An Intel chipset launch is never complete without Lenovo offering a new ThinkPad to take advantage of it. The ThinkPad T61 Widescreen ($2,510 direct) is the latest in Lenovo's ThinkPad T-series of world-class laptops that have stood the test of time among corporate professionals. With the T61 Widescreen, you get the absolute best from Intel's newest Centrino Duo platform. The system is loaded with Intel's fastest Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, and discrete graphics from the available nVidia Quadro NVS 140M. When you factor in all the other intangibles (comfortable keyboard, lightweight chassis, and more), it's obvious why the Editors' Choice for business laptops couldn't go to anyone else.

Loyal ThinkPad users will be happy to hear that the design hasn't changed; it's still black, bland, and not at all revolutionary. The 14.1-inch widescreen isn't new to the T series. In fact, it's the second iteration of this size, boasting a 1,440-by-900 resolution. You might assume that the T61 is heavy because of the widescreen, but it weighs only 5.4 pounds. It's slightly lighter than the Dell Latitude D630 but the D630 has the bigger battery (85 Wh to the T61's 56 Wh)—and it's almost a pound lighter than the Gateway E-265M, which also has a bigger battery (98 Wh). The keyboard is still the best in the industry, and you have both touchpad and TrackPoint pointing devices.

The feature set on the T61 has improved slightly over that of the T60, adding FireWire support. The three USB ports are sufficient for flash keys, printers, external mice, and so on. As always, ThinkPads come with a built-in fingerprint reader, TPM module, and the robust ThinkVantage suite to round out the security features. The ThinkVantage suite also adds BatteryStretch, a software tool that disables certain aspects of Microsoft Windows Vista and Win XP Pro to extend battery life. Lenovo offers an option of a Blu-ray burner. Whether businesses will integrate one is another story. The drive can cost more than of $650 and serves chiefly as an expensive archiving solution. The standard DVD dual-layer burner is modular, meaning you can swap in another drive or even another battery to augment the standard one.

With the T61, you now have options for four different card slots: an ExpressCard 34 slot, a PC Card slot, a SmartCard reader, and an SD card reader. You can integrate any of these slots in tandem; my configuration came with both an ExpressCard and SD card reader. Notice, too, that the antenna bump no longer protrudes from the right-hand side of the screen. The now-hidden antenna gives you access to Verizon's EV-DO networks, enabling broadband-like Internet speeds with the use of a cell-phone signal. The modem wasn't activated on my test unit, but if previous ThinkPads are any indication, we should get around 700 to 800 Kbps in Manhattan.

As in the past, whenever Intel launches a new platform—usually a Centrino flavor of some sort—PC makers rush to take advantage of all its performance enhancements. ThinkPads usually shine in capitalizing on the chipset's advances. The T61 is outfitted with a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 processor, the fastest mobile Core 2 Duo processor available and one of the big reasons why it was able to surpass much of the competition in our tests, except for the HP Pavilion HDX9000. The HDX9000 had the slight advantage by loading 3GB of memory. The only area where the ThinkPad didn't meet expectations was on SYSmark 2007 Preview's Productivity scenario, which rates performance by running Microsoft Office 2003 tasks. The T61 scored 30 percent lower than the Gateway E-265M, skewing the overall SYSmark 2007 score in Gateway's favor. The huge difference is probably because of Vista's graphics-heavy interface; the T61 runs Vista Business, and the Gateway came preloaded with Windows XP. It's been statistically demonstrated that Windows XP outperforms Vista in certain productivity areas. If the Gateway system came preloaded with Vista, I would have expected to see a similar drop in performance. Yet in other areas in SYSmark 2007 Preview, such as 3D modeling, E-Learning (graphics design), and Video Creation, the T61, with its faster processor, edged out the E-265M.

Battery performance is typically the T-series' strong suit, but not this time around. The 56-Wh extended battery is not as big as the 85-Wh one I'm accustomed to receiving in a ThinkPad, and the 1 hour 57 minutes it lasted while playing a DVD movie could not match the Gateway's 98-Wh battery's prowess. The T61's battery life is also two hours less than that of the Dell Latitude D630. Another peeve is that its battery is not compatible with those of the previous-generation ThinkPad T60.

The T61 reached a new speed record on Adobe Photoshop scripts, thanks to 2GB of memory as well as the Centrino Duo's faster (800 MHz) front-side bus (which helps data throughput in general). It finished the test in less than minute, beating the E-265M by a second, but fell short of the HP HDX9000. Its scores on Video Encoding and CineBench tests were also strong. The T61 implements a new discrete graphics solution from nVidia called the Quadro NVS 140M, which is a boon to 3D graphics designers of all levels. Its 3DMark 2006 scores were very impressive at low resolutions, beating the E-265 and its ATI Mobility Radeon X2300HD by 65 percent. The T61 also outperformed the E-265 on Prey and Company of Heroes tests.

Another year, another Intel launch, and another Editors' Choice awarded to the Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Widescreen. Its main appeal is the outstanding performance ThinkPad users have come to expect (just be sure to upgrade your battery when you order a system). Overall performance and this laptop's usability will keep businesses coming back for a long time.

Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Lenovo ThinkPad T61's test scores.