Help me pick out a new laptop!!!!

[mulambo187]

I have been tasked with the job of picking my little sister a new laptop for university. (her last year of undergrad studies, she's so smart )

I have an R32 and it is an excellent laptop even today after I upgraded the hard drive and RAM, and I would recommend it if it was not going to be her primary/sole computer as it is snappy enough running xp pro, firefox 3, and office 2003. no usb 2.0, no wireless, is a killer though etc...

She really only needs a laptop for bringing with her to school to write essays, her main issue is that the computer has to be fast. I am worried if this is even possible with Vista as on my few uses of it, I found it was slow as molasses. This is for things like booting, loading/running programs, and clicking on things like the start bar which i feel should be instantantious. I dont think XP is really an option anymore, so I told her to get the laptop at least with the business edition of vista in the hopes that it is faster.

Oh yeah, her last major requirement is that the laptop has to have the touchpad, as she hates the trackpoint. (personally im the total opposite).

T61 seems to me what she should get, please let me know your thoughts. thanks.

[richk]

I would suggest that you first have her talk to the school. Some colleges suggest or require a kind of machine. Some offer discounts.

[basketb]

The T61 is a fine machine. It'll be all your sister needs to get through school.
I'm not sure though, why you discounted Win XP right away. Unless there is a need to run a 64-bit Win OS, I would not choose Vista. Given the same resources (CPU, GPU, RAM, HD, etc.), XP will not be slower (and in many/most cases faster) than Vista.

A few thoughts on ...:
CPU: any current CPU will be fine (choose the smallest one if money is an issue)
GPU: choose the integrated version (it's cheaper and gives longer battery time)
RAM: choose at least 2 GB
HD: 80GB is for most people sufficient. However, the 80 GB drive is slower than the others and one can never have enough storage space. So either go with 80GB for now and upgrade when required (in a year or two or never) or go with at least 160 GB from the beginning.
Battery: I'd go with the 9 cell battery. It, obviously, lasts longer than the 4 or 6 cell batteries. But, it is also heavier.
Screen: It's a matter of personal choice. I personally prefer 15" WUXGA but that would mean a heavier T61p 15" model (plus it no longer seems to be available). If 14", I'd go with WXGA+ (or even better, if you could still find it, a 14" SXGA+).

[schen]

I have an R32 and it is an excellent laptop even today after I upgraded the hard drive and RAM, and I would recommend it if it was not going to be her primary/sole computer as it is snappy enough running xp pro, firefox 3, and office 2003. no usb 2.0, no wireless, is a killer though etc...

She really only needs a laptop for bringing with her to school to write essays, her main issue is that the computer has to be fast. I am worried if this is even possible with Vista as on my few uses of it, I found it was slow as molasses. This is for things like booting, loading/running programs, and clicking on things like the start bar which i feel should be instantantious. I dont think XP is really an option anymore, so I told her to get the laptop at least with the business edition of vista in the hopes that it is faster.

Oh yeah, her last major requirement is that the laptop has to have the touchpad, as she hates the trackpoint. (personally im the total opposite).

T61 seems to me what she should get, please let me know your thoughts. thanks.

The options are truly bewildering. I would suggest that the main things that you should start with is, your sister's needs and as already suggested, what the school has available through any program that they have with a manufacturer. Quite often they have special deals. The other issue will be, what budget you/she is working with.

If it's over $500, you may want to consider looking into the T or R6x series. I've seen a number of special that has the price of these machine priced somewhere between $700 and $1000.

If it's in the $500 range, earlier versions of the "60" Series can often be found (often with warranty left).

About $200 farther down the scale ($300-$400) are the R52 and T43. Not a current series, but still very viable non-the-less. These can sometimes be found with warranty as well.

The next tier down from there are the T40/41/42 and R50/51 machines which are a little older but still quite useable. These can be found regularly in the $200 range.

The main difference between the T and R machines is that the Ts are generally a pound or so lighter. I would suggest that regardless of what model you decide on, you should have at least 80Gb HDD, and 1Gb, but preferably 2Gb of RAM.

Like many users on this Forum, I'd suggest the use of Windows XPP vs. Vista. XP is still viable and does pretty much everything she'll need. If you/she decide on Vista, I'd suggest a T6x machine (in general) and putting 4Gb of RAM in it, with a 160-250Gb HDD.

[mulambo187]

her needs are really basic, no games, no photoshopping, encoding vids or anything that could really tax a comp.

its really a machine for essays, and just basically doing girly things such as surfing facebook/youtube, or maybe managing a photo album. shes in liberal arts going to be a teacher, she doesent need a beast computer, just a reliable one that will not waste her time with crashes and other downtime.

the weight is a factor, and she has easy access to outlets at her school, so im gonna stick her with the 4cell standard battery, which i think is more streamlined with the laptop anyways.

if I could find an option on the lenovo website for XP i would be all over that. the only mention of it is XP recovery CDs, even though only Vista options are given for preloaded OS.

