good choice?/tft/turbo memory/etc

I just ordered a t61 with the wsxga+ tft screen because I wanted a good display for photo-editing. However, it looks like a nearly identical-spec r61 would be about $200 less. I heard the cases are different and the t61 is lighter, but my main question is what the difference between the t61 wsxga+ tft and the r61 wsxga+. Is the "tft" going to make $200 of difference to me?

Also, I opted for the turbo memory because it said it would help my computer boot up faster. I know lots of threads have said to skip the turbo memory. Did I just throw away $40?

I also skipped the discrete GPU since I won't be playing games. That saved me $60, but the turbo memory cost me $40. Was that stupid to get the turbo memory instead of the GPU?

Finally, I bought the T8100 (2.1 ghz, 3mb) is another $40 for the T8300 (2.4 ghz, 4 mb) going to make any difference?

I'm way over budget already, but I don't like the thought of saving 40 or 50 bucks now on a $1400 purchase only to regret it later.

I paid $1048 plus $279 for the 3 year damage plan for a total of $1327.

The r61 would have cost me $840 plus 279 for a total of 1119.22. Am I just throwying away money by getting the t over the r? If so, how good is Lenovo about changing orders?


Here's my spec - if you see any problems, please let me know:

- T8100

- 15.4 wsxga+ tft

- Intel GMA x3100

- 2 gb Ram, 1 DIMM

- 160 gb HDD 7200

- Turbo memory

- DVDR

- Intel 4965AGN

- Bluetooth

- 6 Cell

 

mapemberton, hi

I'd say that choosing between dedicated GPU and Turbo Memory, the GPU is a better bet. First, OS won't hog memory away from you and with image editing you will need every last bit of it. Second, a lot of test show TM does not make a big difference (can't give you links to that, sorry, but try notebookcheck.net guys). Also, TM is flash-type memory (correct me if I'm wrong) and will degrade in time as you run up read-write cycles, though degradation is very slow (in order of millions read-write cycles).

If the processor difference is just 40 bucks, get the T8300 model - faster clock, bigger L2 cash. Penryn is not that much better than Merom... 10% battery life and that's a maybe. T8300 will run a bit hotter, but a couple degrees either way is no big deal (for me).

Quality-wise, get a t-model. Build quality will be noticeably better - at least it was when Lenovo was IBM.

Take your time, listen to folks here and make an informed choice. But don't take a plunge without thinking first

 

Thanks for the reply. Anybody want to weigh in on the advantages of tft?

 

hey watusp man my advice is wat you want to do with the computer?? if you do thinks that requires video card. when i would advice you get the dedicated. but for me i have plenty of memory and i really dont do anything except autoCAD. so it is works. for me and does the intel turbo memory worth the money i really cant really answer. the reason being i dont know if it is really helping my system. i dont know . i havent really seen any difference. but you know something you can do wat i did. i didnt buy the turbo memory from lenovo i got it from amazon and i just installed it. it is really easy and it would be really cheap. only 22 dallors.