Rookie pulling trigger on x61 -- 3 rookie questions:

1. Should I get the XP or Vista? I have read about Vista problems, and all I really care about is ease of use.

2. If I do not order the base (x6) which contains a DVD/CD-rom drive, aside from not being able to listen to DVDs or CDs, what is the detriment?

3. Since there is no internal broadband card, is it easy to install an external card after I receive the computer?


Thanks SO MUCH!

 

1. Either or is fine. Personally I'll stick with XP since most of the known bugs have been fixed. Vista, on the other hand, is still pretty new. It should be better come SP1 though.

2. Not being able to install programs on CD/DVDs. There are no other detriments besides that.

3. Do you mean a cellular wireless card or a WiFi card? WiFi comes standard and cellular wireless is optional.

 

spOON: Thanks for reply!

Follow ups:

- If I do not buy the Lenovo base, I can just get a DVD/CD optical drive, and install programs through USB, right?

- I meant a cellular wireless card. Can I install one externally (after I receive computer) if I do not order one to be installed when I order computer?

I ordered an x61 today (2gb memory, 2.0ghz dual core, 120 gb hard disk, bluetooth, etc.) with minutes left on the 40% off deal (it came to under $1000, which is nice!) and am now trying to figure out if I should contact Lenovo tomorrow and try to change my order (e.g., supplement my order with the x6 base and/or a wireless card, or just obtain such items down the road).

 

Yep. The external optical drive will work like a regular drive. You can even boot off the USB if you wish to format your hard disk.

I'm not sure about the cellular wireless card. I'd imagine you will have to install the original part.

I would recommend calling Lenovo and ask if they can add the cellular wireless card for a small fee. It's better to have it pre-installed than having to do it yourself.

 

Sp00n has pretty much covered it. I would definitely also recommend you to call Lenovo and have them change the order.

Another simple option is to get/buy a PCMCIA WWAN (mobile broadband) card from your provider which simply slides into the PC-card slot.

If you want to install the original WWAN functionality, you would need to install both the WWAN card and the special antenna required. I think it would be too hair an operation (and expensive) for most people to undertake.

 

If you cancel the order and restart the order you will lose the discount unless Lenovo agrees to it. See if you can mod the order instead with the discount intact. BTW I think you should get Vista.

 

Thank you for responses. I am going to try to modify my order to add xbase and install the WWAN.

I am stillup in air about XP or Vista. Looks like it depends on personal preference.

Cheers.

 

And one more thing, if you go the PCMCIA route for mobile broadband, don't get an ExpressCard -- get the normal PCMCIA/CardBus card. The X61 does not support ExpressCard as it only has a single slot. The T series boxes have two slots, one of each (assuming you pick the ExpressCard config and not SmartCard or 4-in-1 on the 14inch).

I bought the X6 base for my X41t and have not used it since loading all of my programs initially. The only reason I bought it was that I had an UltraBay DVD+R drive already. If I didn't, I would have gone the external USB route.

 

The other issue is I have found I get much better reception with the external cards at least from Sprint on my X61. The T61 I have -- not much difference.

 

"I am stillup in air about XP or Vista. Looks like it depends on personal preference."

No, it's not. Vista has some really amazing features that most people dont know about such as Complete PC backup and the bootable system on the distribution DVD., and the ability to create, shrink and expand partitions on the fly I'd infinitely prefer Vista because of it's infrastructural improvement.

The other day, I actually shrank the system disk partition by 50 gigabytes on the partition on my C drive while the system was running. I think an awful lot of people assume the changes in Vista are simply cosmetic. They aren't. Vista is a far more sophisticated operating system than XP is.

 

Are the partition features and backup available on Vista Business or Vista Ultimate only??

 

Get vista as most of the driver issues have been fixed

 

"Are the partition features and backup available on Vista Business or Vista Ultimate only??"


It's variable because this can be done in many different places in places. Let me see if I can break it down.

Partitition Features:

DiskPart available in the distribution disk is command line driven and is also rich information for problem diagnosis. During a clean installation the partitioning options, including shrinking and expansion are far more flexible in Vista than XP.

These features can also be done in the disk management component of the component management.

Backup And Recovery:

Recovery capabilities are on the distribution DVD. So that's available to everyone. That makes sense because you can recover when the whole system has been corrupted or invaded by virus.

The Vista DVD supplies a host of command line diagnostics and utilities when you really need them. These features obviate the need for Ghost and Partition magic.

Backing up (Complete PC Backup, however is available only on Vista Business and Ultimate.) Compression ratios are rather remakable. I can easily fit 30 gb of system image on two dual layer DVDs.

These features are signs of a maturing OS and these are definitely mainframe quality utilities.

 

Wow, thanks again.

When you say get Vista, is home basic ok, or do I need to get the business? I am really only word processing and surfing on this thing, and Itunes.

 

In that case, you don't need the larger versions. But I think there's something to think about... why hamstring yourself? Why not have what is needed when something goes wrong?

The other day my 3000 received two updates from MS and my system updated and rebooted. However when it rebooted, it was deactivated. Lenovo could do nothing about this and I would have to wait 3 days to call MS as it was a friday night. On the other hand, I just got out a recent backup and replaced the whole OS and installed a patch MS had released to prevent this and went on my merry way.