Comments on New T61 for College Student

I would appreciate any comments on the following configuration/price for a new college student this fall. I believe it represents at 15% employee discount and 25% sale price.

As you can imagine.. as a student she will have pretty mixed use. She will be a geology major so there may be some modeling/mathematical software requirements but the "occasional" games.

I believe I'd rather buy a system with hardware technology that will last for 4 years at the expense of some battery life. We can always buy an extra battery... can't necessarily upgrade processor, graphics.

I am somewhat undecided between the Thinkpad a/b/g card and the Intel 4965AGN card. Also, would I be better with the 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm or the 250 GB 5400 rpm drive?

Thanks for any comments/suggestions!

ThinkPad T61 15 Widescreen List $1,713.00 - Sale $1,092.01
Processor - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
Operating System - Genuine Windows Vista Business
Recovery DVD - Genuine Windows XP Professional Downgrade DVD
Display Pane - 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
System graphics - NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)
Total memory - 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Pointing Device - UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
Hard Drive - 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Optical device - DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
System expansion slots - PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot
Card Reader - 4 in 1 Media Card Reader
Wireless cards - Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)
Bluetooth - Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Battery - 6 cell Li-Ion Battery

 

Either of the wireless card is fine, as for the hard drives, they have the same performance so go with what's cheaper.
That's a nice config, will last through college.

 

I've got a T61p with the Intel N wireless card, and I have to say, the range on it is impressive. I'd say, go for the N card just to futureproof your laptop a bit. Upgrade the battery to a 9 cell if you can... I say always buy as much battery as you can get.

 

If she wants slightly faster response, e.g. faster boot up of Windows, programmes, go with 7200, otherwise the 5400 uses less power, runs slightly cooler, is theoretically quieter and has a higher transfer rate.

 

You said you want it to last 4 years, so I'd move up to the T9300 processer and add 4 years of Thinkpad protection so that you're covered for the whole time she's in school. That covers you for accidental damage as well as extending the parts and labor warranty for 4 years.

DD

 

wait, $1700 for a T61? I got the T61p in my sig for $1500...

 

Sale $1,092.01

 

Thanks for all of the fast responses!! Some additional comments on my original post.

• No idea how they arrive at the "list" prices... List $1,713.00. Just want to make sure that the "out the door" price is good... I think it is at $1092.

• I'd like to get the 9 cell battery, but it wasn't listed as an option.

• I didn't list it but I was planning on getting the 3 year of Thinkpad protection... but purchase with AMEX card to add 1 additional year to the standard warranty at no cost.

BTW... she's bugging me to order it...

 

There's been a battery shortage now. So the 9-cell is a bit out of stock. And I agree. If you want future proofing, you should have gotten the T9300 like dealsdeamon said.

The 256Mb Quatro card is much more powerful as well.

 

Oh, gotcha

 

From what I have read, you can still get the 9 cell, but in the accessories section, not with configuring the laptop.

 

Can you explain the AMEX thing again?

 

Be sure to read the fine print on the Amex thing. Do they extend the accidental damage protection or just the standard warranty?

The Thinkpad config you've got looks good, and should last four years. I'm a college student and I work part time for my school's IT department. We've got a few 5+ year old Thinkpad T-series machines lying around so I can say from firsthand observation that they hold up to college life.

One more thing to consider. Does your daughter's school recommend any specific notebook PC configuration? If so, I'd strongly suggest at least considering it. Schools often have parts and technicians onhand to repair their recommended notebooks, while non-standard machines would have to get support from the manufacturer. For example, my school has recommended a Thinkpad configuration for the past three years. When a student brings one in for repairs, we have all the parts onhand and trained techs to service them, leading to a turnaround time of usually less than one day. Someone bringing in a Sony notebook for instance would have to go to the manufacturer for support, greatly increasing downtime.

 

If you order a laptop with a credit card, you are entitled to a 1 year warranty extension. There's a warranty guide. There's more details in that.

 

go with the thinkpad wifi card. its 20% more powerful than the intel even if you tweak it out. Or you could go with whatever is cheaper and replace it on your own.

go with the intel gfx if you care about battery life (+1 hour vs nvidia).
go nvidia if you want to do light gaming


get the 9 cell battery if possible. Plugs are hard to find in class

 

If battery life matters, i'd stick with 250gb 5400rpm hard drive. 7200rpm makes the battery drain way much faster.
And do you really need dvd-recordable drive? cuz i'm a sophomore in college and i've never had to use it.. you can pull the price down by choosing cd-rw instead.

 

Thats pretty close to the T61, I recently ordered. I am impressed thus far and would recommend it to any other college student. I am also a college student and decided to pickup a thinkpad due to noted reliability, expandability, and functionability.

