I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?


Sorry, I am not. Just used a new Lenovo at a client which is ok but the
plastic case appears too flimsy for my taste.


Alternates?


I've got the predecessor (D14RA) of this one:
http://usa.twinhead.com/PRO/D14RY/

Absolutely love it, so far. But it is certainly not light and it may not
have enough horsepower for what you need. Although mine finished every
compile run about 30% faster than all the others during a Cypress
session. What I really liked was that it came with some non-announced
goodies such as an RS232 port.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

John

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

John

Do they come in a light-weight version?

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:56:45 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

John

Do they come in a light-weight version?

...Jim Thompson

Mine is the midweight version, about 4 pounds, but it has a 4+ hour
battery life, enough to watch a DVD and get some work done on a plane.
I got it a couple years ago for about $1400, but they're cheaper and
have bigger screens now. They have a really light version, but it's
more expensive.

John

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...6 320&x=0&y=0

HP's nc6320 series is still available at NewEgg with XP Pro. Not as
petite as a Vaio but shouldn't make your arm grow longer with carrying
it, either. A possible plus is that they include actual "legacy"
parallel and serial ports in addition to the newer stuff like WiFi,
Bluetooth, USB, Firewire, etc.

This may be about the end of that model series; used to be several
more on the higher- and lower-end. If you'd prefer an XP machine,
you'd better hustle.

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.


Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

--
Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

Graham

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson


Factory floor, engineering test lab perspective... get a tablet PC with
a touch screen input capacity.

Business, sales, design engineering... get a wide screen wi fi/
blutooth capable CAD station type laptop.

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

**** Sony.

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:56:45 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

John

Do they come in a light-weight version?

...Jim Thompson

Things are actually getting bigger and heavier as screen sizes get
larger.

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:30:32 GMT, Eeyore
wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

Graham


Yes... I too think he is full of ****.

He could be thinking of one brand, but most makers make one line of
gear for any given form factor, mini, notebook, laptop, etc.

Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

There is definitely a wide variation in the quality (cost / reliability
trade-off) between different laptops. I don't know the best way to
identify the good ones prior to purchase.


Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

Graham


Batteries for one thing - Mine has a battery pack that is supposed to have 8
cells in it, but actually it is the "consumer" version that has six real
cells and two plastic cylinders that have no electrical function but look
approximately like lithium cells. Of course to get the same power out of
the battery, the cells get run at higher current and will fail when the
series resistance reaches a lower value that wouldn't have stopped the
8-cell version from working.

If you will use the laptop for long periods in a place where AC power is
available then I strongly recommend getting a laptop which will run off the
AC adapter with no battery fitted and which allows the battery to be
removed easily (mine requires a screwdriver). If you take out the battery
then you can avoid cooking the battery at 50 degrees C (which is the
temperature reported by my hard drive if I take the home made fan tray out
from under my laptop.) My battery pack is dead now but I don't feel like
paying another hundred pounds ($200) for a new pack that won't get used
many times and will get killed by the heat in another year or so. I'd
rather get / build a 12V to 20V inverter and run the thing off a lead acid
battery - much cheaper and won't get cooked.

Chris

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson

I migrated from a Thinkpad X31 to a X40 last year. For travel the X40 is
great, light weight and small. Plus, when that clown in front of me has
his seat slammed into my knees I can still use the laptop. Granted the
screen and keyboard are small, but sufficient for doing email and such on
the road. At home I just plug into the docking station with a full size
keyboard and 20in monitor. The thing is pretty rugged, been on a lot of
flights, dropped, kicked around and still works fine.

The down side is the lack of built in CD. I dont find that a
real problem anymore but 2GB+ usb sticks. I have the Ultrabase but I
dont use it much, just takes up room in my case.

Joe in TX.



