Law student with questions re: t61

I've been meaning to buy the t61 for the past month now but I have some reservations...

1) I will be reading and writing large documents. Am I right to assume that the 3:4 screen will be better for this purpose than the wide screen? Will a normal screen be available for shipping before mid-august?

2) I don't play games on my laptop, so I'm guessing that the Nvidia card is unnecessary... another concern is battery life, so would the integrated card be good enough to run common apps?

3) I have to run xp pro, will the loss of the intel turbo memory be significant? I'm bummed about this.

4)does the 7 cell only stick out as far as the 6 cell battery? is it much heavier? I want a real portable both in size and weight, but battery life is crucial.

5)If the t61p comes out soon will it have any advantages for me? is the flexview that great? I don't really get the difference.

6)my school only supports the intel 3xxx wifi card, can I safely get the intel 4xxx card and assume they will support it soon/ it will work anyway? Maybe even the lenovo card with N (which is what I want to get) will work.

7) is there enough of a difference btw the 2.0 and the 2.2 Gig processor to upgrade? I need this laptop to be a champ for three years.

8) Any other opinions/ advice about what I should get considering law school use?


I really appreciate your time. TYIA

 

1. You can always buy an external monitor. 22" widescreen costs around $200 now. If you are going to read a lot, this is a good idea.

2. integrated video card should be better for your use.

3. Turbo memory will not be fully useable for some time. XP pro is stable and steady for now and compatible with numerous software for educational use not yet made to be compatible with Vista.

4. 4 cell is the only one that will not stick out. 6 and 7 are almost identical.

5. preference in size is up to you.

6. No need to pay extra for N....also, your school will support wide variety of WiFi cards than that.

7. you preference. Doing the stuff that is education based (except science majors and graphics) you will not need too much power.

8. You should consider X61 as you will be carrying this around. But once again, the choice is up to you.

 

1) No one knows for sure if there even will be a 4:3 aspect ratio T61. Assuming there is, it's only going to have more vertical space on the 14.1" and only if it's offered in SXGA+, and even then it's only 150 pixels of height above the WXGA+ - or a few lines of text, at the most. Not a really significant difference.

2) The integrated card is fine for daily usage, assuming you have enough RAM - an absoulte minimum of 1GB makes sense for XP these days anyways. But you'd better be sure that you will never want to play any modern games, or do any intense CAD work or 3D modeling - I cannot overemphasize how much Intel integrated graphics suck (and there is no nicer way to put it) for 3D.

3) Probably not. XP boots so much faster than Vista anyways that any difference resulting from the loss of Turbo Memory will be easily negated. Just get plety of RAM, and a fast HD can't hurt either (the 160GB and the 7200RPMs are the fastest).

4) The 7-cell's physical size is identical to the 6-cell's, and I believe the weight difference is just a few ounces.

5) Flexview gives you better viewing angles. If you need to use your laptop to give presentations or something, then that's your ticket. Otherwise, just look at the screen straight on an save yourself a bundle. Other than that, the T61P will offer better graphics, which you clearly wouldn't care about.

6) Your school's IT department appears to be a little out of touch with reality. They don't "support" specific cards, they just broadcast signal and you pick it up. And all of the WiFi cards in the T61 are fully a/b/g backwards-compatible, so you're safe.

7) Simply put, no. The upgrade to the 2.0GHz is worth it for the added cache, and because it's dirt cheap. Further upgrades are only worth it if you do a lot of wholly processor-dependant tasks, like 2D video encoding, or if you have a lot of money burning a hole in your pocket. Remember - 99% of the time, it will be your HD, RAM, internet connection, or video card (especially with the Intel GPU) holding you back, not the processor.

8) Can't think of much. ThinkPads are ideal business computers. If you don't feel like waiting through the inane delays for shipping, you may consider the nearly-identical Dell Latitude D630, however, especially since it's lack of dedicated graphics shouldn't bother you. It'll be a little heavier with the 9-cell battery, but it'll get slightly better battery life, too. The main downsides are that a) Dell's build quality, especially in terms of the screen, keyboard, and touchpad, is...shall we say, far from legendary (infamous, maybe, but not legendary) and b) the extended battery sticks out of the front. I can imagine that would be really awkward when "high portability" is a concern and you want to use it in your lap or the like.

 

Thanks guys.

Just a follow-up....Assuming I got the

widescreen t61
2.0 Gig Processor
2 Gig memory
100 Gig 7200 rpm HD
7 cell battery

etc.


I kinda want to get the Nvidia Card just in case I feel like playing a game or just to have a sick system, how much battery life am I compromising?



Also, I can't get the x series b/c im new to IBM lenovo so I still use the touchpad. Plus the low voltage chips sound weak.

 

I forgot to add, my school means "support" in terms of help desk services. I think they wont touch a system they don't "support" so if I have problems with the connection, I'll be SOOL. OTOH, I'm relatively competent and don't foresee needing their help with my wireless connections. I'm a bit scared of making a mistake though.

 

What's the deal with all of these BSOD problems? I just want a solid hassle-free computer, will these t61s be duds?

 

I agree with the statement. For DVDs, office files (including outlook), web browsing, and light photo editing (such as decrease size, sharpening, etc) Pentium M is actually more than enough.

I only tried Pentium M in XP and the system is fast. Other threads show that there is some slowdown in system with Vista combination.

 

can anyone answer my questions above?

 

The issue is that Thinkpad quality isn't what it used to be. Make sure you get a 3 year warranty in case something goes wrong before you're done with school. Last exam period, my friend's Thinkpad went down and he had to use the lab to take the test. Totally anecdotal, but it happened. That said, all computers have issues and I'd buy a Thinkpad without hesitation. I'd also consider a Dell, if I were you. The business line is just as reliable as modern Thinkpads and just about as well built. Don't believe the keyboard hype, either. The manufacturer of the keyboards has changed and, while they're still pretty good, they're no where near as awesome as they were. It's just something that's lost to time, like the IBM Thinkpad logo.

As for power, well, you don't really need any. I think the bare minimum for most lawschools is going to be somewhere in the upper-PentiumIII range. All your computer has to be capable of is word processing and internet browsing. The x60s and its low-voltage processors will be MORE than capable of seeing you through 3 years of lawschool. If you want a 1440x900 screen, that should be fine. Just don't get a 1280x800 and expect to clearly see two pages of text side-by-side. Of course, you really don't need to. All your cases should be printable for free, courtesy of LexisNexis or Westlaw, depending on your school.

Anywho, regardles off what reputable manufacturer you go with (HP, Apple, IBM, Dell, etc), your needs will probably be met. My Dell has seen 3 years of constant use with out a single hiccup and still gets close to five hours of battery life. It only has a 30gb drive and I've yet to fill it (My laptop is used almost exclusively for school - I've filled up about 500gb of space on my desktop and am looking for another drive there =P ). The most important thing is to make sure that you keep your computer free of spyware and other junk. These unwanted programs are what will cause BSODs and make your life hell. I only reformatted my laptop once - when I got it, which is something that every1 should do in order to get a 'clean' OS install - and the computer still runs fast.

BTW: What kind of exam software are you running? Even though your school may not support it, the program could possibly run on a Mac through BootCamp, if you're interested.

 

Oh, yeah, and as for battery: it shouldn't matter too much. Every student should get a library carrel with AC power. Also, every lecture hall should have one power outlet/seat and, if you're lucky, the classrooms will also have more than enough power jacks for every one.

 

UPDATE: SofTest runs on Vista. Check with your school to see what exam software they use and whether it is Vista-capable.