need help on deciding which thinkpad i want to get

hello there.

I'm thinking about getting a thinkpad laptop for college. mostly because i think they are high quality and they will last me a long time due to their physical durability.

At the current moment im not sure what is best for me. i want a laptop that has an Nvidia GPU because they have good linux drivers.
i want a dual-core system that's pretty fast and again, wont become obsolete within the next 4 years (though moore's law is probably going to expire >.>)
im not sure how big i want the laptop to be, but to sum it up, im currently using a sony vaio vgn-fs980 which im very unhappy with (doesn't work well with windows at all compared to ubuntu linux )

im currently looking at the t510 and the t410. both of them offer nvidia graphics (for the "elite" notebooks) which is a plus for me, but i know that the t410 has a smaller screen with the same resolution as my vaio, but the t510 which is slightly larger and heavier has a larger screen.

out of the t510 and the t410 what do you think i should get? (or would you guys recommend something else)
i plan to use this machine to write code, compile stuff, and take notes.

(do any of you know where to get "bricks" (ac adapters) with an elbow connection? i find them to be looser, which is good when somebody trips on my wire :0)

(is the 9 cell battery denser, or does it take more volume?)

thanks in advance

 

The 9 cell most definitely is larger, I don't believe batteries really ever go up in density in laptops. It is all up to you, do you value a larger screen or a lighter size? that is the only difference here provided you don't care about the higher quality screen you can add onto the T510.

 

If you're going to be mobile a lot, the T410 may be a better option, as it is lighter and has a smaller footprint.

 

If you plan on bringing it to class every day, I would recommend the smaller and lighter t410. If you are moving around a lot, a heavier laptop could be quite cumbersome.

 

If you'd consider going with the Intel GPU, the T500 might merit some consideration. You can get it with a WSXGA+ LCD, which may have more value than either the GPU or CPU as one generation to the next isn't a huge performance leap.

 

thanks for the responses so far.

for my laptop, an nvidia driver is a must.. nobody writes better GPU drivers for linux better than nvidia IMO. (yes ubuntu linux is my primary OS)

from what i understand in the specs. the t410 is only a pound lighter than the t510. im not sure how much of a difference that actually is :/

also i heard bad things about the t400 and the t500, lke about the keyboard not working as effectively as it did with previous models. I'd assume that was fixed in the more recent ones.


id like to know if the 9 cell batteries are sticking out of the laptop. should i call lenovo to ask them if that is indeed the case?
do you guys think its possible that i could get a nvidia chip with a 6-cell battery?
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=B004765D5705496FA8CB7EE99E68D075 (have no idea if this is a stable link)


aside from all of these things, do you know if the T series laptops support booting through USB flash?

edit--

ive also noticed the defualt cpu speeds of the t500,t400 models are higher than the t510 t410. anybody know why? (core duo vs i5)

 

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

FWIW I went from a T40 to an x200 (and eventually a Tablet) and couldn't have been happier with the transition. However, I don't care about Nvidia drivers (Intel's Linux drivers are pretty good too). Personally, I'd recommend an x200, x301, or T400s (especially with the <$1000 sales on the x301 and T400s from the MS store at present) if you can deal with Intel graphics. They strike me as far better successors (due to design quality) to the T4x than the T4x0 and T5x0.

 

nVidia may have better drivers, but Intel has pretty good Linux support as well. Plus you'll get better battery life with an Intel card, which may be important to you. I have a couple media servers with ATI cards. Both run Karmic and seem to do fine.