Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Laptop Shopping Advice Stat!!

Within the next 2-3 days I am going to purchase this Thinkpad X61 Laptop.

Due to some sweet deal, I am going to be able to get a souped up rice rocket of a laptop for 30% less. So, I have more freedom with add-ons now. I have a budget of $1500. So far, I have just been adding the extra stuff and finding that wow, I can still afford this. But do I need this? That's for you to advise me.

Questions to you. Choose between:

1. Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 (2.1GHz, 3MB L2, 800MHz FSB)
2. Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz, 3MB L2, 800MHz FSB)

1 or 2? Add $32 for #2.


1. 2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
2. 3 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM)

1 or 2? Add $25 for #2.

1. 3 year mail-in warranty/service $95
2. 4 year mail in warranty/service $183
3. 5 year mail in warranty/service $247

What do you think is sufficient? I want to keep this for a few years at least. Is 5 years overshooting the time one might want to have the same laptop? Is 3 or 4 years sufficient? Should I just go with 4 years as the compromise for what I might need?

1. Currently has:
ThinkPad X61 4 Cell Enhanced Capacity Battery
2. Optional purchase:
ThinkPad X60 Series 8 Cell High Capacity Battery [add $143.20]

Should I get this? It's more worth it than one extra GB of RAM, right?

I have determined that I don't need Bluetooth, and I don't need to buy Microsoft Office, because my brothers should have it. Also, I am resigned to Vista Basic, since Vista Business doesn't seem that much better, that is to say, just as bad.