful if youre looking for more control than Windows Vista can provide. Its priced as configured at $1,864.00, which will put a dent in your wallet without breaking it.