Lenovo's ThinkPad T61 and R61 Santa Rosa-tops leaked, due in May

While the classic IBM ThinkPad stylings might play well in the ultraportable range, we've never been quite impressed with Lenovo's widescreen attempts at business friendly minimalism. That said, there's a lot to love in the specs department of Lenovo's upcoming T61 (pictured) and R61 Santa Rosa 14-inchers, which IBM leaked info on today -- which is odd, considering the fact that the IBM logo has left these things completely -- and while the looks might be a tad frumpy, the actual sizes aren't so terribly chubsy. Of course, the big news here is the Santa Rosa processor action, with chips like the T7100, T7300, T7500 and T7700 bringing up to 2.4GHz of 64-bit Core 2 Duo lovin' to the two models. Other notables include Intel's latest PM965 integrated graphics chipset, Intel Turbo Card "Robson" flash memory cache tech in select models, and a LCD "roll cage" in the T61. You can also toss in discrete NVIDIA graphics, or pretty much whatever else you're up for: wireless, connectivity and storage options abound. No word on price, but we should be seeing the first of these around May, with NVIDIA, 160GB encrypted drives and Blu-ray versions following in July.

[Via NotebookReview]

Read - Lenovo ThinkPad T61
Read - Lenovo ThinkPad R61

[Dustin Frazier @ Apr 24th 2007 5:03PM]

I touched myself inappropriately while reading those specs. Oh yeah, below the swim suit baby.

[snife @ Apr 24th 2007 5:37PM]

I think your missing the biggest change of the model you have in the picture being a 14" widescreen - a new option for T series.

[Chuckles McGee @ Apr 24th 2007 5:58PM]

Abso-freaking-awesome. Yay Lenovo!

[t42 fan @ Apr 24th 2007 6:42PM]

I own a T42 and now a T60.

The T60 is a huge step backwards in terms of quality.

I really regret purchasing it. It is not much better than a toshiba or HP at half the price.

please beware - lenovo seems to be cutting a lot of corners. try before you buy

[Dax Kelson @ Apr 24th 2007 6:57PM]

Notice that there is a Blu-ray drive option for the R61!

[bobbyafra @ Apr 24th 2007 7:08PM]

I am the Director of IT for a large manufacturing firm. We have been using the IBM/Lenovo lineup for over 9 years now. I can safely say that we are moving away from them as it seems that each release turns out a cheaper(in terms of quality), less reliable notebook. The last batch of T60's have been an absolute horror. I am saddened, but reality has caused us to look elswhere.

[Nick @ Apr 24th 2007 8:04PM]

BlandPad, Nice.

[Guinnis @ Apr 24th 2007 8:51PM]

Ive been working in IT for the last 5 years supporting Gateway, Dell, HP and IBM (not Lenovo). Since Lenovo has taken over from big blue they have been getting worse with each release. I advise not purchasing a lenovo they are far from the quality and support they had when they were IBM

[myscrnnm @ Apr 24th 2007 8:59PM]

Funny. I own an IBM ThinkPad R-series (from the IBM era) and when I check out computers at the stores, the Lenovo ThinkPad T-series actually feel like they are of poorer quality, even though the R-series is supposed to be entry level and T-series is the flagship line. Lenovo has totally ruined the ThinkPad line. What used to be the best business notebook line in the market is now probably the worst.

[Kev50027 @ Apr 24th 2007 9:54PM]

...Still ugly as hell, and made of cheap-o plastic.

I'll stick with Sony Vaio's, thanks.

[Colin @ Apr 24th 2007 10:57PM]

Obviously it's hard to judge based soley on the picture, but it certainly *looks* cheaper than the old ThinkPads I used to use. Look at all the seams and slots and breakable-looking widgets...

A friend of mine has a Presario, and while it's certainly not the greatest/most portable machine, it seems to be built like a tank.

[zzz @ Apr 25th 2007 4:13AM]

Looks pretty bulky. Frankly, Anything bigger than 12 inches is just against the idea of portability.

[werdna @ Apr 25th 2007 6:52PM]

My University is hooked on giving every student one of these hulking tanks, they're absolute garbage!

Heavy, Slow, Inadequate!

My R60 can barely support my external 19" WS LCD, so much static...

THINK PAD = STINK PAD

[Chang @ May 6th 2007 8:51PM]

I find it amusing the comments from people about lenovos quality. It seems that the company is no longer concerned about quality as they are moving all their testing to china so you think the machines are bad now wait till a year from now when they control all QA from china. Good bye Thinkpad.

[Gene @ Jun 4th 2007 5:47PM]

Do forget the LENOVO now always delay their order more than one month. And the customer never tell you the exactly shipping date and the reason they delay.