T61 options

I am just keeping my options open as I am looking to get either the new T400 shortly after inception or swing a sweet deal on an outgoing T61. Looking through the configuration I see that all the upgrades are discounted as well which I would expect will not be on the T400's for sometime. Leaving me to think that there might be close to a $500 difference in similar configs. That being said I have a few saved quotes from before the 14th and wanted to make another now just to give myself a little extra time to decide.

That being said, in the procs choice the T9300 2.5ghz is $117 extra where as the T9500 2.6GHz is $226 more than the T9300 with the same FSB & Cache. What makes the T9500 triple the upgrade cost of the T9300?

That being said I spoke to my IT guy at work and he said that he might be able to order it for me for a discount. Does anyone see why that might or might not work?

Thank you

 

It's not worth it in my opinion. I don't know the IT guy at your work. It would be difficult for me to say either way.

 

I didn't think so either. Well not that I don't trust what he says but I just didn't know if anyone had any similar experiences.

Thanks

 

Well there has been discussions on the T9500 before and basically it is not worth it for such as huge price increase and such a small speed increase. As to why they priced it so high, I am not sure, maybe just because it was the top model when it was released.

As far as the guy from work, if he is trust worthy it might be worth it. I am not sure if he or someone he knows is an IBM employee, if so he might be able to get employee pricing, which could save you a lot. Like Zaz said, don't know the guy, depends on how trust worthy he is. I would personally would not like to depend on anyone for a purchase.

I just got my Thinkpad recently(couple months ago), but I could have waited. I am glad I didn't, I waited a long time before getting it already. I got the exact specs I wanted, had no idea at that time what the new Thinkpads would bring, so I didn't want to take a chance or wait any more. The machine is second to none, I am very happy and is exactly what I was looking for. Another thing I considered was that I knew that the newer machines have ATI cards and I wanted an nVidia card, since I am more familiar with them and how to set them up in Linux. Not sure if you care about it though.

 

Agreed with the others -- rarely does it make sense to pay the steep premium for the top level CPU.

As to ordering through the IT guy at work... consider the return options. Order it yourself and you can cancel the order prior to shipping or return without restocking fee if you don't open it (per the written policy, I've not tried it). That gives some additional options for changing your mind or reordering at a better price after pulling the trigger.

 

Yeah I think he meant he could get not employee pricing but something else since we have all Lenovo computers at work. I will talk to him again and see what he meant.

Thanks for the advice though and I do run Linux and there seems to be more driver options for Nvidia cards. Well I am gonna go save my quote now.

 

Yeah that is a good thought. Thank you

Also, just looking thought some old reviews and comparing my T60 vs a new T61. My T60 has the ATI X1400, would this have been the discrete option at that time and comparable to the Nvidia option now? If that is true I would be then set on getting the Nvidia card based on current battery life and heat that I experiance.

That being said I would like less heat and extended battery life of the IGP, haha.

 

Since it sounds like he is the IT guy at YOUR work, you can probably get the discount yourself. If you ask him about it there is probably a certain website or phone number to call. Thats how it works for me.

 

OK cool, I will ask about that.

 

The T9500 is so expensive because it is the top of the line notebook processor. And when you get top of the line hardware, you should be prepared to pay out your ass.

 

Well that makes sense, thanks