Selecting T61P specs, need advice

I'm about to order a T61P, but I have yet to decide on a couple of the specs:

1) I'm torn between the 7200rpm 100GB hard drive and the 5400rpm 160GB HD. The price is the same, and you would think that the 7200rpm would be faster at the expense of storage space, but looking at the specs below, it seems like that isn't the case. Is this correct?

7200rpm 100GB specs

5400rpm 160GB specs

2) Which wireless card should I choose? I know nothing about wireless cards since I haven't bought a laptop in about 7 years. Here are my options:

-Integrated Wi-Fi wireless upgradable
-ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe US/EMEA/LA/ANZ
-ThinkPad 11b/g Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter II
-Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
-Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (11n disabled)
-ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n Wireless LAN Mini-PCI Express Adapter
-Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

 

5400rpm is better for stability.. for example if you have important information you are going to want this..

if you want a little better performance the 7200rpm is fine..

either way u really cant go wrong. its matter of size which one do u prefer

 

7200rpm tends to get a little hotter too.

 

The 7200k drive will really only boost Windows load times and app load times, but not by much.

Personally I'd choose the 160GB drive because the sectors are closer together which gives an added bonus which makes it comparable to the 7200k drive, and you get more space. Space over speed is my motto, but whatever works for you.

As for the wireless card, I prefer the 4965AGN card. I've heard that it uses less power than the Atheros (ThinkPad) card and gets similar performance. Whether that's true or not I can't confirm, but I'm very happy with my 4965 card in my T61.

 

I can only speak for what I know and that is this:

The thinkpad A/B/G card works great and I've experienced zero problems with it. It gets a better signal then my linksys wireless USB adapter, and it hasn't dropped a signal yet.

 

The read/write times in that 160GB drive spec is messed up...it doesnt transfer at 540MBps...if it does then I WANT ONE!

As does the 7200 rpm drive, it should have a maximum of 150 as I believe this is the upper boundary for sata.

It is theoretically possible for a 5400 drive to have better transfer rates or shorter seek times than a 7200 rpm drive in some cases. It 'can' come down to the areal density of the platters.

 

I had the choose between the two several days ago. I ended up choosing the 160GB HDD for these reasons: Cooler running, less power consumption, little to no loss in speed, less noise, and extra capacity.

Now if only they offered the 200gb 7200RPM drive. That would make things easy. I would have definitely chosen the 200gb 7200 drive as it's of a newer generation.

 

1) Lenovo ships two 100GB 7200 rpm Hard Drives - made by Seagate and Hitachi.
The Hitachi is faster. The Seagate is a little more quieter.
You don't get an option to choose the brand. They'll ship what they currently have in stock.

The 160GB 5400 rpm Drives are very new and seem to be mostly by Hitachi.
They feature perpendicular recording (much higher areal density), run cooler and quieter than the aforementioned 7200 rpm drives, but are still slightly slower overall, especially compared to the very fast 100GB 7200 rpm Hitachi.

I've chosen the 100GB 7200 rpm drive for now, since I'm planning on upgrading to a clearly superior 200GB 7200 rpm drive, sometime next year when they come down in price.
btw, I've gotten a Hitachi.

2) I would go with the Intel 4965AG(N). One test showed it to be the coolest running chipset of the bunch.
You can save money by ordering it with 11n disabled.

 

What do you mean by "better for stability"?

 

Get the 7200 rpm drive if you want speed. Vista is doing tons of disc activity because of prefetch and stuff. In order to keep the drive shut down more often and save battery, the 7200 rpm drive helps a little.

Tests show that the 7200 rpm drive doesn't use more energy or get hotter in most circumstances. I have the Hitachi 7200 rpm drive in my T61 and it does not seem to be hot at all. I had a 7200 rpm drive in my previous notebook (an MSI) and that drive was a little warm.

I also have the Intel 4965 AGN and it works well. I don't care what anyone has written, I've had so much better luck with N and pre-N wireless over the past two years I wouldn't think about anything else.