Buying a Notebook Computer for Law School? The Q and A thread

[OingoBoingo]

Update on my Thinkpad X41 tablet experience....

I love this thing. I have spent an unusual amount of time using this past week. My two new favorite programs are Windows Journal and Sticky Notes. I typically use 1 full notepad a month, filling it with meeting notes, reminders and lists. I write all that stuff in Windows Journal now. It keeps track of the dates. I can set reminders by written points, I can insert space between points to write in new information. What is "neater" is that I can import the meeting agenda from Word, scribble all over it in Windows Journal and save the whole mess as that days notes. This has been killer for me because it has greatly reduced clutter on my desk. I haven't even begun to explore OneNote beyond some initial scribbling. It does feature pages that look similar to Windows Journal pages (a blank sheet of fullscap) but with more official looking organization. I am intrigued by the idea of writing in a Journal page and then subsequently converting the page to text (allows for word or topic based searching in Onenote). The issue with this is that it requires VERY neat handwriting something which I don't have.It may just be easier to type.

Handwritng recognition works well if you use lower case letters. I use the pen for short sentances. It is also acceptable to use when surfing the internet, even for writing in web addresses. The Tablet Input Panel works pretty seemlessly in this regard. You probably should use the keyboard for anything longer than a paragraph.

More to come this weekend....

Oingo

[OingoBoingo]

Mugatu,

Cheaper prices for the X41 tablet and other Leveno models have arrived. You can get the basic model 1869 now for $1599, which is easier to swallow. I paid only slightly less. Hopefully someone at IBM can hook you up so you can get a smokin' deal.

Oingo

[Officer Rod Farva]

Just to clarify, the wireless card is internal, right? I was at Starbucks yesterday and saw two women using X41s and they both had some sort of wireless cards plugged in.

[mcleod13]

One Note Question - Somebody told me that you can record lectures on One Note and time link your notes to the recording?  T/F?  That sounds pretty cool.

I am new to technology kind of, how would this be done?

[The Spanish Teacher]

How much is the IBM employee discount? 

Also, is the T60 available yet? If not, does anyone know when it will be available? If it is available, how much longer will the T43 be available?  And does the T60 have that many upgrades that make it worth waiting for? I should add that I would only be using it for pretty basic stuff - Word, internet, music, etc.

[OingoBoingo]

How much is the IBM employee discount? 

Also, is the T60 available yet? If not, does anyone know when it will be available? If it is available, how much longer will the T43 be available?  And does the T60 have that many upgrades that make it worth waiting for? I should add that I would only be using it for pretty basic stuff - Word, internet, music, etc.

While picking up a new printer cartridge today I walked by a T43 on sale for $1199. It should more than suffice if Word, Internet and music are all your needs.

Oingo

[M DOT]

thinkpads def go the limit, im still usung a 300E from 2001, which was given to me used after completing an internship. Who knows when it was actually purchased and first used. it can be slow as hell with a pentium II processor, but does the job....im def going to get a T series for school

[Steve.jd]

Does the T-series lack of widescreen bother anyone else?  Since no one I know of sells the Thinkpads in retail, I can't go take a look at them, and I'm a little wierded out by the fact that almost every other computer on the market is in widescreen, except the T-series.

I've been using a Dell Inspiron 8200 since I (mistakenly) bought the hunk of junk before freshmen year...the POS weighs about 12-13 pounds, and cost about 2600 when I bought it...it also runs slow as hell, and has a battery life of all of 40 mins...at this point anything is a major improvement...and it doesn't have WS!

[OingoBoingo]

Does the T-series lack of widescreen bother anyone else?  Since no one I know of sells the Thinkpads in retail, I can't go take a look at them, and I'm a little wierded out by the fact that almost every other computer on the market is in widescreen, except the T-series.

office depot has these on display (At least the T43 model). As a non-widescreen user I can't really comment on whether this is "Killer" or not - if you do need widescreen then look at the z series.  Personally, the widescreen real estate, although nice - wasn't essential FOR ME.

Oingo

[Hobert]

I haven't ever been very enamored with the widescreen.  I mean, technically that tries to enable two documents at once, but what, like two five inch documents?  You can't really work with that.  If we were talking about a 30" widescreen display, then there would be a case.  Also, I'm not going to watching moveies much, or, if I am, I'll take the hit.

My feelings exactly. The only benefit that I would see for a widescreen is a better display for watching movies while traveling.