Please HELP in customizing T61! Ordering tomorrow!

Hi,

I am not the most tech savvy, so would love all the help I can get in customizing the Thinkpad T61 I'm about to order.

1st, the processor: I'm ready to upgrade from the Intel Core Duo T7100 1.8Ghz, but should I go for the 2.0GHz T7300 or the 2.2GHz T7500? How do these differences impact overall performance?

Think I'm going to stick with Vista (I've been using XP Pro previously- is it worthwhile to upgrade to the Vista Ultimate pack OS? Whats the min RAM needed to make this run smoothly?

Display type: Is it really worthwhile to upgrade to the higher resolution WXGA + (I don't do much gaming, watch DVDs/TV reruns from time to time)

I am going with the discrete graphics NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB) card

Total Memory- I was learning towards the 3 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM). Is this generous enough for an everyday user (mostly internet, word processing, etc..)

Hard Drive: Was going to upgrade to the 100GB 7200rpm, but noticed that for the same price you can get 120GM 5400rpm. Is it better to increase the GB or rpm...?

Wireless card: It comes with Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG, is it worthwhile to upgrade to the Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro) or ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe US/EMEA/LA/ANZ? If so, why?

Also, I've read from previous posts that it is possible to increase the battery without adding the bulk in the back by using a slimbay drive? Can someone expand on how one goes about this?

THANK YOU in advance for all the help! I am so excited to order!

 

I have the exact same questions as you do. I want to order tomorrow before the sale ends. Any advice will be appreciated by me as well.

 

Doesnt it end tonight or does it run through the 8th?

 

Go with which ever processor makes you feel happy. The 2.0 is enough to handle a ton, the 2.2 a slight bit more.

2Gigs is good for vista I have found. Buy your laptop with 1gig and buy/install an extra gig yourself. Its easy to instal, will not void you warranty, and should save you upwards of 50 bucks.

2 gig is enough to internet/word processing/lite gaming. 3 would be overkill in my eyes, but memory is cheap now so overkill might be worth it. Again upgrade yourself.

I would rather increase GB on the harddrive, the 7200 may sometimes make the palm rest hot.

I use the ThinkPad a/b/g card, it is an athereos card and they are said to be of high quality. I found have found it to be a good card and rely on it everyday. Zero problems. The other cards may have Draft-N, like the 4965. That is the newest type of wireless and is pretty fast.

I use the 140M card and have found it great, use the drivers at www.laptopvideo2go.com

No idea about the slimbay drive battery but lots of people use it.

This is all just in my opinon.

 

1. Yes, the T7300 or T7500 should have a better performence (larger L2 cache). Choose between which one depends on your budget.

2. XP is better than Vista at this moment, concerning, battery life....and other stuff. But if you want to go with Vista that's fine. 2Gb of Ram is the minimum for Vista.

3. Yes, higher resolution would be good, I would suggest the WSXGA screen.

4.Yes, 3Gb of Ram should be enough for all the tasks that you need.

5. Depends on your need, more rpm would be faster but if you prefer capacity, stick with the 120 Gb or 160Gb.

6. For me I just choose the first one, I'm the only one in the LAN network that use wireless, So why bother with the N ?

7. The battery for the ultrabay is 3 cells. I'm not so sure how will it work with a 6 cells batter.

 

(1) Unless you're running processor intensive application (Auto CAD, Photoshop, etc) you won't see any increase in performance. Even if you use any of the programs mentioned, it won't be much.

(2) 2GB for Vista to run smoothly for everyday computing.

(3) Display is up to you, because it really is personal preference and how good your vision is.

(4) 120GB gives more space, but 100GB is plentiful. If you're not doing anything special, 100GB is more than enough. 7200rpm over 5400rpm is noticeable. So unless you have specific storage need, get 100GB 7200rpm.

(5) No it's not worth it. They're all about the same, although N is faster, but G should be fast enough.

(6) You take out the optical drive, and insert an extra battery instead. You have to get two batteries. That way you're using two batteries instead of one, but no optical drive. I'm not sure which battery you have to get, but I think it's the two smaller one instead of the biggest capacity. I might be wrong on this, so check with lenovo or other ppl first.

 

It says the sale "ends October 8th" I'm assuming that means it runs through the 8th, ending at midnight (instead of ending at midnight tonight, on the 7th). If anyone knows differently, please let me know.

 

(1) The T7300 is the sweet spot for the processors they offer. It has a larger cache + faster frontside bus. This probably won't translate to any huge speed difference, but it will make it a little more future proof. Anything over the T7300 you will see almost no difference. The T7500 is the exact same thing as the 7300, with a slightly faster speed. But nowadays most PCs are sufficiently fast that .2 GHz is not noticeable at all.

(2) If you really want Vista go with Business or Home Premium, 'Ultimate' is currently a waste of money. 2GB of RAM should be OK for Vista, I recommend staying with XP Pro, at this point XP is almost 100% reliable and compatible.

