Laptop purchase questions/advice please

[LeftyAce]

Hi all,

I'm looking at getting a laptop, and would appreciate your critiques and advice. I've done some research (Including the accidental "research" of buying a refurbished IBM Thinkpad, using it for a month, and discovering it had an overheating problem, at which point IBM was very nice about refunding me, despite being outside the 7 day return window).

My main uses for the machine will be word processing, email, some math/graphing utilities, a bit of programming....the usual suspects. I have a pretty powerful desktop, so I figure I can err on the side of a less powerful notebook, since I have access to more "juice" if I really need it.

My main complaints with the T42 I had for a few weeks were (Actually exactly what Tomster warned about in his buying guide). That is, battery life (an hour and a half is REALLY short :-) and weight.

I'm looking pretty much exclusively at Thinkpads (I've always HATED 'laptop keyboards', but the kb on the T42 was absolutely a joy to use), plus they've got a reputation for being able to take a beating, good customer support, etc.

So here's where my request for input comes in. I've pretty much settled on the Thinkpad X61. It's a 12" (normal, not widescreen) but they manage to cram a full sized KB onto it. 2GHz C2D cpu, I'm thinking WinXP pro, 2GB ram, and the battery upgrade. The one thing it lacks is an optical drive of any kind.
How much of a problem is that likely to be? (If I'm thinking straight, the main uses for one would be OS reinstalls and movies....all of my music is in .mp3 format).

The X61 is currently under a combination of discounts and a coupon that knocks $600 off the list price, to $1100....but one of those components expires on Monday :-/ )

So, anything I'm overlooking, or writing off too easily? I'd appreciate any wisdom you guys/gals have got :-)

-Lefty

[thefultonhow]

I have a second hard drive in my optical bay. I honestly almost never use an optical drive, and when I do, I can make do with an external one. And my laptop is my only computer.

The X61 is a good laptop. You'll probably be happy with it.

[LeftyAce]

Thanks for the feedback, I've gone ahead and ordered it! (Now begins the "2-3 weeks to ship")

[Lespaul20]

I have a X31 and just got a X41 a few weeks ago. I agree with thefultonhow about the optical drive. Both of mine came with the ultra base but they rarely get used. I think the x61 is a good choice. You are going to have to get used to the trackpoint real quick. I think it's faster than a touchpad but it's takes a little longer to get used to that most people don't have patience for. To defend the T42 a little, the weight is pretty comparable to similar laptops. The battery must not have been at it's best.

[LeftyAce]

Thanks for the confirmation on the CD..... if I really need one for some special reason, I'll get an external, but it sounds like that won't happen :-)

In the two weeks I had the T42, I found myself using the trackpoint exclusively, and became so accustomed to it that I would instinctively reach for a (non existent) one to move my mouse on my desktop computer. I think I'll be ok :-)

I didn't mean to knock the T42, I realize that for the size/power (and age...it's 4-year-old cpu and chipset technology) it's "normal" (a 14.1" screen w/ 1440x900 res, supported by a dedicated ATI graphics card....it wasn't supposed to be ultra-light), I just found that I wasn't doing anything that required all that much graphical power, and that weight savings and battery life were more important to my situation. The battery in the T42 was refurbished (so certainly not operating at peak capacity), plus it was coupled with a pretty old processor, and of course dedicated graphics.

The one thing I'm kind of amazed by is that the X61 benchmarks (on superPi) about 50% faster than the overclocked desktop system in my sig (I know, technology moves really far in 2 years...) So for everything but gaming, I may wind up using it exclusively.

Again, thanks for the confirmation, I really appreciate the feedback.