Dell XPS M1330 vs Lenovo Thinkpad T61
My wife has been speculating on getting a laptop and naturally asked me to look into this for her.
One of the aspects that she's been stipulating is size. She does not want a monster laptop like my Dell XPS M1710.
So, bearing in mind the size i went out to look for other options. Having heard a lot of good about Lenovo from Michael Kleef I decided to take a look at their range.
Immediately the T61 came to mind - it's small, mobile and fairly well priced at just $2,099.00.
The T61 comes, at that price range, with 2Gb of Ram..plenty for what my wife will be using it for.
I went over and looked at the specs of the T61 and started comparing it with the M1330 from Dell.
Out of the box, the M1330 has more features and it's smaller with just a 13.3" screen. It's also lighter which means a lot for my wife and being scottish, cheaper.
So on the surface it looks like the obvious choice.
But, having had previous experience with Dells from both the corporate side of things as well as on the residential side of things i know that Dell used to put a lot of unwanted software on their machines and the first thing i always did was to blow all the crap away and rebuild.
Having said that, i took a look at what the M1330 comes with...
nylon bag..yes, tick that one
but then i noticed a BIG issue for me..massive to be honest...Google Toolbar..my worst enemy and on #1 of my banned software list!! WTF? they seriously still ship with that crap.
I thought that Dell had finally understood that people that knows about computers DOES NOT WANT CRAP TO BE INSTALLED. You just want the OEM so you get a clean build, with the newest drivers and that's it.
Dell, you're seriously putting a dent into any kudos you may ever have gained in the last 1-2 years.
They also spin nearly 2Gb of drive space off for "MediaDirect" - a feature on my M1710 which i've never, ever used and are most likely never going to use. But that may be just because i'm a geek - who knows?
So, now i'm at a crossroads, literally..do I put my own personal experiences into the equation or do i advise my wife to go for the M1330. It's sleek, nice looking (good job Dell), and cheaper than the T61. Or do i advise her to get the T61 - which by all appearances is just an IBM rebadged? The Dell definitely seems like the better choice, but i'm majorly put off by the stock software that comes with a new laptop from them.
She wants to play a few "older" games that she likes, surf the net, email..etc..the usual home stuff, but will most likely also use it as a desktop replacement (she's still on the Dell 8400 we bought years ago) and do a bit of work from home.
Who uses (besides Kleef that is) the Lenovo T61 and can give me some pointers on pros and cons on the machine?