Expert help choosing a T model

I'm going to do an MBA this fall, and the university posted three very good laptop deals with IBM, but I'm having a gard time deciding which is a better option. It's important to note that I need the 802.11 a standard, since it's required by the university.

These are the three options:

Option 1 (2373H13) Price: $1,773 USD
- IBM ThinkPad T42
- Pentium M 1.7 GHz
- RAM 512 MB
- HD 60 GB 7200 rpm
- CD-RW/DVD Combo
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.11 a/b/g Lee-g, Bluetooth
- Win XP Pro
- 14.1" TFT (64 MB video card)


Option 2 (2373HTU) Price $2,495 USD
- IBM ThinkPad T42p
- Pentium M 745 1.8 GHz
- RAM 1 GB
- HD 60 GB 7200 rpm
- DVD-R Multiburner
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.11 b/g Lee-g, Bluetooth (no 802.11 a)
- Win XP Pro
- 15" TFT (128 MB video card)

Option 3 (2373HVU) Price $2,389 USD
- IBM ThinkPad T42p
- Pentium M 745 1.8 GHz
- RAM 1 GB
- HD 60 GB 7200 rpm
- CD-RW/DVD Combo
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.11 a/b/g Lee-g, Bluetooth
- Win XP Pro
- 15" TFT (128 MB video card)

The main differences among them are the screen size and video card, the wireless card, and the DVD-R burner. I would really apreciate your opinion on which to choose...

 

I would choose option 1

Reasons are.
1. you don't really need a DVD burner and the price of them for notebooks is very high right now. A CD burner will allow all the backup of data you need.
2. 64 MB video chip in option 1 is plenty good enough for any work you do and most play (if you were a big gamer you would not get the IBM anyway as the sound is not load enough for most hard core gamers)
3. difference between the 1.7Ghz and the 1.8 of the other notebooks in minimal.
4.The money saved by getting option 1 will allow you to add more ram yourself if you like as ram is very cheap(another 512MB is only $100)
& lastly the biggest reason is that option 1 is only a 14" screen; I wish I had gotten the 14 instead of the 15 I picked, I thought the bigger the better. Boy was I wrong, the 14 is only slighty smaller in screen size but makes a big diff in notebook weight and overall size.
I would pick #1 in a second, it is $500 cheaper than the others and you could upgrade the ram and still be $400 ahead and have a more portable notebook.
Last, you might check prices at www.newegg.com as they may be able to beat what you have here.

good luck
Jack

The color of justice in america is green.
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

Wow, better deals than what my school's offering, if they include 3 year warranty...[:I]

Not sure about whether 802.11a/b/g compatiability issue, but I think you have no problem what so ever dealing with course work with any of them. Depends on what else you want to do and how much you want to spend, I guess.

I'll go with the second one, but I'm an engineering geek and I know our school supports 802.11b/g.

 

Agree with bootleg2go on 14.1" & checking price somewhere else like newegg.com...although you may be tempted to ask and buy about other quality laptops offered there, which add more choices and may actually make it even harder to decide...[ ]

Now, I do like to point out one thing about the DVD-burner. For whatever reasons, the price difference between DVD/CD-RW & DVD-RW in T42 is a mere $100 (compare your option 2 & 3) and it would be hard for you to buy an external DVD-RW at that price. You definitely don't need a DVD burner for course work, but if you have some other use that may need a DVD burner occasionally (like some editing of family video), I think it's a good deal to just "upgrade" and take option 2. You still need to be thinking about that 802.11a/b/g compatiability though, and you do pay some price in other components being over-kills for your course work.

Finally, talking about the price. I know a good percentage of students in MBA programs have regular paying jobs either before coming back to school or when they are taking the class, so price may not be such a big deal. There is no question that option 1 is the cheapest option now, money wise, but I could see some people just want to buy it and forget about any self-upgrading at all.

 

Can you tell me where you are getting this model from?

Option 1 (2373H13) Price: $1,773 USD
- IBM ThinkPad T42
- Pentium M 1.7 GHz
- RAM 512 MB
- HD 60 GB 7200 rpm
- CD-RW/DVD Combo
- Gigabit Ethernet
- 802.11 a/b/g Lee-g, Bluetooth
- Win XP Pro
- 14.1" TFT (64 MB video card)

Most IBM ThinkPad T42 don't have numbers as the last two digits, but letters...[?]

Thanks!

------------------------
T42 2373-3UU

 

That's a custom model with a special pricing for that university, you usually won't find it anywhere else and can't buy it unless you are a member (student, faculty...) of that university. There are some university-specific models in the Education section of ibm.com (http://www.ibm.com/education/us/), but I don't know if that means people from other schools can buy them.

Oh yeah, you will see part numbers ended with an alphabet followed by two numbers there.[8D]

 

Great deal![ ]

------------------------
T42 2373-3UU

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by pugenio

 

Hi,

I don't mean to divert from the subject, but what's the deal with newegg.com, I have seen a few people recommend the site? Do they offer "very" reasonable/lowest pricing?

Regards,

Mustafa

Bootleg (I like your signature)