Thinkpad T60 -vs- ASUS Z35F...FIGHT!

I'd really appreciate it if you could comment if you have seen both asus & thinkpad laptops before...or have used a transflective laptop screen outside. You could really help out with my decision a lot! ;-)

Here's the situation: I'm a student, and I've been looking at laptops forever, right? And I've virtually settled on 2 extremely good laptops, but it's too tricky for me to decide without being able to examine both of them side-by-side...instead, there is no store or person i know of in my hometown that has either a Thinkpad or an ASUS.

Let me just jump to my 4 overall options...which one would you pick and why?

1) $ 960 IBM Thinkpad T60 w/out Transflective screen
2) $1200 PortableOne SX w/out Transflective screen
3) $1360 IBM Thinkpad T60 with Transflective screen
4) $1600 PortableOne SX with Transflective screen

Pretty difficult choice for me considering I can't see either one of these in stores but will have to use this laptop for at least 3 more years...and i feel like the transflective screen is something I'd just have to see and test around with outside & fluorescent lighting. I just dunno.

Durability, build quality, screen quality, overall feel, & linux compatibility are prolly the largest factors for me but, I have never seen an ASUS laptop, so I have no sense in comparing the two different laptops.

What should I do, guys?

 

1) No thinkpads have glossy screens. Flexview screens are matte; they just have more vivid colors and better viewing angles than most other screens.

2) I don't have any experience with Asus, so I can't compare their build or feel, but I think that you can feel confident that the thinkpad will have great build quality and durability. I have heard thinkpads are very linux-friendly, but that's not something I've dealt with.

Can you give any more specs between the 4 computers? It's hard to go off the price alone.

 

Transflective screens can be added to any laptop apparently...they're the screens that can actually be used outside, even in direct sunlight. I think this is the only aspect of laptops that really needs improvement....but I'm on the line about whether it's actually worth $400. No I don't use my laptop outside everyday, but I would like to use it outside SOME day...I could never use my glossy screen outside, and flourescent lighting was a biznitch.

I do not doubt the Thinkpads at all...but I'm trying to find someone who's actually used both an ASUS and a Thinkpad. I'm really trying to find out if anybody's had any ISSUES with ASUS laptops at all, in terms of build quality, etc.

specs are virtually identical...this is why i'm asking strictly about build quality, linux compatibility, & overall value.

 

Lenovo won't look kindly on you swapping the screen on your ThinkPad in terms of your warranty. Then there is the question if you can get it work which I do not think is a forgone conclusion. If you want the transflective screen I would suggest getting the P1. Asus makes good machines with the Ensemble units being a bit better though I personally have not seen the Z35f.