I'd recommend a T61 or even a T400. Using a VM (or two!) can be a real
memory hog and the T61 (I think) and the T400 (for sure) can use at
least 8GB of RAM. I have a T60 and T400 and found the same issues in the
T60: The hinge is a little wobbly after five years, and the heat makes
the machine not usable in your lap without some insulation. I should
take it apart, clean out the dust, and re-apply heat transfer compound.
The Core Duo in my T60 is really quite a bit slower than newer CPUs.
T60s and newer can use widely-available SATA SSD drives, which help with
performance a ton. (On my T400, Linux boots in 12 seconds.) T410 and
later have slightly different keyboard layouts (like the Delete key), so
take note of that.
I'd recommend a T400 for you if you can afford it. Linus Torvalds uses
one (or at least he did), so Linux support is excellent, FWIW.
If you go with a T60, get 4GB of RAM, as it (the memory) will run up to
10% faster with matched memory sticks, and it's pretty cheap.
Chris
On Aug 19 2012 05:49 pm, Jeffrey Race wrote:
I'm now back in the U.S. at a software conference where
everyone has a Thinkpad. I have seen and touched a T60
and the keyboard is actually OK for me. I have a vague
idea to get one because it was probably manufactured
later than my T43s and so should carry me longer before
parts become scarce. I'd welcome comments from
list members who have experience with both. Any gotchas
about the T60 (compared to T43 which I know well)?
Any particular T60 models to seek or to avoid? I see
lots on ebay now at reasonable prices for my depleted
budget (depleted by daughter in college).
I'd install OS/2 (now know as eCS) and run WXP in a
virtual machine so RAM is important. What is the
maximum T60 RAM capacity. Vary by model?
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