Getting a 14 inch t61. Need some advice about options.

After a lot of reading I've settled for the t61 with the 14 inch screen with integrated graphics. However, there are some questions I have as I scroll down the options and would appreciate some answers.

1) Processor: t7250 and t8100... the t8100 has a bigger cache yet there's no extra charge. Am I missing something? Isn't the obvious choice the t8100?

2) It seems that people like the WXGA+ on 14 inch displays ... but is there
some kind of way to see if I'd like it? Like going to best buy and checking
out 14 inch laptops and setting the display to it, etc? I've used 800x600,
1024x768 and am comfortable with it, but these are all on 17inch displays
on desktops. If there's a general consensus that wxga+ is good then I'll
take the plunge.

3) 35.00 dollars to upgrade to the 100gig, 7200rpm hard drive seems worth
it. The most intensive thing I do is run firefox and word at once... but I'm
not a power user, as my desktop is a 6 year old emachines with an 1.6
amd processor and 256k of memory. I play WC3 and am almost satisfied.
So... does the faster hard drive really make a noticeable difference?

4) Should I just settle for the lowest quality wireless card and get a better
one myself later on?

Thanks for reading. I'm so psyched about getting my first laptop!

 

Yes the processor is a no brainer, the t8100 is a newer generation of processor and has advantages such as heat, power consumption, and power.

I'd go take a look at other laptops in person and see what their screen res is(none will be exactly the same, most laptops now a widescreen) Remember that a laptop is generally closer to the eyes than a desktop monitor, so you can have higher resolutions for smaller screen size.

For those tasks, I'd say no. Remember that a faster drive will eat up your battery a lot quicker, and that a 200+ GB 5400rpm drive would be equally fast, with more storage, more battery, and for a similar price.

Unless you plan on doing a lot of large file transfers over a LAN, Wireless G is fine, I'm not sure what all the options are for the T61, but I'd go with an Intel card if possible.

Greg

 

1: Lenovo is trying to phase out the older T7250 series of 65nm "Merom" Core 2 Duo processors, so you should just choose the newer T8100 45nm "Penryn" Core 2 Duo processor if it doesn't cost anymore, because it is a newer, faster, and more economical processor.

2: From my experience, I find WXGA+ the perfect resolution on a widescreen 14" laptop, because it is easy to see, but allows ample desktop space. Since you can always downsize the resolution in the settings later, I would suggest taking the plunge.

3: Yes, especially for that small of a price, because with higher-end laptops such as T-series Thinkpads, and even on most modern laptops, the slowest component of the computer is the hard drive, and a 100 GB, 7200 RPM drive (especially the amazing Seagate one in the Thinkpad) is much more future proof than a 5400 RPM hard drive, with the only downside being in some configurations slightly less battery life, but with a Penryn processor and integrated graphics, you wouldn't notice the difference.

4: The Thinkpad default wireless card is a great (Atheros) one, and since the cards which support wireless-N in the T61 supports only draft-n and not the standard, you should just stick with the base one or the Intel 3945 a/b/g card, which will provide great performance for a long time.

 

1)I would buy Penryn for the coolness factor. Even though cpus are overrated these days. I have a t7200 and it never is needed to max perform.

3)Your usage patterns do not necessitate the purchase of a 7200 rpm, instead more hard drive space is always better, so invest in that. But if things will change soon, keep in mind the hard drive is the slowest bottleneck there is...

4) the problem is that the lowest quality card, the intel a/b/g, has a piss poor reputation. Also I believe that it is very hard to upgrade as the n cards use 3 antennae and the older ones use 2. The a/b/g from intel is so bad that I think you should get a better card, at least atheros.

I'm a gamer and I regret buying an integrated card. If you're just a wc3er and nothing else, i guess integrated is ok... Don't buy a internal mic because they have a bad reputation (also I think they mess up recording output audio), don't buy readyboost.

 

I have never had internet problems with any T6x or R6x series that I have used, (all had high-end Intel processors, dedicated graphics, and the 3945 a/b/g card)....all have performed well (used a T60, R60, T60p, R61, and T61 at summer programs, and have a T61p for personal use, all which have never had internet or networking problems), so it's a matter of price, so you should stick to the Atheros..

 

I just got my 14" t61 last week..

I upgraded to T7500,

I upgraded to WXGA+ and I think it's fantastic...I do a lot of PDF reading on my laptop, and it's great.

I also upgraded to the 100gb 7200rpm...i notice unrarring files seems a lot quicker relative to my x31 (yea..its old), but im not sure whether that has to do with the cpu or the hdd?

I also got the fingerprint reader..only $20 or so bucks more and it comes in handy when surfing websites! also upgraded to the 6 cell battery..

