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    R61 vs. T61 vs. Z61t

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by mr. middlebrow, May 16, 2007.

  1. mr. middlebrow

    mr. middlebrow Newbie

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    Trying to decide which laptop to take to law school in the fall.
    (I've posted in the "which laptop" forum, but since I'm choosing among Lenovo notebooks, I thought I'd ask the Lenovo cognoscenti.)

    The R61 is available through the school at a great price with really great service/support, including loaners if anything goes wrong. But it comes pre-configured with a 1.83mhz processor, 1GB RAM, no DVD burner.

    The T and the Z I can get at a discount (on top of the current sale) directly from Lenovo.

    Comparably configured (2ghz processor, 2GB RAM, DVD burner, same graphics and wireless cards, 3yr on-site warranty/insurance), the Z is ~$150 more than the T. The T comes with the new Santa Rosa chipset. However, since the school requires that I use Windows XP, is that really an advantage?

    Is there anything about the new 14" T61 that I'm overlooking that makes it better than the Z?
    I prefer the look of the Z, esp. with the titanium lid. The Z is a few mm smaller all the way around and a few oz. lighter. I also like that the Z comes with a firewire port so I can upload video.

    I'll be using it for word processing, surfing, IMing, blogging, a bit of video editing if time allows, a maybe some DVD watching.

    BTW: What's the difference between WXGA and WXGA+? I know the latter is higher resolution--what does that translate to on the screen? Which is preferable for a 14.1" Widescreen?

    Thanks in advance.
     
    mr. middlebrow, May 16, 2007
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  2. FRiC

    FRiC Notebook Geek

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    The Z with titanium lid is actually heavier. The weight you read in the specs is "starting weight" and is the weight for the black plastic version.

    WXGA+ is 1440x900. Smaller letters, more desktop space. The WXGA+ screen is actually brighter than the regular WXGA screen, and some models of the Z61t and T61 use the same Samsung WXGA+ panel.

    As for differences aside from Santa Rosa chipset, T61 has Nvidia graphics as an option, Z61t has two horizontal USB slots at the right hand side, so it could be annoying if you are right-handed and use a mouse. Battery life for the Z61t also sucks, but it seems to be equal to the T61 from what I read around here.
     
    FRiC, May 16, 2007
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