Moving up - how far?

[dwilsonfl]

I'm ready to move into SATA land and get some more headspace for apps and video. Plus I would like to stay in the X series and if I can snag a tablet for less than $300 I'd go that way.

Given I'm in a X40 (1.2, 40gig) now, will the X60/s/t be a big enough leap to notice in the everyday or do I need to go X61/t

Just an Office suite, web user with occasional Hulu watching. But it takes forever to boot the X40 and if I have too much going at one time it gets really slow.

Thanks for the advice.

David

[dr_st]

The difference between X60 and X61 series is not big as far as performance is concerned, but go for an X61 if you can find one within your price range. Slightly newer machine, possibly still with warranty, and can address 8GB of RAM (X60 has 3GB limit).

[Tasurinchi]

You can't go wrong with any X6 Thinkpad. For the tasks you mention in your post I think 3GB should be enough. I would go for an X60 and save some the extra money for an SSD, It will be like night & day difference!

If your budget allow, go then for an X61 AND buy the SSD as well

[pianowizard]

if I can snag a tablet for less than $300 I'd go that way.

The X-series tablets are much heavier than the non-tablets. That was one of the two reasons I kept my X61 tablet for only like 10 days, almost three years ago. I really hated the weight, even though it had the small battery. An X61 tablet with the extended battery would weigh more than a T410s!

[dwilsonfl]

They are. The X41t I had was much heavier than this X40 or the X41 I had. But what isn;t heavier than an X40 with the std battery?

The ability to rotate the screen and use it like a Kindle in bed to read with is really the only reason I'd like the tablet functions. Then I could get by with just one laptop. Plus i could use it in the car as a huge GPS.

Otherwise I'd probably just try and snipe an X60s. Light and powerful compared to my X40.

[ajkula66]

You'll have to be pretty hawkish to snatch a X6xT in any working shape for less than $300..

That being said, if you're OK with XGA on a tablet, go for X61 just for future-proofing.

I use my tablet as an "on-the-go" machine and prefer it by far to a 14" T4x that might not be heavier but feels bulkier...and I love the SXGA+ LCD on it...

YMMV.

[dwilsonfl]

How much if any overhead do the tablet functions grab of system memory?

IOW will a regular X60 or X61 clearly outperform a tablet?

Also do the tablets have a high resolution screen or not? Can't remember.

Thanks,

David

[pkiff]

How much if any overhead do the tablet functions grab of system memory?

I've never actually checked. Looking now, it appears there are at least 3 processes in XP Tablet Edition taking up 30-40 MB. The largest one is called tabtip.exe (24 MB). I can't imagine that is affecting performance much in a machine with several gigs of memory.

Also do the tablets have a high resolution screen or not?

The X60T and X61T both come with two different screen resolutions: XGA (1024x768) and SXGA+ (1400x1050). The latter is a Flexview screen. Some people are attracted to the X6x tablets for the high resolution screen, which is not available for regular X60/X61/s machines. Some people have modded an X61s to use the 1400x1050 screen.

Phil.

[bgalakazam]

You can't go wrong with any X6 Thinkpad. For the tasks you mention in your post I think 3GB should be enough. I would go for an X60 and save some the extra money for an SSD, It will be like night & day difference!

If your budget allow, go then for an X61 AND buy the SSD as well

Is it safe to say, X60 with SSD and 2-3GB RAM will be faster than X61 with HDD and 4+GB RAM?

[Tasurinchi]

Is it safe to say, X60 with SSD and 2-3GB RAM will be faster than X61 with HDD and 4+GB RAM?

I'm not sure with 4+GB (which btw make only sense with a 64bit operating system). For normal office/web application I think with similar amount of RAM and a 32bit OS, the X60 with SSD will feel faster and snappier as the X61 with "normal" HDD.

But what are you intending to use with an X6x? If you need/want to use ressource consuming software (video encoding/editing, professional photo manipulation, etc.) then go for the X61, as it can address up to 8GB RAM and applications designed for 64bit will be faster than the 32bits counterparts.