Thinkpad vs Inspiron

Well, my wife would like my 3 year old Asus Z71 1.73 and it's a great excuse to get myself a new laptop. I had been figuring on $1500 to $2000, but with hefty discounts from Dell and Lenovo I can do this for under $1500 if I go with either of those companies.

There are two main questions involved with the decision.

First, the reviews for the IBM Touchpad T61p from Lenovo are mixed. Itts their flagship laptop but the reviewers either love it or hate it......about 50/50. A lot of Blue Screen of Death complaints on the laptops right out of the box and comments that it isn't what it used to be prior to IBM selling off the PC products to Lenovo. However, if I get lucky and get a good one (if indeed that is what it will take), it seems a better machine what with the drop sensing and the screen structural design. But then it also cost several hundred more to make it an identical configuration to the Dell.

Second issue is the Dell Inspiron. It would seem the Inspiron is the bottom of the Dell line. However, you can build it up to a pretty serious machine. But........it is their bottom line machine. But.......for the same money, there is a lot more included.

Configurations (some features included in the base price and.some features are add-ons):

Lenovo Thinkpad T61p Dell Inspiron 1520

Core Duo T7500 2.2 ghz Core Duo T7500 2.2 ghz
15.4 WSXGA 15.4 WSXGA
2 gig ram (2x1) 2 gig ram (2x1)
100 gig x 7200 hdd 120 gig x 7200 hdd
Nvidea w/256 video Nvidea w/128 video
CD-rw / /DVD Rom DVD-rw
1 gig boot up turbo ram ?? on Boot up turbo ram
Vista Home Basic Vista Home Premium
6 cell battery 6 cell + 9 cell battery
1 year warrantee 1 year warrantee
Carrying case Carrying case
$ 1255.00 with discounts and coupons $1277 with discounts and coupons

So, at $20 apart in price, it would seem the inspiron is the way to go. But is the Thinkpad worth the couple hundred bucks it would take to bring it up to match the Dell specs?

Thanks for the input.....
BH

Ooops............had the video card specs reversed. Lenovo has the 256 meg and Dell has the 128 meg. I edited the post and fixed it.

BH

I think I agree with that statement. The Inspiron can't really be classed as anything since Dell's line-up changes depending on the site you purchase it off of (small business, home office, etc). If you go Home/home office, the Inspiron is mid level, they don't really have a budget section, with the XPS being the high-end.