Question:
Z61m experiences/problems?
hello peeps
im considering getting a z61m but have been discouraged by some posts about reliability issues, overheating, etc.
is the z61m a reliable laptop are there any known defects?
i will be using it mainly for programming/browsing/word processing - does the high native resolution make the text a little too small?
are there any other issues with it?
thanks for any experiences/comments
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
I thought the review model I had was very good, but I only had it about three weeks.
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
thanks for the reply Zaz.
i should also mention that in the store that i went to z61m on display had "up to 512mb vram" on its label. when i asked the lenovo rep what that meant he said it was 256mb ati radeon x1400 and 256mb shared, although there was no way to show this using the built in utilities.
is there such a configuration for the z61m?
i think the product code was z61m ua0hxx.
i may watch the occasional dvd if i buy the z61m, is the screen resolution suitable for that?
thanks
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
no overheating issues here... mine totally stays cool, not even warm. playing BF1942 sometimes makes it warm,because i'm plugged in whenever i play.
so quiet. no harddrive whine or any noise.
i have this minor problem... software... because i'm using mcafee antivirus enterprise v.8 ... and that is old... i sometimes have BSOD whenever i open 10 windows/programs at ones. memory dump... grr...
the text size is small, but not to a point where you are staring on your screen trying to see texts. reasonable size for me. others say it is small, but for me it is just the right size as the text looks clear to me.
yep, it says 512MB video ram, but i think that is only 128MB dedicated +128 shared. don't know where the other 256MB came from. never seen an x1400 256MB.
DVD watching is great. but be wary that the speakers are not top-notch in terms of sound reproduction. external speakers may help you with that :)
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
paqtrick, there are 256MB ati radeons - i have seen them on some dell models, 6400 i think.
the main pro of a thinkpad is the build quality, screen - i prefer a matt screen.
just wondering about how small the text is, is it uncomfortable for rigorous daily use? im used to a 19inch syncmaster at 1280 x 1024
can the built in wifi support 802.11 thru a software upgrade?
in Zaz's review the DVD write test showed that there were errors towards the end of the DVD, not exactly a good point on such a pricey laptop.
thanks
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
i think those cards are the ones i know, 50/50 dedicated/shared to create 256mb.
i really do not know about adjusting from a 19-inch screen to a 15in screen. maybe they'll differ on how far you will be on your screen to notice any difference. :)
802.11n thru software? hmmm.. i think not.
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
There are no X1400s with 256MB of dedicated memory, the maximum is 128. Antything else on top of that is shared memory (up to 512 depending on the drivers and amount of RAM). This card just doesn't need more than 128 MB of dedicated VRAM and the shared memory doesn't help performance.
The X1400 in the z61m is 128MB of dedicated + up to 512MB of HyperMemory.
I haven't had any problems with the ThinkPad z61m nor do I think I will have... and you will have hard time to find anything more reliable than a ThinkPad...
As for the screen resolution, that's a personal preference, so the best you can do is to check it out in person.
Have had my Z61m since 12/26 and am running Windows Vista on it. No problems with the machine at all! Quality is excellent and the keyboard (NMB) is positively gorgeous! Did not believe that a laptop keyboard could be this good :-)
Have had a couple of minor issues with the Lenovo issued ATI X1400 driver causing screen corruption when coming out of Sleep or Hibernate. These have gone away after I installed the drivers from the ATI website. Some of the other Lenovo software (Thinkvantage) have caused problems, but this is to be expected since these are still beta software.
My ATI X1400 has 128 MB on board and as far as I know, this is the max amount of dedicated RAM on this graphics card. However, it does seem to pull in much more of system RAM than I thought it was supposed to. Currently, it seems to be using 763 MB or system RAM for a total Graphics memory of 891 MB - and I'm not complaining :-)
No other issues with this laptop...this is my first ThinkPad and other than the unusually long wait to get it, I do not regret my decision one bit! These ThinkPads are addictive though...I've had many other laptops, but now, once you get a ThinkPad, you will keep going back to them :-)
Answer:
Re: Z61m experiences/problems?
dreamer - sorry but this site says otherwise,
dreamer - sorry but this site says otherwise,
Thank you for the link :rolleyes: and now again, there are no X1400s with 256MB of dedicated memory, the maximum is 128MB.
although it still doesnt answer the question of how much dedicated vram does the z61m come with.
128MB of dedicated video memory.
Period.