 

As others have mentioned, the T8100 is part of the new Penryn line of Intel's mobile Core 2 Duo processors. It's in fact the replacement of the T7250 so definitely go for the T8100. It's faster and more energy efficient.

It's really a matter of preference. I've gotten used to SXGA+/WXGA+ screens and couldn't imagine using anything less on a 14.1" screen. Please make sure you research this well before you make your decision because LCD screens do not look nice in anything other than their native resolution. If you opt for the WXGA+ screen and decide the 1440x900 resolution is too high for your tastes, reducing the resolution to 1280x800 is going to look horrible and you'll regret your decision.

As others have mentioned, the hard drive is the slowest component of a computer. While modern 5400rpm notebook hard drives are much better than those from a few years ago, a 7200rpm drive will still give you better performance because of its higher rotational speed as well as higher memory cache (16mb versus 8mb) that normally accompanies 7200rpm hard drives.

If I were you, I would buy the cheapest hard drive option (80gb 5400rpm) and buy the hard drive of your choice and swap them. You'll save yourself some money as well as open yourself up to more hard drive options.

I highly recommend the Hitachi TravelStar 7200RPM hard drive series which are available in capacities up to 200GB. It's an award winning hard drive that is extremely fast, quiet, and very energy efficient for a 7200rpm hard drive. It's even more efficient than some 5400rpm on the market.

The Seagate Momentus line of 7200rpm notebook hard drives is also a good option although it's not as energy efficient as the Hitachi TravelStar's.

 

Thanks for the replies. The only thing to do now is order it...

 

I received a new 15.4 T61 last week with the 100GB 7200rpm option and it came with the Hitachi TravelStar 7200RPM rather than a Seagate.

Quinn

 

w00t!!

1 7658CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
03/24/08 $863.32 $863.32
43Y3428 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T8100
42V8011 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME PREMIUM
42V9565 SBB MSWIN VHP32 US ENGLISH
42V9324 SBB 14.1WXGA +TFT,W/OCAM
42X5980 SBB INTEL GMA X3100 GM965
41W2063 VBB 2GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 2DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V9330 SBB UN(TRACKPOINT+TCHPD)+ FING.R
42V8705 SBB 100 GB HDD,7200RPM
42V8714 SBB CD-RW/DVD-ROM COM,UBAYSLIM
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
41W1685 SBB 11ABGWIFI WL LAN USEULAANZ
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42V9337 SBB 4 CELL LI-ION BATERRY
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA
42V9391 SBB LANG.PACK US ENGLISH

I'm especially happy about that 10% coupon. It'll be awhile til I get it since I opted for UPS ground shipping, but that gives me more time to get ready to do a clean windows install and get hyped.

wooHoo I'm joining the thinkpad crew!

 

That UPS ground shipping happens to be express apparently (I just got my T61 yesterday, not all that much different from your spec - more memory/hd/proc).

 

excellent buy.
does $863.32 include taxes or w/o?

 

w/o, but it's only 900 with. So meh.

 

1) Yes, get the T8100. Better battery life (approx 10-20min depending on task), SSE4 instruction support, and a slight performance increase.

2. Tough call, this really depends on your eyes and usage. If you're doing Photoshop or any form of image editing, or if you view a lot of hi-res images on the web, get the WSXGA+. If your eyes are less-than-perfect, the standard screen is probably the better choice.

3. I myself went with the 120GB 5400rpm drive; I valued the space more than the performance (going up from the standard 80GB 5400rpm). If you need performance, get the 100GB 7200rpm drive, but if you aren't running disk-intensive apps, don't bother.

4. Here is a tough one. I got the basic a/b/g card (Atheros-based) and it works great. However, it's very likely that Lenovo only installs two antennas in the a/b/g card setups. Since Wireless-N cards use three antennas (to support MIMO), if you upgrade later, an N card will work, but not as well as it would with the third antenna, which is a pain to upgrade. If I had to do it again, I'd have gone with the Intel 4965AGN card, so this is what I'd recommend. I wouldn't go with the middle Intel 3945 card; the base a/b/g card works every bit as well and costs less, so if you decide you won't need Wireless-N, go with the base card.

By the way (looking at your avatar) are you French? Or do you just like coffee?
(sips his brew from Celebes)

 

ah thanks for the info about the wireless card.
and no, I find that a french press just makes good coffee taste even better.

 

One other thing you should know about upgrading the wireless card, you'll have to buy a Lenovo card even if there's an Intel (or other) equivalent. The BIOS contains a "whitelist" of permitted cards and will not allow operation with any other card.

 

Ah I finally got it. I made the order on the 5th, they got the invoice on the 7th, and it arrived on the 13th.

The widescreen will take a little bit of getting used to, but I'm happy with it.
Now the "only" thing is to install xp on it.