--
Joe Chisolm
Marble Falls, TX

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:36:31 -0500, Joe Chisolm
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson

I migrated from a Thinkpad X31 to a X40 last year. For travel the X40 is
great, light weight and small. Plus, when that clown in front of me has
his seat slammed into my knees I can still use the laptop. Granted the
screen and keyboard are small, but sufficient for doing email and such on
the road. At home I just plug into the docking station with a full size
keyboard and 20in monitor. The thing is pretty rugged, been on a lot of
flights, dropped, kicked around and still works fine.

The down side is the lack of built in CD. I dont find that a
real problem anymore but 2GB+ usb sticks. I have the Ultrabase but I
dont use it much, just takes up room in my case.

Joe in TX.

Joe, Is the Ultrabase a docking station? Or what name does the
docking station go by?

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy.
Bad design practise of critical components like the motherboard result
in timing errors and thermal problems (crashes / strange behaviour).
Also a lot of stuff is handled by the CPU which makes the system
slower than it ought to be. Support is lacking and drivers are hardly
tested.

--
Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:44:05 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:36:31 -0500, Joe Chisolm wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson

I migrated from a Thinkpad X31 to a X40 last year. For travel the X40 is
great, light weight and small. Plus, when that clown in front of me has
his seat slammed into my knees I can still use the laptop. Granted the
screen and keyboard are small, but sufficient for doing email and such on
the road. At home I just plug into the docking station with a full size
keyboard and 20in monitor. The thing is pretty rugged, been on a lot of
flights, dropped, kicked around and still works fine.

The down side is the lack of built in CD. I dont find that a real
problem anymore but 2GB+ usb sticks. I have the Ultrabase but I dont use
it much, just takes up room in my case.

Joe in TX.

Joe, Is the Ultrabase a docking station? Or what name does the docking
station go by?

...Jim Thompson
Jim,
The Ultrabase could also be a docking station. I wound up with
both the X4 Dock docking station and the Ultrabase. Simply because of
desk space issues, I have my docking station under a monitor stand. The
way the X40 snaps into the Utrabase is a front catch and then snap down
the back. So the only way to put it on or take it off is to pull the base
completely out from under the monitor stand. With the X4 Dock, it's more
of a true docking station with a simple slide in push down operation. The
Ultrabase has the same port expansion as the X4 Dock, 3 USB, Ethernet,
modem, serial, parallel, video and the DVD drive.

When I know I'm going to be on the road for a couple of weeks or more
I take the Ultrabase with me, just in case I need to read a CD. I'm a big
fan of smaller is better these days. I'm too damn tired and have too many
miles on my butt to be hauling a bunch of heavy stuff through airports. I
have a small laptop case that fits easily under the "seat in front of
me" and a carry-on luggage that fits straight on into the overhead.

--
Joe Chisolm
Marble Falls, TX

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:40:09 -0500, Joe Chisolm
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:44:05 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:36:31 -0500, Joe Chisolm wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson

I migrated from a Thinkpad X31 to a X40 last year. For travel the X40 is
great, light weight and small. Plus, when that clown in front of me has
his seat slammed into my knees I can still use the laptop. Granted the
screen and keyboard are small, but sufficient for doing email and such on
the road. At home I just plug into the docking station with a full size
keyboard and 20in monitor. The thing is pretty rugged, been on a lot of
flights, dropped, kicked around and still works fine.

The down side is the lack of built in CD. I dont find that a real
problem anymore but 2GB+ usb sticks. I have the Ultrabase but I dont use
it much, just takes up room in my case.

Joe in TX.

Joe, Is the Ultrabase a docking station? Or what name does the docking
station go by?

...Jim Thompson
Jim,
The Ultrabase could also be a docking station. I wound up with
both the X4 Dock docking station and the Ultrabase. Simply because of
desk space issues, I have my docking station under a monitor stand. The
way the X40 snaps into the Utrabase is a front catch and then snap down
the back. So the only way to put it on or take it off is to pull the base
completely out from under the monitor stand. With the X4 Dock, it's more
of a true docking station with a simple slide in push down operation. The
Ultrabase has the same port expansion as the X4 Dock, 3 USB, Ethernet,
modem, serial, parallel, video and the DVD drive.

