T40: 1.3PM sxga MR9000 vs 1.5 xga MR7500-thoughts?

[badga]

I have been following these threads for a while and have been looking at the pricing. While i am in canada and the pricing at ibm.ca is nutty, i can acquire a T40 from the US and take advantage of the changing Foreign Exchange and generally cheaper prices there.

My dilemma.....in price range
a) 1.3 PM sxga w. MR9000 32MB
b) 1.5 PM xga w. MR7500

The issue:
I would prefer the SXGA screen as i find that i don't have enough real estate on my current XGA and it only seems to be available on this one or the too rich for my blood t40p. I am not really planning on gaming on the lappy so the MR9000 is not that big a deal.

Would i making too big a trade-off getting the 1.3 PM? Would i regret it? Thought or impressions would be appreciated. Am i forgetting about something?

This would be replacing a toshiba sat3000 P3-900 xga with gf2go but i mainly use a tosh 2410 -1.8 Ghz P4M from work

 

[Bloodstein]

Well...looks like were on the same boat buddy. I'm also extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the T40 doesn't come with better resolutions. If it did, I wouldda made the jump..

Now, I dunno 'bout the difference between a 1.3 and 1.5. Some ppl say not much while others say "it's a centrino, the rules are different ". And in another thread, someone mentioned benchmarks between 7500 and 9000....it showed to be not much. Either case, ur not using ur lappy for gaming, doesn't matter. So it all comes down to screen. If I were you, I'd be leaning towards the SXGA .

Ps. I know how u feel....I feel the same...."Why can't they jus tailor make a T40 just for me, wif all my specs!"

 

[mocca]

I would go with high res LCD one. You won't feel much diffference between the 1.3 and 1.5GHz P-M (well, it is about 15% at the most theorectically) and in most applications, P-M 1.3GHz will be fine (it suppose to have similar performance as P4m 1.8GHz). As for the difference between the GPU, it is rated as follow:

ATI FireGL9000/M9 64MB (128bit) > ATI M9 32MB (64bit) > ATI M7 64MB (128bit) > ATI 32MB (64bit)

In term of 3DM2k1SE, the average scores are (of course the scores depend on the CPU and other things as well):

the FireGL9000/M9 64M ~ 7500
ATI M9 32MB ~5000
ATI M7 64MB ~4500
ATI M7 32MB ~3700

I would rather get a high res LCD with a better GPU provided that the only other difference is the CPU but that might be just me.

Mocca

 

[azazello]

I bought a SXGA+ T40 with P-M 1.3, US$1800 base price (they had a sale. A new one started today I think) and $150 for a wifi card and an extra memory stick. I am extremely satisfied, particularly with the GPU performance (the screen is not that good, but better than what else I've seen). I don't feel the difference between P-M 1.5 and 1.3 justifies the jump to a lower res screen. I intend to upgrade the HDD (30GB now) and the DVD drive once IBM comes out with DVD-RW.

Observations:
-Always order with the least memory available. Memory is a commodity, and IBM grossly overcharges for it.
-Same for hard disk drives. These can also be replaced easily with any 9.5mm drive. A drive cradle for the ultrabay slim costs $45 (i.e. you can stick two drives in at once).
-Displays, on the other hand, are not replaceable. Make the conclusions for yourself.

 

[badga]

Thanks guys.....if i can convince myself to pull the trigger i think the 1.3 w SXGA+ is the way to go. I figure this may afford me the opportunity to get a 7200rpm drive when they come out. I have an extra PC card wireless so i will stick to that for time being.

I would buy from ecost as canadapost borderfree will ship all in (shipping, tax, duty) for $2734 cdn. While you can't buy teh sxga+ version of this, the xga equivalant with the radeon 7500 at IBM.ca is $3500 with tax. Its an international warranty so the unit should be covered.

 

[badga]

further question.....is the new IBM sale (as of today) which seems to knock off about $200 the price usually reflected in the prices of the e-tailers? If yes, how long does it usually take? I'd feel silly ordering it only for it to fall $200 a day or two later. That money could better go towards a 512 SODIMM

 

[Rufio]

hey, order it from me, and i'll drop it to cost for you.

PM me or reply back in this thread!

 

[badga]

rufio, you ship and brokerage up here to upper lower canada? eh? are you talking about a used unit or new?

 

[Rufio]

as long as my computer allows me to ship something to canada, i can do it. i've shipped plenty of our products to Canada.

It will be a brand new one ...email me your email address and we can talk off the boards

 

[niuerandrabbit]

Hi, guys:
I am also considering buy a T40 with 1.3GHz P-M and SXGA lcd. However, the model (237358U)
does not have wireless option but I wan to have one. My questions are:
a) which wireless car shall I choose? there are four options if I use custimize
Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth PC Card II[+$149.00 USD]
Cisco Aironet Wireless 802.11b Mini PCI adapter[+$98.10 USD]
IBM 802.11a Wireless LAN CardBus Adapter[+$179.00 USD]
IBM High Rate Wireless LAN PC Card 128[+$99.00 USD]
Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 3B Mini PCI adapter[+$99.00 USD]

If I choose the intel pro, can I buy from some other place and install it by myself?
If I can, do you have a cheap place to recommend and how can I install it?
b) I also want to upgrade the memory to 512, what's type of memory shall I buy?
and where again?


THanks for your inputs, your discussions finally pust me to thinkpad and very helpful!

Best!