This is an article on how Vista Ultimate is 'failed', basically microsoft sells Ultimate at a HUGE price increase, and you should get some 'Ultimate' extra stuff, but MS just hasn't really taken any time to release any Extra stuff that you couldn't get for free anyway. ( You can find many articles on this on the net, MS has apologized twice for Ultimate )
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...slow-progress-on-windows-ultimate-extras.html

(3) Display, I prefer the standard resolution. I wear glasses, and really high resolution really just makes things too small for me. The standard resolution screen is nice and clear.
(4) I went with 120GB hard disk, more space is more meaningful than the speed. But then I use alot of space. I save almost everything I touch, and I don't like to worry about running out of space.

(5) I saved money by going down to the ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe US/EMEA/LA/ANZ.
Why? Because nothing in the world currently uses 'n' which is what makes the other cost so much more. Pretty much everything is G or B., I have the above and have had an excellent experience.

6. Can't help you here, I got the 9Cell, and have loved it. I never worry about the battery going out, and I have the Nvidia 140M. I thought the bulk would annoy me, but I really never notice it. I think I actually like it, it stabilizes the laptop while I type.

 

Yep you are right the sale is ending tonight

 

What are peoples thoughts on getting the Intel Turbo Memory Cache? Good investment, or does it cause more problems than it is worth?

Also, for a person that does not do much gaming (some pictures/movies/TV shows here and there, need to few images, etc)- is the integrated graphics card a better choice than the discrete card (I know this would save battery life...are there any other benefits to the discrete card?) The rep I spoke to suggested the discrete might not be a good investment considering my use.

 

Thread regarding the utilization of the Intel Turbo Memory Cache here:-

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=175666

 

if the system is 14.1" I would suggest the WXGA because the difference is negligible and I actually prefer it cuz the WXGA+ fonts are too small.

 

The sale seems to be over even though they're still advertising it on their main page.

 

daylove, it's okies not to be the most tech savvy around. Nobody is, except for the most presuming snob.

Your concern is quite challenging to answer. I can only attempt to offer some suggestions here, but they are just points for you to consider; by no means definitive. That's the purpose of such a "Forum", right ?

You did not state whether the T61 is for your private or corporate use. The basis of reasoning can be quite different to be apt.

I shall write on the assumptions that the T61 is for your private use, financed out of private money.

The processor. You mentioned that your applications circle around Internet, Word-processing, etc. If its that plain & straight, your existing T7100 processor more than meets these requirements. Since you have the satisfaction of upgrading, then the T7500 gives you a greater leap-frog foward than the T7300.

Also, future programs (in particularly games) will favor faster CPUs.

However, such an improvement comes with costs. Your vendor will obviously charge you more to have the T7500 than the T7300. Also the T7500 will eat more into your battery-life. So, be prepared to upgrade to the hi-cap 7 cell batteries, unless you intend to be wired most of the time.

On performance, the T7500 certainly gives you an edge in terms of speed; both in terms of faster clock-speed and in data-transfer rate between CPU and RAM. The point is : do you really "need" it or simply "want" it out of personal satisfaction ? Only you can answer.

Vista is definitely the way forward for Windows OS. There is no going back-wards from Vista. Since you set your sights on the Ultimate, then have 2 GB of RAM because the Ultimate (and Vista Business) will easily take up some 800 MB of RAM for a complete boot-up even if you have yet to even do anything further.

On display. Go for the higher resolution. There's no point in buying a car with the fastest engine just to handicap it with low performance tyres. Furthermore, Vista and modern programs take good advantage of graphics, higher resolution is the way forward.

nVidia graphics card is "nice" to have if you are not heavily into games. Do take note that such graphics card drains more of your battery-life.

3 GB RAM. More than ample. 2GB is the comfortable level for an average T61 business user using large Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations.

Harddisk. Since you are not into games that much, then the faster speed does not yield the advantage. Go for the larger capacity for the same price. This is also to take into consideration that future programs are generally going to need more space.

Wireless Card. You are definitely well off have Wifi connection. It is the trend forward to go wireless. As for which model, tricky; does your surrounding infrastructure allow you to realize the advantage of the upgraded card ? If yes, then go for it; otherwise, what for spend the extra ?

Bay-battery. It works by first removing the super-multi optical drive out of the T61 and putting the bay-battery in its place. You effectively lose the use of the "internal" optical drive. Of course, nothing stops you from connecting an "external" optical drive via USB port.

My advice is that you shun such bay-battery.

Firstly, from cost vs. benefit view point, it is costly and the extra battery-life you get is no where proportionate to what you pay for it. In other words, bad cost-benefit ratio. You will be better off buying the hi-cap 7 cell batteries instead; as these give you longer up time.

Secondly, you are handicapped by not having the use of the "internal" optical drive. You can have an "external" optical drive, but that means more to carry and a more clumsy set-up.

People are complaining that the more compact ThinkPad X61 and X61T do not have "internal" optical drives; but here, you have it but want to remove it for a very short-life bay-battery ? Does not make logical sense.

The above should help you a little.


rgds,
Benjamin Chin
9 Oct 07

 

If your eyesight doesn't object to WXGA+, then it's worthwhile, otherwise it's not. So, I would not necessarily choose hi res just because "it's the way forward."