When I know I'm going to be on the road for a couple of weeks or more
I take the Ultrabase with me, just in case I need to read a CD. I'm a big
fan of smaller is better these days. I'm too damn tired and have too many
miles on my butt to be hauling a bunch of heavy stuff through airports. I
have a small laptop case that fits easily under the "seat in front of
me" and a carry-on luggage that fits straight on into the overhead.

The Lenovo site is obscure, so I can't tell whether/what
Ultrabase/Docking-Station will support external mouse and keyboard.

I like external mouse/keyboard, so I can run the notebook via my KVM
switch when home.

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:30:32 GMT, Eeyore
wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

Graham

The guys I worked with always found the IBM laptops to be more rugged
than other brands. These are folks who spend 25%+ of a year on travel
to unpleasant places on the globe.

---
Mark

Nico Coesel wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy.

Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS,
CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ?

Where can I buy them ?

Why would I want to ?

Graham

qrk wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
Nico Coesel wrote:
Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?


The guys I worked with always found the IBM laptops to be more rugged
than other brands. These are folks who spend 25%+ of a year on travel
to unpleasant places on the globe.

Rugged. Sure. Titanium shells etc.

Nico said most laptops are 'crappy'.

So, does Hitachi for example have a 'crappy' range of hard drives that are
cheaper than their others ? And how does one get a 'crappy' Intel or AMD CPU ?
Is someone selling them out the back door ?

Graham

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:35:44 -0700, JackShephard
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

**** Sony.

I prefer women, to be honest.

John

Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy.

Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS,
CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ?

Any manufacturor. This is a well known example from the automobile
industry: Mitsubishi and Hyundai both produced a van with an identical
diesel engine from Mitsibishi. Well, almost identical. The engine for
the Hyundai van (H100) was produced faster with less accuracy and
cheaper components. The Mitsubishi van (L200) used engines which where
produced slower and more accurate with more expensive parts. The end
result: the engine for the Hyundai usually didn't last 100kkm (62k
miles) while the engine used in the Mitsubishi vans easely lasted
300kkm (187k miles). Even though something comes out of the same
factory and looks the same doesn't mean it is the same quality.

It is like electronic components rated for commercial and industrial
temperature range. The design is the same, the die is the same, the
factory is the same, the packaging is the same and still the quality
(MTBF) is different.

Where can I buy them ?

Any computer shop around the corner.

Why would I want to ?

To 'save' money (NOT!). When I was still studying I made quite a lot
of money by taking the crappy parts out of people's computer and
replacing them with proper hardware in order to get a stable computer
system.

--
Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

Eeyore wrote:



qrk wrote:

Eeyore wrote:
Nico Coesel wrote:
Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?


The guys I worked with always found the IBM laptops to be more rugged
than other brands. These are folks who spend 25%+ of a year on travel
to unpleasant places on the globe.

Rugged. Sure. Titanium shells etc.

Nico said most laptops are 'crappy'.

You've either misread or misunderstood that part. I never stated most
laptops are crappy. I stated -based on experience- that the cheap
consumer grade laptops are crappy and are not suitable for any serious
use. HP, Dell, Sone, Toshiba and other A brands offer both consumer
and professional laptops which are clearly identified as such on their
websites.

--
Reply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.)
Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:47:21 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:35:44 -0700, JackShephard
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

**** Sony.

I prefer women, to be honest.

---
Sonya?


--
JF

Nico Coesel wrote:
Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:


Eeyore wrote:

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy.

Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS,
CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ?


Any manufacturor. This is a well known example from the automobile
industry: Mitsubishi and Hyundai both produced a van with an identical
diesel engine from Mitsibishi. Well, almost identical. The engine for
the Hyundai van (H100) was produced faster with less accuracy and
cheaper components. The Mitsubishi van (L200) used engines which where
produced slower and more accurate with more expensive parts. The end
result: the engine for the Hyundai usually didn't last 100kkm (62k
miles) while the engine used in the Mitsubishi vans easely lasted
300kkm (187k miles). Even though something comes out of the same
factory and looks the same doesn't mean it is the same quality.

