cipherj said:I really wanted the dedicated video. I have the EPP for Lenovo and this is still way better than what I could build including a faster proc, dedicated video card, and higher screen resolution.

Certainly not for everyone, but I plan to run this machine for 2-3 years and this is a good value.

I just priced out a T500 on cpp, and right now with no promotion going on, I priced the following at $800.

P8600 at 1066 FSB (vs. only 800 for T61)
15.4 CCFL (the T61 is indeed WAY better on this only attribute)
discreet ATI graphics with 256mb (vs 128mb for this T61)
2GB DDR3 RAM (vs. 1GB DDR2)
160GB 5400 HD (vs. 100GB 7200, a tie?)
Wireless up to N (vs. G)
Bluetooth
Vista Premium (free upgrade to win 7 in a week)
6 cell (vs. 9 cell - although it "sticks" out and adds weight)

Bing Cash Back makes this T61 deal better. But when Lenovo runs a special at their CPP site, this type of config can probably be had in the low $700's.

how did you get the 15% offer to show up?

Looked up my warranty. Really hard to beat this deal considering 3 year warranty is included.

Type: Model: Serial number:
6457 DSU xxxxxxx

Status: Expiration date: Location:
In warranty 2012-05-10 UNITED STATES

Warranty service upgrades and maintenance services

Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty and is entitled to EZServ/Depot service. Customers may call their local service center for more information. Dealers may provide carry-in repair for this product. Batteries have a one year warranty.

Yeah I'm already getting used to the Fn key.

Battery level is nice too... I'm at 2:30 hours runtime with 39% battery left. Should be right on par with 4 hours or so at full charge.

I love just swiping my figer to login to Windoze or enter a password - makes me feel important.

Rock it Lenovo!

ok, dumb question time. i've been looking for a laptop for a while, waiting for the win 7 release info, and have always heard good things about lenovos. this looks like a great deal and it's in my price range. for me to upgrade the RAM to 4gb, how much would that cost, is it something i can pick up at a store like best buy or fry's, and is it a simple operation?

i'm living in africa right now but will be home visiting family in the states for the month of july - was figuring i'd order this, upgrade the memory while at home too.

Thanks to the OP for bringing this deal to our attention, and for the tip for finding the 15% link thru Bing. I just placed my order. What is the specific type of RAM I would need to order? I'm assuming that this has a single slot used up for 1GB and one slot free, so I'll probably just go with a single 2GB chip for the remaining slot. When configuring a machine on Lenovo's site, it claimed that I needed the 64-bit version of Vista in order to take full advantage of 4GB, so is 3GB the magic number for 32-bit versions of Vista?

If someone has a link or two to some 2GB RAM deals (either from TD or Newegg or wherever) that are compatible with this machine, that would be appreciated.

Thanks. I was reading the Newegg reviews and saw several people comment that Vista 32-bit can only utilize about 3.5 GB. But even if that's so, I'm thinking that it's worth spending the extra $20-25 for that extra 0.5 (or whatever) GB. Plus, I may not get the full dual channel performance increase if I only added a single 2GB chip that might not match the same speed as the 1GB chip Lenovo puts in there.

Notebook came yesterday. Certainly as good as my other t61 but with a 3yr depot warranty to boot. Awesome deal, I'm tempted to get another....

I ended up ordering the 4GB Kingston HyperX kit from Newegg for $51 shipped. It had the lowest latency settings (4-4-4-12). I figured it was worth the extra $20 over cheaper rebate RAM, particularly since I don't need to extend the warranty to 3 years through Lenovo as initially planned.

Too bad Bing dropped the CB to 10.2%

Edit: Link to RAM Kingston HyperX

I have purchased Kingston HyperX one other time about 8 years ago I think; my first dual-channel 512MB kit. After they were retired for about 6 years I put them in a Linux home server for a while and they were still running great until I swapped them out for a 1GB generic kit I found lying around.

Craigslist for the advanced mini dock $50 or eBay for about the same.