Considering X61 - advice?

[Spotsalots]

I'm considering getting the X61 as a replacement for a Toshiba M4 (which I like but the screen is going bad). I think my main questions are:

1) Do users really find the unibase thing necessary or is an external CD/DVD just as good? Does it really add lots of other important functions? Do you end up carrying it a lot? On my current M4, I normally leave the CD/DVD at home and keep a second HD in that bay, which gives me 160GB of hard drive--something I need as I frequently look up images and PDF files, plus (after living abroad) the laptop has become really my primary computer so I also keep a lot of music on it. If I get the X61, I'll get the largest HD they offer. As for battery, I avoid working on battery but of course sometimes it's necessary so I do have a second battery and carry that when I expect to need it. I would get the 8 cell battery.

2) XP or Vista? I've been quite content with XP but was assuming I'd have to move to Vista with the next computer. It doesn't look like this is necessary in the tablet world. Am I likely to regret it later if I get XP? Nobody seems too enthused about Vista and I certainly didn't enjoy dealing with it when we got my parents a new computer and had to figure out how to get around all its "features." I am pretty computer literate but don't like spending all my time fiddling with settings and doing a lot of troubleshooting.

3) How long is it taking Lenovo to ship these days? I can get a decent student discount but it looks like in the past people waited ages. I don't know how much longer my M4 screen will last. It was flashing all kinds of colors yesterday.

Any other things to consider? I'm finishing up grad school and will be teaching and doing research, and I carry the machine around a lot.

[John Hill]

the docking station is only important if you are going to use it as a desktop machine as well with a second monitor, power, network adapter, printer, etc. If not, you can just have a USB DVD as you describe.

Vista is quite stable now and provides a lot better handwriting recognition. That being said, it is a bit of a pain to get used to and has some quirks - but what software doesn't. Make sure all the software you will use is Vista friendly.

Lenovo is shipping in 2-3 weeeks depending on the cofiguration. Not nearly as bad as when they released it.

[Spotsalots]

Thanks, further opinions also welcomed. I'd like to order something by Monday, ideally.

[virenpatel]

I feel the same way about the dock. However, my experience with Vista was so bad that I downgraded to XP and have been happy ever since. Not a day went by without a freeze or crash with Vista.

Viren

[Spotsalots]

I haven't bought docks for any of my other laptops--they had all the ports I needed for peripherals without a dock. It's less clear on this... I guess I need to look at its list of ports. Seems like it must have all the standard ones...