Going to buy R61 soon...

Hi all, i'm going to buy a R61 soon and here's my specs:

The above product code consists of the following component(s):
7732CTO THINKPAD R61 $654.66
42X5953 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC. T8300 $0.00
42V8012 VBB MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC $0.00
42W7293 SBB MSWINVISTA H-BAS32 US ENG $0.00
42X1670 SBB 14.1"WXGA TFT,W/ CAMERA $0.00
42X5956 SBB INTLGMA X3100 GM965W/1394 $0.00
41W2060 VBB 1GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 1DIMM $0.00
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH $0.00
42W7032 SBB ULTRANAV(TRCKP+TOUCHP) $0.00
42V8709 SBB 120GB HDD,5400RPM $0.00
42V8717 SBB CD-RW/DVD-R.24X24X24X8UB-S $0.00
42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK4965AGN $0.00
42V9337 SBB 4 CELL LI-ION BATERRY $0.00
41W1787 SBB CPK NORTH AMERICA $0.00
42W7087 SBB LP,US ENGLISH $0.00

Qty Product Code Description Unit Cost Total
1 CAFEE06 RECYCLE FEE FOR PRODUCT WITH 4 TO 14 INCH DISPLAY $6.00 $6.00

Payment Terms: Credit Card
Ship Type:
Merchandise Total $660.66
Sales Tax $50.74
Shipping / Handling $0.00
Total $711.40

I mostly use it for academy purpose, so I go with X3100.
So, as usual, is this a good deal? There are things that I need help to decide.

1. Should I get the T8100 or T8300? In my opinion, I want to get the processor as fast as possible regard to budget but are those really different in performance?

2. How the WXGA screen? is it OK? can someone show me the pictures of both side by side?

3. Is it worth to get fingerprint? Part of me think that it's cool to have it, but I don't think I'll use it often (and then it'll get dirty while I can't clean it)

 

By the benchmarks the 8300 looks like a reasonable improvement for the money. I went with the 8300 in mine as well. Of the handful of people I know with fingerprint readers, none of them use them beside to show it off.

You'll want to pick up another gig or two of memory elsewhere if you're running Vista.

 

*Get 2gigs of ram
*Get DVD burner
*You should consider the 6 or 7 cell battery especially since you are using it at school.

 

similar to my machine. 'cept I've got an 8100 which runs fine. Also have the integrated graphics to aid with battery life. Sometimes I wish I'd gotten the fingerprint reader, so I was amused to read LilMikey's comment that most peeps don't use it. Maybe I decided right.

 

I actually use the fingerprint reader quite often (and I haven't put all my passwords on it). I've just had the laptop for about 1/2 a week, but still. It's a nice feature and certainly will add value to the laptop. Even if you don't use it now, maybe in the future you'll find some nice use for it.

 

Yeah, of course i'm going to upgrade RAM as soon as I can find a good deal.

About fingerprint, I think the same way like LilMikey does. If I get fingerprint, probably I just want to show off and just to make the design look a little bit better by filling up the space on the right rest palm However, edubarr makes the point that I may need it for future

steve p, I didn't upgrade battery because I don't want anything stick out of the back of my laptop. It looks ugly, IMO.

regards,

 

For someone actually have r61 in hand, is it small enough to carry around?

 

The 14.1" R61 is just about the ideal size for utility/size, so you are on the right track.

 

I don't think the 14.1" R61 would be very different from the 14.1" T61 since it is only 0.1" thicker and 0.2lb heavier. It should still be very mobile.

 

Yeah, I carry mine around the house all the time... recharge it on my desk, and invariably carry it into another room to actually use it. Last week, I carried it to FL to a meeting and vacation. About 5.2 lbs, maybe 6 when you add the charger. I think the 14W" is a good compromise of portability with usability.