How are R60's with Celeron 420 1.6Ghz processor?

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I'm getting a few laptops for the office and the main load will be internet, email, and MS Office apps like Word and Excel. I also need them to come with Windows XP Pro since use a domain network.

I don't really need fancy notebooks and prefer a sturdy one that can take the beatings of daily office use.

I'm curious, how does the new Celeron 420 compare with older ones? How about compared with Centrino 1.6 ? Which one is faster? I haven't found any benchmark comparos on this Celeron so far.

Thanks!!!

[archer6]

I'm getting a few laptops for the office and the main load will be internet, email, and MS Office apps like Word and Excel. I also need them to come with Windows XP Pro since use a domain network.I'm curious, how does the new Celeron 420 compare with older ones?

You might check out an R51e 1844 DHU (XP Pro) approx $750.

I just purchased the R51e 1844 DGU (XP Home) for $635.

Upgraded the memory and gave it to my son for college. I did not have time to benchmark it before he left. However I can say that I did a "seat of the pants" comparison between it and my T60 2.0GHz, 2.0GB, 7200rpm HD. I was shocked at how fast it is (relatively speaking) for just the type of tasks and usage you are doing. We were both eager to see just what a bargain entry level ThinkPad would do and I cannot say enough good things about this computer. The build quality was fantastic, the rigidity of the case was good and the keyboard the usual outstanding ThinkPad standard. The price was simply unbelievable....(costcentral.com)

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I just did a search on R60's and R51e's on costcentral and euclid but seems like the lower end models all dont have IWS in my country.

Higher end R60's doesn't make much sense for me anymore since the T60 does the job.

I saw some nice specced Lenovo 3000 N100's at about $892 inc sales tax/shipping (T2300, 80GB HD, 512MB RAM, 1yr IWS in my country) but I'm not sure if Lenovo's consumer line are as durable as Thinkpads.

I also like to look for something a little bit cheaper (like $600-700) if possible.