Good deal on T60? Or wait for T61?

I'm in the market for a new laptop. I want something rather portable, high res screen, quiet, and solidly built without breaking the bank (price point is around $1500). I'm using it around campus and home for word processing, music, online poker, and only very light gaming. I found this T60 14.1 and am debating whether or not to buy it. I have had problems with the Core 2 Duo chip in the past making the high freqency buzzing noise and since this has the Core Duo chip I'm thinking I won't have to worry about that. Is this a good deal? Or should I wait for the T61 to come out? I'm thinking if the T61 is going to be a lot more expensive it might be worth it to but this one instead. I also want XP and I'm not sure if the new T61 will be offered with XP or only Vista (definitely don't want Vista). Here are the specs and price let me know what you think:

T60
T2400 Core Duo 1.86ghz
14.1 SXGA+ (1400x1050)
512MB RAM (Will upgrade to 2GB)
80gb 5400RPM HD
DVD Dual Layer Burner
ATI X1300 - 64MB
Fingerprint scanner
XP Pro

Price: $1479 shipped (includes the 2GB of RAM)

So, should I go with this or wait for the T61? I'm hoping to keep this comp for ~3 years.

 

The T61 will be significantly more for a while. The deals on a T60 right now are too good to pass up if you need a laptop within in the next few months in my opinion.
Have you tried configuring a similar system through lenovo? That system seems a bit expensive considering the T60 I ordered was a T60 widescreen, WSXGA+ screen, 1gb ram, 80gb hdd, 1.66ghz core 2 duo, dvd burner, X1400.... for $1150...
You should be able to get it a bit cheaper through lenovo with their sale it's on now, and some other discounts such as the AMEX one.

 

If you can wait a month or two I would do that, If you need the notebook now that seems like a pretty decent deal on a pre built system. though if you would be willing to get the Core 2 duo you would get a better deal.

 

Id go with T61 but look in the deals section. There is a employee/shareholder deal (but is basically for anyone). you can get a fully decked out T60 for $1600.

 

Correction $1345

 

Get 1gb(1dimm) of ram and another stick of ram at newegg.

I was dumb and bought 2gb myself when buying the T60 but you'd save quite a bit buying your second stick later.

 

Would someone be kind enough to point out where exactaly I can find the employee deal at? I check the $ Laptop Deals section and couldn't find it. Thanks!

 

not sure if this is the best of the best deals but go here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=118216

someone posted a Stockholder's id to enter for really sweet discounts

 

Stock Holder Discount:

Go to this website: http://www.lenovo.com/ibmspp
Then use offer ID number 536686

I was in the same boat as you are, I was waiting for Santa Rosa to be released but then stumbled upon this great deal, and after 3 days of contemplating I pulled the trigger last night and placed my order ($1420 Shipped). My reasoning was I didn't want to spend over $1500 and it seemed as if the prices for the T61 were going to be well above that for the first few months. Even though I could have waited until August, I didn't want to, my current machine is an '04 HP Pavillion with an intel celeron processor, so in my mind anything I bought was going to be a major upgrade, and with all the good things I am hearing about the T60 it should at least last me for the next two years. I also figure that if I like what I see when Santa Rosa hits I can always cancel my order for the T60 since the estimated ship date is 5/13.

There is my 2cents hope it helped. Let us know what you decided to do.

 

Wow thank you so much for this info! I actually just bought a T60 tonight! I found an awesome deal on the Lenovo Outlet section of their website. I bought a T60 15 inch flex view, here are some of the specs:

T60
15.0 UXGA (1600x1200) Flexview
Core Duo T2500 2.0ghz
1GB DDR2 RAM
100GB 7200RPM HD
256MB ATI Mobility FireGL V5200
DVD Burner
Fingerprint reader
XP Pro

Total Price (after tax): $1711

 

Congrats on the order!

 

when is the T61 scheduled for release?

 

How much is another gb of ram? I looked at newegg, is there a particular "brand" you recommend...?

 

Check between Fry's and Newegg, since recently Fry's have a couple of Kingston for 20-40 bux after rebate. Newegg you can get one for around 50 bux now pretty much any brand, Corsair usually cost a little bit more than Kingston, Patriot, PQI, PNY and such.

 

Personally, I think Corsair is the best brand for memory and the next runner up is Crucial.

 

Vince, I hope you realize that your processor is the older Core Duo.

 

Yes, I know and I actually want the older Core Duo. I've had problems with the Core 2 Duo making a high pitched noise (this is a common problem with C2D). I had a T60 widescreen and 2 Dell D820s that both had this problem with C2D and returned them. The regular Core Duo should be fine for me, I don't plan on using 64 bit vista anyway, I love XP Pro.

 

Not a huge difference there. Congrats on the machine. I hope your eyes are good.

 

i followed the link and it goes to the visa discount. Also where do you input the offer id?

 

Is that computer good? I am thinking of buying something similar? How do you like it?