New to IBM - which model to purchase?

Currently using a toshiba sat pro a10 modified a metalic blue colour (for sale £350) which has had alot of effort put into it.

The reason for the IBM, which I see most people use the IBM notebooks for is the keyboard. I struggle to use my laptop keyboard and then convert to the desktop when the formats are so different.

Im looking to buy a IBM thinkpad, but am unsure of which.
My preferences are.

Portable, lightweight, small (screen size as little as 13inch) , slim (noticed that some do not have drives and have a docking station)
USB, as least 2.
Wiresless (which version is the best to have? a,b,g?)
Ethernet
Preferably firewire.
The nipple mouse and not touchpad.
rough specs, 1 ghz, 256ram, not fussed about graphics. 20g hdd.

any help is appreciated. Thanks,

 

Sounds like you want an IBM X41..or just something from the X series in general. They are the ultraportable series from IBM/Lenovo and they do not have a touchpad. However, the X series is 12"; I don't think IBM's come in a 13" screen.

The next best thing is a 14" T series notebook...
T42 sounds like a good option.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/IBM-T42-Lapto...6829209520QQcategoryZ3715QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

just been looking at this, looks similar thing im after. How much are the docking stations extra? and what kind of features are on the docking station rather than being on the laptop itself?

 

13" is between three models, the 14" T series, the 14" widescreen Z series and the 12" X series. All will offer an excellent keyboard, durability and good support. Only the Z has firewire. The X series are the ones with no optical drive although you can get an external one relatively cheaply.

 

are you basically saying that its better to get the 'external' optical drive than the IBM docking station?

what benefits does the station provide over the external drives?

 

There are mulitple docking solutions. Generally they offer more ports like usb ports, keyboard/mouse connectors, some have a DVI connector, etc. I'd look for one on eBay. I got my Mini Dock on eBay for about 1/2 IBM was charging for it.

 

The quality of the drives in an external enclousre are better than what IBM offers especially if you want a DVD burner. IBM uses crappy Panasonic drives. If you you just need a combo drive, you can pick up a cheap modular one on eBay as well.

 

im looking for something in the price range of 3-5 hundred. Any ideas on where to start?

 

I think you had the right idea with the one on ebay although maybe not that exact one.