Help with decision, is it worth it? T61 vs T510

[apelin20]

Hi, I am basically willing to invest 1300$ into a laptop, but not sure if it's worth it, since already have a laptop.

So here is what I have:
Thinkpad T61

Proc: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9300 (6M Cache, 2.50 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB DDR2 SDRAM - 667.0 MHz
Video Card: PCI Express x16 - NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (128 MB)
Hard Drive: 320 GB @ 5400 rpm
Display: 14.1 in TFT active matrix


and here is what I am thinking to get:
Thinpad T510

Intel Core i7-620M Processor (2.66GHz, 4MB L3, 1066MHz FSB)
15.6" FHD Display (95% Gamut, 270nit) with LED Backlight
NVIDIA NVS 3100m Graphics with 512MB DDR3 Memory
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm




So, any thoughts? Is the CPU worth it? Is the display better? Does anyone know what refresh rate that FHD Display has? I can get the T510 for about 1300$ but don't know if it is worth it.

[ausmike]

not even hesitate ,,, buy W series ,,,, DONE !

[apelin20]

not even hesitate ,,, buy W series ,,,, DONE !

I don't think you understand. It is T510 I am talking about. I do not have the money for W series. So if anyone can stick on topic and provide opinions on the T510 compared to what I have I would appreciate it.

I am especially interested in the refresh rate that the monitor offers, Lenovo support is not able to tale me what refresh rate that monitor has, they just don't know....

[Neil]

Isn't refresh rate only an issue with CRT monitors? Don't LCD displays use a continuous refresh?

[apelin20]

Isn't refresh rate only an issue with CRT monitors? Don't LCD displays use a continuous refresh?

That is what I thought too, but take a look at this product here:

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... u_area=yes

This is also something I am interested in, it is LCD, and it has a refresh rate, it is advertised as 120 Hz which is A LOT!
And if you look down at Preset Modes Text it offers a list of resolutions and their respective refresh rate. I currently owning my Lenovo T61 ThinkPad have a refresh rate of 60 Hz, which is bad for my eyes, and this is an LCD if I am not mistaken.

[Neil]

It's my (very limited I admit) understanding that these highly touted 120Hz LCD displays are all about HDTV "frame rate", and not monitor refresh rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDTV_blur#100.C2.A0Hz_.2B

It "might" have the effect of smoother motion for video and movies, but I don't think it would have much, if any, benefit on static computer displays.

[dr_st]

So, LCDs have a refresh rate, but they are fundamentally different from CRTs when it comes to the meaning of said rate.

For every frame, CRTs redraw the picture in full. Therefore, if the refresh rate is too low, one can feel and sometimes even see the flicker. Too low refresh rates on a CRT really can cause serious strain on the eyes.

LCDs do not redraw static pictures, hence they do not flicker. So the refresh rate of an LCD simply means how many different frames per second it can render (say, 60Hz = 60FPS). But if the image is static, it will not change.

The only thing that flickers in an LCD is the fluorescent backlight, but that happens at a much higher frequency (>200Hz, indistinguishable to the human eye). Idon't know how LEDs behave in this sense.

So whatever is bad for your eyes in the T61 screen - it is not the refresh rate.

The complete majority of LCDs support 60Hz only. Very few of them can do more (say, 75Hz). Recently some LCDs with 120Hz started appearing. Their advantage is twofold: they can provide a smoother picture, and they can be used for creating a 3D effect, by simultaneously displaying two different images at 60Hz each. However, these are rare, and rest assured that whatever LCD you get in any Thinkpad, it will only do 60Hz.

Regarding other aspects - your T61 is a well-configured one, and not a slouch by any standards. The T510 is going to be slightly better and faster in every aspect, the question is whether you will notice the speed difference? Depends on what you do.

The major thing is, of course, the screen. First - you are transitioning from 14.1" to 15.6" - that might have a big impact on portability. Are you willing to accept that?

Second, the FHD screen has much higher resolution (which is nice), but also much higher pixel density than your current screen. This may make reading small print uncomfortable.

These are the considerations I see, I am sure there are others.

[apelin20]

Thank you dr_st, you have indeed clarified a lot for me.

So what you are saying, is that my current LCD on my ThinkPad, and that to which the link I gave, ThinkVision L2461X, operate at the same frame rate on my machine? and it is only on 3D effects that the ThinkVision one will provide a smooth vision? And to continue the equality, the T510 would have the same refresh rate (frame rate)?

So technically, the ThinkVision L2461X is not better for eyes, correct? That is in causing fatigue.

I could deal with a bigger display. I am wondering if the FHD is really worth it now. Maybe I should stick to the HD+ and get an SSD instead? Would that be a wise thing to do? I am not that into movies. I want my OS to boot quickly and the system to operate fast. Can the SSD give me that?

[dr_st]

I assume from the link and from what Neil said is that the monitor isn't a true 120Hz, i.e. it cannot process 120 frames per second from the video card, but merely use the MEMC (motion estimation / motion compensation) to predict the image, and insert its own estimation frames between real frames. Like Neil said, it is designed to give smoother motion (assuming the algorithm actually works well), but for static images won't make any difference.

What I was trying to say is that the refresh rate of LCDs has nothing to do with eye fatigue, because they don't actually "refresh". If you are looking at a static image on your LCD, it will look exactly the same whether the refresh is 40Hz, or 400Hz.

Regarding speeding up your computer with an SSD, it's probably the most dramatic thing you can do for boot time and application loading speed.

[dfumento]

If you feel you need the larger display then get a T510. Otherwise I'd keep the T61 which is a fine machine.

Regarding an SSD, since you have two bays in your T61 and (at least for me and my X201s) rarely need a DVD drive (or you can get an cheap USB 2.0 drive perhaps), you could get a smaller, less expensive SSD (40 GB or 60 GB) and have that as your boot drive with some software on it and put that in the second bay (with an adapter?).

But, really, don't you just leave your machine in sleep most of the time anyway so that you rarely have to boot? If so, I wouldn't bother with the SSD.

I happen to use my machine for SQL Server database searches and some software development and other compute/disk intensive tasks, otherwise I wouldn't bother with the SSD or the extra RAM.

Also, you might price out two 2 GB SODIMM RAMs instead of the 4 GB on the T510 because there is a price premium for the 4 GB single SODIMM and few people need more than 4 GB RAM in my opinion.

Save your money unless you desire the larger display at the cost of portability.