Well I just took the plung...I hope I made the right decision.

I think I could have saved about $20 if I had used the CPP site and some other combination of coupons.

I plan to order 2pcs 2GB ram and a 200GB 7200 RPM drive and upgrade the T61 the rest of the way. Hitachi 200GB and 2pcs of 2GB ram will run me about $300 from newegg.

Here is what I got.

1 7662CT CONFIGURED SYSTEM
03/03/08 $1,283.34 $1,283.34
43Y3426 SBB INTEL CORE2DUO PROC.T9300
42V8173 VBB MS WIN VISTA BUSSINESS 64
42V9501 SBB MSWIN VBUS64 US ENGLISH
42V9324 SBB 14.1WXGA +TFT,W/OCAM
42X5981 SBB NVIDIA QUADRO NVS 140M
41W2060 VBB 1GB PC2-5300 667MHZ 1DIMM
42V8195 SBB KEYBOARD US ENGLISH
42V9329 SBB UN(TRACKPOINT+TCHPD)
42V8702 SBB 120 GB HDD,5400RPM
42V8193 SBB INTEL TURBO MEMORY 1GB
42V8715 SBB DVDREC8XMAXDUALLAY,UBAYSLM
42X0805 VBB PC CARDSLOT EX CARDSLOT
42V8177 SBB INT.WIRE.WIFI/LINK4965AGN
62P6054 VBB INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
42V9339 SBB 7 CELL LI-ION BATERRY
39T6442 SBB COUNTRY PACK NORTH AMERICA
42V9391 SBB LANG.PACK US ENGLISH

Quick questions.

1 - Anything I should immediately consider? I do plan to do the upgrade and install a fresh clean copy of Vista Business 64bit.

2 - I plan to get an advanced docking station. Does anyone know what model I should buy?

3 - Ship date says 3/3 OUCH! Please someone tell me it will come faster than that.

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

I think the advanced mini dock offers the best value.

It's less than a month which seems reasonble, but I know it sucks.

Congrats it's a fine machine which I am sure will serve you well.

 

1. Search around here and on Google a bit to see whether you'll experience incompatibility problems between 64-bit Windows and your favorite 32-bit apps.

3. I ordered on 2/1, ship date was estimated at 2/18, but it actually shipped 2/4. Now it's sitting in a custom house in Kentucky.

 

I have actually been using Vista 64bit in my home machine and I have no complains. To me it seems to run much smoother and handles multi-tasking much better than any other computer I have used. That is why I went with 64bit on this machine too.

I believe I have had only one application that would not work in Vista 64bit. And it was a very non-essential program.

 

can anyone order from CPP?? would I run into any problems ?

 

I just called in. They gave me the 15% coupon and another discount for using an Amex card. My total came out to $20 more than what it would have been on CPP. I just wanted the assurance that everything I was ordering was right.

From what I have heard - CPP has no issues at all. Just if all the coupons can work.

I have heard you also get free two day delivery service. My order only shows free ground service.

 

cool, I thought I was the only one who thought fingerprint reader on a thinkpad was a novelty item.

One ques. though, why the turbo memory when you're planning to get the 72K rmp hd anyway?

 

well, just to put a smile on your face, I ordered my R61 on the 1st, built on the 3rd, shipped on the 4th, received on the 6th @9am. and this with the free shipping option no less.
Mine also show UPS ground, but the UPS trking status and the box show UPS Express.....keep in mind I'm in the west coast.
At least you'll get Express from Hong Kong to your state or port of embarkation.
Good luck.

 

I debated for a long time about getting the R61 instead of the T61. I wanted to get the blu-ray burner on the R61. But the notion that the R was inferior to the T series and that it would weigh about 1-1.5 lbs heavier than the T made me change my mind.

What do you think of your R series? Did you get the 14" wide? If so how heavy is it? I am switching over from at 13.3" Sony SZ that I take everywhere with me. So I did not want to go overboard and something that was going to be too heavy.

So in the end my gamble is going to be that eventually Lenovo will introduce a blu-ray burner that I could buy later and install into T series. I hope this pans out.....

 

I figured why not. It is only a $50 option anything that can speed up the overall system can't be bad.

But now I am thinking about getting the WD 320gb 5400 RPM drive. I found some reviews that say it performs nearly as fast as the 7200 RPM.

Anyone out there using the 320GB drives? If so do you think it is fast?

 

It's said that the r61 14.1" is .2" thicker and .2lbs heavier, but that's not true. R and T have the SAME lcd panel thickness, only the body is slightly SEEMS thicker because the base of the t61 is tappered upward and the base of r61 is less tappered. but when closed, sitting each 5ft away on a table and you can't tell which is which.
Also, for ~250 cheaper (only for last wk's price) R61 14.1 has ALL the tech. features of the T61...I'm glad I got the r61, the palm rest plastic is about 1/3 thicker than t61's.

 

one more thing, t61 is spec at 5lbs, mine w/4cell bat is 5.1lbs.....and 250 in my pocket.
so the only diff. is the body is slightly thicker, but the lcd panel is the same (can be interchangeable with t61's panel).

 

check out this link for the diff:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=136303

 

Don't know where you got the notion that it's 1.5lbs heavier... you were probably looking at the 15.4" R61. The R61 and T61 are actually both listed by Lenovo as "starting at 5.3lbs," so they can't be too far off weight-wise.

The R61 isn't inferior to the T61... it has pretty much everything in common with the T61, save for WWAN.

But anyways, I hope that you enjoy your T61. Excellent machine, should last you a long time.

 

I just ordered 2/1, got it shipped 2/2, arrived via limo and stripper courier to my lap on 2/2 night.

Luck of the draw i guess.

also, some guy around these forums "yenemy" or something, seems to be a lenovo paid pundit.