Purchase Decision Help

[aviwil]

After a lot of messing around , am trying to decide between:
1. 1 of 2 IBM thinkpads with a similar price and
T42 with 735 Dothan 1.7 Ghz , 14" TFT 1024*768 , ATI 7500 32 MB or an
R51 with 725 Dothan 1.5 Ghz , 15" TFT 1400*1050 , ATI 9000 32 MB .
There are other minor differences , but these are the main ones for me . Would have liked a better ATI , but it just brings the cost up too much .
a) Is there any real noticeable performance difference between the 735 and 725 ?
b) Will the 15" SXGA here combined with the stronger ATI give a significantly better picture than the 14" XGA ?
c) Are there any other siginificant advantages of the T42 over the R51 here ?
and
2. An Hp nx7010 which costs less than the IBM , has 1.7 Ghz Dothan , a 15.4" WXGA , and an ATI 9200 with 64 MB .
I need one from these 3. The HP has better specs and is cheaper , but am a bit wary of the wide screen maybe causing problems with formatting to printer or projector screen , and I have not seen mentioned anywhere on HP's site that they have a similar mechanism to IBM for protecting the disk when the notebook gets dropped (even tho the salesperson said it does ) . I also understand that IBM's may have a better chance of lasting over the years without problems and their service is better .
After all of that , advice would be most appreciated .
Thanks .

 

[fbrdphreak]

1.)
a.) I believe the 725 is a 1.6GHz, whereas the 715 is a 1.5GHz. 1.6->1.7, no big difference. 1.5->1.7, noticeable different. Go for the 1.6 or 1.7 IMO
b.) Personally, I hate XGA screens. My gf had an HP w/15" XGA and I hated it. I love my SXGA+ T42, I would even prefer a UXGA 15". But that's me
c.) The T42 is built better than the R-series, it is designed to be very robust & durable. What price differences are you looking at?

2.) The widescreen will not cause any issues printing or going out to a projector; printing has nothing to do with the resolution on the screen & projector output you set an independent resolution. Apple is the only other company that has the hard drive protection system, HP does not offer that (that I'm aware of).

IBM will have the better warranty, including local tech support and a fast turn around time on repairs. But it all comes down to money. I'd guess the T42 is a few grand more than the nx7010, and because of that I would go with the HP. I almost bought an HP 15.4" Centrino myself, but got a T42 at a good price through my school. I think you will be happy any of the above, just depends on $
Hope this helps

 

[imported_Kensai]

fbrdbphreak took the words out of my mouth. I personally would go with the T42.

 

[aviwil]

Thanks for the help people - I thought I had thanked already but something went wrong somewhere .