It finally arrived!
Thinkpad R61
My old laptop, a Dell Inspiron 1150, is still functional (and yes, a bit slow, but perfectly usable under kubuntu – I’ve even done basic video editing on it), but the screen hinges have both broken, and by cannibalising one I was able to make the other barely fixed, but it’s only a matter of time for it. So it’s getting a noble retirement alongside the Toshiba Tecra 850 and I’m getting a brand new machine with some sweet specs:
CPU is a T8100(2.1GHz), there’s 1GB RAM (I’m ordering more from memoryC right now), 160GB HDD, 14.1in 1280×800 LCD, Intel X3100 (yeah, the graphics won’t play CoD4 which is a shame, I’m wondering if an upgrade is even possible), CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11a/b/g wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, WinXP Pro. I’ve kept XP Pro in its own partition (split the HDD evenly because I keep all my mp3 and video stuff in the Win32 partition so both OS’s can play video), but I don’t do any work in XP anymore (except for IE testing and a single project in Visio that I’m trying to migrate to something more usable like Xfig 
) so all the work files and data goes into the Kubuntu partition. Might try to get compiz to work just for kicks at some point as well.
The laptop itself is about the same width as the old Inspiron, but not as deep by a good few inches, and while the screen is not as tall (giving a kindof squished look to it), it’s got higher resolution overall and per square inch, so when you actually look at what’s on the screen, the R61 wins out fast. Speaking of fast, it’s shockingly faster than the old Dell. Even with just the apt-get cycle to judge by, this thing flies compared to my old machine.
I’m a happy camper 
J is happy too – he has recently purchased a gadget – something like a blackberry only cheaper. It does everything for him bar make coffee
Oct 17, 2008 @ 14:44
Well if it made coffee, what could you do to compete?
Oct 17, 2008 @ 14:59
why, make better coffee, of course!
Oct 18, 2008 @ 15:45
Looks nice Mark, you can’t go wrong with a Thinkpad. Not tempted to for an ultra portable? I’m very happy with my Samsung q45 with 12.1 inch screen, so light and portable (made many trips to London with it at this stage):
http://www.samsung.com/uk/business/b2b/products/notebooks/ultra_mobile/q45.htm
It has become my main Internet machine now.
Oct 20, 2008 @ 14:05
Was tempted allright John, used an X61 on the finland trip last year and it was sweet on the train – but the pricetag was just a bit steep, the display was just a bit too small, and the processor just a bit too slow. Besides, the laptop gets dragged to/from TCD once or twice a week and to greystones or to a rifle range, so 6lb is manageable for that, especially in th crumpler bag (seriously good laptop bag, that thing).
The one thing I am regretting is not getting the nvidia graphics card instead of the intel X3100 chip – for everything I do for work or for watching DVDs or whatever, the X3100 is fine, but it’s not supported by more modern games so if I boot to windows and try to play CoD4, well, the laptop’s more than fast enough and there’s more than enough RAM (4Gb installed right now even though only 3 is accessible in 32bit mode – I’m going to install 64bit at some point for ubuntu) but the graphics card just won’t play ball.
Doh.
Oct 20, 2008 @ 14:12