Shopping for a new laptop: recommendations wanted

**kodoku** · May 31st, 2008

Originally Posted by mssever

Second, the NewEgg models don't have a touchpad. I've only used ancient ThinkPads before, so I'm wondering about their red mouse thing (what do thay call it?). Does it have any kind of scroll wheel? What about middle clicking? I can't imagine being without either feature. (Actually, my church recently acquired a new Vista Laptop, and simultaneously clicking the left and right buttons doesn't send a middle click. So when surfing the web on that machine, I have to repeatedly right click links and choose Open in new tab. Annoying.)

TrackPoint! I personally prefer that over a touchpad. And yes, I do believe that there is a middle clicking button, at least my X32 does.

+1 for Lenovo

**twisted_steel** · May 31st, 2008

I love my ThinkPad T42 (pre-Lenovo). It looks like some of the R61 models have a touchpad.

Example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146382

I personally use the TrackPoint (nipple

) more than the touchpad.

Edit:
The combo (TrackPoint + touchpad) is called UltraNav

**cookieofdoom** · May 31st, 2008

Thinkpads are amazing. If you get an R61i (really cheap now, check out fatwallet to see if they have coupons) you should have full compatability with Ubuntu. Compiz works out of the box, standby working flawlessly, sound support, etc. I have an X61 and it's amazing, I never boot to Windows.

As far as hardware quality goes, they're built like a rock but they don't weigh as much as one (T series are even more solid, but R is quite good also), no heat issues on any of them, and support is excellent. You can also decide to upgrade (do it yourself) the CPU on the R61i to a 2.6ghz 6MB cache Core 2 Duo, and put in 4GB of RAM. IMHO Thinkpads are some of the best notebook PC's on the market today.

**zachtib** · May 31st, 2008

some of the Thinkpads are now configurable with PC DOS (so, basically no OS)

Of course they'd do that right after I get my T61p

**cookieofdoom** · May 31st, 2008

Originally Posted by zachtib

some of the Thinkpads are now configurable with PC DOS (so, basically no OS)

Of course they'd do that right after I get my T61p

You can also get some of them with SUSE.

**71CH** · May 31st, 2008

I just got a R61 and can vouch for them. Completely amazing. I previously had a Dell XPS M140 and won't go back to Dell again.

**agurk** · May 31st, 2008

Thinkpad T60 here, couldn't be happier. Everything works, even suspend/hibernate, and without any proprietary drivers. 10/10.

**unutbu** · June 1st, 2008

71CH, what didn't you like about the XPS M140?

**akiratheoni** · June 1st, 2008

Originally Posted by mssever

Second, the NewEgg models don't have a touchpad. I've only used ancient ThinkPads before, so I'm wondering about their red mouse thing (what do thay call it?). Does it have any kind of scroll wheel? What about middle clicking? I can't imagine being without either feature. (Actually, my church recently acquired a new Vista Laptop, and simultaneously clicking the left and right buttons doesn't send a middle click. So when surfing the web on that machine, I have to repeatedly right click links and choose Open in new tab. Annoying.)

Control+Left Click opens up links in a new tab. I find it a bit more convenient than right click -> open in new tab.

**reacocard** · June 1st, 2008

I have a Thinkpad T61 myself and I love it. I've seen the R series as well and they're also good, they just lack a few of the internal design touches the T series has.

A word of advice: If you need lots of RAM, get the minimum they allow then buy 2 or 4 GB off newegg and install it yourself. You'll spend a lot less for the upgrade than you would getting it from lenovo. I wasn't aware of this when I bought and now I really regret it, since the $200 I paid to upgrade to 2GB would have gotten me 4GB on newegg and left me with $100 to spare.