New T61 Help Me Configure?

OK, think I will take the plunge and get a new lappy. Never owned a Thinkpad but was disappointed with past laptops I have used in terms of realiability.

My use is mainly for heavy spreadsheet modeling including dynamic links to real time data (securities prices). Often these spreadhseets take a long time to open and update. Other uses would include just Word documents and maybe some graphics not not a lot. T61p is a little out of my price range despite the nicer discrete video. This is the rig I have configured. After lurking these boards seems like the T7500 CPU will meet my needs and the 128MB Nvidia will be OK. I plan to add 2GB of memory after market. Any thoughts on the depot v. onsite warranty? I travel globally if that should be a consideration. Any reason to get the encrypted HDD instead? Thanks so much in advance for any feedback.

1
7662CTO ThinkPad T61 with nVIDIA Graphics - 1 Year Depot Warranty
Ships within 1-2 weeks**

Processor[1] Intel® Core? 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)

Operating System[12] Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate

Operating System Language Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate - US English

Display type 14.1 WXGA+ TFT

System graphics NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB)

Total memory 1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)

Keyboard Keyboard US English

Pointing device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader

Hard drive[4] 160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

Optical device[5] DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim

Wireless card[10] Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)

Bluetooth Integrated Bluetooth PAN

Battery[60] 7 cell Li-Ion Battery

Power cord Country Pack North America

Language Pack Language Pack US English


41C9334 3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection

 

Sorry additional questions...
1) The 7 cell battery sticks out whereas the 6 cell does not? If so and I get the 7 cell battery how does this impact setting the laptop in a case? Normally I like to let the back end of a laptop face the bottom of a case but if it sticks out wont it damage the case or battery? I dont let the other end face down for fear of damaging the LCD lid and hinge. Any thoughts?

2) Also, I keep reading about delays on the part of Lenovo in shipping orders. The site says 1 to 2 weeks. Is that realistic?

 

7 cell sticks out,you are right,I found it very annoying,you can not stick your laptop usual way,you will either have to stick it upside down.It's really frustrating.Besides,I didn't feel much of difference in battery life so I would advise to get a regular battery,unless of course battery life is crucial to you.

 

Did you get the 6 cell. Battery life is very important but I am also rough with my notebook bag and sticking the notebook upside down just doesnt seem like a good idea because dont want to mess up the lid. Is there a speacial kind of case for a 7 cell? What is the difference in run time between a 6 and 7 cell?

 

Both the 6 and 7 cell battery stick out the back of the 14" wide. You can see comparisons here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=2123794

 

I bought 7 cell,but obviously 6 and 7 cells stick out.
All I can say that it's really inconvenient to have that battery sticking out like that,I also wonder if there is a special case for this,something that has a little cushion on the bottom.How do people deal with this?Why does Lenovo not take this into consideration?
The only viable solution to this problem is to unplug your battery every time you put it into your case,but how crazy is that?
I haven't compared my battery life,just didn't see significant improvement in it,it gives me three hours of operating life,but it also depends on your settings and types of applications you run on your machine.Interested in input from others as to how many hours of operating life other type of batteries give.

 

Onsite vs depot is up to you. If you can live without your laptop for a week (say eg you have a backup), then go for depot. Else onsite.
No reason to choose an encrypted HDD, unless you REALLY do not want even professionals to ever have access to the data. You can set an HDD password anyway in laptops.

 

If you don't want the battery to stick out then you should either get a 15.4" T61 with a 6 cell battery that sits flush or you should get a 4 cell and ultrabay battery that pops in your cd rom drive.

I went with a 15.4" T61 in my case because I didn't want to deal with the 7-6 cell sticking out. The ultrabay battery counts as a 3 cell battery also. Remember though, you can't use your cd rom with the ultrabay battery installed though.

Best way in my opinion is to get a 15.4 version of the T61 with a 6 cell battery and buy a ultrabay battery to go with it.

Vista Ultimate comes with bit locker so it should handle any encryption you would need I believe.

 

how much weight does the ultra bay battery add?

 

You can find that information easy under the product specs on the Lenovo website.