Thinkpads Forum

I will be using it for grad school and will be carrying it frequently. I am looking to purchase either the 17044DU or the 1709A7U. The differences between the two that I can see are:

1. L2400 low voltage processor v. T2300e. Is there any big difference in performance between the two? Are there any substantial differences in battery consumption between the two processors?
2. Bluetooth (I don’t need).
3. Weight (the difference appears negligible).

Are there any other differences that I am missing?

Also, what warranty package do you recommend?

1. Is the protection package worth the difference and is the base warranty included within it?
2. If I purchase the laptop in the U.S. but will be living abroad for extended periods of time will there be any issues should I need warranty service?

If I upgrade the warranty on the X60 to match the X60s (3 years total) it will cost an extra $100. That brings the difference between the two models to $300 and I’m not sure why the differences, as I understand them, are worth that much more.

I got my x60s for grad school, and chose it because:

1. Lower power consumption -> greater battery life
2. Less weight (when you carry comething around all day, every ounce counts)
3. Slightly thinner (matters when it's contending with books in a bag)

Battery life was really my key concern, and the processor is more than adequate for my uses. For me, system combinations that offered a better warranty and a better deal on the 8 cell battery were just nice perks.

If you don't need maximum portability and battery life, then I guess it's not worth the price premium.

I always get the ThinkPad Protection plan, but whether you should get it or not depends on how you are going to use the machine. If you plan to carry your machine around a lot, you have a lot higher chance of an accident. If your machine is just going to sit on a desk most of the time, then maybe the Protection plan will not be as useful. However, the cost of the plan is pretty small compared to the cost of replacing the planar board (motherboard) or LCD screen. I had the unfortunate experience of replacing a T41p LCD out of warranty. Never again will I not have accidental laptop coverage.

Warranty. Get it.

Biggest reason to get the warranty with the accidental damage is that you no longer have to argue with tech support.
No longer will they try to argue that you broke it and that it's not covered.

Also, once you have the warranty, you will never need it (Murphy's law.) but if you don't have it, you will spill coffee on it your very first day.

-=Nick=-

nickpoore wrote:Warranty. Get it.

Biggest reason to get the warranty with the accidental damage is that you no longer have to argue with tech support.
No longer will they try to argue that you broke it and that it's not covered.

Also, once you have the warranty, you will never need it (Murphy's law.) but if you don't have it, you will spill coffee on it your very first day.

-=Nick=-

Been there, done that, and how right you are about getting the warranty.

boof wrote:I will be using it for grad school and will be carrying it frequently. I am looking to purchase either the 17044DU or the 1709A7U.

We have the exact models you point out here as well as some other X60 & X60s models in my office. They are all so close in performance that for practical purposes, they are the same except in battery life. The X series that really gets long battery life is the model that I chose (see below)

The battery life far exceeds the others and beyond that they are nearly the same. There is no noticeable difference in speed. The L2300 processor is very low in power consumption and that is the big (and only noticeable) difference. I run the full version of Office Pro & OneNote on mine, and it performs very nicely. Also it's the coolest running of the X series as well, and I have tested the other models in my office. You can do a search here and find the thread where I posted the results. I have all 3 batteries, but have found out in real life usage that the slim 4 cell battery not only provides great life, but reduces the thickness of the computer to just 1". In addition I weighed in on a very accurate scale and it's only 2.6 lbs with the thin battery. As opposed to 3.3 with the enhanced 4 cell battery.