Good Deal or No for X61s?

Any thoughts on this deal, its through the computer store at the school I'll be starting at in the fall. Normally, I tend to think of these school computer stores as ripoffs, but this deal actually seems pretty decent. It has some stuff I don't need, but when I've configured an x61s on my own, once I configure it and factor in things like buying an external optical drive, my price doesn't come up that much cheaper.




ThinkPad X61s Ultraportable System with UltraBase X6 -- $1,749.00
* 3.2 lbs. (1.45kb) with battery installed
* 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo L7500 processor
* 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (2x 1GB)
* 12.1-inch XGA display (1024x768 pixels)
* Integrated GMA X3100 graphics processor
* 120GB (5400rpm, with up to 7200rpm performance with Intel Turbo Memory)
* Plays and burns CDs and DVDs
* Gigabit Ethernet; Wireless (802.11b/g/n); Bluetooth; 56k modem
* Includes UltraBase X6 docking station
* Ports: 3 USB 2.0, 1394; Infrared; expansion bus; external display; AC adapter; RJ-11, RJ-45; audio: headphone/line-out, external microphone
* Windows Vista Ultimate**
* 3-Year IBM international limited warranty with Next Business Day, On Site Service (one year warranty on included battery) and ThinkPad Protection accidental damage coverage

 

Even before my X61s arrived there were a few things I had planned on, but I guess a few of my choices are a matter of taste.

1) $150 for Vista Ultimate? I'm not sure what the advantage of Vista is, in fact I'm in process of downgrading to Windows XP

2) Reread the notebook review about the differences in displays, it may be worth it to upgrade, it might not, according to Astra32 the panel is an LTN121XJ-L07, it says it was manufactured in January of 2005, but I find that highly unlikely

3) Never buy ram upgrades from any manufacturer, I purchased 2 GB from Frys 2 weeks ago for $68, a single 2GB stick can still be had for around $85, but look around since DDR3 is about to be introduced and manufacturers are retooling for more flash memory capacity. It's really easy to install memory on this, both sockets are right on the bottom and it's only 2 screws to undo.

4) The hard drive upgrade is probably not a bad idea, the 80gb that comes with it is somewhat slow - mine is a Fujitsu MHW2080BH, but I'm upgrading to 120 from another laptop I have laying around. Without an optical drive you will want plenty of space for files 10GB appears to be taken by the restore partition and another 14 is taken up by default.

5) Finally, this is a case of not knowing what I don't have - but I really don't see the point of the ultrabase. You can goto newegg and for about 50 bucks get a 5.25 USB 2.0 enclosure and 16x DVD+R burner. With the left over $150 you can get all manner of usb, parallel, external sound cards, and serial adapters. Unless you really just want to be able to drop in the laptop and have an external monitor ready to go.

You're looking at about 3-400 dollars saved

 

Well its a preconfigured package deal, I tried configuring it on my own on the lenovo site with the same specs, the price was at least $2K

When I tried configuring the system on my own with just the basics I need (80 gig hard drive, vista business, smaller warranty), and factored in things like buying an optical drive and doing a ram upgrade on my own, the price cost came out to be like 1600.

I can't decide if the 150 is worth it to get the ultrabase and drive, vista ultimate, the ram preinstalled, bigger hard drive, and accidental protection - I dont really need these things, but if its a good deal....

 

i wouldn't buy one without the ultralight display. afaik it's only available on cto x61s.