Thinkpads Forum

I have been comparing the 2 in WSXGA+ config to replace my T60p. Other than the ability to get WUXGA, there seems to be no real performance difference. The fire GL V5700 and the Radeon 3650 are basically the same card and performance, right? So why spend $600 more on the W?

I see this trend a lot lately with lenovo. The old "p" models were an upgrade, but now the differences seem more like marketing to me.

What I really want is a T500 UXGA flexview with 250 Nit brightness......

The fireGL card apparently is closely related to the HD4670 and is a 'professional' card (like Quadro is to Geforce), much more stable albeit a little less performance in the framerate department. People who do CAD or Revvit or something all day would need it. It's also 512MB and 1900x1200 is pretty high. I'd agree $600 is a little steep but it's not too unreasonable taking those two things in consideration.

I did a quick config:
2.53Ghz - 2GB 1 DIMM - 160GB 7200RPM - Webcam - 5350 WiFi - No Mobile Broadband - 9 Cell Battery - Vista Business
Differences between the models:
T500: 15.4" (1680x1050) and it's ATi Discrete Graphics $1,514.00
W500: 15.4" (1900x1200) and it's ATi Discrete Graphics $1,709.00

Only $195 difference when the specs are except for the screen/gfx card. I'd consider that very reasonable considering the leap in resolution and vram.

Just a speculation of mine, with the "proper" drivers the FireGL card may even have better gaming performance due to the larger VRAM

I guess I should have added that the price difference is WITH the constant 15-20% coupons on T series.

Today the T500 I priced out was $998 and the W500 was $1334. Both WSXGA+ and same options. The only difference was the video.

The benchmarks don't support much of a performance difference in two cards. Am I missing something else?

Buy the T500 and be done with it.