Widescreen Thinkpad - good idea?

I'm thinking of getting a widescreen Thinkpad since I'm entirely done with/upset with my Sony Vaio VGN. Things I think will be an improvement with the thinkpad: the keyboard, the lack of bloatware, the solid durability of the machine etc. I know I won't get as beautiful a screen, but I'm willing to sacrifice that.

Any models that people especially like out there? Any cons I should know about with those models/Thinkpad widescreen machines?

 

I just received a t61p 14". I like it. However, you should expect bloatware -- there is, after all, a sticky thread dedicated to a clean Windows install for Thinkpads.

I'm probably not very picky about it but I like the screen just fine. I'm not a big fan of a mirror-screen like the Sonys at BB all have. Coming from a CL56, anything was an upgrade.

I don't know a lot about the non-P line, but make sure you are familiar with the subtle differences between the sizes. The T61P 14" model is not widescreen and it does not have a Firewire port, whereas the 15" widescreen model does. Likewise, the smaller version does not have a 4-1 card reader. If you are looking for widescreen, a choice between T61p models is a foregone conclusion, but just remember that Lenovo doesn't really spell out all the I/O stuff and such on the ordering screens, so you'll have to dig deeper.

I preferred the smaller size over a couple of features I never use, but you may need such things in your computer.

 

I have a 15.4" widescreen T61p. Personally, I don't have a problem with the screen itself, there's some backlight bleed at the bottom, but in actual use it's not very noticeable (I have a Samsung panel).

There is some bloatware installed: Norton Internet Security, and a 60-day evaluation copy of Microsoft Office 2007. As washirv said, there's threads here for clean installs of both XP and Vista around here (made by Arkit3kt and stallen, respectively).

Personally, I like the larger size of the notebook. Even though it's not nearly as portable as it could be, it fits in my backpack nice and snug.

 

On T6x models with "missing" firewire and flash memory card readers--these ports can be very easily added via ExpressCard solutions.

 

Thanks to all for your concise and very helpful replies! I'm fine with bloatware so long as I can do a clean install. I think the Sony Core Duos just took the difficulty of doing a clean install a step further by partitioning the hard drive.

 

I have a 14.1 inch wide screen I am very happy with. I got the lower res as I hate small icons Dave

 

I've had both widescreen and non.

For larger screen sizes like 15" + I prefer widescreen. Less than that and I don't really mind either way. Resolution is more important

 

If you're looking to save a few hundred bucks I'm selling my Thinkpad, the link is in my signature.

My screen is the LG WUXGA model, which supposedly has better quality than that the Samsung's.

And like everyone else has stated, a clean install is a must .

 

Go with the 15.4" T61(p) with a nice WUXGA screen: 1920x1200px, if you want a desktop replacement or a workstation.

Or if you want something smaller, light and with BIG autonomy (11 hours), go with the X61 12 inches.