No, I am posting an email written by a friend who bought a used Dell. That is why it was quoted.
I am still considering swapping my Gateway NV44 for either a T410 or a X220. Once I figure out how they are different.
A Dell Studio is not a great laptop. It was just a little better than the Inspirons and IMHO worse in many durability ways than their business Latitudes.
It shows your friend made the budget choice and really didn't know the range laptops run. I have no doubt that laptop is nice and he is happy. There is just a lot of room for him to be happier if he was in front of even better machines.
That T410 is a nice laptop. If it's in your budget go for it. If I had to choose a T61p vs T410, EDIT: I'd pick the former even though it has no webcam and a slightly inferior GPU memory (the 3100M and 570M are about equal otherwise really.
The T61p can do way better resolution in 14.1 even if that's what you want:
14.1" TFT display with 1400x1050 (SXGA+) resolution
14.1" TFT display with 1400x900 (WXGA+) resolution
15.4" TFT display with 1680x1050 (WSXGA+) resolution
15.4" TFT display with 1920x1200 (WUXGA) resolution
The 15.4 1920x1200 setup is great for email/web/internet.