Lenovo T500 or HP HDX16t?

[Trauts]

Howdy-

I've been unable to really find a comparative review between these two laptops, for fairly obvious reasons: one is marketed towards business users, the other towards home media users.

They have similar benchmark results. And by the time I've finished customizing them, they both end up around $1300-$1500ish.

I'm looking to replace my aging TC4200 tablet PC with a reasonably portable laptop that has moderate gaming performance and good battery life.

I guess the big differences boil down to

T500 Pros:
-slightly more portable
-slightly better battery (6-7 hours)
- switchable integrated/dedicated graphics
-Lenovo reputation
-Pointing stick on the keyboard

T500 Cons:
-1680x1050 resolution
- crappy speakers

HP Pros:
-1920x1080 resolution
-HDMI and a host of other nice ports
-Blu-ray drive
-Slightly better gaming performance
- good speakers

HP Cons:
- without the 12 cell, battery is terrible. With it, battery is pretty good.
- no pointing stick
- weighs more
- glossy screen


How much difference does weight really make? My current tablet is supposedly 4.5 lbs, and I carry it around with me pretty much everywhere. Either in a backpack or slung over my shoulder in a case. I often barely notice its even there.

As far as the pointing stick goes, I have a bluetooth mouse, so I don't know how important this is to me. I know I always gravitate towards the pointing stick when it's there. On my tablet, I use it so frequently that I've had to replace the nub about 4 times. I use the touchpad occasionally, depending on what I'm doing, and it's a quality touchpad. I just don't prefer it to the stick.

The only real dealbreakers on the T500 side are the touch stick and potentially the lighter weight.

The HDX16t, on the other hand, has blu-ray, speakers, ports, and higher resolution.

Given the two have similar prices with my feature sets... I'm torn. I like the feature set of the HP way better, but I'm hesitant to part with the pointing stick. And the lower weight of the Lenovo is nice, too.

I guess the thing to do is attempt to track down similar models in a store and try them out, and see how they 'feel' weight wise.

Thanks!

 

[Whoodie]

I am a huge Lenovo fan. I currently use a T61p with 1920 x 1200 rez on a 15.4" widescreen. I know that that resolution seems appealing to you know, but I urge you to find someone who has a laptop with that resolution and screen size for you to spend some time on. There are two issues running that resolution. First is eye strain, I was lucky enough to be born with 20:10 vision so I have no problems seeing any kind of detail, I too am a proponent of high resolution screens. The second issue is that resolution will tax an already weak laptop graphics card. Just something to think about. If I were to do it again, after spending time with a 1920 x 1200 15.4" widescreen, I would probably go with a 1680 x 1050 rez, 1920 x 1200 it is just too small on this size of screen. 16" will be better, but I wanted to share my thought with you. Additionally, HP is not even in the same class as Lenovo in my opinion. I've had 3 thinkpads (T20, T30, T61p), my girlfriend has an HP DV2000. HP's are flimsy, there is no latch for the screen (at least on hers anyway), Lenovo just does everything better. From the light that illuminates the keyboard, to the track point, heck even the keyboard hotkeys are usefull on the Lenovo. No extra blue lights everywhere like the HP. Go Lenovo, you will not regret it!

edit: oh yeah and no glossy screens!

 

[sharkapult]

Lenovo, for the reasons listed above.

1366x768 though? That's not a Thinkpad resolution. 1280x800 or 1680x1050 in the 15.4"

W500 gives you 1920x1200 like Whoodie and I's T61p.

But, I'd take the switchable graphics over the 1920x1200 if I were to buy it all over again. There are far more times I want more battery life than more resolution. I love WUXGA, but I would love being able to stare at WSXGA+ for an extra hour.


Build quality is incomparable. Lenovo wins this in every way shape and form. HP will get the multimedia edge due to Blu Ray and speakers...but in the end, or at least 3 years down the road, you'll be happier with the Thinkpad as it'll still look & perform as new.

 

[Trauts]

Both of these laptops are evidently fast enough to play Crysis with decent framerates (not at 1920x1200 of course), so I'm sure they can push that resolution for desktop use. My HP TC4200 tablet with an Intel 915GM chip (crap!) can handle that, though it does choke sometimes.

I'm nearsighted, but have never had a problem when things were tiny. And if I did, I could always just adjust DPI settings.

As far as HP's reliability, I think it varies drastically across the company. I know Lenovo's reputation, and it's how I first came across the T500. But I've had my business-class HP TC4200 tablet PC for nearly four years now, and it's been a tank. Everything that Lenovo has a reputation for, reliability, a nice keyboard, etc... my HP has had. It still looks nearly brand new, except for a few small scuffs on it.

Granted, on the consumer end it seems a bit more "up in the air."

Honestly, I'm somewhat upset by the T500's mono speaker, perhaps more than anything else. My TC4200 has the same thing, and it was "okay," but I'd like to not use headphones now and then. Also, the lenovo doesn't really have much in the way of ports, whereas the HP excels.

The Lenovo does seem to be slightly more lightweight, though.

So, I guess all in all I'm leaning back towards the Lenovo again, but I really want to want the HP because it brings more to the table for the same cost. I wish I could just check them out...