[ltp] Recommended Thinkpad Model? $1500?

[Bret Comstock Waldow]

On Mon, 2005-01-31 at 18:45, Steven J. Owens wrote:

> However, most of the traffic since I subscribed is about
> thinkpad hardware problems :-).

As opposed to "works great!", "me too!, "me too!, "me too!, "me too!,
"me too!", ...?  Those folks don't post.  8-)


>      Thinkpads seem to have a pretty loyal following, somewhat like
> the Mac laptops, which is a good sign.  They don't seem to have the
> mac's problem with java support.  They seem a bit more durable, not to
> mention a fair bit cooler :-), than the dells.

The T series (I have a T21) are "Transportable".  A balance of size &
weight, and magnesium frames which make them durable.

Some of the recent T series have 15" displays.


>      - good availability of docking stations (I want to get one for
>        home and one for work)

If you don't need to add PCI cards or drives to the docking station, you
might save some $$ using a USB docking station.  Some I've seen are
small enough to put in your pocket, and provide mouse/keyboard/printer/
etc connectivity.  Now I've written that, it occurs to me I don't know
about GNU/Linux compatibility, though.


>      Factors that aren't as important:
> 
>      - Faster CPU and more RAM is always good, but I'm expecting this
>        to be a massive step up from my old Tecra, so I'm not too
>        stressed about getting the fastest CPU on the market.

I'd max out the budget for RAM before budgeting for the CPU, at least up
to 512M to 1G.  A fast CPU swaps to disk quicker than a slow CPU, but
still...

Regards,
Bret