I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.

I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the performance?
Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's memory?

Thanks.

On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf
wrote:

>I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
>1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
>to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.
>
>I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
>option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the performance?
>Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's memory?

General,

I don't have much to contribute, but I'm a StinkPad fan: R40, T43, and
T61. Pretty sure the Intel option uses shared memory.

My T61 is a 14.1 WXGA+ widescreen. It's a nice little package. Out
of some kind of strange vanity I went with the NVidia option even
though I'm not a gamer or graphics guy. My impression is that the
discrete graphic option is a battery hog. the T61 only runs 2.5 hrs
or so. The T43 could make almost 5 hrs on a good day.

IMHO you should go with the biggest battery available. 9 cell I think
for the 15.4, 6 or 7 for the 14.1 (but there's a 9 cell in the pipe
for the 14.1 IIRC).

As long as I'm answering questions you didn't ask about machines you
arent interested in - if anyone goes with the 14.1, go with WXGA+.
The WXGA option has 800 vertical pixels. Not enough when a VMWare
guest window is up. The VMWare window decoration squeezes the guest
a little too much. Forces window scrolling or a really nasty small
resolution for the guest. Even the WXGA+ 900 is a little tight.

Bill
--
William D Waddington
william.waddington@beezmo.com
"Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on
the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch

On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf wrote:

> I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
> 1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
> to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.
>
> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the
> performance? Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's
> memory?
>
> Thanks.

I don't have that model, but I run several computers including a Gateway
laptop with Intel video. The Intel driver, as of the last year or so, is
fine. I have zero issues - completely satisfied. Prior to that, the only
solution on my laptop was a proprietary driver from Xi Graphics -
otherwise I could not get anything beyond 800x600 (native res is 1024x768).

On Sat, 24 May 2008 07:36:13 -0700, Bill Waddington wrote:

> On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf
> wrote:
>
>>I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
>>1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
>>to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.
>>
>>I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
>>option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the
>>performance? Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's
>>memory?
>
> General,
>
> I don't have much to contribute, but I'm a StinkPad fan: R40, T43, and
> T61. Pretty sure the Intel option uses shared memory.
>
> My T61 is a 14.1 WXGA+ widescreen. It's a nice little package. Out of
> some kind of strange vanity I went with the NVidia option even though
> I'm not a gamer or graphics guy. My impression is that the discrete
> graphic option is a battery hog. the T61 only runs 2.5 hrs or so. The
> T43 could make almost 5 hrs on a good day.
>
> IMHO you should go with the biggest battery available. 9 cell I think
> for the 15.4, 6 or 7 for the 14.1 (but there's a 9 cell in the pipe for
> the 14.1 IIRC).
>
> As long as I'm answering questions you didn't ask about machines you
> arent interested in - if anyone goes with the 14.1, go with WXGA+. The
> WXGA option has 800 vertical pixels. Not enough when a VMWare guest
> window is up. The VMWare window decoration squeezes the guest a little
> too much. Forces window scrolling or a really nasty small resolution
> for the guest. Even the WXGA+ 900 is a little tight.
>
> Bill

I don't care about battery life, I always use my laptop in places that
have plugs. I do care about available memory. I use VMs on my laptops and
I do simulations and FPGA place and routes. Which brings up another issue
which is about sufficient cooling. My current laptop is a Compaq with a
single core A64. It doesn't have sufficient cooling for it's processor
which forces me to set the clock speed down when I do simulations, if I
don't it will overheat. I'm planning on getting the T9300 with 4G, does
anyone run their T61 with the processor running at 100% for long periods?

General Schvantzkopf wrote:
> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the performance?
> Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's memory?

I've got an R61i with similar specs to the T61 with Intel graphics:
Mobile Intel GM965 Express (X3100)
2GB RAM
No video memory, just shared memory.

I'm very happy with it. Runs the 3D wizardry of compiz-fusion with no
problems. I don't do any hard-core gaming. But it plays very well things
like tuxracer and those shoot-em-up games with the quake engine.