Yeah, I know all about that. I owned a Summit Eagle wagon, Made for
Chrysler in the Mitsubishi plant using a Mitsubishi engine but sold
by a GM dealer. That was the agreement the Japs had with them ect..

Mitsubishi also made a wagon of the same exact style, along with the
one Chrysler sold them self's that was made in canada using a canadian
engine.(Colt Vista) or something like that.
The Canadian's engine was garbage and didn't last along with the body
rotting out. The Summit Eagle that I had suffered from bad things like
cheap interior body parts, cheap seat belt system that had to be
replace twice. bearing in the steering post had to be replaced twice due
to a plastic race instead of a metal on. etc....
Then the engine decided to start leaking oil (Head gasket), had that
replaced at 65k, 15k miles later, one day while starting it, it locks up
tight.! broke the starter head off in the fly wheel, they replaced it to
find a binding once in a while, I would noticed that periodically. They
dropped the cover to find a small fracture crack in the crank shaft in
the last bearing going out to the flywheel., after the mechanical looked
it all over which was very knowledgeable with Mitsubishi Engines. He
told me that the crank shaft looked like it came out of the next size
smaller engine that they make, the bearings on the
rods were not made of the usual metal etc....
In other words, it was a cheaply made 1.8 Litter Mitsubishi engine.

P.S.
In the Mitsubishi version of that same wagon, they don't use that
same engine.
how quaint..
I don't blame the Japanese, I blame the American businesses that got the
Japanese to make a cheaper car for them.


--
"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken"
Real Programmers Do things like this.
http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:44:05 -0500, the renowned John Fields
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:47:21 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 07:35:44 -0700, JackShephard
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 17:55:15 -0700, John Larkin
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?


A new Vaio!

**** Sony.

I prefer women, to be honest.

---
Sonya?

Note the "bow wave":
http://www.japannewbie.com/images/jo.../sonygirls.jpg

I just picked up a cheap Compaq consumer type laptop for a project
where I require a "transportable computer". I didn't really shop much
for it, just dropped into Best Buy an hour before closing.. a few
notes:

- HDD is of pretty decent size (160G), but despite a AMD Turion 64 X2
and 1G the machine is noticably slower than my 3 year old desktop
machine on most stuff.
- Most only come with 1G, which is pretty minimal. Some might
have the ram slots filled with low density modules, so you have
to buy 2G to get anothe 1G
- They all come with Vista only. It's a PITA (a real PITA), but
not quite as disasterous as it first seems.
- This one came with a 15.4" screen like most of the cheapish
ones, and only WXGA resolution, but I don't think my eyes are good
enough anymore for the same resolution on a 12" screen.
- a bit of a 'trick' .. all the machines on display have no
battery but when you get it home you find that the battery adds
almost an inch to the height at the back! (it sticks out so it
tilts the back up to a pleasant angle). So, it doesn't sit flat
in a briefcase. I guess maybe there's more battery life as a result.








Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

- They all come with Vista only.

Presumably that's why it's slow.

Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:30:11 GMT, the renowned Eeyore
wrote:



Spehro Pefhany wrote:

- They all come with Vista only.

Presumably that's why it's slow.

P.S.

I don't actually presume that at all. I think it's slow because the
HDD is only 5400 RPM, because the video is a cheap-ass integrated
'card' (probably 1/10 the speed of a modest desktop $300 card, let
alone a high end CAD or gaming video) (and I also suspect that 1G RAM
is not optimal). It's still plenty good enough to view EDA and CAD
files and do MS office type stuff. You'd have to be a masochist to
actually try to do any serious design work on a single 15.4" 1280 x
800 screen.

Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
For what it is worth do not expect XP to be all that much faster on the same
machine. win98 may not even run. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the
grease.
--
JosephKK
Gegen dummheit kampfen die Gotter Selbst, vergebens.Â*Â*
--Schiller

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:30:11 GMT, the renowned Eeyore
wrote:



Spehro Pefhany wrote:

- They all come with Vista only.

