Laptop for college

[Xahok]

I (obviously) plan to get a laptop for college next year (computer science) and since I have the money now, I decided I'll start "shopping" to find out what I should get when the time comes.

The budget is ~2000, but cheaper is obviously better.

ThinkPad T61 15 Widescreen $1,380.00 1 $1,380.00
System Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.2GHz 800MHz 4MBL2) 1
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic 1
Display Panel: 15.4 WSXGA+ TFT 1
System graphics: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128MB) 1 Total memory: 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM) Hard Drive: 100GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm 1
Optical device: CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo 24X/24X/24X/8X Max, Ultrabay Slim System expansion slots: PC Card Slot & Express Card Slot Card Reader: 4 in 1 Media Card Reader 1
Wireless cards: ThinkPad 11a/b/g Wi-Fi wireless LAN Mini-PCIe US/EMEA/LA/ANZ Battery: 9 cell Li-Ion Battery 1


3 Year Depot Upgrade with 3 Year ThinkPad Protection $279.00 1 $279.00


http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...-category-id=2432D88590C944B79D33FDA517A5C756
Essentially the middle one with...
2.0 -> 2.2ghz
15.4 WXGA -> WSXGA
1 GB RAM -> 2 GB RAM
80GB @ 5400 HD -> 100GB @ 7200 HD
6 cell battery-> 9 cell battery


Now a couple questions:
14" vs 15" Screen, how does it matter other than the obvious larger screen/base?
WXGA vs WSXGA, on a screen that small, will I need the higher resolution?
Will the 9 cell battery stick out the back? Will I really need the larger battery in college?

I assume the accidental warranty is a good idea, from what I've heard.

Any comparable laptops on the market for cheaper/better for the same price?


Thank you!

 

[darkangelamd]

Now a couple questions:
14" vs 15" Screen, how does it matter other than the obvious larger screen/base?

I prefer the smaller screen, I don't think the extra size helps much, 14" is more than enough for what I do. And it's smaller and a little lighter which is nice when carrying it around daily.

WXGA vs WSXGA, on a screen that small, will I need the higher resolution?

I like the SXGA screen, it's much nicer, the extra screen space is really nice.

Will the 9 cell battery stick out the back? Will I really need the larger battery in college?

It does stick out the back. I have the 9cell battery because I go from one class to the next, with no time to charge the battery, so it's a necessity. It depends on what you are going to do with it. Though the battery sticks out the back, it's not a big deal, it makes it just a tad bigger and heavier, but not much.

I have the thinkpad protection as well, I think it was a good idea, esp since just a couple days ago I dumped a glass of water on it, though it survived after drying out, it was good to know that it would be fixed or replaced if it did not.

 

[coolazn]

dont get anything bigger then 14inch laptop.

big laptops tend to have crappy battery life. bulky and gets scratched pretty good, even by a bag.

if you want power, go for asus g2 or even a sony sz

 

[galois427]

you can get a sony sz780 for around $1600 and it has the new penryn chips. Very slick and lightweight laptop.

 

[Grentz]

I prefer the smaller screen, I don't think the extra size helps much, 14" is more than enough for what I do. And it's smaller and a little lighter which is nice when carrying it around daily.


I like the SXGA screen, it's much nicer, the extra screen space is really nice.



It does stick out the back. I have the 9cell battery because I go from one class to the next, with no time to charge the battery, so it's a necessity. It depends on what you are going to do with it. Though the battery sticks out the back, it's not a big deal, it makes it just a tad bigger and heavier, but not much.

I have the thinkpad protection as well, I think it was a good idea, esp since just a couple days ago I dumped a glass of water on it, though it survived after drying out, it was good to know that it would be fixed or replaced if it did not.

I agree 100%.

I love my T61 14.1". Awesome laptop for college. Only thing is on the 14.1" the biggest battery is the 7 Cell and yes it does stick out of the back...but not much and it is flat which is awesome. Personally I rock the 7 Cell and the extra Ultrabay battery (goes in place of the optical drive) and I get about 6.5hrs of web surfing/7.5hrs of note taking with wifi on.

I personally like a lot of battery life cause then I do not have to take my power adapter with me, works out perfect! I have even gone multiple days without charging my laptop and just leaving it in standby (which I do all the time) and using it during class

The T61 is also fairly small, super well built, and just a joy to use. It runs cool, is whisper silent (which is nice in class to not annoy others around you...), and is very powerful. I have the 2.0 in mine and it is really speedy, I almost would look at just doing the 2.0 as it should be plenty fast for just about anything (I do photo editing on mine which takes a lot of horsepower and it still does not choke at all) plus you will get better battery life over the 2.2.

Another tip, you might look at getting the basic 5200RPM HDD in a small size from Lenovo, and then buying a HDD from Newegg or another source and putting it in. Reason I say this is that if you buy a good fast 5200RPM drive it can be almost as fast as a 7200RPM and run much quieter, cooler, and use less battery power. I would only get the basic 5200 from lenovo though as they usually do not have the faster 5200 drives you can buy (mine was a really slow Hitatchi 5200 that I replaced with a super fast Seagate 5200).

 

[Vengance_01]

Yea the T61 will be a fantastic notebook for college. I would recommend the 14inch SXGA+ screen. Plenty of resolution, very rugged, its built well. That notebook should hold up very well.

 

[j-dawg]

Rumors of Thinkpads T70, T400, and T500 abound, though they're pretty low on detail. I know you said you're probably not buying now, but be aware that new machines may be on the way.

This means you'll either have to rethink what it is you want (if the rumors turn out to be true) or you'll save a bundle on a T61.

If you still like the T61, and there's no reason not to, I'd also go with the 14" screen with the higher resolution.

Is the $1380 figure the total cost, or the cost before the upgraded features? If that's the total, that's very impressive.

 

[Xahok]

Thank you everyone!

More opinions still welcomed though! haha.

Yeah 1380 is total minus the 3 year warranty.