Prospective Thinkpad Buyer - Need Help

[Mantra1318]

I am new to this forum and came upon it while researching different Thinkpads. This coming fall I will be heading off to college and I do not want to have to worry about carting a desktop between home and school. That is my main reason I am in the market for a laptop, mobility. I was drawn towards the ThinkPad brand because a friend of mine got one a two years back for college and I just loved the feel of it, which to me is complete different than the 'cheap' feeling I get from a dell (ThinkPad and Dell are the only laptops I have ever used more then a display in a store).

A Thinkpad is a hefty investment for any college kid (at least for me it is) and I want to know exactly what I am getting. I would like to have a computer with 1 gig of ram, a 1.8-2.0GHZ CPU, 64MB or higher graphic card, 15" screen and a 60gig 7200rpm HDD. I have a few questions which I would appreciate very much if they were to be answered.

1. With the specs I listed above what series of Thinkpad would you recommend? I was thinking the T series, specifically the T43.

2. What would a Thinkpad with the above specs cost? Where would you recommend buying from? Would buying it direct from Lenovo be best? Are there any stores with good deals?

3. It seems that the Thinkpad specs cost more than those of its competitors. What is costing more in a Thinkpad? Is a Thinkpad worth the extra money, when compared with say, buying a Dell with the same specs?

4. Will the Thinkpad I order early this summer be the 'same' as my friends two year old Thinkpad, in respect to the buy out by Lenovo?

5. I would like at least 1 gig of ram. Is it worth it to get the extra ram then to stay with the 512MB ram that I see coming with most Thinkpads?

6. Would it be better to purchase a Thinkpad with 512MB of ram and then buy another stick of 512MB and put it into the laptop after I already have it? Would this be difficult to do? More expensive or less expensive?

7. If you had to purchase a computer, excluding a Thinkpad, what would you purchase (Dell, Abs, Toshiba etc) and why?

8. How does a Thinkpad compare to Dell? ABS?

You don't have to answer all of my questions when you reply; I am just trying to get a better idea of what I want and what I'll be geting in a laptop. Thank you for all of your help!

[christopher_wolf]

Welcome to the Thinkpad Forums Mantra1318

Just a quick break down:

1.)If you want to take it to class, or anywhere else for that matter, as well as using it as your primary system; then go for a T Series Thinkpad. If you want, you can also look at some of the very good R Series Thinkpads.

2.) Depends, you should take a good look at the tabook.pdf to get a good feel of what models are out there. If you can get it through your Academic Institution, then go ahead; they usually also have floor models you can touch and feel. Next, I would recommend getting it from either Lenovo or a high quality re-seller (Like Bill here ).

3.) You get the durability of a Thinkpad as well as some quite nifty features you would be hard pressed to find on another laptop except the Powerbooks and now the MacBook Pro which are also expensive. If you make an investment and want to make sure it lasts, you don't want it dropping dead at a critical moment. I have never had a Thinkpad fail on me, and I still have my 701C "Butterfly" Thinkpad that still boots up, connects to the net, and has more than an hour battery life. Sometimes, I even take it to meetings with me. With Dell, you aren't going to get anything even remotely like a Thinkpad, it just eeks out whatever you tell it to do, and doesn't necessarily have anything that says it will always perform the same thing within the same amount of time a few years down the road with heavy use.

4.) The Thinkpads have changed little in their overall form from when IBM started making them. The Lenovo deal has had little to no impact, from what is gathered, at this point on it.

4.) Get the extra 512MB, either free from Lenovo as per the current offer, or as an upgrade from where you get it from. 1GB is worth it, especially if you will be doing heavy duty work from time to time.

6.) If you like, you can do that...You get the benefit of knowing your Thinkpad even more intimately (which comes in handy ) and you can assure that you have indeed done a fair and reasonable job of it. The downside is that, if it your first time or you do not take the proper precautions, you might end up doing harm.

