E6410 or E4310

E4310 fan noise is minimal on battery. Docked and chugging through a video encode you might hear it.

Depending on how you buy the computer, it might be cheaper to get the Samsung 256mb SSD when you buy it.

All 3 chips have the same 35watt max thermal output. All 3 will likely produce the same heat on battery power as they will clock down when possible to save power. The extra speed will be there if you need it on the i-7. The 540m is still faster than most core 2 duos were. The i7 is likely faster than all core 2 dual cores.

Choosing one over the other in my situation is easy. E4310. Needed long battery life, light weight, fast in W7, fast if Office 2010 apps, able to run Adobe Lightroom and CS5.

If I didn't have the M6500, I would get the E6410 or E6510. It would be a compromise based on the fact that having the Quadro video card speeds up certain things that I do at work. If I didn't need the video card and were mainly docked, I would go for the E4310.

 

thanks for your response.

You guys have been very helpful.