Looking at buying a T61/R61 for college

Hello. I'm a college bound member looking to get a Lenovo. I get a discount through Ohio State. I've been pricing out different laptops and am wondering which would be better.I'm not sure if I should up it to a 15.4" instead of a 14.1" I'm buying after-market USB mouse, keyboard, lock, and sleeve. Newegg has better deals on those than Lenovo.

 

Well it all depends on what you're comfortable carrying around (the 14.1" is definitely lighter), and what is more comfortable to look at. The best thing to do is go down to a computer store and have a look at and compare a 14.1" and a 15.4" side by side, to see what you like. You'd be surprised what a big difference 1.3 inches makes.

BTW, those are some nice deals you got! Maybe I should go to OSU just so I can get a ThinkPad on the cheap

 

Well, once you change the memory specs to be the same, the price difference is about $70. The main difference between the two (besides a minimal thickness increase for the R61) is the use of more metal internally for support and cooling in the T61. To me, for a machine that will be used and depended upon for several years, the $70 means very little even for slightly better rigidity and cooling.

Someone posted pics of the internals around here somewhere, i'll try to find them.

I mostly picked the T61 over the R for this reason alone.

 

Having all fingers crossed for Croatia, I would only like to add that having 15.4'' and 14.1'' at home I always prefer to carry the smaller one. Before a purchase of 14.1'' I hadn't realized that 1.5'' could make such a difference!

Only insufficient screen resolution keeps me away from 14.1''...

 

If your comfortable with the 15.4 I would go with that, more power for a slightly bigger package.

 

Here are the pictures I was looking for.

They show pretty well the internal differences between the two. Worth the price increase, for me.

 

Alright. Any difference between Vista and Vista Business. I've used an HP with Vista and I am curious.

 

Best way to answer that is to use the MS comparison table.

 

If you decide to go to a 15.4" then I would recommend you get the T series, since the R series doesn't come with the top roll cage for the 15.4" models. If you want a 14.1" then get which ever fits better with your budget and personal preference.

And after having a look a the pictures of the R and T series side by side, I'm really happy I got the T series. Even though the difference is really small, it does look better IMO.

 

Yes, get the T series 15.4 inch model. You will be glad you did. In all my classes I always had a 15.4 inch lappy with me, and I never found it (overly) large, and it's perfect for at home at my desk. To me, the 15.4 inch is the "sweet spot" screen choice among laptops, although many seem to prefer much smaller models. To me, the 15.4 is just right not too big (the 17" gamer models), and not too small (13 or 14 inch screen).