+$120 to go from R61 to T61, worth it?

Here's the specs I configure:

14.1''
Windown Vista Basic
regular screen + camera
T8100
1 GB RAM
120 GB HD
Intel N-wireless
4 cells

With the same specs, the different between R61 and T61 is about $120. So my question is, is it worth the money? What is it to make T61 more expensive than R61?

Can someone post me some "real" picture of these? By that, I meant picture of the laptop and something to compare (backpack, or book for instance). With the 14.1'' R61, I know it weights 5.2 lbs but do you it's bulky or portable?

Thank you for all your comments

 

Nah.. The T-series is about fraction of an inch thinner, and a tiny bit lighter. The graphics card is about the biggest place for a difference.

If both have the same graphics card, just go for the R-series.

 

i'm not sure which size in the R-series has the magnesium roll cage, i think it's the 14" one, but i could be wrong. I would pay $120 for the roll cage in the t61, well worth it in my opinion.

 

The 14.1" is most identical to the T61 in that it has the roll cage in both the main body and the LCD. It also features the same outer cover material as the T61.

The 15.4" R61, on the other hand, only features the roll cage in the main body and uses a different outer cover material. It's still a sturdy machine.

 

If so, what's exactly the different between the two that makes the price of T61 higher?

ps: what made you choose R61?

again, what made you choose T61?

 

I guess it's just because it's the flagship machine, and because of a few select features found only on the T61. You have the option of a higher-end graphics chip (FX570M, essentially an 8600M GT), WWAN, and the Ultrabay Slim drive. There might be a few others I missed, but those are the ones I can think of at this time.

I chose the R61 because of budget restraints and the fact that I was able to use an EPP code on it.

 

Some good pictures of the two side by side: http://www.tpuser.idv.tw/articles/santarosa-test-2.html

 

What's WWAN?

and yeah, i guess R61 will be right for my budget too because i'm going to use coupon + FC. The price was something like $750 included tax.

BTW, I asked the question about T61 to zephyrus17 because he had T61 in his sig. But I want to thank you again since answered it

 

repped to you

 

...and some pix of the internals of each in case you're interested (2nd post): http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=138239

 

in my point of view, T61 look slicker. R61 look a little coarse

 

I'm very happy with my R61 but, yeah, the T61 does look a bit slicker...and that's what it really comes down to. Going back to your original question, is it worth $120 to you?

 

haha, good point right there, lol

For me, if it's just about the design (and considering both have the same design) I don't think it's worth that much. What do you think?

I think it has to be something else different between R and T which makes T more expensive, for instance,T build more solid or something like that

 

No, I guess its just the design...well the T series uses ultrabay slim while the R series uses the ultrabay...

 

Because of the 570M graphics card. And mainly because of the great deals that's been going on. I mean, if I'm going to buy a soon-to-be-last-gen notebook that can be pimped to be faster than the next-gen entry level notebook at a lower price(*inhale!*), why not?

 

If there had been a 14.1" T61p with 570m 256mb DDR3 I would have gotten it.

I prefer the smaller 14.1" size.

I bought the T61p with the 15.4"screen for the Fx 570m GPU (with 256mb DDR3).


Shortly after I bought my wife a 14.1" R61 with T9300 and the NVS 140m.

When closed the R61 looks smaller but they have the same finish and solid feel. When opend the look almost the same as well. Just smaller.

I think the display on the R61 looks better. Maby she got an LG display.

 

I went with the R61. Save yourself the $120.

DD

 

what a find repped big time

translated version of that page can be found here

 

Correct me if i'm wrong but R series also comes with 570M graphics card. Also, you can get almost everything (I mean specs) at even lower price ?

 

Why not go for a t61 with linux and buy a XPP CD for 10 bucks from a school if you want to.

The comparison pictures were the best. I would have cursed yourself later for every extra mili meter of R61 later. i use t61 14" 6 cell and just love it. last 4.5 hours.

Buy it with Linux and search for CPP if you are not already aware of it. immediate discount.

Your kind of config should be around 670$ if shipped to one of the tax free states.
650 for t61 14" is a steal. isn't it..

 

That would be false. The FX570M is only found on the T61p. All other T/R series variants come with the NVS140M.

 

There we go. And I personally like 15.4" screens. They're pretty much the best size for desktop/portability for me

 

Is this safe to get it with Linux and then install XP or Vista? I thought about this before but I was just afraid about any compatible problem would happen later.


@chubbyfatazn: thank you.

 

You can burn recovery disks that can restore the system to its factory-fresh state. Or, you could keep your recovery partition on your hard drive (takes up space) and revert to the factory-fresh state by pressing the blue ThinkVantage button at the top of the keyboard and following the instructions on-screen.

 

its pretty safe, i got the 14inch R61 with linux. you just need to get all the drivers and whatnot beforehand. Theres an excellent xp clean install guide here at notebookreview, with almost step by step instructions so its hard to fudge it up Definitely give the guide a read even if you know how to do a reformat, i didnt know that i had to disable some stuff in bios in order for me to install xp. i was wondering why i kept bluescreening during the installation.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=188992

theres a vista one lying around somewhere too but its hard for me to search on 56k

/edit i think the linux version is actually more "expensive" when compared to the same system with the worst/cheapest version of vista but you do get a better cpu (core 2 duo vs duo core). its a good option if you want the core 2 duo and already have a copy of xp/vista lying around. i mean thats only if you're looking to get the cheapest deal possible lol.

i'm not sure how much batter you'd get from a 3 cell, but i can probably muster near 5 hours of battery life on a 6 cell with the lowest brightness however i've never ran the battery all the way down so its all according to window's estimation.

 

thank for your comment, Crazeman


There's another debate for me right now: graphics card or no graphics card ?