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New I think I'm going to punt soon.
Others have had issues with 10.04LTS on T41 and similar ThinkPads. Going back to 9.04 isn't a long-term option due to lack of updates. Win2k is too old and putting XP back on this isn't appealing (having to spend hours doing updates and reconfiguring...).

I think I'm going to punt and get one of these ($700) to replace it - Toshiba R835-P88: http://www.bhphotovi...3_3_Notebook.html

Processor 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-2450M Cache L3: 3MB

Memory Type: 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM Installed: 6GB Capacity: 8GB

Graphics Card Type: Integrated Installed: Intel Graphics System Mobile HD with up to 1696MB Shared
Display Type Widescreen Size 13.3" Backlight LED Aspect Ratio 16:9 Finish Not Specified By Manufacturer
Native Resolution 1366 x 768

Storage
Hard Drive Installed: 640GB 5400rpm Type: SATA

Optical Drive SuperMulti DVD Burner

Input/Output Connectors
Ports 1x USB 3.0 (A) 1x USB 2.0 (A) 1x eSATA /USB 2.0 combo with USB Sleep and Charge
Display 1x HDMI 1x VGA

Audio Integrated Stereo Speakers Integrated Microphone 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Headphone Output 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Microphone Input

Flash Media Slot 1x SD 1x SDHC 1x MiniSD 1

Communications
Network 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45) Modem None Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth None Mobile Broadband None GPS None

Webcam Yes

General
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Security Kensington Lock Slot
Keyboard Type: Standard Notebook Keyboard
Pointing Device TouchPad with Multi-Touch Control
Battery 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Providing up to 9 Hours per Charge (66Wh)
Power Requirements AC: 100-240 V AC, 50-60Hz
Consumption: 65W
Dimensions (WxHxD) 12.44 x 1.05 x 8.94" / 31.60 x 2.67 x 22.71 cm
Weight 3.2 lb / 1.45 kg


There's also an R835-P89 that came out a month later. It seems identical (I can't see any difference in the specs), but might have less bloatware installed. The P89 is more for some reason.

I'm almost tempted to get 2, but I'm not that desperate (nor that flush with cash ;-). It seems to be better made than a similar Lenovo Z380 that is $100 less on Lenovo.com Just about all of these things have the same crappy 1366x768 TN screens, but that's life. (This T41 has a 1400x1050 screen. Progress... :-/ ). A USB light will cover the lack of keyboard light.

For a while I was thinking that I wanted an i7 processor, but it's not worth the extra money at the moment.

A Lenovo X220 is available with an IPS screen, but for much more money. Maybe the X230 will be compelling (out soon) - but there's no way it'll be $700.

If I pull the trigger, I'll report back after I've used it for a while. I'd probably update it to 8 GB quickly (< $50), then replace the hard drive with a SSD in the not too distant future. I'll probably hang on to the T41 - it might be useful for data logging or something down the road.

Cheers,
Scott.
New P88 and P89 are both 850 @ Toshiba
The specs are identical (http://laptops.techc...-Portege-R835-P88). Retail price differences may be due to discounts to get the P88s out the door.

The i5 is definitely the best value out of that series. Unless you really need the bit of extra oomph the i7 provides, the cost doesn't scale well.
New It's a neat little box.
It took a few days for B&H to ship it, but I did get it for $700. I then had to pick it up at UPS today (they had to have a signature).

I'm still configuring it, but so far I'm very impressed. It's very light weight and doesn't burn up my lap. I can hear the fan, but it's not loud or annoying - it's a whisper.

It came with Chrome pre-installed as one of the browser choices (IE is the other, of course). It has some sort of trial-ware Norton Internet Security. Adobe Reader X. And some Toshiba utilities. But very little shovelware. Office is described in a flyer, but I'm not tempted. ;-)

It's much faster than my 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo work laptop.

The keyboard is a "chicklet" design. It's quiet and doesn't quite have the feel that my Thinkpads do, but it's pretty nice. I haven't been making errors the way I was with our MacMini keyboard when I started using that. It'll take a little while to get used to the layout, but it's not bad.

The display is bright and clear, but one has to set the screen angle just right - typical of TN screens...

The first bootup was pretty quick - it found our wireless network easily and all I had to do was enter the WEP key. (Yeah, I know I shouldn't still be using WEP. I'll change it one of these days...) The longest part of the initial bootup was waiting for Winders to finalize everything.

This thing is going to fly with a SSD... :-)

So far, so good. Recommended - especially for $700.

Cheers,
Scott.
New Have fun
It does sound like a nice toy. We have a HP Pavilion space heater. Nice in the winter time, but now that summer is approaching, 4-10 minutes at a time is about all one can take ;-)
     Why would Ubuntu 10.04 LTS drop Wifi every few minutes? - (Another Scott) - (9)
         iwevent & wpa_supplicant - (scoenye) - (4)
             Thanks very much. - (Another Scott) - (3)
                 Consolidation - (scoenye) - (2)
                     Ah, "progress". :-/ - (Another Scott)
                     Linux system programmers like doing that. :-( - (static)
         I think I'm going to punt soon. - (Another Scott) - (3)
             P88 and P89 are both 850 @ Toshiba - (scoenye) - (2)
                 It's a neat little box. - (Another Scott) - (1)
                     Have fun - (scoenye)

Geez can’t we all just be Canadians or something?
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