T61 vs. HP dv6565ca

Hey there! I recently purchased a T61 off eBay (I know it sounds crazy, but I know this guy) and it has the following stats: a 2.0 GHz processor, nVIDIA Quad 140M, 120 GB 5400 rpm, 6 cell battery, bluetooth, 1GB RAM, and 3 years warranty for about $1600 CAD (shipping, insurance, taxes included).

I was all happy about my purchase until I came across this HP dv6565ca at the local Staples. It's a build on the dv6500t reviewed here.
It's stats are 1.66 Ghz processor, nVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, 160 GB 5400 rpm, 2GB RAM and a 1 year warranty for $1299.96 CAD without including taxes.

I'm pretty sure its a no-brainer to keep the T61 (the seller isn't going to ship it just yet), and I'm pretty sure I'm just suffering from buyers remorse but do you think its a good idea to stick with the T61? Lenovo obviously has better build quality than HP (especially with this comparison) but how does the Quad card compare to the 8400M GS?

There is also a longer warranty with Lenovo and that's a major plus on my side. Most people are very pleased with their T61 but I'm getting kind of nervous about my purchase.

I'm an undergrad student so the price is definately a factor, but with canadian taxes, both notebooks have similar prices.

What do you guys think would be the better choice in regards that I'm a student?

EDIT: I forgot to mention that this is the 14.1" T61 and the HP is 15.4" and weighs about 6.5 lbs I believe.

 

The quadro card should be good enough or similar in performance with 8400gs, if I recall correctly, except that it's not optimize for games. So, the question is, do you game on your laptop?

 

I do like casually gaming. I've heard of people playing FEAR with medium settings and C&C 3 with medium settings. I don't mind playing like that, but isn't the 8400gs basically the same?

 

The HP has more RAM, and technically should be better. I think the HP would fare better in the long run, actually. (Plus it has HDMI, doesn't it?

 

yeah the HP does have HDMI and more RAM but I'm pretty sure it has an AMD processor. When I checked it out at the store it did, and aren't the Santa Rosa processors much faster?

 

Its a Core 2 Duo T5450 CPU

 

1.66 GHz processor? Sounds like it's not a Santa Rosa machine, in which case the FSB will be slower than the T61 and the T61 will be significantly faster overall. Additionally, adding 1GB of RAM to the T61 will only set you back about $40 so don't let that be a deciding factor.

 

The T5450 is not a Santa Rosa processor, that's for sure. The 8400gs card isn't even that powerful either. I thought the Quadro and the 8400gs cards were pretty similar performance wise.

 

If they are the same price, take the ThinkPad.

 

Yes it is. T5450 uses CPU Socket P, which was introduced in May only for the new Santa Rosa platform. 800mHz may be a staple for the Santa Rosa platform, but the chipset is by no means locked to 800mhz. As an example, different Northwood Pentium 4's had different FSB speeds but all used the same Socket 478.

Benchmarks show that the FSB increase isn't really that big a deal because the 800mHz FSB speed is only the speed at which the CPU talks to itself and not the memory.

 

It sounds like you purchased a 16U. FYI, it's $1549.99 Regular price, $1399 Visa Perks, and $1349 via EPP (All prices in CDN). Assuming you live in Ontario, 14% tax on $1350 makes it cheaper than what you paid for on eBay. But if you buy it from Lenovo right now, you might not get it till Mid-Sept! Ugh.. that's how long I am to wait for mine right now.

I'm sure that the 16U config comes with 1 x 1GB, so you'll have the other slot free. Another DDR2 667 1GB is about $40 - $60 which you can upgrade later.

Oh, and a T7300 vs T5450?? You made the right choice - don't need to look back!

You're probably also getting a higher res screen on the T61 (WXGA+ vs WXGA) on a smaller chasis. As an undergrad student, you'll like this

 

Does the 16U have a WXGA+ screen? I wasn't too sure!

 

Yup. WXGA+ on a 14" screen
... as opposed to WXGA on a 15.4 - ugly!

 

lol thanks. Isn't there any difference between the graphics cards at all? I know both of them aren't very powerful.

 

Hey, since I'm buying the T61 off eBay from the US, would the warranty still work here in Canada?

 

Are you sure it has the HDMI? because I just checked and I don't think it has HDMI, well I looked up the specs on HP's website. Please correct me if I am wrong, and hopefully I am wrong.

 

Can anyone confirm that the DV6565ca comes with HDMI?

 

HP becomes very hot, that's why I did buy T61, and keep in mind Lenovo has better quality of HP.

 

Just in case you wanted to know, Staple's selling the dv6565ca for $1105:
http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=83%2C84,85,4441&webid=706944&affixedcode=WW

 

hey thanks for the heads up! i still haven't received the t61 yet... i might get a refund and get this

 

I am a pround owner of a DV6565ca currently. In fact, I am using it as I speak. And let me tell you the unit is great. I have heard about the noise concern but I do not notice any problem with my unit. Particularly I used it at night when place is really quiet and I do not notice any noise problem. The fan does kicks in ocassionally depends on the load of the unit but it is not any problem at all as other's talking about. Another thing is the unit comes with a standard figerprint scanner & HDMI output as well as bluetooth and draft N wirelesscard. The finger print scanner is a bonus to have as well as the BT so I got a BT wireless mouse to work with the integrated BT tran/recvr instead of the standard wireless one which require a external usb transmitter. Since it uses a Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 CPU, heat is not a concern as I always placed and use it on my lap. Overall I am very happy with the unit and plan to run Ferdora or Redhat on it as well very soon. Thanks.

PS. my unit is all up to date with the latest patches and update including the BIOS update.

 

Well see the price difference, if the difference is not too much then get the Thinkpad. I needed the 1680*1080 screen and thinkpad was the cheapest option I could find.

 

I agree. HP's do tend to get very hot. Both my HP's get very hot. Actually I think my old Pentium 4 is bit cooler than my TX1210. I'm considering buying a Lenovo, but in Canada...it is a bit pricier.