Inexpensive (very), but not cheap
Written: Dec 13 '08
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Pros: Powerful enough, modern technologies, 64-bit, EXTREMELY low price
Cons: Bulkier and heavier than more expensive systems, not up to demanding graphically intensive applications
The Bottom Line: An excellent system for basic productivity use. A business user or student could spend far more and do much worse.
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| lawman67's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad® R61e (765084U) PC Notebook |
I am predominately a Mac user. At my small law firm all employees use Macintosh workstations, as do all members of my family at home. Macs are wonderful machines with what I consider a vastly superior operating system. That said, when it comes to temporary employees, most have never touched a Mac, and therefore, are more productive if given a PC on which to work.
That is the intended use of the machine I am reviewing now, a lowest-end Lenovo ThinkPad R61e that is now one-year-old. When new, this machine sold for about $600, but 1-year-old I picked it up for $300. For that princely sum I have a machine that is still current in terms of its technology, is well-built, adequately powerful and reasonably future-proof. Oh, it is also quite good-looking and matches the best of anybody's line in terms of ergonomics and user convenience, all for the price of the most stripped-down netbook.
What the R61e is not is a high-end system suitable for high-end applications. It is also not the most portable of systems, though it isn't grossly oversize or overweight either. At just under 7lbs and under 2" thick, it is about the same size as most other 15.4" widescreen laptops, and actually lighter than most. It is larger and bulkier than the premium models such as the ThinkPad T series and Apple MacBook Pro 15" models, but for infrequent travel, home and office use it is adequately portable.
Where the R61e is far better than just about any other non-ThinkPad is ergonomics. ThinkPads have always had among the very best keyboards in the industry, and this one is no exception.
In fact, there is absolutely no difference between the keyboard on the $600 R series and that of the $3000 T61p workstation models. Build quality is also at the same level, though absent are the more exotic materials used to make the T series slimmer and lighter. In fact, for the basic office productivity for work for which the R61e was designed, there is no difference whatsoever in the use of this machine and one costing five times as much.
Okay, enough about the look and feel, what is under the hood? This was a very low-end machine even when new, and as such you won't find multiple processor cores, dedicated graphics or even a DVD writer. What you will find is a basic system that has enough power to get the job done, and nothing extra.
The R61e is powered by an Intel Celeron M processor at 1.86GHz. This is a single core processor, but is built on the same Merom core as the Core2Duo of 2007. With modern software that recognizes and is optimized for multi-core CPUs the Celeron will lag behind dual core laptops, but with basic applications like web browsers, word processors and even DVD decoders, there is no real difference.
Also, Windows XP Professional, the OS that this system came with, while multi-processor aware, doesn't benefit from added processors in its own functions and only when running high end applications like PhotoShop or CAD applications or during background tasks like virus scans that can be offloaded to the second core will the benefits of a dual core computer be noticeable. In other words, most of the time, for most tasks, the 1.86GHz Celeron M in the R61e will perform at about the same level as a 1.86GHz CoreDuo or Core2Duo, and should be faster than even the fastest of the single core Pentium M systems of 3 or 4 years ago, at least in terms of processing power.
Another area where the R61e compromises for cost is its graphics. The screen is rather low resolution for a 15.4 incher at 1280X800, a resolution more common on 13 and 14" panels, but still quite usable for most tasks. Also reflecting the machine's business focus is a matte finish on the display rather than the glossy finish more popular on consumer machines. Even in 2007 matte screens were on the way out, and today Lenovo is one of very few manufacturers to still sell them in any volume. Glossy is far superior for watching movies and grabbing the attention of customers in an electronics superstore, but for working text in a typical office under florescent lighting, perhaps near a window, matte is the way to go. No high-tech LED backlight or special outdoor viewability here, just a basic LCD display that is adequate, though unimpressive.
Powering that LCD is another budget component that actually makes this a better choice than a higher end machine for many users, and that is the integrated Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor that uses system RAM rather than dedicated memory. Integrated graphics are far slower than dedicated graphics in most cases, and are nowhere near up to the latest and greatest 3D games.
Where integrated graphics are superior to dedicated are in battery life and heat. High end graphics chips and their dedicated ram consume as much of your battery power as the CPU itself in many laptops, whereas integrated graphics consume far less, often enough less to allow your laptop to run for an extra hour or more between charges. The R61e is good for about 5 hours on a charge of its 6 cell battery, and almost 8 hours with a 9 cell.
The other benefit of integrated graphics is heat, or more accurately lack thereof. Dedicated graphics processors require heatsinks and fans just like CPUs do, and just like with CPUs, the slower the chip and the fewer components, the less power it will consume and the less heat it will generate. Heat and moisture are the two biggest enemies of electronic components, so all things being equal, a cooler-running laptop will also be a longer-lasting laptop.
Heat and battery life are also strong points in favor of the Celeron M CPU in this budget system. While Celeron processors do not have the special SpeedStep circuitry that Core2Duo and even Pentium M systems have, they also have fewer components and of course only a single core, resulting in a chip that uses about the same amount of power idle at full speed as a dual core processor would when idle in SpeedStep mode, while producing less heat.
One more thing about the Celeron M in the R61e. This is a 64-bit processor, unlike the Celeron M in the older ThinkPad R60 I reviewed a while back. The R61e can address up to 4 GB of RAM with a 64 bit operating system, and so configured, makes a powerful enough system that should remain modern for years to come. That Celeron processor is also upgradable, and can be replaced by just about any Merom Core2Duo should find yourself needing more power down the line.
There really isn't much else to say about the R61e. It is an ordinary ThinkPad, which while different in terms of technical specifications, looks and feels the same as all of the rest. One interesting omission that to me is an advantage is that the R61e only has the IBM TrackPoint (eraserhead) mouse and does not have a touchpad. Many consumers will not like this omission and think that Lenovo is cutting costs, but I see this as an advantage as the touchpad is a vastly inferior pointing device technology (in my opinion) and only gets in the way on a ThinkPad.
Other ThinkPad standards are all present on the R61e. It has the same hardware volume buttons, a sliding switch to turn the wireless networking on and off, and the same simple single screw to remove the hard drive.
While I bought the R61e mainly for its price, this machine in no way looks or feels cheap. Were I still primarily using Windows, I would have no problems using this as my primary computer for everything except games. In fact, while bulkier and heavier than my MacBook Pro and far less powerful, when it comes to surfing the web, handling email and working with word documents and PDFs, there really is no difference whatsoever between this and my much more expensive Apple system. In short, this really is a nice piece of kit and would satisfy even a demanding laptop user like me.
In fact, the R61e is so nice to work with given its legendary ThinkPad keyboard and broad palmrests with no annoying touchpad that it is far BETTER than my MacBook Pro when it comes to straight typing tasks. If I ever do get around to writing the great American novel, I will probably reach for the R61e on which to do it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
lawman67
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 in Computer Hardware |
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Member: Andrew F
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 209
Trusted by: 63 members
About Me:
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say.
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