Sometime in the past two days – or perhaps longer, it’s impossible to say – my faithful three year old Thinkpad x23 picked up a crack in the bottom of the screen casing. Whenever I open and close the laptop now, which is frequently given the fact that I have standby working working via APM, I get a rather ominous sounding crack.
I was discussing this with John Simonds from IBM AR, and he said that it’s something that could be patched up via support, and he’s likely correct. But the question is as I’m running out of space and an Open Office compile on the 866 processor takes some 14 hours, is it time to relegate minisog [1] to a test machine status?
While I doubt any decision is imminent, I’m interested in any suggestions you all might have for a replacement machine. Requirements are simple: I want the most powerful ultralight I can find. 12 inch screen is ideal, but it can weigh no more than 4.5 pounds. Just as important, the Linux support has to be excellent (yes, Mac fans, my adoption of Linux likely rules that platform out). I’m considering the latest X series model, but am wondering if anyone has any fluky boutique suggestions for me or other ideas. No, the OQO isn’t an option.
[1] In case you’re curious, yes, all of the machines in the office are sog derivatives; I’m just that creative.
Update: More from Don Box here – his thoughts on the x40.
Update 2: One of the journalists here at PartnerWorld has one of these, and while I can’t quite bring myself to consider it, it may well be that Coté’s right. The thing is sweet.
