T60 Across the pond

[KuniD]

Recently I built a HTPC based on the Core 2 Duo and I was pretty amazed by it's performance, matching or approaching my dual Opteron workstation in some cases. This got me thinking about upgrading my Thinkpad.

Currently I'm using the following:

T43 1871 (Centrino, Pentium M 1.6GHz (Dothan, 2Mb L2), 512Mb DDRII-533, 40Gb, 14" 1024x768, DVDRW, fingerprint reader with two batteries, 1 year warranty - expired). I bought it in May 2005 in Tokyo, so it has a English/Japanese keyboard - I was going to replace it when I got back to England, but got used to it plus thought it made it look just that little bit different I'm told I could get something like £5-600 for it.


I have two questions for you lot;

1) Setting myself a budget of £1000 for a C2D Thinkpad, do you lot reckon from a value point of view it's worth me spending £500 on top of selling my T43 to go for one of the spec's I've outlined below.

2) I've been doing some research into what's available in the UK and the same for the US. Now I know that the pound is very strong right now against the USD$, but I am astounded by the difference, if I do go for the upgrade should I import?

Here's the best US & UK spec's for around £1000.

img]http://www.developerx.net/thinkpad_us_uk.jpg[/img]

The difference in spec is pretty amazing; better CPU, more cache, more HDD space, better graphics, longer lasting battery, on-site warranty...

The above currency conversion is based on £1 = $1.75, the Post Office in the UK is currently giving $1.82.

When it comes to importing costs, there is no additional duty on computers above the usual VAT. The cost to ship from the US to UK I've estimated to be $100.

In terms of warranty, I bought my Thinkpad in Tokyo specifically because of the international warranty - I'm guessing this hasn't changed? So the 3 year onsite should be valid in the UK.



So my question to you C2D T60 users, especially those who had a T43 before, is it worth my while spending £500 on top of selling my T43 for the bump in performance & 3 year warranty?



edit//

I added the third column to show there isn't much price difference for going from 15" 1024x768 XGA to 14" 1440x1050 SXGA and a better graphics card - ATI Mobility X1400 128Mb.

[RonS]

My advice is to stay with your T43 for now. Real-world performance is very similar between the T43 and T60. I'd wait more time to make your investment (time and money) worthwhile.

[pianowizard]

I'd wait more time to make your investment (time and money) worthwhile.

Agreed. If you want a cheap and easy upgrade right now, you may consider increasing your RAM.