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    T500 vs. W500

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by McBrainless, Dec 9, 2008.

  1. McBrainless

    McBrainless Notebook Consultant

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    Hi!
    I'm planning on buying one of the new 15.4 Thinkpads.
    I live in a small country in Europe - Estonia - and there's a T500 and a W500 that have caught my eye - the price difference is only about 8-10 bucks in USD.
    There are some pros and cons for both systems so I'm kinda in between them. Any help would be much obliged :)
    Oh and I couldn't find any info on the W500 having switchable graphics, does only the T series have that on Thinkpads?
    So here are the main specs - wich would be a better buy?

    W500:
    Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz
    4096MB DDR3 1066MHz
    100GB 7200RPM
    ATI Mobility Radeon FireGL V5700 512MB
    15.4'' WUXGA 1920x1200
    DVD-RW (Dual Layer)
    9-cell battery

    T500:
    Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz
    2048MB DDR3 1066MHz
    160GB 5400RPM
    ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 256MB
    15.4'' WSXGA+ 1680x1050
    DVD-RW (Dual Layer)
    6-cell battery
     
    McBrainless, Dec 9, 2008
    #1
  2. StealthTH

    StealthTH Notebook Evangelist

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    W500 is much much more value for the dollar according to those specs. Both the W and T series have switchable graphics.
     
    StealthTH, Dec 9, 2008
    #2
  3. McBrainless

    McBrainless Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for the input.
    Oh and I also forgot to mention that I won't be doing any professional graphic work only some moderate gaming...
     
    McBrainless, Dec 9, 2008
    #3
  4. daljeet

    daljeet Notebook Evangelist

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    If you are looking for a gaming, then T500 is your choice my friend.
     
    daljeet, Dec 10, 2008
    #4
  5. cn_habs

    cn_habs Notebook Deity

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    what's your preference for screen resolution?
     
    cn_habs, Dec 10, 2008
    #5
  6. jaredy

    jaredy Notebook Virtuoso

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    Note the w500 can game as well, so I think the screen resolution is more the factor.
     
    jaredy, Dec 10, 2008
    #6
  7. THAANSA3

    THAANSA3 Exit Stage Left

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    THAANSA3, Dec 10, 2008
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  8. HankB

    HankB Notebook Geek

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    I'm curious about the general differences between the W and T series. I suppose that's something the rest of you already understand since no one has mentioned it. I have a T500 which seems to be a semi-portable and otherwise standard 2 spindle machine.

    The other thing I'd ask is what OS is installed. The W500 won't use all 4GB RAM unless it comes with a 64 bit version of Vista. My experience is that a T500 sees about 3 GB with only integrated (Intel) graphics and I think that drops to about 2.5 GB with the ATI card added in.

    -hank
     
    HankB, Dec 10, 2008
    #8
  9. martinmach

    martinmach Notebook Evangelist

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    there is no drop of ram with ATI card atleast not on my T500
     
    martinmach, Dec 10, 2008
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  10. McBrainless

    McBrainless Notebook Consultant

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    Well I guess the bigger resolution the better I guess. But seeing that a 1920x1200 and 4GB of Ram are fairly expensive options I guess, the W500 should be better bang for the buck.
    And isn't the FireGL the same card as the Radeon only the drivers are different?
     
    McBrainless, Dec 10, 2008
    #10
  11. receph

    receph Notebook Evangelist

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    it is correct that when enabled in the bios, dedicated graphics eats up ~.5GB
    but that is on my T400
     
    receph, Dec 10, 2008
    #11