Thinkpad newbie (X230T) looking for advice.

Typing this on my brand spanking new X230T and I got to say I'm loving it.
This is my first ThinkPad and my first tablet/laptop convertible, so I am looking for advice/tips on how to get the most out of it.

A couple of things I'm wondering about:

• I'm scared about the screen, have any of you used protective covers for your tablets? I'm thinking about picking one up but was wondering how everyone else deals with the screen's constant exposure to fingers/the pen.
• I'm thinking about picking up an mSATA SSD for a boot drive to put Windows 7 and eventually Windows 8 on it to improve performance. Any recommendations or good offers going on right now? I live in Canada and would love to hear from my fellow Canucks about any offers!
• What are the best drawing/note-taking programs? I'm thinking about OneNote and some Corel thing for drawing. Also if you know of any good graphing applications (I have an economics class next year) I'd love to hear it.
• How does the battery life look like with the 6-cell? The 3-cell is alright for around the home use however I'm thinking of eventually buying a 6-cell and slice for travel and hardcore usage.

If you guys can give me any pointers/tips, be it on the topics stated above or just general things, please let me now and post below!
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If you're wondering about my impression on the X230T I'll give you that as well.

Keyboard is really nice for a laptop, this coming from someone who has previous experience with Lenbovo's older keyboards.

Only complaint so far is the trackpad, it feels a bit weird with the texture and the double depression buttons, you have like this dual stage click when you're clicking. However I'm liking the TrackPoint quite a bit so I think I'll probably convert to the glorious TrackPoint pretty soon and disable the trackpad.

Hardware wise it seems pretty sturdy, no build quality complaints at all.

The speakers are pretty decent and their placement under the screen makes sure they won't get muffled by my lap.

Got to say it's a pretty awesome tablet/laptop combo and I certainly can't wait for Windows 8.

 

If you're worried about it, get a screen protector. All it takes is a bit of sand or dirt under the stylus and you can get a scratch. There are a lot that don't use it and seem to be fine, but I use them so I don't need to be too cautious. Photodon and Exim make screen protectors that fit. Just choose the X220T model for the right size. I got the Photodon -- it's not bad, but they put their logo on it near the middle of one of the edges and it annoys me since I didn't know about it in advance. Most screen protectors have minimal if any effect on the multi-touch/digitizer from my experience.

OneNote is a great choice. For sketching, ArtRage is pretty good. It really takes advantage of the pressure sensitivity. It's not a replacement for Corel if you're more into designing. Photoshop also supports pressure sensitivity as long as you have the Wacom drivers.

 

Been using convertible tablets for almost five years now; I've never used any screen protection and it's never been a problem. Unless you are regularly using the laptop in some sort of extreme work environment, I'd think it'd be fine.

If you just want to take notes, Windows Journal does a good enough job for most things, unless there is some specific feature you want? For drawing I think it really comes down to personal preference.

From my brief experience with the x230t, the battery life should be comparable to that of the x220t, meaning you'll get about 8 hours of light browsing/word processing from the 6-Cell, and of course, about half from the 3-Cell.

 

I`m going to be using it in a university/home environment for work and play. I might consider getting a screen protector if I take it travelling however, as it might be in more danger.

I'm probably going to use OneNote as it has more advanced features that will come in handy in some classes, especially economics for graphing. Journal is alright, I've tried it out. Looking forward to trying to eliminate my usage of paper for everything (e-notes, PDF textbooks, etc.).

So far I'm getting about 2-3 hours with the 3-cell battery, however I still need to re-calibrate the gauge and after optimization I'm thinking I'll be able to get 3-4 hours. Still probably going to buy a 6 cell and slice, for travel and those days where I don't have time to charge. Just wondering, did your X220T have an SSD or a mechanical hard drive?

Yeah I saw the Photodon thing on JBA's review, pretty dumb product design IMO although I guess I could live with it. I guess I'll consider one however it's not on the top of my list as I'll usually take care of my baby pretty well.

 

If you're that concerned about damaging your X230t, get the accidental warranty. That way Lenovo will fix it regardless of how it's broken.