Thinkpads Forum

I've been looking around for a nice desktop replacement and seem to have narrowed it down to a T500 and W500. While I kinda like the bleeding edge UXGA on the W500 as a platform for showing off a large and fancy desktop (3-4 conkys and docks), it seems that my eyes might not be up to the task of working on it at a stretch.

These are the builds I'm looking at, before any discounts:
T500-
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P9500 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2) 25W
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD
15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 with 256MB with Intel Advanced Management Technology
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera
250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
$1143

W500:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9400 (2.53GHz 1066MHz 6MBL2)
Genuine Windows Vista Business 64
Microsoft Windows XP Professional US English RDVD
15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
ATI Mobility FireGL V5700 (512MB VRAM) with Intel AMT
2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera
250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
Integrated Mobile Broadband upgradable
6 cell Li-Ion Battery
Country Pack North America with Line cord & 90W AC adapter
$1194

The only obvious differences are the processor and video chip. As mentioned right at the start, this machine will probably be online 24*7 for downloads as well as some frag/gaming sessions on weeknights and weekends. I can't seem to decide if the FireGL card is worth the extra $50. Are FireGL cards significantly hotter than their Radeon counterparts? I certainly don't want an inferno sitting on my desktop all day. That's one main reason why I opted for the P9500 on the T500.

The reason I opted for 1 DIMM as well as a slower 5400rpm drive is that I'll stick an extra stick and a bigger HDD (500GB?) in there.

By the way, it seems that the W-series are never on sale? I mean, there are tons of 10%-odd T-series coupons floating around but what about coupons for the W range?

Isnt the Fire GL made for professional application, aka Not games. Sure it can plays games and such, but that would be the same as buying a workstation desktop just to play CSS.

It's equivalent to Geforce 8600 wasnt it??

The Fire GL is a tweaked version of the ATI Mobility Radeon 3650. It was tweaked to be better at working with 3D modelling and the like. I'm don't think that it will offer better performance in games.

I'm waiting till just before my exam study week to order a T500, so it will hopefully be ready just after I finish my exams. Having looked around and done a heap of research, I don't think that the extra price of the W500 is worth it (as you said - you get much better discounts on the T series).

Personally I wouldn't think about using either of these laptops for 24/7 downloads. Buy an ex-lease slimline dell or similar for about $100 and hook this up as a home media server with an external HDD that you can unplug and take anywhere...

However, if you are big on downloading 24/7 I assume that means you're going to be using a lot of external HDD space (or a slow internet connection!). So to help this, the W series dock benefits from an onboard eSata port. But you could always get an eSata expresscard with two ports (which I'm looking at). The Seagate FreeAgent Extreme rates very high transfers over eSata.

the W series dock benefits from an onboard eSata port

slight correction to what I said - it is the W700 dock that has the eSata port... the W500 fits into the standard dock which doesn't have eSata

I have both, and would suggest that unless you do resource intensive design work (which is why I have a W500) that the T500 is ideal for you.
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Cheers...

I think you can save a decent amount of money by just going with the p8700 CPU - $$ which might be better spent on maxing RAM. I think the 3650 will bottleneck your gaming performance before you notice any major gains re: the 3MB vs 6MB cache difference. $.02