The great Laptop discussion forum

yeah, just found it... I wonder what they mean by "does not have LED backlight"...

hrm... tempting... I'll have to play with one first... 11.1" widescreen vs 12.1" regular screen... that's a tough one. Depends on the resolution I guess.

Also, the red cover will get me killed if I end up at Haas...

hrm... just watched the CES video.

Things I like about it:
- IT'S SO TINY!
- Kinda cool, with multimedia setup
- Has optical drive
- large keyboard (like all thinkpads)

Things I don't like about it:
- Solid State Drive 64GB - $$$$$ ($1800 retail)
- Glossy (I like matte better)
- the screen's even smaller than the X61
- The extra costs of the multimedia stuff are things I don't really need
- Red (Stanford colors, not good)

And after putting in my bag and walking around my apartment.. it IS too heavy. What was I thinking? I ran out to costco and 2 minutes after putting it on the counter they were handing me $1200 in cash. What a great store.

Lenovo it is. sorry it is so late, but found this with my wife's work benefits discount. Looks like it can be used IN ADDITION to the sale they are having.. an extra 10% off... the code is:
USXSAVE4SPRING

hey westsider, haha! Glad to hear you're seeing the light

Thansk for the code, but do you need this code to get the spring sale? I have the employee discount too...

nope. the code is an add-on in addition to the spring sale.

oh yeah, it doesn't work for me, I think I already have the employee discount automatically (separate website). Roughly a 33% sale off the list price. Yours?

Yeah. ended up about 33% off list overall! Sounds like you got it already.

3 batteries for x61 - any thoughts on these?:
1)4 Cell slimline(unavailable for x61 when building, but could buy an extra):
ONLY for x61s - not for me.
2) 4 cell enhanced: 3H55m, 0.57 lbs
3) 8 cell: 7.9 hours, 1.05 lbs

I am leaning towards 4-cell due to the pretty impressive battery life (3+ hours real world i would guess) due to the weight consideration..... Any thoughts?

https://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... how-page=3

Anyone actually tried booting from external drive(usb cd/dvd) on the lenovo? Had a "bad experience" with this some years back.

I just went with the standard battery - weight, size, and $$ considerations. Duke has lots of plug-ins, so I don't need it to last me all day. Besides, the power cord is pretty small, so I don't mind carrying it.

I'm fully charged right now and just unplugged - I've got 3 hours and 15 minutes, according to the battery bar. And I think it usually lasts a bit longer.

thanks AAU - I ended up doing that as well (small battery). I figured i would go "all the way" on the light side! I found 3rd party batteries for $60 that I could buy with the same capacity, and since the 4 cell really does weigh 1/2 the 8 cell and provide half the power I figure if I really need to I can just buy that later and throw it in my bag - without a weight or time penalty!

Good news - mine ended up costing about$1120 WITH TAX (and free shipping) I guess in all fairness I shold add the $100ish for the external drive to the price. Also, since my wife wokrs at MS I can get all the officed software/windows versions for MUCH less than lenovo charges.

I decided to get the 2gb 1-sim option since I could buy a 2nd 2gb chip online for $50 rather than paying $110 for it. Rock on!

The sad part is that Mine isn't set to ship until april 24th.. =(

cheer up - i wasn't supposed to get mine until later this week, but I got it a while ago...I think they under promise and over deliver. I can related - managing expectations is the most important part of customer service.

I was going to go with the 8-cell option, since the weight difference isn't that much and most people I know with an X61 like the extra battery sticking out because it makes it slightly easier to grab the laptop (that's what they told me). As for 3+ hours with 4-cell, that's pretty good. I wonder what the 8-cell battery gauge says.

westsider's idea of getting another 4-cell is also a good idea, though I'm a little worried about the quality of the outside brand since some generic Li-Ion batteries for digital cameras have been known to blow up or light on fire, or will die (won't hold charge anymore) after a year.

BRING IT ON!!! Like the risk of hand-removing explosions will stop me from trying to save $50?!

LOL!

Beware of Solid State harddrives. US Airport security aren't on board with modern technology, and there are some good stories of people missing flights as their macbook air's get the security folk all excited for not having the right moving bits, so therefore being "a device".

Why is there no discussion on this laptop? It seems to get great reviews, has a great screen size/weight ration, built in optical, very affordable, sleek looking... I don't get it!

This is the route I plan on going...