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Re: Need a new laptop to replace my T42 - ideas?
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:27 pm
by zhenya
Very well then. I am not sure of the current state of font scaling in Ubuntu. If you decide to go with a high-res screen, you might like to research how well it works if you are concerned that text will be too small.
As someone who also travels a lot with my laptop, I really prefer a smaller, 14" laptop, as I can get decent screen resolution at 1440x900 but in a package that is a couple of pounds lighter than a 15" and much easier to carry around/fit in a bag. This is a preference though - many people prefer a larger laptop even if it means it's heavier.
Given your situation, I'd really suggest the highest resolution you can get - it will improve your workflow immensely!
Re: Need a new laptop to replace my T42 - ideas?
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:41 pm
by LegendaryKA8
Yes. If you're willing to consider a 14" notebook, the T400 is a good choice as well. Actually, I'd choose it over the T61 and they're a little more common than the T500 in the first place. Take everything I told you about the T500(available with switchable graphics, processor choices, etc) and make them smaller. The T400's also come with LED screen options as well but they're a little harder to find. However, with my 9-cell battery I'd say it'll be about the same weight as your 15" T42 with a 9-cell. It's a good, solid machine either way, or at least I think so.
Edit: However, if you really do need the extra screen real estate the T500 with a WSXGA+ is a pretty good deal. I do find WUXGA on a 15.4" display kinda small; going from a 15" XGA to that is an experience, to put it lightly. I went from using a 14.1" XGA(T21 and T40) to a 15.4" WUXGA(Dell XPS Gen1) and it took a good long while for me to get used to the text on that one. Personally, I think WUXGA(or Full HD) is best used on a 17" notebook.
Re: Need a new laptop to replace my T42 - ideas?
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 1:28 pm
by jamnkats
LegendaryKA8 wrote:Either one would do pretty well, although if you wanted to upgrade later the CPU would be more expensive(and harder to do) than a 4GB RAM upgrade. That said, 4GB is a good, inexpensive sweet spot; my T400 with 4GB is a little quicker on heavier tasks than my X200 with 2GB; the X200 even has a slightly faster CPU.
I'm running a worse processor(P8400) on my T400 and have absolutely no problems with it in normal use. The T9400 will be a little bit more of a drain on the battery(35W versus the P8700's 25W), so if battery life is a critical factor you might want to go for the P8700. However, the battery life on the T500 is pretty good and batteries are widely available; they use the same ones as the T60.
Both systems you mentioned have hybrid graphics; the HD3650 is actually somewhat more powerful than the NVS3100M the T510 has. You'd be able to do light CAD work and light to medium gaming on this system if you so desire. Hybrid graphics only really work under Vista and Win7; you have to toggle discrete or integrated in the BIOS if you want to use XP. Also, the T500 has a Displayport outlet on the side, making it pretty easy to hook it to an HDTV if you wanted to do that. It'll only output video, though.
If you're willing to look outside the Lenovo outlet and are willing to eBay, there's one more T500 listed in the same auction I got mine from:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... K:MEWNX:IT
At $500 shipped and about ten months of factory warranty left it's a pretty good deal. I bought it on Monday and it's already being shipped; should reach me on Friday. The processor is the base P8400, though.
To edit: I didn't really take a good look at the HDDs, but the good Colonel is right. HDDs are pretty inexpensive and a good 7200RPM, 500GB drive will set you back less than $100. I used a Hitachi 7K500 in my T400 to very good effect; I only pulled it because I'll be using it in the T500.
Have you received this and if so, what did you think?
Re: Need a new laptop to replace my T42 - ideas?
Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 3:06 pm
by LegendaryKA8
jamnkats wrote:
Have you received this and if so, what did you think?
Have I received the T500? Yes; I got it about a week ago.
For my usage, it's a great system. The WSXGA+ resolution is wonderful; I can view two Word documents side by side at just about full size. On my T400 they seemed a little cramped. The T500 also has significantly less keyboard flex, and the internal speakers seem to have a bit more sound quality, too. Comparing a 9-cell T500 to a 9-cell T400, the T500 isn't that much larger and there doesn't seem to be much weight difference. The display quality isn't that great compared to my T400's LED display, but it's not that bad either. Doesn't seem to get incredibly bright, but other than that it's fine. I do like the higher resolution and larger area, though.
The HD3650 GPU in the T500 gives some punch to games, as well... but at full tilt it can get pretty toasty. I don't advise putting it on your lap if you're going to be running an intensive game. Propping it up to get better airflow would help, too.
The 9-cell I got with this machine is a fair bit degraded and I'm only getting around four hours of runtime from it. I'll most likely be replacing the battery sometime soon.