New thinkpad?

[dlichterman]

So my trusty R50 has some sort of hardware failure(I believe it is the motherboard ). While I wrestle with VISA over the extra one year that is tacked onto the warranty I have been looking at the new thinkpads. I was wondering if some people here could report on how their machines performed. Here is what I am looking for:

1 - Battery life: I would love 4-5 hours on the standard battery again
2 - Performance: Doesn't need to be top of the line, but a machine to last 3-4 years again. Have been looking at a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz chip
3 - Graphics: How does integrated compare to dedicated with concern to battery life. If I get a thinkpad it probably wont be doing much gaming but gaming is a plus if possible.
4 - Shipping it here within a month: I will be starting school in about a month, and would not really be able to wait much longer than a month to recieve my laptop. I believe I need it by the last week in August.

Thanks
-Daniel

[tomh009]

For the battery life you want, you should definitely go with integrated graphics. The new Nvidia chipsets use far too much power for five hours of battery life. If you are not doing any gaming, the new integrated graphics easily support Vista.

To get it within a month, with certainty (it sounds like you have a hard deadline), your best bet is a preconfigured model from a reseller. onsale.com has some nice deals, for example, but not knowing what your other priorities (screen size, weight, budget etc) are, I can't really recommend a specific option.

[dlichterman]

What kind of gaming can the integrated graphics offer? Can they handle anything thats a few years back in technology? What about something a little more demanding such as UT2004? I was hoping for a 14 inch screen too, I think the 15 would be too big although the 14 wide might be ok. I guess I am used to the 14.1 4:3 screen. Budgetwise, there really is not a budget, but I would like to spend the least money possible of course.

[snife]

Integrated graphics memory access speed it slow so i'd reckon youd have trouble with any demanding games from the past few years and even older ones may not run at full fps, although i've not tested any games on the X3100 yet, I might give vice city a go just to see.

If your at school, i'd personally recommend at X series, they will give you the battery life your after and are great if your carrying it about all the time, the X61 (no point in getting X61s if you want the bigger battery) would be the best bet and, while the screen is smaller than your used to, if you went for the SXGA+ version i'm betting it will hold more on the screen than youve been used to as well and you can save the extra money youd spend buying an nvidia model and get yourself a wii or a 360 for playing games instead

[dlichterman]

Haha yeah Ive been thinking about getting something like that. I'd love to hear how your computer performs. I know if would not be at the greatest settings or anything(being that I have a Mobility 7500). Ive noticed that the T-series only has those nVidia integrated, do they have automatic underclocking/undervoltage? I know the ATI cards still have "Powerview" on them which stretched that battery life out immensly.

[bhtooefr]

SXGA+ screen is only available on the X60/61 Tablet, not the regular models.

I personally don't mind integrated graphics, but for modern games (I'd say last three years or newer,) forget about it. For reference, the Aero experience score is a 3.0, and the 3D score is a 3.2 in Vista. Not that good. Just looking at the numbers, you can EASILY see the weak point in this system. (The X61t that's in front of me now scores in the 4.5-5 area for everything else, IIRC.)