--
As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin

General Schvantzkopf wrote:
> It doesn't have sufficient cooling for it's processor
> which forces me to set the clock speed down when I do simulations, if I
> don't it will overheat. I'm planning on getting the T9300 with 4G, does
> anyone run their T61 with the processor running at 100% for long periods?
>

Mine has the T5250 with 2G, don't know how much they differ, but I run
Seti, it uses both cores 99% - 100% for 14-16 hours per day. I don't
ever see more than 48-50 Celsius.

--
As we enjoy great advantages from inventions of others, we should be
glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours;
and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin

On Mon, 26 May 2008 08:56:21 +0000, johnny bobby bee wrote:

> General Schvantzkopf wrote:
>> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
>> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the
>> performance? Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's
>> memory?
>
> I've got an R61i with similar specs to the T61 with Intel graphics:
> Mobile Intel GM965 Express (X3100)
> 2GB RAM
> No video memory, just shared memory.
>
> I'm very happy with it. Runs the 3D wizardry of compiz-fusion with no
> problems. I don't do any hard-core gaming. But it plays very well things
> like tuxracer and those shoot-em-up games with the quake engine.

Thanks to all who've answered.

On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf
wrote:

>I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
>1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
>to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.
>
>I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
>option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the performance?
>Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's memory?

General,

I was perusing "letters" in the April 2008 Linux Journal today and
came across one from Jon Lewis. He says that the driver for the X3100
graphics hardware doesn't (no longer?) includes virtual panning.

He refers to this:
http://lists.freedesktop.org/archive...il/023841.html

There may be a "letter" link on the LJ site, but I haven't found
it w/a quick look.

No clue whether you care, but I thought I should mention it.

Bill
--
William D Waddington
william.waddington@beezmo.com
"Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on
the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch

On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf wrote:

> I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
> 1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE version,
> to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with Windows.
>
> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the
> performance? Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's
> memory?
>

Don't go that way. The performance of the Intel video is not in any way
comparable to the Nvidia. My X60 (ultra-portable) has a low-resolution
screen (1024x768) but its video performance is slow. In 3D it is slow as
well (under 1000 fps in glxgears). The video (945GM) does have 256 MB of
it's own memory though.


--
Vladimir

General Schvantzkopf writes:
> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the performance?
> Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's memory?

I have a T61 with Intel graphics 1680x1050. Unfortunately the
1920x1280 screen is only available with Nvidia graphics that I didn't
want. The Intel graphics performance is fine as far as I can tell,
but I don't run shooter games or anything like that. I prefer the
taller 1600x1200 screen of my old A21p but that's just because of the
screen size and shape, not the graphics chip.

On Fri, 30 May 2008 21:38:29 +0000, Vladimir Florinski wrote:

> On Fri, 23 May 2008 19:46:49 -0500, General Schvantzkopf wrote:
>
>> I'm about to get a new laptop. I'm leaning towards the T61 with a 15.4"
>> 1650x1080 screen. Lenovo only offers Intel Graphics on the SuSE
>> version, to get Nvidia I'd have to hold my nose and get one with
>> Windows.
>>
>> I'm interested in hearing from T61 users who have the Intel graphics
>> option with a high resolution screen. Are you happy with the
>> performance? Does it have it's on RAM or is it sharing the processor's
>> memory?
>>
>>
> Don't go that way. The performance of the Intel video is not in any way
> comparable to the Nvidia. My X60 (ultra-portable) has a low-resolution
> screen (1024x768) but its video performance is slow. In 3D it is slow as
> well (under 1000 fps in glxgears). The video (945GM) does have 256 MB of
> it's own memory though.

I've decided to wait for Centrino2 which will be available in Aug. I
figure the next generation of Intel graphics will be enough better then
the current version that it will reach the good enough stage. The
Centrino2 will also have 802.11n and WiMax. I'm not desperate for an
upgrade, my current laptop is an A64.