Ready to purchase...7200rpm HD worth it?

I'm finally spec'ing out a z61t for purchase. Two lingering questions. With the deal they're running now it would cost me $150 to upgrade from the 100GB 5400rpm HD to the 100GB 7200rpm HD. Is this worth it?

My main uses would be basic office stuff, web/e-mail, not much gaming. Occasional software programming and some video editing/DVD creation. I like the idea of faster boot-up times and program start-up...but what's realistic for FASTER...something like 5% or more in the range of 25-30% faster. $150 is around 10% of the total cost of the laptop, so I'd hate to just throw money away. I'm getting 1.5GB RAM as part of the current deal as well, would an extra 512MB for $99 be a better use of the money?

Finally, I've read lots of posts on Atheros vs Intel wireless cards, with general consensus apparently that the Atheros cards have better signal range and stability (with a slight trade-off in power consumption). I assume that any of the "ThinkPad" adapters on the config page are Atheros, and that the $30 option to upgrade to 11a/b/g/n just gives the latest and greatest and ability to connect to MIMO, is that correct. Also, I have a WPA2 encrypted network in the office. I don't think I'll have any issues connecting to that with any of the cards, right?

Thanks in advance for your input. And sorry to sound like a stingy old bastard with all my talk of $$$!

-Dave

 

Well, I recommend you do what I am doing. 7200rpm is noticeably faster, but you can get a 7200rpm hitachi 100gb drive from newegg for the same price as upgrading that drive. So, I say get that 5400rpm hard drive, get an adapter to use that in the ultrabay, and then get a 7200rp drive from newegg. For $49 more than the cost of upgrading you get a second hard drive. ($49 is for the adapter to use the 5400rpm drive in the ultrabay)

 

Thanks, marlin. Couldn't find the UltraBay adapter on the Lenovo accesories page. Any idea what that part #might be?

 

Another question...If I do swap out the drive, does the ThinkPad come with a reinstall CD that will take care of the OS, drivers, apps, etc? I assume this would be a pretty turn-key process?

 

40Y8725

As far as the reinstall CD, I'm not sure. I've been told you have to ask them for it within 30 days, but when I did the parts lookup on my order it mentions restore CDs...I guess I'll find out when it comes tomorrow.

 

They do not come with them nor do they send them out. Before swapping the drives you are allowed to burn of recovery discs which will recover it to its factory state.

 

Tell me more about these recovery disks. Is this the same as the 'image' which is on the HD when you first recieve it (used to restore to orignial state)?

 

Yes, they restore it to its orignal state. You burn them off. It is a way for Lenovo to save a few bucks. You can buy a set from Lenovo. I think they are $45.

 

Does anyone have any additional thoughts on what's the smarter upgrade...

1.5GB -> 2.0GB RAM for $99
100GB 5400rpm -> 100GB 7200rpm HD for $150

Thanks.

 

I would take the additional RAM. The faster hard drive is not worth the added cost in my opinion for the kind of work you do. In addition, you can already buy a new 100 GB 7200 rpm drive at Newegg for less than $150. When I checked just now, a Seagate Momentus was $145 and a Hitachi Travelstar $150. In other words, you can send your $150 to Newegg and have two drives (the 5400 rpm drive that came with your notebook and the 7200 rpm from Newegg) for the same money Lenovo wants for the faster drive alone. A better idea would be to keep the 5400 rpm drive for now and upgrade to a faster drive next year, when prices are lower than today.

 

Well, maybe I just couldn't figure it out, but to me it looks like it the CDs you can make don't restore it to its original state, but to the state it was at when you made the CD's (so before doing anything I made the CDs).

 

I would suggest getting a 7200rpm HD, if not from Lenovo from Newegg or similar provider, if you plan to ever edit high definition video. The 5400rpm HD may not provide adequate bit rate delivery for high definition video without creating frame drops.

 

I wouldn't do either, save the cash and use it towards an accessory or upgraded processor or screen/graphics. The greater performance boost however, would likely be the RAM with what you are doing on the laptop.