Ordering a t61

Well, I'm going to college in 3 weeks and in need of a laptop to bring with me. I'm not planning to use it to play any games, just watching movies, bittorent, light photo/video editing, microsoft office, etc.
I just need some feedback on whether or not I should go with it or change some of the specs around. Never bought a laptop before

The total on the order before tax is $ 1,228.70*

Processor1 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
Operating System12 Genuine Windows XP Professional
Operating System Language Genuine Windows XP Professional - US English
Display Panel 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
System graphics Intel GMA X3100 GM965
Total memory8 3 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
Keyboards Keyboard US English
Pointing Device UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
Hard Drive4 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache Intel Turbo Memory 1GB
Optical device5 DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
System expansion slots PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot
Card Reader 4 in 1 Media Card Reader
Wireless cards10 Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)
Battery60 6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Power cord Country Pack North America
Language Pack Language Pack US English
3 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day $119.00 $119.00

 

Drop the RAM down to 1GB 1 DIMM then go and buy a 2GB stick and install it yourself. It is very easy and saves you a lot of money.

If you are going to have it unplugged for long periods of time, I suggest going with the 9-cell battery it sticks out the back a little but isn't bad at all.

 

I'm just knocking it down to 2gb 1 dimm for now, I will upgrade to 4gb later. I can't really spare any extra cash to upgrade. The 9-cell wasn't an option when I was looking around

And is any education discount stackable with the 10% off?

 

You would need to call and ask them if they have student discounts.

 

Did you configure your system under Contractor Purchase Price??

I configured the same as yours and my total came out different

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4GHz 800MHz 3MBL2)
Genuine Windows XP Professional
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
Intel GMA X3100 GM965
3 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) 160GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
Intel® Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 1GB
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot
4 in 1 Media Card Reader
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Country Pack North America
Language Pack US English
3 year depot 9x5 Next Business Day

From: $1,728.00*
Sale price: $1,120.91*
Total savings: $607.09

And i also agree with the previous posters about the 1gb ram. You should get 1gb 1 dimm stick of ram and save the $70 bucks. That is more than enough to go out and buy 3-4gb of ram to add or completely replace the stock ram they give you.

 

drop the intel turbo memory too if you plan on going 2+ gigs.

 

Well, I configured it with 160 gb, 7200 rpm but i just went to the website, click notebooks and then configured it from there
I tried student personal purchases but that wouldnt let me use the 10% coupon

Also, how long is the battery life?

 

Switching my config to 160gb 7200rpm only added around 20 bucks to it.

From: $1,763.00*
Sale price: $1,143.22*
Total savings: $619.78

Are you using the contractor code? It's still saving me $85 over your total.

From Notebookreview T61 review:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3708&review=ThinkPad+T61

 

What is this contractors code? Do I have to qualify for it?

 

*deleted by moderator*

 

I believe there have been issues with 4GB of memory on T61's. I'm not clear on the specifics or if you would be affected, but you may want to look into this before you pull the trigger.

In addition, consider that the new Thinkpads (T400 and T500 models) will be appearing soon, probably in early June. If you're willing to wait and have some more cash, it may be worth the wait.

 

any reason why?

 

thatonealex, CPP Codes are prohibited from being posted. Anyone else posting them will suffer an infraction or possibly a ban. This is a warning.

Arkit3kt

 

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