I'm the only one on my dev team who is using a Windows laptop instead of a MacBook. Every time someone else needs to present, it's a scramble for a dongle, and then their WiFi drops and it takes five minutes to get reconnected.

Yeah, my ThinkPad looks like an industrial accident compared to those admittedly sexy MacBooks, but unlike those, my Windoze machine "just works (TM)."\

Somewhat amused that they pick normal (-looking) Thinkpads to drag into space with them.

I too am a very satisfied T61p user, and would recommend buying one of the newer Thinkpads, despite them being a little more expensive. In addition to being sturdy as hell, Thinkpads have some nice technology such as hard disk protection, which stops the hard disk temporarily in case of heavy jostling to prevent damage. And I have yet to try a better laptop keyboard.

It's a couple of years old at this point, so it's not entirely applicable to compare to current models (which I haven't used in person, but which blow mine away in terms of battery life and other specs), but I have been incredibly happy with my Lenovo Thinkpad. The only peeves I have with it are related to the touchpad, and the touchpads they have now are entirely different.

I have a T61p, which was the kind of high-end workstation model. Thinkpad keyboards are pretty much the best you can get, the laptops themselves are sturdy as Hell, and mine came out of the box with a 4-hour battery life. It's more than 2.5 years old now, and I can still get ~3 hours out of it. The new comparable models (the T510 and T410 or whatever) boast ridiculous 10-18 hour battery lives, depending on how you outfit them.

They're a little pricier than comparable Dells or whatever, but the build-quality is worlds above, and you can get good deals if you buy at the right time or use an online coupon (just Google around).

If you can stretch your requirements to a 12" screen, a Lenovo Thinkpad X series might be of interest. Thinkpads work very well with Linux.

>> ^NordlichReiter:

Apple, Microsoft, bah.
--Posted from Ubuntu.


I've got Ubuntu on my spare Thinkpad and it feels rock-solid. Wish it was slicker to look at but it's good. And finally works wirelessly without any coaxing.

You have an unhealthy obsession with Apple. I wouldn't buy one either, though I did consider it at one time, but I don't have to make an announcement about it every few weeks.

This isn't a great comparison, either. A Ford Fusion V6 AWD is far less than a BMW 328xi with comparable specs but nobody in their right mind would consider them competitors.

ps. For $1300 I just built a Thinkpad T500 that'll outlast either of these two laptops.

My parents wouldn't get me a computer growing up. Their refrain was "you don't want to be a computer dork!" So I didn't really start using computers until part-way through high school when I got into Autodesk Animator on the Amiga in the communications lab. In that course I got so wrapped up in animation (which was not being taught, the program was just available on the Amiga if you wanted to play with it) that they excepted me from the curriculum and let me animate whatever I wanted for the entire semester. When I took senior level I never even joined the class on the first day, just plunked down at the Amiga and started a new set of animations, never even saw the syllabus.

Around the same time my dad started bringing home a ThinkPad from work which he literally NEVER used and so I installed the PC version of Autodesk Animator on it and started doing my thing. I basically animated a trailer for what in my mind would be the greatest video game cutscene of all time. At 18 I saved money and bought a 486DXII-66 with 8MB (big for the time) and a 28.8 (fast for the time). Never looked back since then, to the point I now literally spend all day, every day in front of my computers.

As a GNU/Linux user, I laugh at all your problems. It has all of the advantages Dag is listing for Mac, and is endlessly customizable. You do however need a laptop with proper Linux support. But if money is not an issue, a Thinkpad works perfectly.


I will now run and hide.

>> ^LadyDeath:
that guy is a fuckin' psycho ,where is the proof of the others macbooks broken?
Anyway I do not own one but common and IBM lol that is a piece of shit to me lol.

ThinkPad thinks and ThinkPad feels...you made ThinkPad cry.

w00t, I use a Thinkpad! And I love it! Its name is Pixeleen.

I tried an old version of Ubuntu on my Thinkpad and it was ok. Just couldn't get the wireless working. Hope they've sorted that by now.

Just realised I have nothing useful to contribute. I just like typing.

I can see it. I'm using Firefox for Windows XP on a Thinkpad.

We're officially Flash only, but I know some videos use Quicktime embeds. I'm not sure about Windows Media Player, though, since it doesn't work on Macs.

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
French-Canada could invent a laptop instead of complaining about Apple's, but then again I guess they're still too busy handing their sovereignty over to greater Canada. What? Too soon?


Actually Mother France handed over Quebec to the British in exchange for some sugar-producing Caribbean islands.

Great *music here.

>> ^Fjnbk:
If you want something that fits in an envelope, get a Lenovo Thinkpad X300.


Yeah, I think my next one is going to be an ultra-slip Lenovo...

If you want something that fits in an envelope, get a Lenovo Thinkpad X300.