buying a lenovo - which one?

[dsi-ap]

Have a requirement for a laptop, and looking at all makes, i.e. dell's, sony's, ibm/lenovo's.

Seen that i have a t42 and very happy with it and knowing how robust and slim it is. I want some advice on the following spec below.
Budget is between £900-£1150

Your advice appreciated.

Core 2 Duo 2Ghz or above
2GB DDR2 667hz Ram
Over 100gb harddrive

Able to have dual monitor support with docking station so I can plug in my 2 monitors, keyboard etc.

Less than 3kg

No smaller than 15" display

[tomh009]

You requirement for 15"or above really means that you need a T60 or T61 with a 15.4"widescreen. These weigh 2.7 kg and do meet your other criteria (processor, memory, disk, dual monitors) as well.

But I don't know the UK pricing ...

[pianowizard]

buying a lenovo - which one?

When you say "Lenovo", many people on this board would assume you mean the Lenovo 3000 series (at least I did). If you want to buy a Thinkpad, you should specify "Thinkpad".

I agree with Tom that a 15.4" widescreen T60/61 would be the only Thinkpad that meets your criteria. And BTW, have you thought about what resolution you want? You want a screen that's at least 15", but if it has only 1024x768 (XGA) or 1280x800 (WXGA) resolution, it won't show any more details than a 12.1" XGA or WXGA screen, and things would also look fuzzier.

[Superego]

For the dual monitor support you have two options:

1) Use the DVI port for one monitor and the VGA port for the other.

2) If you want dual DVI (which is what I'm assuming) you'll need to get a PCI express graphics card and make sure that it will fit in the dock. Also, you can only do this with the Advanced Dock.

Search for a thread about an Advanced Dock mini-review....tons of information there about PCI express cards and the docking station.

[dsi-ap]

Thank you all for your informative responses.

@Superego
I like the idea of using both the vga/dvi ports already on the ibm thinkpad mini-docks. I guess this will work as you suggest for dual monitor support?

@pianowizard
Thx for pointing out but hte res on the wxga.. I know when got my t42 i was dissapointed with only getting 1024x764 max on the flat pannel but is fine when hooked upto a dell 17" tft.
I also think its safe to say thinkpads are a gd option, and the look slimmer than the lenovo's from what i've seen.
The chap that will be getting the laptop would like something smart, robust, slim/light, gd feature set and gd performer.

@tomh009
Thx for pointing out the T60 & 61 will work with these, when i speka to an ibm sales when they call back.

@All
From the spec above and getting a mini-dock will there be any problem loading Vista Ultimate, i.e driver etc.

Thank you.

[dsi-ap]

I have been looking at the Lenovo ThinkPad R60e 0658
Is there a docking-station that can be use like the mini-dock that comes witht he T42's?
I have been quoted the laptop with a USB port replicator which i want to stay well away from in favor of a true type docking station.
thanks for advice

[pianowizard]

I have been looking at the Lenovo ThinkPad R60e 0658

No Core 2 Duo, and only 1024x768 resolution. The "economical" (R60e) models of the R-series have the most basic specs and should be avoided unless one has a very low budget. These are the models that Lenovo (and formerly IBM) try to use to compete with Dell's ultra-cheap Inspiron laptops. Since you can afford up to £1150, you should look at the R60 (without the "e") at the very least.

[Dummvogel]

And the "e" has no docking connector, which defeats the whole purpose of the OP.

[dsi-ap]

Lenovo ThinkPad Z61m 9450
Core 2 Duo T7200 / 2 GHz Centrino Duo RAM : 1 GB HD : 120 GB DVDWriter Gigabit Ethernet WLAN : Bluetooth, 802.11a/b/g TPM fingerprint Win XP Pro 15.4" Widescreen TFT 1680 x 1050 ( WSXGA+ )

From the above, does anyone see wether this laptop is capable of dual monitor support, or what can be done on lenovo laptops to get them to support 2 Flat panel displays.