configuration recommendation

[aamadi]

Basically I want to purchase a t43 for under 1500. I don't know too much about thinkpads, but reading this forum has helped out quite a bit. This is the configuration I came up with for model 1875e5u:
1)Only a 1.6Mhz processor - do I really need a faster one?
2)Has a fingerprint reader - thought that for $50 more, this is a nice feature to have
3)512MB 1 DIMM RAM - so I can upgrade easily
4)DVD Multiburner - best to have more options, right?
5)60GB 7200RPM HD - I heard that a faster hard drive is better and cheaper than a faster processor
6) 14" XVGA screen - I don't think for $200 more a SVGA is worth it, right?
7) 9-cell battery - longer battery life is worth the extra $50.
Total Price came out to be 1460 including tax.
Do you think my reasoning is good? Is there anything I'm missing? Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[kaplanfx]

I will dispute your #6 point, you are configuring quite a powerful machine you don't want to limit yourself to 1024x768. SXGA+ really rocks and is a good compromise between high-resolution while still allowing a small screen size. One of the reasons I choose the IBM was that they offered so many models with a high-res screen. Try to get a small and light laptop from dell with a 1400x1050 or higher res. Good luck, it'll never happen. So I say change your mind and go for the SXGA+. I would forgo the multi-burner and fingerprint reader and the 9 cell battery before I would give up the SXGA+ screen.

-kaplanfx

[mysbca]

To get a proper recommendation, you need to tell us what you plan to do with your laptop.

I agree with kaplanfx, sxga+ is worth it. I would also pick that over the slow (2x-2.4x) multi-burner and the fingerprint reader.
Looks like the 1875e5u comes with only a one year warranty; you might want to upgrade the warranty to 3 years for about $120.

What discounts are you working with?

[aamadi]

I'm just getting the student and alumni discount. I will be using this laptop mainly for MS Office, running statistical packages, storing data, and surfing the web. I need a dvd burner, because I like to store a bunch of data all in one disk. The SVGA will really put me overbudget, unless you know of a way to get one under 1500. Thanks for the advice though.

[snife]

If your working with Excel and stuff then the extra desktop space on the SXGA+ models is great (also for programs from Adobe and Macromedia that follow the millions of tiny panels to do everything model).

Fingerprint is a novelty - it wont save you time, it isn't more secure so unless you want to impress people with your bionic finger save your money. I wouldn't opt for the 9-cell battery either - makes the machine larger and are you ever really away from a socket that long on situations when you want to use the system? I agree that you need a multiburner these days.

This would still leave you $100 over budget but for a lot of people this would be worth it. Think about the computers you use at the moment - if they are all set to XGA and your fine with them then there is probably no benefit in opting for SXGA+ for you - if however they run at higher resolutions, lower it down to XGA and use it for a while to see if it bothers you.

[Navck]

Just to add, the multiburner supports the less known DVD-RAM format as well

[kaplanfx]

If you are going to be running PC SAS or Matlab or R even, I would go with the higher res screen. Also for Excel and any plotting/graphing software and programming ide's which tend to require many visible windows, you will not enjoy working at 1024x768. It may put you over budget but I say try to squeeze it, it is one of the best features of my T42 in my opinion.

-kaplanfx