the hard drive down to 40G. I skipped it.

To those who say this deal is cold compared to Dell, they are absolutely right. I don't recall any Thinkpads immolating like Dell has lately... Link from Infoworld (this is a new one)

I agree that Dell boxes are cheaper than Thinkpads, but you get what you pay for! The only problem I have had in 7 years of Thinkpads is a stuck fan on a T40 - just gave it an occassional (about 3 times per year) whack below the left control key, and that was it! You can get extended life batteries for Z60s if 4 cells isn't enough - 7 cells, or the same bay battery that fits into T40's as well.

I do agree on screen size - I have a T42p now, and with UXGA on a 15" display, and going to a plain 14" display (regular XGA) is tough. This is 25% more than XGA - WXGA. But I think it is depth. I got a Dell 20" (2005 - thanks to FatWallet) widescreen, and going from UXGA to WSXGA+ (or whatever 1680*1050 is) has been a tough adjustment, even though I went from 19" CRT to 20" TFT. On a desktop, parts is parts (with apologies to Wendy's chicken). But on a notebook, there are laptops, and then there are Thinkpads.

kavik said:jbwhite99 said:To those who say this deal is cold compared to Dell, they are absolutely right. I don't recall any Thinkpads immolating like Dell has lately... Link from Infoworld (this is a new one)

I agree that Dell boxes are cheaper than Thinkpads, but you get what you pay for! The only problem I have had in 7 years of Thinkpads is a stuck fan on a T40 - just gave it an occassional (about 3 times per year) whack below the left control key, and that was it! You can get extended life batteries for Z60s if 4 cells isn't enough - 7 cells, or the same bay battery that fits into T40's as well.

I do agree on screen size - I have a T42p now, and with UXGA on a 15" display, and going to a plain 14" display (regular XGA) is tough. This is 25% more than XGA - WXGA. But I think it is depth. I got a Dell 20" (2005 - thanks to FatWallet) widescreen, and going from UXGA to WSXGA+ (or whatever 1680*1050 is) has been a tough adjustment, even though I went from 19" CRT to 20" TFT. On a desktop, parts is parts (with apologies to Wendy's chicken). But on a notebook, there are laptops, and then there are Thinkpads.

Well slowdown there buckaroo. Sure, we can all agree that thinkpads were great and are good, but thats not forget their months of transitioning from IBM to lenovo. IIRC, their build quality suffered a huge blow, and lots of negative feedback flowed the net. They'ved upped/fixed their build quality to be on par to what we are used to IBM producing, but every company has its bad and good days. We can't forget that Dell's latitude line was a great buy as well.

So i'd say laptop is a laptop is a laptop. You GET what you PAY for.


Maybe a lot of negative feedback flowing the net, but it is because of the quality? I don't agree. The whole team of IBM Thinkad/Lenovo Thinkpad doesn't change at all except the title of the company. They are still building the same quality of laptops and trying to maintain the unbeatable reputation.

and one more thing to think about with Lenovo... I'm an old Dell fan, always thought Dell was the greatest... well, a recent Dell laptop I had was defective and I've spent HOURS on their chat system trying to get resolution, sending the laptop to them only to have it returned unrepaired. I got a different rep everytime, based overseas and there were language barriers. Sure, I saved a buck, but I am paying the consequences. Now, for my experience with Lenovo I was completely floored. I got my own personal rep with direct contact information including email and phone numbers!! I also got 2 day shipping from Hong Kong for FREE, this is a huge cost to Lenovo (standard rate for 2 day international express is $125 from Hong Kong to USA). Dell is small potatoes compared to Lenovo. On top of that the z60m I got for $873 is a work of art (including Titanium lid!). Great build quality and many better features than Dell includes. My DVD drive has DVD RAM capability, and is removeable for an array of different plugin modules including a slimline drive battery for an add'l 3 hours of battery life.

I'm a ThinkPad convert for sure. You pay a little bit more up front, but you are living in a different world with personalized service, and top notch build quality. Go with Dell to burn a coupon or two, but go with Lenovo if you depend on your computer to deliver consistent and quality performance.

ThinkPad is the best of the best. If you can ever get one via their outlet at these prices, make sure you hop on it, because it is totally worth it.