Time to Upgrade

It is time. To upgrade.......Would like some thoughts on the newer Thinkpads or any thinkpad that meets my needs.

Currently I have an old A22 and A31. The A22 is dying a slow death and the A31 is going fast and strong, so I am leaning towards something that delivers the same as the 31 but more future proof.
I will keep my thoughts simple as I don't really fully understand the techie talk.

How I use my lapper.
1. web browsing 98% of the time (want pages to load fast),,several prgms open at once.
2. download a bunch of music for ipod
3. some pixs...load em from cellphone and e-mail them...not much storage of them
4. Lapper is generally moved from room to room sometimes outdoors, not much "pack it" to travel.
5. Some word processing, but not alot of files set up
6. Will probably start to use at the hotspots,,,ie starbucks,,etc.
7. battery life not that crucial,,,,pretty much always near an outlet.

What I would like in addition to what I have
a. firewire plug......for the ipod (would like to get rid of the card sticking out
b. internal wireless feature ..so I can do away with the microsoft nic card
c. super fast.........have up to max memory 2gb
d. screen color and all is not so much important,,,,,my A31's screen/video is fine,,not a gamer.
e. CD/DVD rom

So that about sums it,,,,,,,Main feature,,,super fast to browse quickly.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.....

 

I'm not really sure what exactly you need to "stay current" with. All you use your computer for is basic web use and word processing.

You didn't give any price point you'd like to stay at, but I'd recommend looking at a 14 inch T42 or T43.

Personally, I don't really see a need for the T60.

 

Thanks for the speedy reply......My A31 has 1 gb and I'm figuring 2gb should blow my mind (true, not????) with the speed. Also I would like to get rid of the cards sticking out of the side,,,why the internal features...... Price point $1500 or less......This new lapper would replace the a22. There is the constant fight between me, the wife and HS senior daughter for the A31....
Oh and one other thing, do the newly lapper get as hot. My a31 really makes the lap and knees sweat after 15 minutes or so.......

 

Getting an additional GB of mem will probably blow away.... a lot of cash!

Seriously, chances you'll ever use 'm for web browsing (without Vista) is around 0%

 

If you are doing a TON of multitasking or doing hardcore photoshop/design stuff, the jump to 2gb can make a big difference...but, if you're not, I don't think you'll see much difference at all. Meaning if you aren't maxing out the 1gb now, then having more than 1gig won't make much difference. I'm not an expert in this stuff, though. Regardless, any of the new thinkpads can take 2gb.

If weight and battery life aren't top priority, I think you should get a computer with a larger screen. That means a 15" T42, T43, or T60 (whichever is cheapest, which probably means t42), a Z60m, which is the 15.4" widescreen, or the lenovo 3000 n100, which is a 15.4" laptop that isn't a thinkpad, but you can get one with good specs for quite a bit cheaper. Your a31 uses a pentium 4 processor, which produces a lot of heat. All of the new laptops will run a lot cooler.

My recommendation is to get a z60m. Big screen, fast, good battery life. A problem with the T-series is that they don't have firewire ports, and I don't think the R-series has them either. Both the z- and n100 series do, though.

Here are some z60m's on sale, and here are some n100's on sale. n100's for price, but z60's for durabilty.

 

Jmmmmm, bingo, just what I'm searching for.......the 1gb vs 2.......What I am trying to improve on is, while listening to cd's,,,,browsing multi windows, the lag that occurs. Also if I happen to be using ad aware or spybot,,,,,,,this really slow s down browsing. Not sure if this is due to the malware programs or will additional memory improve on this.
Ok, your pointing me in the right direction.......

 

The R32 and one other Rx I have used both have firewire on them.

 

check your resource usage - sounds like you might need more processing power more than larger RAM.

does the Ipod need the 6-pin firewire for power? I don't think any thinkpads have 6-pin, some have 4-pin. not the T-series though.

 

network issues = double post

 

Do you have a budget? Perhaps a R52 would fit since weight and portable don't seem to be an issue.