help me decide my t60 purchase

I ordered my t60 on Jan 30, but a credit card glitch forced me to cancel the order. Now Wista is out and Iam trying to choose between the following two systems.

My original order 87445BU plus 1GB ram upgrade and 9-cell battery(about $360 extra with custom installation)
ThinkPad T60 Series - A Lenovo Topseller Selection

Part Number: 87445BU

Price: $1,699.00

Processor Operating
System RAM
(std) Hard Drive Media Wireless
Intel® Core 2 Duo T7200 - 2000MHz Genuine Windows XP Professional 1024 120 DVD Recordable 24X Max ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless, Bluetooth

Operating System: Genuine Windows XP Professional Screen: 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT 1680x1050 Onboard Graphic Chipset: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 HyperMemory Onboard Audio: Intel High Definition Audio Included Modem: 56Kbps data/14.4Kbps fax Hard Drive Controller: Serial ATA Onboard Network Contoller: Gigabit Ethernet- Integrated 1000Mbps,100Mbps,10M Battery Type: 6 Cell Lithium-Ion PCMCIA Support: 1 Type I/II and 1 ExpressCard/54 or 34 External Speakers: 2 (Internal Speakers) Warranty: Three years parts and labor (system battery: one year) Wireless:ThinkPad 11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless, Bluetooth


or 8744J2U
ThinkPad T60p Series - A Lenovo TopSeller Selection

Part Number: 8744J2U

Price: $2,129.00

Processor Operating
System RAM
(std) Hard Drive Media Wireless
Intel® Core 2 Duo T7200 - 2000MHz Genuine Windows Vista Business 2048 100 DVD Recordable 24X Max Bluetooth Wireless (1-05), Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (Mini-PCIe)

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Business Screen: 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT 1680x1050 Onboard Graphic Chipset: ATI Mobility FireGL V5250 Onboard Audio: Intel High Definition Audio Included Modem: 56Kbps data/14.4Kbps fax Hard Drive Controller: Serial ATA Onboard Network Contoller: Gigabit Ethernet- Integrated 1000Mbps,100Mbps,10M Battery Type: 9 Cell Lithium-Ion PCMCIA Support: 1 Type I/II and 1 ExpressCard/54 or 34 External Speakers: 2 (Internal Speakers) Warranty: Three years parts and labor (system battery: one year) Wireless:Bluetooth Wireless (1-05), Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (Mini-PCIe)


The t60p come with Vista business, standard 2GB memory, v5250, and 9-cell battery (I prefer 9-cell), but I will lose the Athero wireless n card which is supposedly superior to Intel cards (Athero draft n card is not available as an accessory from Lenovo Canada).

Should I stick to my original order or go for the t60p? I don't do any 3D work at the moment but might run ArcGIS and possibly a few biology programs that build 3d molecular models in the future (just speculation). Are there any significant drawbacks of v5250 in terms of video play back and casual gaming? I think it's at least a little better than x1400.

In addition to that, my university have not migrated to Vista yet and officially offer no support(They say they are still training the IT staff. They will stick to xp for another year I guess). I am not sure if I should jump on to the bandwagon right now. On the other hand, upgrading to Vista later can be a hassle especially after installing all my programs and customize xp to my liking.

Both of the systems are well within my budget, so money is not a problem.

Sorry about the long post. Many thanks to anyone willing to offer help.

 

By the way, Lenovo Canada's shipping seem to work ok. The machine was ready to ship exactly one week after I made the order. I might have gotten the computer by now if not for the credit card problem. I apparently got the priority shipping from visaperks though.

 

please please please help me out here

 

The V5250 should be a bit better with gaming as it is based on the x1600 though depending on which games you are playing it may be over kill.

 

I'd save some money and get the cheaper one and then upgrade the RAM yourself. An extra 1 GB of decent quality memory will set you back $100-125 (for Mushkin or Crucial). You don't want to skimp on the RAM.