Undecided: X60 tablet, X60s, or T61, Please HELP!!!

[milstein]

Hi all,

I am a student considering upgrading my computer equipment with a 2000USD computer allowance, and have to get a piece of equipment not more than 2000USD

I am using two computers at the moment:
at home
Thinkpad T43
14" XGA
1.60GHz Centrino M
1Gb RAM
40Gb 5400rpm Harddrive
+ a 21" widescreen 1680x1050 external monitor
at school
I bring my heavy T43 to school almost every day
I also use an older Mac Pro G5 from time to time in my office
2.0GHz dual CPUs
1Gb RAM
250Gb Harddrive

I mainly use my computers for internet, office applications, statistics (SAS, R), programming (MATLAB, Lisp, C), and some very occasional light weight image & graphics editing
I do A LOT OF ON-SCREEN readings, and note takings, and the most frequently ran applications on my computers are:
Firefox, Adobe Acrobat / OSX's Preview, PC-Pine / Mac-Pine, Microsoft OneNote, EndNote bibliography, MATLAB (currently only on OSX), shell terminal + vi emacs (shell only on OSX as cygwin on XP is so handicapped), Word/Powerpoint/Excel, Lisp for PC / Mac

I am tempted to the X60t because I think it is cool to do some on-screen PDF inking and stylus note-taking, as well as full page vertical display in the 768x1024 orientation. Remember, I do a lot of online reading... maybe 200+ pages of PDF per week... and for now, I do not have a convenient way of markup PDF like what I did on paper. Also it is lighter in weight. I definitely want to try the tablet, one day (or this time?)

I am tempted to the X60s (or X60) because I heard a lot of very positive reviews about its performance and design, and it is having the least pain (weight) to commute with although featuring a smaller screen. Its design is very very neat too... and I am also afraid that such 4:3 form factor X-series will no longer be available in future Thinkpad, so that I think it maybe a purchase of such a last generation

I am tempted to the T61 because after I read the specifications, I think that is going to be a very very significant performance improvements. I am not quite sure for construction quality and design implementations of the new T61, although I have trust and high hope for the Lenovo Thinkpad team who have been improving the Thinkpad through out the history. If I compare the improvement from T43 to X60t/X60s to that from T43 to X61... then I think X61 will out run the other two quite a lot... and I can comfortably move all my applications to the Thinkpad without too much worry... But then I dun like the heavy weight though my daily walking distances are not very far

One last information: I have normal good eyes, but as I do a lot of on-screen... and programming, I found even the SXGA+ 1400x1050 resolution not too comfortable

I am very unsure... and I have only $2000... please help me decide

[cchsiao]

Since you do lots of on screen reading, I would say the most important factor of your decision will be on the LCD. For these 3 models, the best LCD is on the X60t, which is capable of doing wide-angle view, and more importantly, it should be brighter than those on X60s and T61, and have better contrast ratio.

As you already mentioned, another good thing about doing on screen reading on a X60t is that you can really read one page a screen without any difficulty, just by reading in the Tablet mode (768x1024 or 1050x1400). All the pdf files fit perfectly in the Tablet mode, and scrolling up and down is just like turning pages.

However, considering you also need to program in matlab and C, I wonder (I am not sure) if you will satisfy with the performance that X60t provides. Comparing to your T43, I don't think you will be disappointed with X60t, but I am not sure at all.

I have an X41t, and to tell the truth, I love the screen! But I don't like to resolution (it's an XGA) since I need to open at least two windows at a time when I work on it. If I can upgrade the LCD to the SXGA+ one used on X60t, I will not buy a X60t since it's a bit heavier. Howver, since you already mention the existence of a widescreen external montior, the resolution might not be a problem at all to you. If you wanna buy a X60t, just choose a XGA one (with touchone screen?). By the way, don't worry too much about getting a high resolution LCD. You can always configure the fonts so that it's readable on screen.

As for the coming technology, I would say the performance gain by getting a T61 is limited. Certainly you can get faster CPU, faster HDD and so forth. However, except the CPU, you can also upgrade the HDD later on if you don't think it's fast or large enough. However, if you really want better technology, I would suggest that you get a X61t (if there is one). T61 will weight about 5 lb (the 14 inch one), about the same as the T4x series. If you felt like too heavy for daily carrying, T61 would not make you feel any better.

But... concerning not just talking about the good of X60t. Let's look at the other two options. For X60s, it's about 1 lb less heavy than X60t (more than 2 lbs less heavy than a T61). The specs are more or less the same as X60t, so if not considering the benifits of using the Tablet mode (and of course it's better LCD), X60s is a good choice. For T61, certainly it will be a faster machine in all aspects.

[dr_st]

I'd like to second cchsiao: if you find a 14" T43 too heavy, you should consider the X-series. X60t will give you the best overall screen, plus all the cool tablet features. X60s with the ultralight screen will be the lightest possible Thinkpad (significantly lighter than the X60t), and the screen itself is very bright, as reported by forum members, although doesn't provide the viewing angles of the Tablet screen.

For 12.1" I'd get the XGA (1024X768) screen, so you're fine with any X-series model (only the Tablet offers SXGA+, but if you found it uncomfortable on the 14" T43, I don't recommend it for the 12").

Unfortunately, both the X60s and X60t use Ultra-Low Voltage processors, which makes them not as speedy as the regular X60/T60/R60 models. On the other hand, the regular X60 doesn't offer above average screens.

[milstein]

...If you wanna buy a X60t, just choose a XGA one (with touchone screen?). By the way, don't worry too much about getting a high resolution LCD. You can always configure the fonts so that it's readable on screen...

Will PDF be displayed much smoother on an SXGA+ than on an XGA when both are maximized in portrait mode?

[cchsiao]

Will PDF be displayed much smoother on an SXGA+ than on an XGA when both are maximized in portrait mode?

It will be smoother for sure, but I don't know if human eyes can tell the difference for one page in full screen mode. However, if you have to open two Acrobat Readers side by side, there will be a lot of difference. I tried to do this on my X41t, and a 512x768 full page PDF file just looks so horrible (lots of saw-tooth words, can hardly read it). That's why I would like to swap my LCD if I could.

Also remember that when you surf the web in the tablet mode, a SXGA+ screen will be better in the sense that lots of webpages are designed for the resolution of XGA, which is 1024 in the horizontal direction. With a XGA screen, you have to scroll to the right in order to see the whole webpage (if it's designed for XGA).

By the way, I don't have a X60t with a SXGA+ screen, so I can not confirm my answer.