Re: Off Topic: ThinkPad Recommendations

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Lisa Kleinholz wrote:

> > Robert Holmgren wrote:
> > > Get a T-40. Lightweight, 7 hour battery. Wish I had one.
>
> I see a ThinkPad T23 on sale. Pentium III-M. Runs XP Pro. Does anyone
> know if there are problems running Xy4Dos on this type of machine?
> Jordan, did you get the T40.

Not this time, Lisa. The sale was a couple days from being over by the
time I found out about it. I had a bunch of questions, and spoke briefly
with an IBM 800-# sales rep. on the Friday (was not prepared to order an
item like this online, *or* solely on the basis of online research), who
was supposed to get back to me. Due to the East Coast / West Coast time
spread, we missed each other. Come the end of the following Monday, the
sale was over. It would have saved me about $300., plus there would have
been some extras thrown in, along with free shipping. Given that this was
a very borderline purchase for me in the first place, I decided to wait
for the next comparable sale, whenever that might roll around. I'm
disinclined to get anything other than this model, though, if and when I
do get a laptop. There is no tremendous hurry for me on this, unless the
end of an ability to run OS/2 reasonably well on a laptop comes within
sight.

> If so, has it worked well with XyWrite? I
> desperately need a notebook that can run both Xy4DOS and Word.

There are *many* possible configurations (part of what held me up
initially), but I think most of the T30 and T40 models use the same 1024 x
768 screen, unless you opt for the fancy higher res one that goes 1400 x
something. Of course, I would assume that -- as with all LCD screens --
that's going to mean smaller icons and smaller text (unless you use
something like LiquidView, which is Win only), a tradeoff that does not
appeal to me. It may well be that the T23 models use this same screen as
well. Anyway, the screen and the opsys are going to account for most of
your display variables. All I can say is that you can probably arrange
_acceptable_ results, by making use of the various tips for running XyDOS
on an LCD or a laptop, which have been discussed here over the past couple
years. If XySearch is not available right now, I can compile all those
tips I've saved into a file, something I was meaning to do eventually in
any case. (It is certainly possible that I missed a few of them, along
the way.)

Note that I said "acceptable" results, which may depend on your definition
as much as mine. I don't think those Win-based DOSbox sessions are ever
going to look nearly as good on a laptop or LCD screen, as they can on a
decent CRT. And they would probably look better / work better on Win-98,
but that's no longer a viable option for many users.

The display of WURD on a laptop is apt to be less of an issue, it seems to
me, but I could easily be wrong.

If you do get a T23, one of their enhanced service plans is said to be
advantageous.


Jordan