7.) Besides a Thinkpad? Apple first up; then Toshiba, Asus, Dell and HP, etc.

8.) Better for intensive work and it benchmarks better than a similar Dell; plus, it stays functional and intact alot longer than all the Dells I have had (About 3 ). Make a good investment in your data and work now, and it will pay off in the future, just like higher education and the old "Grasshopper and Ants" story. Some of the consumer laptops look flashy and "neato," but how much work is that getting done? How long before they break? Did they give much thought as to how durable and/or functional that feature is or did they shove it in there? Etc.


Personally, I wanted something reliable and powerful from the beginning whilst still looking good, professional, and lasting for a long time to come compared to how much it cost to begin with. Only two laptops thus far have done an excellent job meeting my requirements; those two are the IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads and Apple Powerbooks/MacBook Pro. My old 701C and Powerbook are a testament to this. If you do serious work and are constantly in need of performance and mobility, you will find great value in the Thinkpads now and far into the Future as well for what it cost. Believe me, it will pay you back...with more than just simple interest.

HTH

[Mantra1318]

Thank you for the information christopher_wolf, you have helped solidify my initial choice for getting a Thinkpad. I just have a few more questions.

On occasion I do play video games, mostly older games such as Warcraft III, half-life, Counter-Strike and all of the command and conquer games. I am pretty sure that all of those games will work fine on a Thinkpad with the Specs I listed in my last post. Now my question is, will a Thinkpad with those same specs be able to run Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft, and other newer games? This isn’t a primary concern because when I play games it is most often over a LAN when my friends and I get together for a weekend.

Also, who is Bill? And can you offer any good re-sellers with good deals off hand? I am not trying to pawn my own Thinkpad research off on someone else, but I always like suggestions and to know if a seller is trusted.

Thank you again for your time!

[AIX]

Mantra1318 > you can find some things about gaming on T4x here:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=22056

[Kyocera]

Bill is the president of thinkpads.com and he is also a member.

[Mantra1318]

I have been doing some more research about what I want in a laptop and a question that came to mind was would getting a T60 for the Core Duo CPU clocked at 1.66 be better than say a T43 Pentium M CPU clocked at 1.86. Then two laptops I was looking at are as follows:
T60 - http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/specs.aspx?EDC=926294

T43 - http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/specs.aspx?EDC=833290

These are not the machines I will be buying, just ones that I was looking at.

What are the benefits of a Core Duo CPU?

What are everybody’s thoughts about the T60? Better than the T43?

What’s better, SXGA or XGA?

Also has anyone purchased products from CDW? Are they a good place to buy a laptops from?

[BillMorrow]

bottom up..

CDW is as ok as any..

i USED to take special orders but that ended when lenovo took over..
(not because of lenovo, but about that time)

now all i sell is the top end T60p..

SXGA costs more but you get more screen realestate..
assuming a 14 inch display..

the duo core is faster..
but you also should want a 7200RPM HDD..

the T60 will cost more initially than a T43 (given similar specs) but the T60 is a good thinkpad.. and avoids some of the old T43 possible problems like the fan noise thing..

[schen]

I've had quite a bit of experience with CDW (actually CDWG; their government/institutional sales division) and had a really good experience. I do have a word of advice though, and that would be to get on the phone and talk to a sales agent. Take a little bit of extra time to talk about your needs as well as ask what they actually have ON HAND. Even though they are large, they are still at the mercy of their distributors and it's just as big of a frustration having to wait with them as anyone else. Also, make certain you get the name of the sales agent and that he/she gets your name as well. Be knowledgeable, conversational (without wasting their time), and friendly.

I had an excellent sales person that I worked with for over 3 years (until she moved up). Although busy, she always took personal interest in my order. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to do your own homework before you get on the phone with them. Oh yeah; don't forget to ask the sales rep if they have a special (or know of a pending special) that is similar spec to what you are interested it. I got a lot of great deals by simply asking and letting them do the work for me.