The site mentioned when I picked 4GB Ram that unless the OS is 64 Bit, its pointless, so I'll get her 2 if I can manage to get XP, and 3 if Vista really is the only option.

Oh yeah do these machines run hot? My R32 could probably cook Kraft Dinner. And do they come in Pink(lulz)?

thanks for the responses so far.

Oh yeah her price range is pretty good, she wanted a macbook, or a Sony Vaio, $1300 and $800. I would say her budget is somewhere between that, but if she can save a few bucks that would be great.

[schen]

her needs are really basic, no games, no photoshopping, encoding vids or anything that could really tax a comp.

its really a machine for essays, and just basically doing girly things such as surfing facebook/youtube, or maybe managing a photo album. shes in liberal arts going to be a teacher, she doesent need a beast computer, just a reliable one that will not waste her time with crashes and other downtime.

the weight is a factor, and she has easy access to outlets at her school, so im gonna stick her with the 4cell standard battery, which i think is more streamlined with the laptop anyways.

if I could find an option on the lenovo website for XP i would be all over that. the only mention of it is XP recovery CDs, even though only Vista options are given for preloaded OS.

The site mentioned when I picked 4GB Ram that unless the OS is 64 Bit, its pointless, so I'll get her 2 if I can manage to get XP, and 3 if Vista really is the only option.

Oh yeah do these machines run hot? My R32 could probably cook Kraft Dinner. And do they come in Pink(lulz)?

thanks for the responses so far.

Oh yeah her price range is pretty good, she wanted a macbook, or a Sony Vaio, $1300 and $800. I would say her budget is somewhere between that, but if she can save a few bucks that would be great.

I would respectfully disagree with Lenovo on the RAM issue. 2Gb is great for XPP, but not so much for Vista.... which is an absolute HOG.

On the weight issue, if that is something that she'll notice, then you might want to look at the X6x Series. They don't have built in optical drives, but they also shed another 1 or 2 and the small size allows it to fit well in a "not built for laptop only" bag. She can get the media base for it and attach it at home when she needs it. It sounds like that those will fit in her budget.

No pink though; you'll have to go with Sony for that kind of fluff or Asus.. they do a LOT of that kind of thing.

Heat shouldn't be nearly the kind of issue that you experience with your R32. Those have the P4-M processors in them and are arguably the hot or one of the hottest of all mobile processors. Intel went away from that architechture in the next design.

[mulambo187]

X61 looks like an awesome, and would be my, choice but it doesent have the touchpad.

can anyone comment on the XP situation, is it a lost cause or what? the lenovo canadasite is offering a XP recovery CD for free, but im not sure if that is just an oversight of lenovo. if it was true Vista would be off that thing first things first.

thanks for all the responses so far.

[schen]

X61 looks like an awesome, and would be my, choice but it doesent have the touchpad.

can anyone comment on the XP situation, is it a lost cause or what? the lenovo canadasite is offering a XP recovery CD for free, but im not sure if that is just an oversight of lenovo. if it was true Vista would be off that thing first things first.

thanks for all the responses so far.

If you are able to convince your sister to give it a try for an extended time, I'll guarantee that not only will she like it, she'll be a convert! I worked in IT as a desktop support manager, which meant that I typically specified the machines that folks worked on. At my institution, I also taught a basic beginning users class where I told them the same as what I just told you. Two years ago, my school rolled out ThinkPad R60s to all teachers and again I was tapped to teach an intro class where I told them the same thing about TrackPoints. Basically, I told them that; in my experience of working with all manner of pointing devices, I found that TrackPoints had a steeper learning curve, but ended up being more precise and faster to use (mainly since you don't have to take your hands off of the home rows) and that if they'd spend the time to learn how to use it, they'd find it to be true for themselves. I'd say that 3/4 of the people who actually followed that advise, agreed, many of whom stopped me and told me so later.

We rolled out X61s to the 7th graders at my school this last spring and even though the vast majority of the kids had never worked on a laptop before had NO trouble picking it up very very quickly.

As far as the OS is concerned. If they are willing to offer you a free XPP restore disk to a Vista machine, then that's great. The best of both worlds. If you don't like how Vista performs, just restore to XP!

[neenee]

Just another opinion on the RAM amount - 2GB is plenty for Vista to run smoothly, even with heavy apps, which she will not be running. I'd even go as far as to say that 1GB is plenty, but apparently you are going for a large amount, so I won't try to convince you of that.

Good luck with your purchase