T7300 Vs T7100

When I ordered the T61 standard screen yesterday, I forgot to upgrade the CPU.

Will we see much performance improvement by upgrading from T7100 to T7300?

Is it worth 37$ and the trouble to deal with Lenovo?

Thanks.

 

Across the board of Core 2 Duos, the step between the T7100 and T7300 is the most noticeable (double L2 cache). That said, the true performance difference is still small, however for $37, I would call up Lenovo. They wouldn't stop you, seeing how it's an upgrade.

 

The T7300 should be worth it. Try talking to the Customer Sales department.

 

More than likely they will make you cancel and place your order again. It depends on what you are doing. For things like office and internet, the difference will be marginal if any. CPU intensive tasks like coding audio or crunching databases is where the extra L2 will help. The T7100 is still a very good CPU.

 

thanks for replying, guys.

i doubt i'll benefit from the L2 cache at all. I just feel bad not upgrading it for 40$ bucks. I was so excited and forgot to do that.

I plan to use the laptop for office/web and a bit image editing but nothing fancy. I don't game at all and no audio encoding for me too...

 

Then don't regret the T7300. Fact is, you could work just fine on a midrange Pentium M. Many experienced thinkpad affectionados would actually *prefer* the older pentium-equipped T42/41/40 for your needs. LOL. (they were very fine machines)

 

The T7100 should do perfectly fine for the tasks you have listed. Like Zaz said, the T7300 extra cache would have helped in tasks which are heavily processor based. Theres no difference in performance for everyday tasks between the two processors.

 

My T7100 is perfect, the difference in an office work environment is not noticeable, I have a Core 2 Duo E6600 (4mb L2) in my desktop and the difference in CPU speed is hardly noticeable - utnil I fire up my music software or games.

The T7100 stays nice and cool in my T61.

 

Another possible way to look at this is to consider the next Penryn refresh.

Penryn will still be socket P, and still use the Santa Rosa chipset -- so it could be drop-in compatible, maybe requiring a new bios.

So spending more on a bit more on a processor you might eventually upgrade anyway will not be worth it. Penryn would offer more tangible benefits with decreased heat output and lower power consumption in addition to finishing that process a few seconds early.

 

I know I won't notice the difference in performance, but I just feel bad I didn't take the advantage to have a nicer cpu for 30 bucks.

Is there any difference in power consumption between these two processors?

 

I know, a t40 would be powerful enough for my work.

But I am obsessed with laptop and always want the best, coolest gear.

I hope T61 is rugged enough.

 

will they make me cancel the order and place a new one? I took advantage of the 20% off coupon. I don't want to lose that.

 

will do that tomorrow morning. do they work on labor day?

 

maybe I should spend the money on a waterfield sleeve?

 

T7300 should be the one to go with for the current tasks and future ones

 

they are closed today...

 

A T42 is waaay cooler gear than a T61. At least to the geeks in the know.
The T61 is not a classic or collector's item and never will be.

 

It's labor day so that should be pretty much expected.

 

Apparently they are closed; however, their phone line let me in the queue and I waited a full 60 minutes like a total idiot before I finally concluded that IBM wanted to play a sick joke on me!

 

I would definitely go with the 7300 for $37 extra...it is probably the best bang for your buck...however, further upgrading is not worth it IMO

 

yeah, I'll call them again tomorrow morning.

But I don't really want to go through the hassle of cancelling/reorder ... will they still honor the 20% I had in the original order?

 

i doubt it...but you may have to pull a fast one and say you originally ordered a 7300...however something went wrong during checkout

 

you mean if I make change to my order, I will lose the discount?

 

yea...lenovo is weird like that...they will have to cancel your whole order and then make a new one...i dont understand why they just can't edit it...but once the order reaches warehouse..there's nothing they can do....

I've even had orders that I cancelled...so they said they'll message the warehouse for cancellation request...and I still ended up getting the notebook shipped

 

this sounds quite strange.

I'll call them and see what happens.

 

yep..it is very strange indeed

 

thanks for the information.

what did you end up getting?

t7100 will be enough for me, but I just feel bad not getting the 7300 for 40 bucks.

or should I just spend the money on a nice waterfield sleeve...

en....

 

Get what you'll be happy with, anything else and you will be kicking yourself down the line.

 

I'll try to call them, but if I am losing the discount, i'll keep the 7100 then

 

yea...if they let you keep the discount...then go for it..otherwise it's not worth the hassle and it'll probably end up costing you a lot more without discount. Anyhow, if you just use ure comp for office/internet...the difference will be neglible

I went with the 7300 because of the L2...i probably wouldn't even notice a difference..but just added it on because it was only like $37 extra

 

cool. thanks!

 

how long does it take to get to customer service?

should I call sales to modify an order?

 

I was told that if I modify the order, I won't get the discount any more.

So... T7100 it is.

should be enough for me. Darn it, the T7300 upgrade is a steal...

 

Do yourself and us a favor... cancel the freaking order. The main Lenovo US website is still advertising the discounts, and so does the ordering site.

Buy what you really want now, call them back, and cancel the order. There are always happy to cancel the previous order when they find out you re-ordered a machine, especially if it means more revenue.

 

there was additional 20% off on the T61 standard screen models...

the rep said even he canceled the order, the laptop might still be shipped, since the order was already sent to the warehouse...