Lenovo ThinkPad R60 (Core Duo 2GHz, 1GB RAM, 100GB HDD, Vista Home Premium)
Editors' rating
Good
6.7
out of 10
- The good: Durable, functional case; solid performance and battery life; ample security features; WWAN connectivity; swappable media bay; standard three-year warranty.
- The bad: Undersize touch pad and mouse buttons.
- The bottom line: Businesses seeking a sturdy, secure, portable workhorse should consider the ThinkPad R60.
- Reviewed by:
- Michelle Thatcher
- Edited by:
- Justin Jaffe
- Review date: 5/15/06
The plain black case of the midsize R series may not elicit excitement, but its broad range of configuration options--with prices starting at $799--provide tremendous flexibility for businesses looking to make the most of their tech dollar. With the ThinkPad R60, Lenovo loaded up the solid R-series case with new parts, such as Intel's newest Core Duo processors, fast 667MHz RAM, and ATI's latest Mobility Radeon graphics chips. The result is a well-made laptop with enough oomph to tackle any basic business task.
Though the R60's design is nearly identical to that of the R52, there are a few key new features. Most notably, the ThinkPad R60 includes optional WWAN connectivity and a convenient wireless on/off switch along the laptop's front edge. The number of USB 2.0 ports has increased to three (from two), and buyers can now choose an SXGA+ resolution for the laptop's 14-inch display. In addition to the metal screen hinges found on the R52, the R60 incorporates a magnesium alloy frame and a shock-mounted hard drive to help withstand everyday bumps.
Otherwise, the changes are internal. Our $2,099 ThinkPad R60 review unit came stocked with a 2.GHz Intel Core Duo T2500 processor; 1GB of fast 667MHz RAM; a roomy 100GB, 7,200rpm hard drive; and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 card with 128MB of dedicated graphics memory. Those specs are nearly identical to the $2,599 ThinkPad T60 we tested earlier this year, as was the R60's performance in CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks. The R60 also scored in line with a similarly configured Dell Latitude D620, which cost $2,101. The ThinkPad R60's battery lasted a lengthy 6 hours, 25 minutes--that's 30 minutes longer than the ThinkPad T60 and more than 2 hours longer than the Latitude D620.
As with the R52, Lenovo backs select configurations of the ThinkPad R60 with a long three-year warranty, though some low-priced configurations ship with a cost-saving one-year warranty. Toll-free telephone support is available around the clock for the length of your warranty. Lenovo's support Web site includes a handful of troubleshooting topics as well as the expected driver downloads; the site lacks interactive features such as customer forums or the chance to chat in real time with a technician.
(Longer bars indicate faster performance)
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BAPCo SysMark 2004 rating | |
SysMark 2004 Internet content creation | |
SysMark 2004 office productivity |
(Longer bars indicate longer battery life)
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BAPCo MobileMark 2005 performance | |
BAPCo MobileMark 2005 battery-life minutes |
Find out more about how we test Windows laptops.
System configurations:
Dell Latitude D620
Windows XP Pro; 2GHz Intel Core Duo T2500; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; Nvidia Quadro NVS 110M 256MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 80GB 5,400rpm
Lenovo ThinkPad R60
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Core Duo T2500; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC5300 666MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 512MB; Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 100GB 7,200rpm
Lenovo ThinkPad T60
Windows XP Professional; 2GHz Intel Core Duo T2500; 1024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC5300 666MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 512MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 100GB 5,400rpm
Buying choices
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