Crap or crappier: My college laptop choices

[NiX]

My college is has a mobile program which I'll be apart of for my 2nd and 3rd year terms, so I have to buy a laptop. But, there's a catch: I have to buy school approved laptops. Unfortunately for me there's only 2 choices and they both, in my opinion, suck. Not really what I was hoping for in choice. Anyway, these are the options they're giving me...

Mainstream - ThinkPad R60
CPU:    Intel Core Duo 1.67
RAM:    1GB x1 DIMM
VIDEO:    128 MB ATI x1400
HDD:    80GB 5400RPM
Display:    14.1" XGA
CD:    DVD-RW/CD-RW
Ports:    3-USB, FireWire
Network:    10/100/1000
Wireless:    Intel ABG

Price: $1169 (CDN)

Mainstream - Latitude D620
CPU:    Intel Core Duo 1.67
RAM:    1GB x1 DIMM
VIDEO:    256 MB Nvidia TurboCache*
HDD:    80GB 5400RPM
Display:    14.1" WXGA (Wide)
CD:    DVD-RW/CD-RW
Ports:    Serial, VGA, 4-USB
Network:    10/100/1000
Wireless:    Dell BG

Price: $1121 (CDN)

They claim we're getting a good price on these, but I can see more than a few laptops on Dell that are cheaper AND better than the one they have listed. I might just try and bitch my way into a better laptop. I understand they want us to use a certain laptop for easier configuration of the network and running programs through the network, but I won't be spending near $1200 (after tax) on something I don't want.

Anyway, if I am stuck with these two, which is the better of the two?

[Trippy]

For gaming I'd go with the IBM, assuming you are willing to put up with ATI driver headaches. The Quadro NVS 110M GPU in the Dell is slower than the X1400, though it's still substantially faster than that POS Intel GMA 950:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

If you have a separate machine for gaming and if this is something they expect you to lug around to classes I'd go with whichever one is lighter.

[squirrel]

Just to add - the IBM has firewire. I  firewire personally, for external drives, DV cameras etc. I've had way better performance than USB 2.0. ymmv.

[NiX]

The ThinkPad is listed as a Lenovo, not IBM. Difference?

[squirrel]

None afaik. IBM sold their ThinkPad business to Lenovo. Same hardware, different consumer brand. I could be wrong, been a while since i owned a ThinkPad. Nice machines in general though, i prefer them to Dell personally.

[Trippy]

IBM sold Lenovo the rights to manufacturer their designs so they are all made in China now under the Lenovo brand. I haven't heard of any egregious drops in product quality but I haven't worked in Corporate America in a while so I haven't really paid attention to that sort of stuff lately.

[raydeen]

I'd go for the Thinkpad. If Lenova builds them like IBM built them, they're tanks. I always liked that 'rubberized' exterior. The Thinkpads always felt more sold than other laptops and seemed to stand up to a lot more punishment. Plus they always seemed to be a bit easier to service.

Edit: Plus the X1400 is nothing to sneeze at for gaming's sake. I can't speak for the Nvidia. Also, are you sure the X1400 is only 128? I'm pretty sure mine is 256 in my Dell. It might be something you can tweak in the BIOS at any rate. I was able to crank my old ATI laptop chip up to 128 from 64 on my HP laptop (at the cost of system memory of course).

Actually just checked...the X1400 is 256 on my machine. the X1300 would be 128. Maybe it's an X1300 on the Thinkpad?

[Yoru]

Yeah, all the managers at my previous job had Thinkpads of some variety and they'd take a pretty good beating before ceasing to function. In a college environment, having something rugged enough to survive mild falls, getting sat on, or getting books tossed on it is a good thing.

When I was at uni, our laptop program was all Thinkpads (I was a maverick and had a Micron - generally a mistake). The interesting issue with them there was that the battery defect rate at the time was suspiciously high - as soon as the warranty went out, you could almost bet on your battery failing completely in the next 2 months. It's been half a decade though, so they might've improved. Or maybe they just shipped us the reject batteries.

[Big Gulp]

Why the fuck are you required to purchase either of those?  Is the school getting a kickback on those purchases (I presume they are, or else why the requirement)?

[raydeen]

Why the fuck are you required to purchase either of those?  Is the school getting a kickback on those purchases (I presume they are, or else why the requirement)?

Not a kickback. An 'incentive'.  :-D

[Yoru]

Why the fuck are you required to purchase either of those?  Is the school getting a kickback on those purchases (I presume they are, or else why the requirement)?

Generally, "yes". I think the way it works is that the school gets a 'volume purchase discount' and then marks it up just a wee smidge so it's still significantly cheaper than MSRP but they get a profit on it.

[NiX]

Why the fuck are you required to purchase either of those?  Is the school getting a kickback on those purchases (I presume they are, or else why the requirement)?

The latter and that they're too cheap to have techs who can work on all laptops. Essentially if they streamline what you buy they don't have to hire someone who's proficient with all laptops. He just has to know certain models and that's just dandy. Also, they think I want to  use their stupid online installs of MS products. The only thing that makes sense to me is the course software, if there is any. They want it to work for everyone, despite the fact that I'm sure it'll work perfectly fine if I bought a different Dell with better specs.

Edit: I don't HAVE to buy one until my 2nd term. That's when they start releasing stuff online.

[naum]

If I had to choose a non-Mac laptop, I would opt for the ThinkPad over the Dell as I've toiled with both of those and the ThinkPad wins hands down...

[NiX]

Well, so far the ThinkPad is winning by a long shot. I'm going to call and see if they'll be upgrading their selection next term.

[schild]

I'd get the Thinkpad also.

