T61 vs R61 Deal...seeking advice

Newbie to forum and have enjoyed reading the many great insights.

I'm planning to purchase my first Lenovo notebook and wanted to ask for your opinions. Specs as follow for the two notebooks...

T61 - $970 + tax (Visa card + ecoupon)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz 800MHz 4MBL2)
Windows Vista Home Premium
15.4 WXGA TFT
Intel GMA X3100 GM965
1 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader
120GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
6-cell battery

OR

R61i - $800 + tax (Office Depot)
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T5250 (1.5GHz 667MHz 2MBL2)
Windows Vista Business
Glossy 15.4" WXGA
Intel GMA X3100, GM965, 1394, S-Video, PC Card/PCIe
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Finger Print Reader
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Ultrabay Enhanced
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
6-cell battery

The differences are bolded with about a gap of $170. This amount equates to a lot nowadays since you can practically get a sony notebook on black friday for $399.

The majority of the usage will be for word processing, emailing, surfing the net, watching dvd, music, light gaming.

Do T-series have glossy screens?

When T-series and R-series configured the same, in theory it should work the same and besides the few mm and wt difference, why do they cost differently?

I noticed a lot of other brands including Sony are dropping their prices on their T-5250 systems with similar specs to Office Depot deal e.g. ~$650. Should I even think twice?

Comments and thoughts are all welcome. If anyone has experience with both of these processors, let me know if there is a significant difference in relation to the usage mentioned above. Any thoughts/discussions whether this is a good time to purchase or after Christmas/New Year? Thanks in advance.

If these are not good deals, please provide guidance where I can find a better one.

If there's anything in this thread that is coincidentally a repeat from other threads, I apologize.

 

The T series do not have glossy screens. Also, the R61i will not have firewire and will be a little bulky, but good enough for the home user.

Both will fit your needs except when it comes to the "music" aspect, unless you use external speakers. Even CR gave the built in speakers the lowest rating; among others.

 

In Matt Kohut's fine blog:
"It is a bit disappointing that more people didn’t guess the R series as part of their volley of guesses. It is the ThinkPad that often gets derided as being inferior. In fact, most models of the T61 and the R61 14″ widescreens use exactly the same system board and would have similar thermal performance."

personally I have a laptop sleeve that is designed for 13.3 laptops that is a very tight squeeze and wouldn't accomodate a R61. But this is the only reason why I got a T61 over a R61 and if you don't have this same situation I say go ahead with the R61.

Thinkpads have glossy screens in bizarro world.

I believe this is a good time and a good config because the next generation of processors from intel will lead to a price hike, and the current generation has wrung all the economy of scale it can get. It is difficult to tell when is the best time to buy something like this; you can always buy 21 days before whatever time you are antsy about and use the price protection program. That's what I did to save money.

here are some deals:
http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/105041?rss=1
http://dealnews.com/Lenovo-Think-Pa...-after-rebate/199409.html?ref=rss_dealnews_20
http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?p=394106
http://www.spoofee.com/forums/showthread.php?p=394106