help me pick a z61t - please :)

They are the same basic shell (wxga+, webcam etc) but the first comes with 256RAM, 40GB HDD, DL DVD-RAM, bluetooth and a 7 cell battery - it is a CTO system. The second comes with 512 ram, 100GB HDD dl DVD-ram but no bluetooth and a smaller 4 cell battery (meaning I would have to buy a 7 cell for $111, but would end up with 2 batteries)

now, here is my dilema - the reason I am buying this laptop is battery life and bluetooth (along with durability), so is it possible on the z61t to drop a bluetooth daughterboard in, without voiding the warranty and would it be possible to sell the dvd-ram drive to recoupe some of the cost and just use an external drive instead?

my budget is over-stretched as it is, so the last $100 is important - any suggestions on how best to proceed at this point to save as much as possible?

thanks in advance for your help deciding
Twill

 

Option one seems more like you want. Adding more memory is easier than a bluetooth card and you won't be stuck with two batteries. You can sell the drive on eBay presuming you have an account.

 

would it be a better option, i.e. cheaper to get the basic cd-rom drive and keep it or get the expensive drive and try to sell it?

I'm not up much on ebay prices

Also, are the drives proprietary connectors would any drive work?

Thanks as always zaz

 

I think the Z61t uses the super slim drives like the T60. I could be wrong on that one. If that is the case only the Matshita drives will work cause they are slimmer than standard drives. Someone has ThinkPad burners specifically the UJ-832 on eBay going for $220. That is actually lower than a few months ago when they were going for $260. I have no idea whether they are moving at that price. The stuff I have sold on eBay recently has either been way over or under what I thought I would get for some reason.

 

I'm in a very similar boat. I'm also looking at the 2511f43 z60t that is on the epp front page of the website. you CTO into a very cheap machine. Hundreds less than your 2 options but with pentium M and WXGA

 

I actually considered a Z60t before I got the Z61t. The GMA900 graphics core on the z60t really is crappy and drove me away from it. Now, the GMA950 is no speed demon, but it has twice the performance of the 900 and the 950 is actually faster then my ATI Radeon 200m laptop. The 950 has (will have) Vista Aero support. Also, the CoreDuo is really nice to have, and if we are lucky, might be upgradable to the the 64bit CoreDuo2.

 

xzjn9p, for me, the battery is the main reason I am considering the z61t over the 60.

according the the rep, the 61 has 2 hours more life on a 7 cell than the 60 does, and that's a fair chunk of change if you ask me.

I have a feeling I am going to go with the CTO system this afternoon, lets just hope the delivery date doesnt push back too far because it's CTO.

Twill

 

Well I'm also about to pull the trigger on a Z, But I'm going with 60t. I have a pentium M 1.7ghz right now and I know it does everything I want, just want a thinkpad instead of my current rig. The z60t's are just too cheap to pass up and the wxga+ would be the only advantage for me. Battery and processor pluses wouldn't really help.

edit: do not PM me asking for a discount