Need advice: Should I buy an R60 or R60e ??

[tandyman]

Hi,

I am in the decision-making stage of which IBM laptop to purchase: The R60 or R60e as they are nearly identical except for the CPU and $140. I am not using it for any gaming (casual at best)but mainly for internet surfing via modem (I travel alot), possible future upgrade to an ultrabay DVD burner drive, and reliability overall.

The R60 I am looking at has the "new" Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 @ 1.66 GHz 2MB L2 667 MHZ FSB......$989

The R60e has the Intel Core Duo T2400 @ 1.83 GHz 2MB L2 667MHZ FSB......$849

Both are identical except for the Processor differences (and also, the Duo Core 2 has a fingerprint reader).

Which is the best choice? What is the real difference between the 2 processors besides the fact that the Core 2 Duo of the R60 runs cooler and uses less power (the battery lasts longer).

I realize the Duo Core 2 is the next step in the evolution of the Intel CPU, but am I really losing out on anything on the horizon (will there be software applications I cannot access)?

Is the $140 difference in price worth going for the R60?

My inclination is to pick the 1.83GHZ because it is faster.

All advice welcome

[agarza]

Get the R60, Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo in terms of performance are quite similar, C2D outperforms CD by a small percentage.

I do not know about power consumption, but generally when the CPU is undervolted, you can work with the laptop a lot of time, even more if you undervolt further your CPU with NHC.

[christopher_wolf]

I would lean towards getting the R60 if you can; the difference between two given CPU speeds for C2D vs. CD is greater than, say, a P-M vs. P-M. You can always clock it down, most of the time by a great deal, when you don't need to use them. An additional benefit is that you also get some amount of future-proofing, especially if you want to drop in a later chipset.