Pogeymanz
March 24th, 2009, 05:51 PM
I'm probably going to buy a Lenovo laptop sometime soonish.
I'm looking at three in particular and here are the specs and prices.
These are what fit into my budget:
IdeaPad Y530
C2D 2.0Ghz 800Mhz 2MBL2
3GB RAM DDR3 1066Mhz
15.4" Screen
250GB HD
$669
ThinkPad SL500
C2D 2.26Ghz 1066Mhz 3MBL2 25W
1GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
15.4"
160GB
$674
ThinkPad R500
C2D 2.26Ghz 1066Mhz 3MBL2 25W
1GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
15.4"
160GB
$739
Notice that the SL500 and R500 have exactly the same specs but the R500 is more expensive. Apparently the SL500 is not a "true" Thinkpad, but an IdeaPad that is just rebadged as a ThinkPad. ThinkPads have fancy things like roll cages and such, that IdeaPads do not.
This computer will be used for some big number-crunching jobs, which is why I chose a beefy processor for the SL500 when I was customizing. Of course, that is at the cost of some RAM, but I can easily add more RAM later (and I will probably need to with only 1GB).
Really, the number crunching doesn't have to be absurdly fast. This is still mostly a pleasure item and I really just want to not be outdated too quickly.
My questions are:
1) Which will be less outdated in a few years: 667Mhz RAM or 800MHz fsb/ 2MB L2?
2) Are ThinkPads that much better than IdeaPads?
3) Which would you buy?
I'm looking at three in particular and here are the specs and prices.
These are what fit into my budget:
IdeaPad Y530
C2D 2.0Ghz 800Mhz 2MBL2
3GB RAM DDR3 1066Mhz
15.4" Screen
250GB HD
$669
ThinkPad SL500
C2D 2.26Ghz 1066Mhz 3MBL2 25W
1GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
15.4"
160GB
$674
ThinkPad R500
C2D 2.26Ghz 1066Mhz 3MBL2 25W
1GB RAM DDR2 667Mhz
15.4"
160GB
$739
Notice that the SL500 and R500 have exactly the same specs but the R500 is more expensive. Apparently the SL500 is not a "true" Thinkpad, but an IdeaPad that is just rebadged as a ThinkPad. ThinkPads have fancy things like roll cages and such, that IdeaPads do not.
This computer will be used for some big number-crunching jobs, which is why I chose a beefy processor for the SL500 when I was customizing. Of course, that is at the cost of some RAM, but I can easily add more RAM later (and I will probably need to with only 1GB).
Really, the number crunching doesn't have to be absurdly fast. This is still mostly a pleasure item and I really just want to not be outdated too quickly.
My questions are:
1) Which will be less outdated in a few years: 667Mhz RAM or 800MHz fsb/ 2MB L2?
2) Are ThinkPads that much better than IdeaPads?
3) Which would you buy?