Which to buy: Z61m, Z61p, T60p, or T60 widescreen?

Hi everyone!

I am having trouble deciding between a Z61m, Z61p, T60 widescreen, and T60p. I am a college student majoring in Multimedia and Web Programming as well as Visual Communications Design. I will be using the laptop ALL THE TIME (I don't have a desktop) for both school and personal use, so it will need to be reliable. Programs I'd be using other than the obvious Office programs include Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator, Eclipse, JGrasp, etc. I am leaning toward getting a laptop with Vista on it, but the OS would definitely not be the deciding factor. Max I would spend is $2000.

Questions (please answer based on information on what the laptop's main uses for me will be):

1) What is the difference between them?
It appears to me that the 'p' offers a better graphics card (ATI Mobility Fire GL V5250/5200 256MB). Is this something that I should get due to what I will be using the laptop for, or should I stick with the ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 128MB? Currently, I'm not a big gamer... I believe it's a $100 difference in the cards on Lenovo's website.

2) Processor: I was planning on the T7200 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2, 667MHz FSB). Is this the best choice for me? Should I go lower or higher?

3) Hard drive:
Right now I have a 40GB hard drive and am using 25GB. Would the 7200rpm be better for the programs I will be running, or would the number of gigabytes on the hard drive be more important?

4) Stupid question: I keep reading about how great Flexview is. How do I know if the laptop that I am looking at online has it?

5) Wireless: Thinkpad or Intel PRO? I keep reading mixed thoughts! I use the wireless at home and at school.

6) Lenovo is having a sale right now... Is it better to just buy from them (if I was going to get the T series), or should I look for one on euclid, buy, or costcentral instead? I need the laptop ASAP, so I can't wait until the next sale to get a laptop.

7) What is the sound quality like on the Z61m, Z61p, T60p, and T60?

In sum: Which thinkpad (Z61m, Z61p, T60p, or T60) would be best for me?

Thank you so much in advance. I apologize for all of my questions and appreciate your time!

-Michelle

 

1. The P is more of "professional" grade I think, mainly yes, it has the ATi FireGL instead of the X1400. I do not know how a FireGL would influence your activities, but I think it may benefit you with your PhotoShop work. But then again I could be wrong.
2. A T7200 is perfectly fine. Going any higher is a bit pointless in terms of gain.
3. The 7200 probably would be much better as it will be faster in accessing data and launching of programs. Also, 100 GB of 7200 RPM Hard Drive madness should be fine for both of your concerns.
4. It would say it has Flexview/IPS. I have never seen one myself, but that is available ONLY on non-widescreen, so I'm told.
5. Go with the ThinkPad wireless, it is powered by the Atheros 5006EX chipset, which is an amazing chipset in terms of performance and power usage. It beats the Intel pretty well
6. I do not know about the other places, but Lenovo currently is taking a while to ship their systems. I ordered my T60 WS on 2/10 and didn't get it until 2/28, which is about two ish weeks. It's the building that takes a while. Shipping generally takes less than a couple days... it comes all the way from Hong Kong, China.
7. From my T60 WS alone, the speakers are pretty great. However, as most people say, they are not very loud. If you have regular computer speakers on your desktop at the "Regular" volume you are comfortable with, that is pretty much the maximum volume that the T60 can go, if not a *tad* bit louder.

Well, I do not know what is your preference. If you want a lot of multimedia options (as in, webcam, titanium lid, dual mics, memory card reader, etc), then the Z61 is the one to go with, although it is a bit heavier/thicker than the T60. If you want die-hard no-frills but heavy duty and high performance, the T60 is the way to go. I have had mien for about two weeks now, and I have no regrets.

Also, Lenovo has a 21 day price match policy from the day they charge you (I believe that's the day that they ship it out), if that helps any. My T60WS configuration is now $173.10 cheaper than I had origionally paid (I'm getting a price match), so I would figure that the Lenovo sale is pretty substantial. However I have not shopped around anywhere else online. I just bought mine direct. If you have any more questions I am sure myself and everybody else in this forum can answer it

I have written up a review for my T60 Widescreen, and it should be appearing on this website soon.

 

I'll leave it to everyone else on the forum to answer your other questions, but the Fire GL won't benefit you in the programs that you're currently using - i.e. 2D work - so I'd save your money. If you wanted to get into architecture/engineering/animation 3D work, then it should be about twice as fast.

Good luck.

 

The Z61m is discontinued, so forget about that one.

hard drive, I'd go with a perpendicular 160GB 5400. You get almost 7200 performance and more storage space.

Definitely the Intel WAN card. Works rock solid with just the drivers. I know people firmly believe the Atheros chip has magic elves that speed up your connection two fold, but in reality the difference in performance and power draw will be negligible and something about an intel WAN card on an Intel chipset gives me a slightly better feeling.

The T7200 will be the best option.

If you buy from Lenovo, you can use cash back sites like Fatwallet to get something like 4% of the price back. Plus equip it exactly as you want, so it's usually the best way to go.