I only have a couple of differences.....

T9300, Intel 4965 Wireless Card, Vista Business with XP Pro Downgrade CD, CD-RW Drive, 100 GB 7200 RPM HD, 14.1" WXGA+, 2 GB Ram in 2 DIMM Configuration.

 

The AMEX extension would only apply to the standard warranty, not the Thinkpad Protection, so we would effectively have 4 year standard warranty, 3 year Thinkpad Protection.

Regarding the school recommendations, actually their systems are either Thinkpad or a couple of Macs. By purchasing through the Lenovo EPP program, I can get a somewhat better system for the same price as available through the school. The schools system is only a T7500 vs a T8300/T9300.

 

"5400 uses less power, runs slightly cooler, is theoretically quieter and has a higher transfer rate."


This is not misleading. The 7200 rpm

Uses more power but for a shorter amount of time in transfers.

The transfer rate is higher on a 7200 rpm disk and the seek time is less.

"Theoretically quieter" is pretty meaningless when I can't hear my 7200 rpm disk at all.

The termperature of a 7200 rpm disk is barely noticeable on the palm rest.

"7200rpm makes the battery drain way much faster."


This just is not true. I have a Toshiba ROHS 5400 Rpm 80Gb drive in one hand. It draws 1.0 Amps at 5 volts. In the other hand I have a Hitachi Travelstar 160 GB 7200 RPM drive and it draws .80 amps at five volts.






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What are you talking about. First of all, the Intel wireless card is more expensive. Second of all it is much more powerful then the Thinkpad wifi card.

 

I wouldn't say "much more powerful". I go to a college where the majority of students have the Dell Latitude D630 with the Intel card. Not only does my ThinkPad card pick up more wireless networks, it also connects faster as well. Of course this doesn't apply to all the Intel cards, but all I'm saying is the ThinkPad (Atheros) card is just as powerful as the Intel card. Just because the price tag is a lot more doesn't mean it's "much more powerful." The reason it's priced higher is because of its N capabilities.

But if I had to choose again, I'd still go with the ThinkPad Atheros card.

 

I have a random question because you know a lot of things, when you enable battery stretch does the icon for battery stretch next to the green battery gauge have a colored box around it when your on the desktop?

 

"What are you talking about. First of all, the Intel wireless card is more expensive. Second of all it is much more powerful then the Thinkpad wifi card."

Please define "powerful". The Lenovo card is by Atheros. It has a far better front than the 3945 which is rather insensitive. The AGN is only a little better than the 3945. I have used all three.

Hi Ark!!!!

" I'm saying is the ThinkPad (Atheros) card is just as powerful as the Intel card."

It's a better card. I would prefer the Atheros over any Intel.

 

Hey Renee! It's been awhile.

I thought you had the Intel AGN?

 

Well I do have it. Remember I bought my new system off of Ebay. It was just configured, "MAX". That's not the same as having a choice. As a matter of fact what drove me to Ebay, was that I had an order back in October and I asked that the AGN card be changed to the Atheros and asked for internal WWAN. That started a chain reaction which would have delayed my order by three months. Also there was getting to be a shortage on nine cells at the time and with that, I decided to purchase a sealed box off of Ebay - "with everything on it."

I've missed you since you became famous. Please don't forget the little peeps.

Renee

 

If the school recommends a Thinkpad anyway and you can get a better deal then you've got the best of both worlds-onsite support and a better price.

One more thing I'd suggest would be a docking station. I have one for my notebook at college and I absolutely love the thing. It allows me to just pull my notebook out of its case after class, plug it in to the dock, and have my power, ethernet, and printer all accessable without having to plug and unplug cables all the time when I move the machine.

 

The thinkpad wifi card is more powerful than the intel as of the last time I tested them in June 2007.

Lenovo screwed up my order and I had two T61s. I tested them side by side and can assure you that the thinkpad wifi card picks more wifi spots and with better range.

I say its around 20% because that’s what the lenovo wifi software says(which I dont really use, but was installed on both stock T61s I tested)

I also heard that the thinkpad wifi card uses more power than the intel. Maybe intel was looking for a better balance between power and coverage.

But the thinkpad wifi card is better in terms of reception. Also it comes recommended by Matt from lenovoblogs.com

 

Why does it say when you order the system it is "Lenovo Recommended". What Intel card did you test your T61 with?

 

Lenovo probably "recommends" whatever goes with it's price/supply/demand issues


I tested the Thinkpad ABGN (hard to get) with the Intel 4965agn. I used a router set to "G" mode only.

 

I wish I was just starting college again. Buying the right tools for success is so much fun, and motivating!

Just make sure that sweet machine doesn't go to waste.