What are the "Must Haves" when ordering a new T60/T60p????

Well I'm thinking about ordering a new laptop. This is my first laptop. I just finished college and going to go to grad school and I need a computer that is going to be used everyday.

So what are the must haves when odering a new T61/T61p??

7200rpm HD?
2, or 3 gigs or RAM? ( 3 gigs is kind of pricey)
DVD recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim drive?

And the HARDEST decision of them all.. Windows XP or VISTA???
Any help appreciated.

I'm new to the brand and I would love unbaised feedback from T60 owners.

**edit** oops I goofed I mean T61/T61p. Mods can you change the title?

 

I personally prefer a 7200RPM drive, but a 5400RPM drive runs fine, just a bit slower. It's more of a personal preference.

Unless you have a specific need, I would go with 2GB of memory.

They're all slim drives on the T series. The DVD burner is nice for backups and the recovery discs, even if you don't plan to use it for other purposes.

Vista right now is slower than XP. I'm running it right now on my R60 with 2GB of memory and a 7200RPM drive. It's not horrible, but you can feel the difference. Maybe when the service pack comes out it will get better. Again it's more of a preference.

 

Screen size, battery life, weight in that order

Operating system you can change. screen size 14", 15" widescreen you can't change, together with the video card (integrated or discrete).

 

small issue, but the fingerprint reader is nice to have.

 

You'll get better performance/boot time/etc with a 7200 RPM drive, however, in theory, turbo memory helps to fill this gap. Depending on what you need space-wise, the difference between an 80G 5400 and a 100G 7200 is only about $50. I think the best bang for the buck is getting the machine with the cheapest drive possible, buying a larger 7200RPM drive aftermarket, and doing a clean install on the new drive following the procedures in this forum.

Buy with smallest amount possible, order RAM from somewhere else. Considerably cheaper mail order. 2GB seems to be the sweet spot for XP, 3GB for Vista -- depending on applications, of course.

Yes, unless you have a home network (the ability to dump your data off somewhere else to burn from a desktop pc, etc) or an external USB burner. Bear in mind that the upgrade to DVD+RW now is pretty small compared to buying the drive outright from Lenovo later.

This one is up to you. I personally have been pretty happy with Vista, other than having to call Microsoft and reactivate over the phone once. XP is a little faster and more stable in some regards, but again, it depends on your applications. I only have one XP box remaining nowadays, the rest have gone the Vista route, and I am pretty used to it now.

Bluetooth and Fingerprint readers are nice options and very inexpensive. I've found the best deal on Office 2007 is the Home version that sells for around $125. If you don't need Outlook, this gets you Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote.

If you're looking for a PC for grad school and are going to be in a lot of classes, you may want to consider a Tablet PC (x61) -- there are some incredible deals on them right now. However, if you're mostly going to be desk bound and want the best performance, the T6x line is superb.

If you go the tablet route, definitely get OneNote from Lenovo with your PC... much cheaper (~$20) than buying it outright later ($~79-$99).

And, most importantly, enjoy your new laptop!

 

yes yes, indeed don't buy ram from lenovo.. but buy MS office )

anybody did hear about OpenOffice? for personal and not only needs is more than enough.. however everyone has freedom to choose...

 

I ran linux exclusively for the previous 5 years, and such used open office. It is no comparison to MS office. I don't care if you like MS or not, Office is a fantastic group of applications. Excel is hard to beat.

If you are just going to be using the word processor, you might be okay with OpenOffice, but if you are going beyond that it falls short.

Get MS Office

 

DBordello, well don't take it wrong.. i don't want to start a OO vs MSoff, just was weird for me that LaptopGuru advised not to buy ram from lenovo but to buy MS Office from them...

 

Whats the difference btw these two wireless cards?

"Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG or Intel Wireless Wi-Fi 4965AGN (supporting Centrino Pro)"

The Wi-Fi is like 45 bucks or so more. Might as well get that one. But whats the difference??

Also should I get the Mobile Workstation or not?? I think the only difference is the buit in Verison card right??

 

Wireless N in the 4965 card.... and a newer card that is built around the Santa Rosa chipset. Other than that, not much. If you don't need/want N, the Thinkpad/Atheros cards are supposed to be the most compatible and trouble free cards out there, yet a little more power hungry.

The Mobile Workstation (p) version adds the NVidia 570M dedicated video... and, depending on timing, possibly WUXGA resolution.

For the record, I don't think I was the one that recommended buying Office from Lenovo, but I did and it was a decent deal. OneNote is definitely a good deal when compared to retail.

 

1) you can go to Wal-Mart and buy Office cheap. Student version.
2) After market is cheaper for a 7200 RPM drive as it is for RAM. Just order smaller drive and put in your bay.
3) Get the DVD recorder. Not that much more. Cheaper now than later.
4) Warranty extension
5) Cheaper to get the largest cell battery now than later. If its too big, can order the smaller one seperately.
These tactics alone will save you $500 or more.