Re: [Thinkpad] T42p upgrade to ... T61 or X61 (maybe tablet)?

Randal,

Take a look at the z61t as a compromise between the X and the T. It
has a widescreen format (1440x900 pixels) and is less tall and a bit
lighter than the T, but you can still have the extra battery or
optical drive installed. It also has a built-in SD card reader which
is very useful if you have a digital camera or PDA that uses SD cards.
The wider but shorter form factor is better than the T series for
using the laptop in a coach seat, or watching widescreen movies or HD
TV shows. It's also got both WiFi and EV-DO cards built-in, so I'm
always online. No serial or parallel port, though. I got the titanium
top cover, which looks really nice and seems to be tougher than the
normal Thinkpad covering.

Cheers,
Andy

On Nov 14, 2007 5:07 PM, Randal Whittle <rwhittle@usa.net> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> Fixed the fan in my T42p and now I'm functional again.
>
> Thanks to Bruce, Scott, Michael, and Mitchell for your comments.
>
> I wouldn't mind getting some more thoughts though. :-)
>
> This latest repair got me to thinking that maybe I ought to buy a new
> one and hand the current T42p down to a family member.
>
> I have a long history with TP's. I bought a 750C back in 1993. I
> still remember the pop-up keyboard and the TV Tuner I could put in
> place of the floppy drive! I *think* my next was the 701C
> "Butterfly" with the folding keyboard. That got me started on the
> "small & light" trend--to me, what a PC was supposed to be. Then
> came the 500--the "Kite" they called it, because it was remarkably
> thin. Work soon required me to have a CD drive in the machine, so
> after a brief flirt with a NEC laptop that lasted a month, I bought
> the TP 600--the first (I believe) full-featured Thin & Light
> machine. Since then its been T20, T21 (T23? Can't remember) and the
> current T42p--all in the "Thin & Light" category, but with full
> feature sets that include the 2nd spindle for a CD Drive.
>
> As I reconsider my needs & desires, right before I sink into the
> possible purchase of a T61, I think I ought to consider the
> "X"--maybe even in the tablet form (though honestly, I'm not quite
> sure what I'd do with the tablet part--maybe you have ideas for me?)
>
> I don't travel as much, and when I do, I don't particularly require
> the CD/DVD on a travel basis (and if it were necessary on occasion, I
> would consider carrying a dock with it, or alternately a separate
> portable DVD Player--depending of course on how big/heavy the dock is).
>
> Screen quality, battery life, portability, toughness,
> performance...they're all important to me. I don't particularly care
> for a "widescreen" as is popular on many laptops these days. But I
> do like the 1400 x 1050 pixel resolution on the 14.1" screen of my
> T42p. I have some concern that if I were to get the X in a 12"
> screen, whether that 1400 x 1050 pixel resolution would be "too small" or not.
>
> From X-series owners, I'd like to hear from you why you chose it
> over the T series, and if you have any regrets in so
> doing--particularly if you're a former T series user. I'd also like
> to hear what your "real world" performance and figures are--battery
> life, dimensions, wireless performance/distance, etc. Do you
> "notice" that 2" smaller screen real estate--is it a problem for
> you? What kind of ports are you missing? (I noticed the newer T's
> dropped the parallel port--a small problem for me as I have some
> software that requires a hardware dongle I won't be able to
> use.) Does it matter in this age where wireless 802.11g has become the norm?
>
> For the X-Tablet owners--in what ways do you use the Tablet
> configuration? How much "real world" screen, weight, etc. difference
> is there from a non-tablet X? I fly a plane and could conceivably
> use the Tablet there for electronic approach plates & etc. There's a
> "Cool" factor to the tablet--partly why I'm interested in it--but I'm
> unsure whether I'd actually have a *real* use for it. In what ways
> did you unexpectedly find it was nicer to use the tablet in that
> configuration rather than as a "standard" laptop?
>
> Finally...are there any *former* X series users who changed and went
> to a T series? If so, why did you make the switch? Are you happy
> with that change to the larger machine, and why? Anything you miss
> about the X now that you're using a T?
>
> Thank you in advance for taking the time to share your experience with me!
>
> - Randy Whittle
>
>
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Received on Wed Nov 14 17:49:44 2007