Would you buy a Z61m for $1,293 over Asus Z96j and HP8430?

Build quality: worth the slight sacrifice for me.

One hour with a Thinkpad keyboard and I'll never love another..

how'd you swing this student discount?

what? this situation is kind of silly imo - the specs are all there for you to see

i would never consider that IBM due to the subpar graphics - if you don't NEED an x1600 don't bother paying for one. HP Business build quality is very good - I'd say maybe 90% of thinkpad standard. The laptop is protected by an alloy frame iirc and the screen is well protected by the frame too. It is fairly thin and light too, I put it in my backpack and it doesn't bother me at all. So the thinkpad would probably have a slight build quality advantage over the HP (not sure about the Z series though...maybe not for the Z - see what the IBM guys say about Z series vs T series build quality) but the HP has a definate power advantage and if you game you'll need that ESPECIALLY if you intended to play at native. The Z96j will have build quality not quite up to the level of the other two from what I hear but I have never handled one. Plus it is kind of ugly. In the end I like my HP, and I got it with a 100 mail in rebate (which came back fast). Honestly though the IBM would be a good deal if you don't game - if you do go HP. It really is a T60P killer of sorts, unless you really need CAD features.

btw whatever you get you're making the right choice by going 1680x1050 (I have no idea why you notebook guys like your letters and signs, a la WSXGA+ or WKSUZSXGA- it's annoying and rather silly) whenever I look at a 1280x800 notebook I just feel sorry for the user and start feeling sick bc I thought about going 1280x800 - this might sound harsh but you try it after using a good 1680x1050 for some time

btw when I refer to the HP I mean an nc8430 with the 1680x1050 screen, 2.0 yonah, 1gb ram, 80gb 5400hdd, multi-dvd, etc

I would go with the IBM.

What do you want to do with the laptop? If its mostly schoolwork, go with the IBM, Accidental coverage is great to have, especially in college. From what I have seen from HP's consumer lines, they charge like $300 for 3 year accidental coverage, similar situation with Dell and the like.


I think Spetznatz is right on about the build quality, the reviews I have seen complain about it not being as good as other Thinkpads like the T or even R series. I imagine that the HP isn't too far behind in that respect.

If you plan on doing a lot of games though, the HP is probably the way to go, you can upgrade practically anything in your notebook except for the screen/video card.

Now that I have used my first IBM, I don't think I will go back. Even though its only an X30, I have fallen in love with this little laptop. Go with the IBM notebook unless gamming is important.

If gaming is important, then go with the IBM T60p.

Don't know a thing about the Asus Z96j (Asus desktop mobos are great though), but where did you find the HP NC8430 for under $1300? They certainly don't have one on the site for that price.