T41p or Z60m ?

Both of these are offered (new) at the same ballpark, differ by configuration:
T41p is Pentium M 735 1.7Ghz, 60 GB 7200 rpm HDD, 14.1" SXGA 1400x1050 driven by FireGLT2 128 MB graphics, DVD/CDRW (not a DVD burner), all the regular wire and wireless connectivity and XP PRO.
Z60m is Pentium M 740 1.86 GHz, 80 GB 5400 rpm HDD, 15.4" widescreen 1280x800 driven by ATI x300 64 MB graphics, DVD burner x8, all the regular wire and wireless connectivity and XP Home and other bells and whistles (such as card reader which is of little importance for me)
My needs encompass technical computing (study), web, emalis, some occasional entertainment (perhaps movies) and rare gaming (if any), though the main workload will be MATLAB. I'll need to lug it in the campus, here and there.
For better portability the T41p seems to suit - it is lighter by about 0.5 kg then Z60m and perhaps a bit smaller footprint-wise, however Z60m offers slightly newer CPU and chipset, wider screen (not sure of its importance for my needs) somewhat larger HDD (albeit slower) and DVD burner.

The graphics of T41p seems a bit better, am I wrong ?
What would you choose and why ?
How large is the difference between CPUs and chipsets performance-wise ?
Another half kg of weight od Z60m doesn't scare me away, 3 kg vs 2.5 kg on my back isn't going to be a deal braker (unless I intend to go with laptop mountain climbing which I do not).
Hard to decide...

 

I would go with the T41p.

The difference between the 1.7Ghz and 1.8GHz cpus will be very minimal. The 1.7GHz runs on the 400MHz fsb where as the 1.8GHz runs on the 533Fsb.

The LCD on the T41p is one of beauty. If your going to be doing a lot of work at a time the higher resolution LCD will be more beneficial than the lower resolution widescreen.

However even with the lack of dvd-burner I would still take the T41p. Its got a better video card, larger LCD, thinner, lighter, much better build, titanium LCD lid.

For the work you seem to be doing, the newer cpu and chipset shouldnt have that much effect.

 

Thanks.
Titanuim LCD lid of T41p ? Didn't you mistake with Z60m (which indeed comes with titanium LCD lid) ?

 

Well the titanium lcd lit on the T41p is built in to protect the lcd panel. The one on the Z60m is the entire LCD bezel and cover.

 

I believe the lid on the T41 is magnesium.

 

Thansks, understood.
Just noticed, this T410 comes refubrished (though woth extended, 3 years IBm warranty). Would you still vote for it ? Or in such case Z60m will be better choice (once again - both are priced at about the same ballpark) ?

 

What are the prices the Z60 and T41p?

 

Well, I'm talking about my local market - in my country (Israel) where all the prices for hi-end gear are somewhat inflated.
Anyway, new Z60m with 3 - year IBM warranty costs 1822$ (1.86 GHz CPU), the T41p (1 year warranty by IBM, the rest of 2 years by the reseller) is going for 1766$.
What do you think ?

 

That is a tough call. I personally dislike low resolution screens, but I would rather have the warranty from Lenovo. I think performance should be similar with a slight advantage to the T41 with the faster hard drive. I guess maybe it depends on how much you trust the retailer.

 

Trusting retailer in warranty coverage ? indeed tough call.
Do not familair with the retailer, have no idea how much it can be trsuted for those additional 2 years of warranty, go figure...
In such case it seems Z60m is still better bet...

 

Perhaps you could upgrade the warranty through Lenovo?

 

Well, just called IBM in my country - unfortunately their policy doesn't allow warranty extention (beyond original 1-year) for refubrished products.
Since 3-years warranty is one of the main reasons for me to pay an extra for Thinkpad comparative to similarily configured other brands, I think I'll pass on this option and will stay with Z60m decision as for now...