ThinkPad T60 V Dell D830 V Dell D530

[Roark]

Guys,

What laptop would you choose? Why? Why not? Strengths of the systems? Weaknesses? Any help would be greatly appreciated! : )


DELL D530 620 pounds

Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.20GHz/4MB/800MHz) with Intel GMA X3100
Genuine Windows Vista ™ Business SP1 32Bit - English - with Media
15" SXGA+ (1400 X 1050 resolution)
4.0GB, 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2 x 2048MB)
160GB 7200rpm Hard drive (Free Fall Sensor)
8x DVD+/- RW Drive with Windows XP, Vista Home, Vista Business compatible software
4 Cell Primary Battery - for lower weight



DELL D830 1027 pounds

Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processorT9300 (2.5GHz/6MB/800MHz) with nVidia Quadro NVS 140M
English - (Downgrade) Genuine Windows Vista® Business to XP Pro WITH Media
15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UltraSharp Wide Aspect Ratio TFT display
4.0GB, 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2 x 2048MB)
160GB 7200rpm Hard drive (Free Fall Sensor)
8x DVD+/- RW Drive with Windows XP, Vista Home, Vista Business compatible software
6 Cell 56WHr Primary Battery




T60p 750 pounds

CPU Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T7600 2.33GHz 64-bit CPUx2, 4MB L2-Cache 667 MHz FSB, 65 nm Chip Technology
Memory 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz Dual-Channel SDRAM
System Chipset Mobile Intel 945PM Express chipset
Optical Drive Ultrabay slim DVD-RW & CD-RW MULTI Recorder
Hard Drive 100GB 7200rpm Serial ATA HDD
Graphic ATI Mobility FireGL V5250
256MB dedicated Video RAM
14.1" SXGA+ LCD Screen
Battery/ Charger 9 Series of cells 5200 mAh Lithium-ion Battery Pack UK 90W AC power adapter included
Fingerprint Reader, IBM Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0, IBM Active Protection System
OS Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 with Sticker[/b]

[j-dawg]

What do you need it for? They're all pretty different from each other.

[SaberX]

I use to have a Dell D820 15.4 WS.
It's the same as the D830 ONLY with lower spec's.My D820 had C2D 1.83Ghz,2 gig ram,100g /7200rpm ect.
It was a nice fast system.And very well bulit.BUT it dident match upto Thinkpad systems.My buddy has a T60P and it was a far better laptop in every way.The pointing stick was way to touchy,I could never get use it.The keyboard wasent as good as a T60P.
The Dell was alot thinker,wider and deaper them the T60P 15.4 WS.

I ended up selling the Dell and got a T41 for the GF.It's not as fast of the Dell but it's a far better system.
I never looked at or had in my hands the D530.But out of the Dell 830 and the Thinkpad T60P.I would go for the T60P if it was me.

[Roark]

What do you need it for? They're all pretty different from each other.

Basically productivity applications (Word, Excel, chemical process simulation software), watching one or two movies, playing music and doing a lot of browsing/IMing...

[basketb]

Any of the three machines will be fine for the tasks you mentioned, except for "chemical process simulation software" with which I am not familiar. However, that one "sounds" CPU/GPU intensive and maybe the more screen real estate you can get for it the better.
Having said this, I'd go for the T60p and buy an external WXUGA monitor to use a dual screen setup (if you find you'll need a bigger HD and more RAM, you can always upgrade later). Alternatively look into a T61p or the new W500.