Why bother with a X61?

Hello all,

I notice there are definitely more people with X61s' than X61. I know the X61s runs cooler, quieter, long battery life, better/brighter screen (UL option), with a LV C2D that apparently has very little performance difference from a NV C2D. Wondering how many people out there have the X61? Are you happy with it? Is there even a market for a X61 running with a normal voltage processor?

Thanks.

 

I own a x61; got it recently. I love it.

Your right, it would seem the x61s is a better choice... but

The kicker card is the price!

If you check the site, at base price the x61 is $115 cheaper. Furthermore, with this price difference, the x61 has a 2.2 C2D, where as the x61s is only 1.6 C2D. Of course, you could go up to 1.8 C2D, but the price difference is another 75$. Therefore you're paying an extra $190.

If you are wondering if there is a speed difference between a 1.6/1.2 and a 2.2 processor, there is! Of course, if you are just doing word documents, it won't be an issue.

So in the end you have to decide whether an extra $115~$190 is worth, 30 min extra battery (approximate), 0.3 lb shaved, a brighter screen (it's not LED), but slower processing speed.

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In short, it depends greatly on what you are trying to do with your laptop. For me, 5-6 hours is already a lot of time, I don't need that extra 30 mins. I'd like to do some more then just process word docs, so I opted for the strongest processor. 0.3 lb is trivial compared to the amount of textbooks I carry.

Well, there's my 2 cents.

 

I also love my x61

 

x61 here and loving it.

 

I don't know about cooler. My x61s with a 160gb 7200rpm hard drive and 1.8 LV C2D got rather hot at times around the palm rest area and on the bottom of the laptop.

 

That's the Wireless card in the palm rest area.

 

I ordered an x61 four days ago.

I was trying to decide between the x61 and the x61s myself, and I went for the x61 for many of the same reasons stated above.

There is a minimal difference in LV and NV processors if they are rated at the same processing speed (ie. 1.8ghz NV and 1.8ghz LV), but these processors aren't. I like to run photo/video editing software and play some light games from time to time and the extra processing power makes a difference!

Screen brightness and weight difference are negligible... imho, so why pay the extra $1xx for a slower machine?

*2 cents*

-Kuya

 

If you are just looking for portability and speed and battery life is less of a concern, the X61 is probably a better bet.

 

I think either choice is great. my S with the 120gb 5400 and 1.8 processor has never gotten warm at all...but the fan is always on. I take notes in class for 2 hours straight at a time with no heat issues whatsoever. Sometimes I wonder if I needed this bright screen because I use it at 10/15 brightnees and it looks great to me.

 

My wireless card was disabled in the BIOS and never used and the Intel 4965n isn't suppost to get that hot anyways.

 

Hm, that's weird, when I have my wireless off my computer has never gotten even warm.