My Lenovo Dilemma...Please HELP!!

im in the market for a new laptop and im really interested in getting a lenovo. i didnt think that this was going to be such a big issue but i guess i was wrong.

my initial thought was that i was going to purchase the new thinkpad sl400. it comes with the hdmi output which i really need and its priced well to my budget. the only problem with the sl400 is that currently it only offers 5400rpm harddrives.

so the second thinkpad option was the t400 which offers the 7200rpm harddrives. however with the t400 i cant seem to be able to confirm if the ATI Mobility Radeon 3640 with 256MB offers the hdmi output...

everytime i call lenovo i get confusing answers from people who are simply looking at the same screens i am. so please someone help me out, otherwise i will have to settle for a dell which i will send back about 4 times to get the right thing.


thanks in advance

 

T400 most likely actually has a 3470, with no displayport or hdmi. T500 has a 3650 with a displayport, not hdmi. Displayport is NOT hdmi... it is a competitor to HDMI. I don't know much about it though...

 

HDD: you can always upgrade a hard drive if the sl400 doesn't offer the one you want

lenovo will last you much longer

the t500 does have the HD 3650 for sure, i think

 

i dont mind getting the t500. but see the problem is that i need to confirm that it will have an hdmi output.

and upgrading the hdd will probably void any warranty i purchase wont it??

 

nah, nor RAM

i think

 

If the SL400 has everything you need and you like it, then get it. You can change the HDD later. Upgrading HDD and RAM will not void your warranty, don't worry.

 

It doesn't have HDMI, it has Display Port. It is confirmed, it is on all the spec sheets listed on the Lenovo website for the T500 model.

Display Port can easily be transformed into HDMI through a cheap adapter- just google it.

 

Display Port is newer so it is not as popular as HDMI.....I suggest you go with the SL400 and upgrade HDD later like others have suggested.

 

Why do you have to have 7200rpm and not 5400rpm? Just get another GB of ram and it won't really matter

 

thanks for the quick responses. ok i should probably just share the specs i am getting and see if the 5400rpm will really matter or not.

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) - Will upgrade later
250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
Intel Turbo Memory 2GB
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer
Intel WiFi Link 5100 (1x2 AGN)

this is generally the specs i am looking to get. now i dont know how much difference it will make if i get a 7200rpm vs. a 5400rpm.

so if i have it straight the sl400/500 the advantage is the hdmi and the disadvantage is the slower hard drive. and as for the t400/500 the disadvantage is no hdmi but both have this display port thing and the advantage is faster hdd + led screen + ddr3 support...

i hate making decisions so please let me know what you would do in this situation.

 

Different keyboard layouts between the two. That may or may not matter to you.

 

no that doesnt matter much.

 

A gig of ram does not make up for a 5400 RPM drive vs 7200 RPM. It would be more of a question if you NEED the 7200 RPM drive. Hard drives are by far the slowest component in the modern computer.

 

HDD is not really a big deal cause you can buy a faster one afterwards.. t400 has display port which is almost equivalent to hdmi.. if you want sl400, get it then upgrade the HDD to 7200rpm.

i'll get the t400 though if im in your shoes.. good luck

 

Just a note- while getting the laptop configured how you want it is nice, lenovo customer support is lousy. If you can find one already built you will get better order support from pretty much any other major supplier.