hi guys,
i finally received my z60m. i bought it in germany for a student's discount price which was 1500 euros (instead of around 2000). the model number is 2531-e9g. this model has a 1680x1050 screen, 2 ghz pm, 512 mb of ram, 80 gb hdd 5400rpm, 9 cell battery, 3 years warranty and titanium lid. for you who are in the process of deciding whether to go with it, here are the most positive and negative impressions i got:
pros
:
- quite good built quality: the case is sturdy and the titanium lid is unbreakable. in the inside, all components are embedded into a magnesium "roll cage". on the outside, there is plastic, durable plastic as it seems, though.
- touchpad is small but responsive. the trackstick is very nice. i thought i wouldn't use it because i don't use with my dell lappy. but the z60m's trackstick is way better. when pressing the middle button, you can scroll using the track stick which is very convenient.
- software: software to configure network settings and screen settings is very nice and useful. you can preconfigure scenarios which can be recalled by fn + function keys afterwards. for screen settings, you can even determine on which side of the lappy the external monitor is placed. the hdd is protected by software parking the heads when the machine is moved.
- hdd protection: by software (see above) and hardware: the hdd is placed into rubber slides.
- battery life: if you do some typing or so you can get something like 6 hours with the 9 cell battery.
- burner: burns everything except for dl-dvds. it even burns rams which is interesting because of their good reliability.
- accessories: there is a pile of high quality accessories available for this notebook. you can get a 6 cell battery which is not protruding the case like the 9 cell does. you can also get a battery for the drive bay. furthermore, there are nice docking solutions adding functionality like digital audio and dvi.
- keyboard: good keyboard, even the shape of the keys is better than general i find. however, some keys make a creaky noise sometimes
- heat management: the notebook never gets hot, the fan blows only occasionally when load is small. it even does not get loud when load is high
cons
:
- screen: the screen could be brighter and more evenly lit. in my opinion, contrast could be better. the problem is perhaps that i have already seen sony laptop screens i liked a lot but a notebook consists not only of the screen... but don't get me wrong - it is not too bad. 1680x1050 is a matter of taste. i like the resolution per se because you have a lot of working space on the desktop. another thing to keep in mind is that vista and afaik xp will be fully scalable soon. then there will be no reason to go with a low res screen anymore.
- case: some parts of the case can be impressed; the part where the power switch is located. the battery can be move a bit. but this is not so bad since the rest of the case seems rubust
- the burner does not fill the bay completely: only a cosmetic flaw
what i did was to order another 512 mb of ram. it can be easily installed. it is depicted even in the installation poster. i also ordered the 3 years on site upgrade which was 100 euro which is a good price in my opinion.
All in all, I think the notebook is a very nice machine. imho it is the best you can get for the price (with discount). i think the screen is unfortunately the weakest point because it is not as superb as some other aspects of the notebook like case, trackstick, keyboard, battery life, accessories,...
one more thing: if you buy it, the first thing you ought to do is creating backup disks to restore the factory state. if you do a clean install, make sure to save all the drivers and proggies stored on c: in those ibm folders. you will at least need the hda driver.
i hope you found this helpful. as i said, i tried to gather the major impressions. if you have questions, feel free to ask.
i finally received my z60m. i bought it in germany for a student's discount price which was 1500 euros (instead of around 2000). the model number is 2531-e9g. this model has a 1680x1050 screen, 2 ghz pm, 512 mb of ram, 80 gb hdd 5400rpm, 9 cell battery, 3 years warranty and titanium lid. for you who are in the process of deciding whether to go with it, here are the most positive and negative impressions i got:
pros
:- quite good built quality: the case is sturdy and the titanium lid is unbreakable. in the inside, all components are embedded into a magnesium "roll cage". on the outside, there is plastic, durable plastic as it seems, though.
- touchpad is small but responsive. the trackstick is very nice. i thought i wouldn't use it because i don't use with my dell lappy. but the z60m's trackstick is way better. when pressing the middle button, you can scroll using the track stick which is very convenient.
- software: software to configure network settings and screen settings is very nice and useful. you can preconfigure scenarios which can be recalled by fn + function keys afterwards. for screen settings, you can even determine on which side of the lappy the external monitor is placed. the hdd is protected by software parking the heads when the machine is moved.
- hdd protection: by software (see above) and hardware: the hdd is placed into rubber slides.
- battery life: if you do some typing or so you can get something like 6 hours with the 9 cell battery.
- burner: burns everything except for dl-dvds. it even burns rams which is interesting because of their good reliability.
- accessories: there is a pile of high quality accessories available for this notebook. you can get a 6 cell battery which is not protruding the case like the 9 cell does. you can also get a battery for the drive bay. furthermore, there are nice docking solutions adding functionality like digital audio and dvi.
- keyboard: good keyboard, even the shape of the keys is better than general i find. however, some keys make a creaky noise sometimes
- heat management: the notebook never gets hot, the fan blows only occasionally when load is small. it even does not get loud when load is high
cons
:- screen: the screen could be brighter and more evenly lit. in my opinion, contrast could be better. the problem is perhaps that i have already seen sony laptop screens i liked a lot but a notebook consists not only of the screen... but don't get me wrong - it is not too bad. 1680x1050 is a matter of taste. i like the resolution per se because you have a lot of working space on the desktop. another thing to keep in mind is that vista and afaik xp will be fully scalable soon. then there will be no reason to go with a low res screen anymore.
- case: some parts of the case can be impressed; the part where the power switch is located. the battery can be move a bit. but this is not so bad since the rest of the case seems rubust
- the burner does not fill the bay completely: only a cosmetic flaw
what i did was to order another 512 mb of ram. it can be easily installed. it is depicted even in the installation poster. i also ordered the 3 years on site upgrade which was 100 euro which is a good price in my opinion.
All in all, I think the notebook is a very nice machine. imho it is the best you can get for the price (with discount). i think the screen is unfortunately the weakest point because it is not as superb as some other aspects of the notebook like case, trackstick, keyboard, battery life, accessories,...
one more thing: if you buy it, the first thing you ought to do is creating backup disks to restore the factory state. if you do a clean install, make sure to save all the drivers and proggies stored on c: in those ibm folders. you will at least need the hda driver.
i hope you found this helpful. as i said, i tried to gather the major impressions. if you have questions, feel free to ask.
