T41 - Fire GL / DVD-R ?

Hi guys,

I am in the market for a 'thin & light' desktop replacement, and have come across the T41p in my search.

I was hoping to get something with the below specs or simular:

P-M 1.7GHz, 512MB DDR RAM (333+), ATI 9600 or equivalent with 64 - 128MB RAM, 60GB 7200 RPM HDD, Combo or DVD-R Optical, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (preferably a/b/g), Minimum 14.1 SXGA screen, 5+ hour battery, Weight less than 2.5kg/6lb, Thickness less than 3cm/1.2inces.

The T41p seems to match most of these specs, however I noticed it comes with the 128MB Fire GL card - I was wondering if you guys could let me know some details on this card - from what I can gather it is targeted more to 3D work like CAD (of which I will be doing none) however, how would it hold up playing the odd game? Say F1 2004 or something like that?

Also, do you know of any DVD-R (IBM or aftermarket) drives that will fit in the Ultra-Slim bay? Or is there anyway to fit other IBM Ultrabay drives into the Ultra-slim? Is IBM likely to bring out a DVD-R for the Ultra-slim?

Any finally - What are the main competitor’s offerings to the T41p? Can you think of any other machines that might meet the above specs?

Thanks for you advise, its tough being a newbie in the laptop game, there’s soooo many options out there.

 

some competitors offerings:

HP Compaq nc6000
Fujitsu S6000 series
Inspiron 600m (kind of a stretch maybe)
Acer 3000
Toshiba Tecra M1
Gateway 450x

 

Whoops, sorry about the huge bump, had a whole post here, but then realized the thread was over a year old, that'll teach me to click the wrong link when entering the forum.