Two questions about customizing T500?

1. I see a lot of suggestions on this board for going with Vista Business 64-bit, because you can use 4gb of RAM. But what if I just plan on using 2gb? Are there any other advantages of going to 64-bit... is it faster or something?

2. If you had to choose would you go with the P8700 over the P8400 ($50 upgrade) or get a 7200rpm hard drive over a 5400 rpm hard drive (also a $50 upgrade)? Which one gives you more bang for your buck?

 

64-bit is more responsive and generally faster than 32bit. But I dont know if that applies for when you have under 4GB of RAM... Anyone can confirm this?

You will see more of a difference with the 7200rpm Harddrive.

But it depends on what you want fastest.
The faster CPU will make multitasking and general speed a little bit better. But not much.
A 7200rpm HDD will make boot time and loading time significantly faster vs. a 5400rpm.

Personally, id probably take the faster HDD.

 

The way I look at it, unless you have a specific reason for needing a 32-bit O/S, go with Vista Business 64! 64-bit operating systems are the future. While you may only need 2GB of RAM for now, what about a year from now? With 32-bit, you're imposing a 3GB limit on yourself....

 

Only drawback is that native x64 apps (and the OS) use slightly more memory as they use longer pointers (double the size of a 32bit one - however increase memory usage is nowhere near 2x, probably a few percent).

 

On that note... if 64-bit O/S's are the future... should I just get the basic Vista and then wait to get Windows 7?

I'm OK with a 3gb limit.

 

1. If you are not, and do not plan to upgrade to 4GB of RAM, there is no point in going for Vista 64-bit. I've read some posts that say 64-bit boots slightly slower than 32-bit, but I don't know.

2. I would get the processor upgrade - the hard drive can be easily upgrade later on the cheap if you need to. A 160GB 7200RPM disk will easily cost you under $70, and you also get an external 160GB 5400RPM hard disk out of it - so it's not worth a $50 upgrade cost.

 

Boot time is irrelevant, if you ask me. You boot once per session (typically), and the difference amounts to, what, 20-30 seconds tops between the two?

I don't have links to any sources, but the way Microsoft is building their server and enterprise apps for 64-bit would lead me to believe that there would be an advantage to running MS Office on 64-bit as well - probably not significant, but as allfiredup said, that's the direction things are going. On the other hand, if you're planning on upgrading to Windows 7, I guess it really doesn't matter. You can make a more relevant decision at that time.

I agree with MidnightSun. Get the processor upgrade. That's the last component I would want to have to worry about upgrading down the road. Hard drives are easy.

 

I agree with MidnightSun completely. I just ordered a T500 and went thru the same thought process. It's easy to upgrade RAM and disk later on but, unless you're brave, you won't ever get the chance to upgrade the CPU and LCD. Skimp on other things if need be to get the critcal specs now.

 

processor = expensive to upgrade, if u are considering using ur laptop any extended period of time, i'd plump for the most expensive processor i can get my hands on and afford, and the ram/hdd, can be upgraded as and when u feel the need to

but

if u dont intend of upgrading at all, then go for the 7.2k rpm hdd...the com is only as fast as its slowest part (well not really, but u get the idea ;p )

 

Depending on how you intend to use your system and when you plan to make the transition to Windows 7, Windows Vista Home Basic might be a viable option for you. It is not the crippled, incapable O/S that so many have made it out to be. Compared to Vista Business, Home Basic does not include the following-
Windows "Aero" Desktop- (looks great, but slows things down)
Windows Meeting Space- (never touched it)
Windows SideShow- (more pretty stuff that eats memory)
Windows Complete PC Backup & Restore- (useful, but can be accomplished manually)
Windows Fax & Scan- (very useful, but MyFax or a hundred other services can do the same)
Remote Desktop Connection- (GoToMyPC.com)

That's it. Vista Home Basic is leaner (fewer features and less visual effects), so it's logical to expect that it will be a bit faster than Vista Business.

 

Until a few weeks ago, the $50 upgrade from the 2.26GHz P8400 processor was the 2.4GHz P8600...hardly worth the cost for the minimal performance gain in everyday use. The P8700 ups the clock speed to 2.53GHz, so $50 buys you an additional .27GHz, might be worth the cash. I have the P9500 (same 2.53GHz as the P8700, but double the L2 cache- 6mb) and it is FAST....the P8700 will be almost identical in most applciations.

 

SideShow is only enabled if you have an auxillary display, which the T500 does not have.

I agree that for the majority of users, Home Basic is enough, and is probably one of the first things I would choose if I needed to cut costs. Lenovo, however, has a weird pricing scheme going on - so with certain configurations, like the one I had on my T500 when I ordered it a two days ago, it was cheaper to get it with Windows Vista Business 64 than with Windows Home Basic (since that would have to be customized from the basic model, not the Elite model, which does not offer Home Basic). I do wish Lenovo offered Home Premiuum 64-bit though - I would prefer having the Media Center to the business features.

My thoughts exactly. Do note that the P8700 will delay your order by quite a bit... my order supposedly ships 02/26/09 :/

 

I'm surprised that Lenovo offers either version of Vista Home Premium on the ThinkPad, to be honest. It could be argued that the IdeaPad Y530, which has Vista Home Premium standard, fills that niche. A few upper-end Y530 models have have 64-bit...but it's frustrating that the Y530 doesn't offer any display choices, just basic 1280x800 (though it is LED-backlit).

You're right about Vista Home Basic not always being the best deal. Now that Lenovo packages upgrades to create the "Enhanced" and "Elite" models (at a discount), it's possible to the get Vista Business for a lower price than Vista Home Basic.

Case in point, the following are configured identically except for the O/S- T500 w/ Discrete Graphics- Vista Home Basic- $ 1284
T500 "Enhanced" w/ Discrete Graphics- Vista Business- $1249 ($35 less)

 

I would get 64-bit. The drivers are stable and mature enough on 64-bit. The future (and present) will be 64-bit. Only get 32-bit if you need it for some specific application (although you might as well get XP 32-bit instead of Vista 32-bit).

 

Unless you are planning to run applications which are very CPU intensive a faster disk drive should result in a greater increase in performance than a faster CPU, so I would put my extra money into a faster drive.

 

Well these days you can get a 320Gig 7200 top of the line Western Digital black series for $90 from newegg. Personally I would upgrade those things that are hard to upgrade and just get the other stuff myself and put it in. You can also get 2 Gig DDR3 1066 ram for less than $40.00 too.

On my T500 I got the LED screen, fastest P processor (25 watts), 2 Gig in one DIM. I purchased a 7200 rpm drive and 2 more gigs. This way I can do a clean install on the 7200 and if I have problems I can always go back to the other hard drive.

 

cygnet4- if you haven't ordered yet, I can give you some info save some extra $$$ (discount) off the T500....send me a Private Message or Email, both accessible thru my profile. I'll respond ASAP.