X61 vs X61s

[madcow]

Which do you prefer? I might consider upgrading from X60 to X61 or X61s. X61 has a more powerful CPU and a bit heavier. X61s is lighter with a less powerful CPU. I remember that the X61s were more expensive than the X61.

[dr_st]

What CPU do you currently have in your X60?

Unless you're upgrading from a really low-end to a really high-end, or plan to use 4GB of RAM, I wouldn't consider that to be much of an upgrade anyways.

[madcow]

1.8 Ghz Intel Core Duo which I think is pretty fast.

[PhilD]

I don't think you can still buy an X61 configured to order from Lenovo. They have a few on the outlet every now and then, otherwise you will be looking for a third party source.

The X61S is currently available. There are coupons floating around for ~ 30% off the already discounted price. The only choice in processor speed is 1.6GHz. Personally, i think the only reason to pick up one of these (other than price) is if you want the 4:3 screen, Lenovo will eventually run out of these. Otherwise, if your not afraid of widescreen (like i am), then you might want to shop around for one of the more recent widescreen models (X200 and up).

[dr_st]

Like PhilD said, the only way you can get an X61 now is either through Lenovo outlet, or if you are lucky - from a retailer, that still might carry them, with three year warranty, and all.

If you were to find some X61, with a T8300 Core2Duo 2.4GHz CPU, it might be the only worthy upgrade to your X60, among the X61 series. An X61s will be a downgrade in terms of performance, and a very small upgrade in weight - totally not worth it.

And also, like PhilD said - unless you have a strong preference for a 4:3 screen - go for an X200 instead.

[Aroc]

My preference for a X61s assumes that one will get one with the 185 nit Ultralight display. The ultralight display is quite nice (not IPS nice, but it is decent). I would also get the 1.8Ghz chip (if possible). Otherwise I would be tempted to opt for the standard X61 and try to get the 2.4Ghz chip. The standard X61 isn't that much heavier, gets roughly the same battery life, and typically costs less than a comparable X61s. I'm not sure I'd opt for less than a 2.4Ghz in a X61. unless cost control is paramount (ditto for the 7200 rpm drive - or buy the new Seagate 7200.4 drive aftermarket).

[madcow]

What's the difference between UltraLight and the non-UltraLight screen? Less weight? Longer battery? Same resolution?

I don't know if a 2.4 Ghz core 2 duo with 3mb L2 cache is actually faster than a 2 Ghz core 2 duo with 4 mb L2 cache.

[dr_st]

What's the difference between UltraLight and the non-UltraLight screen? Less weight? Longer battery? Same resolution?

Same resolution. Less weight, a bit brighter.

I don't know if a 2.4 Ghz core 2 duo with 3mb L2 cache is actually faster than a 2 Ghz core 2 duo with 4 mb L2 cache.

I expect that the 2.4GHz will be faster in this case. Now if comparing the 2.1GHz/3MB with 2.0GHz/4MB (T8100 vs T7300), it is not always clear who the winner will be. My money would still be on T8100 for most tasks, since its architecture is also supposedly slightly optimized.