legacy Thinkpads vs HP/Compaq notebooks
Yes this is old hardware and it is intentional. It is cheaper, more robust than the contemporary notebooks, and it’s powerful enough for some basic workstation usage.
T410s (Feb 2010),
chipset QS57 up to Core i7 640M PC3-8500 non-parity - PC3-10600?(de) up to up to 1066MHz max 8GB SATA ? (probably II) 14.1" possibly as [MultiTouch](www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/MultiTouch) Intel HD Graphics and/or Nvidia NVS 3100M
T410 (Jan 2010),
chipset [3400 series](https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/datasheets/5-chipset-3400-chipset-datasheet.pdf) up to Core i7 620M PC3-8500 max 8GB SATA ? (probably II) 14.1" WXGA (1280x800) or WXGA+ (1440x900) Intel HD Graphics 5700MHD (Ironlake) NVIDIA Quadro NVS 3100M with 256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 3100M with 512MB CD/DVD bay 2 x MiniPCI Express
T400s (Jun 2009) new build design,
thinner (note the S before the P9600 cpu model) and lighter than the T400
1066MHz FSB up to [Penryn/SP9600](http://ark.intel.com/products/37260/Intel-Core2-Duo-Processor-SP9600-6M-Cache-2_53-GHz-1066-MHz-FSB) 25W -- NOT CHANGABLE [PC3-8500](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/PC3-8500) max 8GB SATA II 14,1" possibly as Multitouchscreen Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD CD/DVD bay 2 x MiniPCI Express
T400 (Aug 2008),
1066MHz FSB with Socket P up to Penryn/P8700 25W and Penryn/T9600 35W [PC3-8500](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/PC3-8500) max 8GB SATA II 14.1" Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD Switchable Graphics with Intel GMA 4500MHD and ATI Mobility Radeon HD **3470** (256 MB) CD/DVD bay 3 x MiniPCI Express
T500 (Aug 2008),
1066MHz FSB up to P9500 25W and T9600 35W [PC3-8500](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/PC3-8500) max 8GB SATA II 15,4" Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD Switchable Graphics with Intel GMA 4500MHD and ATI Mobility Radeon HD **3650** (256 MB) CD/DVD bay 2 x MiniPCI Express
T61,
800MHz FSB with Socket M up to [Merom/T7800](www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Core_2_Duo_(Merom)) 35W and [Penryn/T8100](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Core_2_Duo_(Penryn)) 35W [PC2-5300](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/PC2-5300) max 8GB (unofficial) SATA I unlockable to SATA II with an [unofficial bios mod](http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Middleton%27s_BIOS) 14.1 and 15.4" T61p -- NVIDIA BUG -- nVidia Quadro FX 570M (128 MB) (Only in 14.1") T61p -- NVIDIA BUG -- nVidia Quadro FX 570M (256 MB) (Only in 15.4")
T60,
[FSB 533 MHz or FSB 667 MHz](http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-Intel_(chipsets)/945GM_Express.html) with Socket M up to **Merom/T7600** 34W max 2 x 2GB DDR2 PC2-5300 SATA I T60p -- max 2 x 1GB DDR2 PC2-4200/PC2-5300 T60p -- ATI Mobility FireGL V5200 (256 MB) graphics adapter T60p -- ATI Mobility FireGL V5250 (256 MB) graphics adapter
As of 2017, modern SSD drives are that fast e.g. a simple Toshiba A100 - 120 Go,
read ~ 550 Mo/sec (SATA III 6 Gb/s) write ~ 480 Mo/sec (SATA III 6 Gb/s)
whie the SATA max speeds are,
SATA revision 1.0 (1.5 Gbit/s, 150 MB/s, Serial ATA-150) SATA revision 2.0 (3 Gbit/s, 300 MB/s, Serial ATA-300) SATA revision 3.0 (6 Gbit/s, 600 MB/s, Serial ATA-600)
therefore it’s truly preferable to choose an SATA II laptop or T61 bios mod over a T60 SATA I so you can really take advantage of the SSD performance upgrade.
really avoid the Intel 945GM or P945M chipset limitation as the addressable memory will be 4GB - I/O space ~= 3.2GB. The Intel 965 chipset limitation is less harmful with max addressable memory 4GB.
DDR2 4GB SODIMMs are so freaking expansive you might want to stick with 2 x 2GB DDR2 anyway.
Some respectable freak is playing with the FSB on a T61.
Check your FSB on a linux system e.g. on a 945 chipset running an 667fsb,
lspci | grep ‘Host bridge’ sudo lshw | less
core -> cpu -> clock: 167Mhz
==> with a x4 multiplier this equals 668 (667) Mhz.
battery may last a bit longer with the integrated graphics versions
the Z61e/m/t/p is similar to the T60 but with webcam and 16:9 widescreen (and smaller resolution)
T60 T61 T400 T400s T500 all have an ExpressCard/54 slot to eventually plug an USB 3.0 card. It’s also possibly available on the T410s instead of the Ricoh multicard reader.
T60(p) T61(not p) T400 T400s T500 T410s are all comptaible with Ultrabay Battery III
I am considering the old school x3xx and x4xx series here (the ones with real sound volume buttons). This is the generation in between the Evo style and the newer 6910p, x5xx, x7xx series style, which was then followed by the Elitebook 1st generation (xx30) then Elitebook 2nd generation (xx40) series.
HP/Compaq x3xx and x4xx series:
The HP/Compaq x3xx and x4xx series are the competitor of the T60 in terms of FSB & CPU performance,
945GM or 945PM -- 667-MHz FSB Socket M up to T7600@2.33-GHz
This is all SODIMM DDR2 2x2GB shit tops. You can try 2x4GB tho (feedback), no garantee it will work.
Which one has the best graphics ?