[Thinkpad] upgrading ThinkPad T61p with non-Lenovo RAM and HDD

[Aryeh Goretsky (home)]

Hello,

Thanks for pennies/shekels!

I actually went with a 4GB (2x2GB) kit from Crucial, P/N CT2KIT25664AC80E,
which should work in any T61 chassis.  It was more expensive than the 
Mushkin or
GeIL brands, however, I have more experience with Crucial memory and felt more
comfortable buying their memory.

The largest hard disk drive I saw from Lenovo was a 200GB model, which spins at
7200RPM and utilizes Full Disk Encryption (FDE).  I really just wanted a larger
(250-300GB+) drive.  Those are typically 5400RPM drives, but I 
suspect the higher
areal density should compensate slightly for the slower rotational speed.

The X factor is that I actually do enjoy assembling systems and building them
just the way I want them.  I really have not done this so much with a notebook
before (I always upgraded them over time), but this gives me an opportunity to
delve into a ThinkPad model series that is new to me and look around inside.

As for the original HDD and memory, I was planning on holding on to them to use
for diagnostic purposes, or in case I needed to EasyServ the machine.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky


At 01:57 PM 12/27/2007, Jonathan Kelly wrote:
>I'll add my pennies too...
>
>The biggest cost saving item you have is the memory (Lenovo seems to 
>want $500 for 4GB, and Newegg has 2x2GB of Mushkin PC2-5300 RAM for 
>~$110).  The OS and HDD total about $100 in total savings.  So consider this:
>Get the HDD & OS you ultimately want to be using installed from 
>Lenovo, and then buy the RAM from 3rd party source.  Spend 10 mins 
>installing the new RAM and be up & running.  I have to think a few 
>hours of your time is worth the $100 price premium to have the OS pre-loaded.
>
>You could even ebay the pre-installed RAM for a few sheckles, 
>further defraying the cost.
>
>-jk
>
> > > > From: Aryeh Goretsky (home)
> > > >
> > > > I have been thinking about purchasing a ThinkPad T61p for
> > > > myself.  Since this is for personal use, I would like to keep
> > > > the costs down by buying it with the least amount of memory
> > > > (1GB) and smallest capacity hard disk drive (80GB) and then
> > > > install 4GB of RAM and a larger disk drive (250GB+).  I will
> > > > also buy it with Windows Vista Home Basic, then do a clean
> > > > install of Vista Ultimate to the new hard disk drive using a
> > > > retail license of it.  This will save me about $500 or so, at
> > > > the cost of an evening or so of assembling everything.
> > >
>