T61 -vs- W500/700

[cs1971]

Hi,

I've decided that it's finally time to replace my old T30 which has served me so well. I'm trying to decide between a T61 and a W500/700. On one hand my budget isn't particularly tight, but on the other, I don't see any sense in throwing away money on features/power I don't need.

I'll describe briefly how I'll be using the machine. Essentially it'll be my primary personal laptop. I'll be using it docked about 95% of the time, so I don't really care about screen size. I'm not a gamer so I don't care about the real high end graphics stuff, though I might watch the occasional DVD. Mostly I'll just use it to surf the internet and run a few personal apps (eg, quicken). I'll also be installing Linux the day I get it.

So, what do you think? Is there any sense in my shelling out the extra 6 or $800 for a W-Series or should I just get the T61? Thanks in advance.

-cs1971

[jdhurst]

Since a T61 will happily run three machines simultaneously, I don't think it will fail to do what you need. ... JDH

[basketb]

You may also want to look at the R Series, either the "older" R61 or newer R400/R500. These could save you some additional money. They are a little bit bulkier/heavier than the Ts but since you dock it most of the time that shouldn't matter.
Wrt. Linux, it's usually easier to find Linux drivers for "older" hardware than newer + others have probably run into all the problems there might be with Linux, whereas with newer machines, you are one of the first to try it and run into potential problems (but then again this may be something you like solving).

[cs1971]

You may also want to look at the R Series, either the "older" R61 or newer R400/R500. These could save you some additional money. They are a little bit bulkier/heavier than the Ts but since you dock it most of the time that shouldn't matter.
Wrt. Linux, it's usually easier to find Linux drivers for "older" hardware than newer + others have probably run into all the problems there might be with Linux, whereas with newer machines, you are one of the first to try it and run into potential problems (but then again this may be something you like solving).

Thanks for the reply. You're point wrt Linux and slightly older machines is a good one and something I was already taking into account. I love Linux but I definitely don't love troubleshooting hardware incompatibilities. On a related note: how long have the T61s been around? Quite a while, no? Are they likely the end of the line for the T-Series?

-cs1971

[basketb]

I don't know how long the T61s have been around (maybe 18 months). But I'd imagine that the T Series will live for quite some time to come (maybe something like T401, T402, T410, T420, etc.).
T400/T500 are the successor of the T61.
W500 is the successor of the T61p.
W700 is completely new.