Full review of ThinkPad R61-14W
I will have nothing but drool when, somewhere in the near future, I come across some businessperson tooling around with their new Vista-based Lenovo ThinkPad R61-14W. The revamped Lenovo R series goes into my category of "why it's nice to let a corporation pick up the tab for your laptop."
I say that because the Lenovo is not cheap, coming in at suggested retail of around 2 grand, your average home user might not want to drop such cash. However, this notebook can be customized for a cheaper configuration at Lenovo's official site. The new R series takes a page out of its Thinkpad cousins in the Lenovo T series, and has become lighter (at 5.4 pounds) and sleeker. Yet like older R series laptops, the R61-14W does not disappoint with hardware and accessories.
Speed is essential for today's corporate folk, so Lenovo gives it to them with a 2.2-GHz Next Generation Santa Rosa Centrino Processor (up to 2.4GHz with 4MBL2 is available) and 2GB of RAM (up to 4GB). The Intel 802.11n wireless connectivity gets you where you need to go on the web without a wait. And the Nvidia Quatro NVS 140M graphics card can manage whatever a marketing manager might throw up on a quarterly report-as well as moderate-res 3-D graphics gaming.
Speaking of displays, Lenovo went widescreen with the R61-14W-14 inches at 1440 x 900 resolution.
Then there are the accessories that are near mandatory now for business clients-accessibility and security. The Lenovo does the former with Bluetooth, FireWire, PC Card, and Smart Card. It does the latter with an offered TMP module to protect data and a fingerprint scanner. The Lenovo Active Protection System, including magnesium rollcage, can save the 100GB from falls and bangs, and the display is even protected by an additional rollcage. Don't get me wrong this rollcage won't put the Thinkpad in the rugged Toughbook class, but it's a step in the right direction.
Are there weaknesses to this machine? Nit pickers could criticize a battery with less than 2 hours' of charge. But I'll just choose to drool.
ThinkPad R61-14W Technical Specifications
* Processor 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 800MHz FSB
* Memory 2GB 667Mhz DDR2
* Harddrive 100GB 7,200rpm SATA
* OS Windows Vista Business
* Weight 5.4 pounds (2.5 kg)
* Screen 14.1 inches
* Screen resolution 1440x900
* Graphic Card Nvidia Quadro NVS 140M
* Battery Life 2 hours