[Merusk]

I'd get whatever I damn-well felt like, knowing I have the tech-savvy or access to such savvy that I could hook it into the network and troubleshoot any problems myself.  Of course, knowing the red-tape buacracy that runs schools you probably wouldn't get class credit if you did this, right?

Why the fuck are you required to purchase either of those?  Is the school getting a kickback on those purchases (I presume they are, or else why the requirement)?

It gets worse than just kickbacks.  In some programs you wind-up gimping your students because of this bullcrap.  University of Cincinnati implemented a requirement that all Architecture students buy a laptop by their 2nd year back when I was in school. 

At first they just gave generic specs, IBM or Mac, but this lead to a lot of problems and wasted class time as clueless professors and students tried to network them together.  So after one year of this they took the 'mac incentive' and told everyone they have to use Macs.  Woo, networking problem solved.

Of course, 90% of all Architecture firms use AutoCAD, which is Windows-Only. So now in a 6-year program that costs upwards of 50k, you learn 0 business-related skills for your money.  Hooray.

[Yegolev]

All I really know about Lenovo (?) is that it is an option when calling 1-800-IBM-SERV.  I still have a ThinkPad T40.  It stinks.

[Miasma]

I'd also go thinkpad, most people at work who use laptops have thinkpads and the few who have tried a Dell abandoned them pretty fast.  HP is pretty good too but apparently not an option.  Don't get too worried about the brand being Lenovo now, they had been building the laptops for IBM before they took over the name.

You should also know that it is unlikely any laptop will survive a four year college program, they aren't built for long term survivability.  It will either have major repairs or have to be replaced at some point, especially if you're actually lugging it around to classes.  Get into the habit of copying all your work to a USB key before shutting down for the night, laptops can sputter and die with no warning (more so than desktops).

[sinij]

This is fairly shitty situation you are in, can you claim that you have no money to buy laptop and are on OSAP? They probably got kick-back deals and that the reason they are pushing these specific laptops. Are you sure you don't really have a choice, they might lead you to believe you have to buy specific laptops from them but can/will they enforce it? You can also try to buy your laptop used and save money.

[Sky]

Kick your school's IT guy in the nuts and tell him to get Core 2 Duo. Like a macbook. Learn windows, osx, and unix all on the same machine.

[sinij]

I'd go for the Thinkpad. If Lenova builds them like IBM built them, they're tanks.

I recently did laptop research and all points to Thinkpad quality going to shit over last few years at least to what it was. I have no first hand experience with new Thinkpads.

[NiX]

This is fairly shitty situation you are in, can you claim that you have no money to buy laptop and are on OSAP?

Funny thing, I am on OSAP =P They give me a $500 laptop credit each term, so I'll either end up with $1000 or $1500 for that when I'm done. I'm going to call them tomorrow and find out exactly what I can do. If I have to lose the ability to use their MS licenses, I really don't care, I have my own.

[Mr_PeaCH]

I really like the Dell Latitudes; I worked on them almost exclusively for the past 4 or 5 years.  The D-series have been great, imo.  I'd put a Lenovo Thinkpad down as a close second but I don't understand teh h8 on these Dells.  Inspiron are another thing.  The Lats are very good.

[vex]

I have a T43 and a T42, both belong to work, and I can't stand them.  I'm thinking about giving back one and buying my own beefy gaming laptop.  I miss my old Compaq.

[NiX]

I have a T43 and a T42, both belong to work, and I can't stand them.  I'm thinking about giving back one and buying my own beefy gaming laptop.  I miss my old Compaq.

I'll assume they're ThinkPads. Why can't you stand them? I do realize it's a different model # though.

[vex]

Yea Thinkpads, sorry about that.  They both work well but are a bit utilitarian for my tastes.  For me it's something I have to live with rather than just use every now and then so it matters.

 I liked the screen on the Compaq I used to have much better,  it seemed be brighter and to almost sparkle.  The Thinkpad screen is just there and the text is not as clear.  The wireless card has a tendency to just shut itself off, this is very annoying.  They are both slow to boot up and shut down.  The fan spins up and slows down all day long, this can drive you batty in a quiet hotel room. 

They are durable though.  This one has only found the floor twice but you would never know it.  I think mine is haunted though.

V

[NiX]

Necro: Wanted to know what the nVidia would be able to run in terms of games? Same with the X1400. The computer I'm using right now is good enough to play games, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to run DOD:Source during breaks at school or something else to kill time (Sim City, UT2K4..etc)

[Strazos]

I'm pretty sure you can get Sim City on your TI-93 or whatever graphing calculator. We all had pseudo-Zelda on ours in HS.

[Trippy]

Necro: Wanted to know what the nVidia would be able to run in terms of games? Same with the X1400. The computer I'm using right now is good enough to play games, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to run DOD:Source during breaks at school or something else to kill time (Sim City, UT2K4..etc)

I've seen somebody play HL2 on a Radeon 9200 so I think pretty much any 3D GPU they make these days is capable of playing a Source engine game. The NVS 110M looks to be roughly the same as a Radeon 9700 and the X1400 is slightly more powerful than the NVIDIA GPU.

[NiX]

Anyone know where I can find benchmarks for these? They give 3DMark scores, but that doesn't tell me much about how it performs in a game.

[Trippy]

Anyone know where I can find benchmarks for these? They give 3DMark scores, but that doesn't tell me much about how it performs in a game.

It's tough to find them for laptop GPUs but try Google.

[Mandrel]

Anyone know where I can find benchmarks for these? They give 3DMark scores, but that doesn't tell me much about how it performs in a game.

Great site for notebook info.  notebookreview.com

[NiX]

Thanks, found out it'll play Source stuff nicely. That's all I was really worried about. Think I'll just end up going with the Dell seeing as the IBM just went up in price and I'm a cheap bastard.