How'd I do?

Just ordered this R61 a few minutes ago, would like to gather your thoughts as to how it is.

Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz 800MHz 2MBL2)[1]
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium[12]
14.1 WXGA+ TFT
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)
1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)[8]
120GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm[4]
DVD burner[5]
Thinkpad A/B/G Wireless [10]
6 cell Li-Ion Battery[60]

Was $891.72 before tax, $965.28 after.

One thing I noticed in the order page was that the Vista selection was "MSWINVISTA H-PREM64 US ENG". Does that mean I have 64-bit Premium?

Thanks for your answers.

 

most likely not. I know of no major notebook maker that currently ships 64bit OS

 

Lenovo does, only with the T61p though.

 

I ordered my T61p with Vista Business 64

 

Hi chubbyfatazn,

I've been told that 1 gig of RAM is not enough for Vista, and that you should go for a minimum of 2.


Julie

 

you should get the t7300 i think is like 25-50 more

 

I plan on getting more RAM by myself later.

USC, I didn't think the extra 2mb cache was worth the $33 or so it would have cost to upgrade, so I didn't choose it.

 

are you listening?
get the t series.

 

Yo Chubs, how come you didn't jump on the CC deal we got on that R61i? Oh well.

Anyway, I would get the 7300 like the previous poster mentioned. Get rid of the upgraded A/B/G wireless if you have too, who cares about a sticker?

 

The t61p comes with 64b

 

I agree with the general consensus in this thread so far.

To put it into perspective, I just got a Lenovo Thinkpad T61p 15.4" screen laptop (literally just ordered on Wednesday). I spent just over a grand and got the following upgrades over your machine:

T7500 processor (2.2 ghz processor/4 MB L2 Cache)
Nvidia Quadro FX 570M w/256MB RAM
160 Gig HD 7200 rpm
Vista Business 64 (although my brother is one of those MS certified pros so I'll have access to whatever Vista I end up liking best)


The main reason I went T61p instead of R series or regular T series was because that Quadro 140 card is just crap, especially if you will be running Vista with newer games or graphics applications. I'm not all-knowledgable with video cards, but the difference between the Quadro FX 570M and those Quadro NVS 140M's is pretty substantial. The FX 570m is a 128 bit card for starters, as opposed to 64 bit. It has GDDR3 ram (not sure about yours). It is available with 256 MB RAM on a Thinkpad (not sure if you have that option with your card).

I dunno, just my research on video cards alone made the T61P the obvious choice to me. And I don't even consider myself a gamer or graphics whore, haha.

 

It's definitely worth it.

 

I just ordered a similar R61 (t7250, vista home prem, wxga+, 1gb RAM (with intent to manually upgrade), dvd RW). Though I went with the x3100 GPU (not a gamer at all), AGN wireless, and the 7 cell battery. As a humanities grad student (don't make fun) I don't see myself using programs that require 4MB cache; and in all honesty, I have no idea what programs use cache or what they do with it, so for me it was the difference between spending $30 on nothing, or not spending it.

Out of curiosity OP, what coupon codes were you using? My config ending up being $928 w/o tax using the 61WIDE... code. But you got the graphics upgrade...? I'd say you did well. From reading the forums it seems like a lot of folks push for unnecessary upgrades. As a student on a budget, I'd rather save the $300+ for groceries than bling out a T61p.

 

Like I was just saying, I got the T61p nicely equipped for about $1,050 including tax. Maybe $300 isn't worth the upgrade but your machine was pushing a grand with the tax. Anyone who can't afford a mere $50 to upgrade the much better T7500 processor/4MB Cache/and Nvidia Quadro FX card shouldn't even be spending their money on a laptop in the first place.

 

You're right, at that price the upgrade makes sense. I wasn't able to price out a T61p for anywhere near that--was this a closeout deal or were you ordering through lenovo?

 

Get the better CPU for a little more. Forget the sticker. No it doesnt come with 64 bit but you can order it with Ultimate and upgrade it to 64 bit for $5 if you do it yourself.

 

Get the better CPU for a little more. Forget the sticker. No it doesnt come with 64 bit.

 

I already have a main rig for gaming, this laptop is just for portability since I work on a ton of projects. All I'm doing with this rig is word docs/video editing/occasional light gaming with friends.

@Kaskimondo: I was about to, but I acted too late (dad was hesitant) and CC took it off their website. I went to a few Circuit Citys on Black Friday and all had the display model only. So I missed out.

@DerekNJND: how did you get a T61p for that cheap? Configuring it with base everything (except an upgrade to a DVD burner) pushes it to $1140. I know that the 140M is a POS, but I'm using it to pretty much play CS:S and stuff like that when my friends and I meet up, for which the card should be OK for.

@kbjack: I have an EPP code I can use.

I'm on a budget as it is, my dad's splitting it half with me. I'm not concerned with the difference between the T, I think I can tote the extra .2 or so inches with me in my backpack.

Thanks for you responses!

 

It's cool, you still got a great computer! hope it serves you you well!