Presumably that's why it's slow.

Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham

1) Because I needed it immediately.

2) Because the choice was between that and OS/X,
which would probably have been even more of an issue.

I would have rather had XP-pro, for sure.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:30:11 GMT, the renowned Eeyore
wrote:



Spehro Pefhany wrote:

- They all come with Vista only.

Presumably that's why it's slow.

P.S.

I don't actually presume that at all. I think it's slow because the
HDD is only 5400 RPM, because the video is a cheap-ass integrated
'card' (probably 1/10 the speed of a modest desktop $300 card, let
alone a high end CAD or gaming video) (and I also suspect that 1G RAM
is not optimal). It's still plenty good enough to view EDA and CAD
files and do MS office type stuff. You'd have to be a masochist to
actually try to do any serious design work on a single 15.4" 1280 x
800 screen.

Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 11:47:07 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:40:09 -0500, Joe Chisolm wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 10:44:05 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 12:36:31 -0500, Joe Chisolm
wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:38:25 -0700, Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

Thanks!

...Jim Thompson

I migrated from a Thinkpad X31 to a X40 last year. For travel the X40
is great, light weight and small. Plus, when that clown in front of me
has his seat slammed into my knees I can still use the laptop. Granted
the screen and keyboard are small, but sufficient for doing email and
such on the road. At home I just plug into the docking station with a
full size keyboard and 20in monitor. The thing is pretty rugged, been
on a lot of flights, dropped, kicked around and still works fine.

The down side is the lack of built in CD. I dont find that a real
problem anymore but 2GB+ usb sticks. I have the Ultrabase but I dont
use it much, just takes up room in my case.

Joe in TX.

Joe, Is the Ultrabase a docking station? Or what name does the docking
station go by?

...Jim Thompson
Jim,
The Ultrabase could also be a docking station. I wound up with both the
X4 Dock docking station and the Ultrabase. Simply because of desk space
issues, I have my docking station under a monitor stand. The way the X40
snaps into the Utrabase is a front catch and then snap down the back. So
the only way to put it on or take it off is to pull the base completely
out from under the monitor stand. With the X4 Dock, it's more of a true
docking station with a simple slide in push down operation. The
Ultrabase has the same port expansion as the X4 Dock, 3 USB, Ethernet,
modem, serial, parallel, video and the DVD drive.

When I know I'm going to be on the road for a couple of weeks or more I
take the Ultrabase with me, just in case I need to read a CD. I'm a big
fan of smaller is better these days. I'm too damn tired and have too
many miles on my butt to be hauling a bunch of heavy stuff through
airports. I have a small laptop case that fits easily under the "seat in
front of me" and a carry-on luggage that fits straight on into the
overhead.

The Lenovo site is obscure, so I can't tell whether/what
Ultrabase/Docking-Station will support external mouse and keyboard.

I like external mouse/keyboard, so I can run the notebook via my KVM
switch when home.

...Jim Thompson

There is a PS2 connector on the back, but just one. I tried the PS2
Keyboard/Mouse Y cables but did not have much luck. I switched to a USB
mouse and keyboard with a Iogear KVM (4 port unit). One thing I noticed is
the BIOS on the X40 does not always recognize the USB keyboard on
boot. One day I'll dig around and see if there is a new BIOS flash. Just
means I cannot easily interrupt the boot sequence. I have a dual boot
setup for XP or Linux. Once the OS boots everything is fine.

BTW: Dont be fooled by the size of the keyboard. I have not had a problem
and I have pretty good size hands. Part of the reason I went with the X40
(and the X31 before) is there was no touch pad. I did not like the "feel"
of the keyboard with that area where the touch pad lives on most units.
Using the little red joy stick button is not an issue when I dont have a
mouse. Wifi works great. More than once I've stopped at the I-10 rest area
on the AZ side of Lordsburg to check my email

If most of your work on the road is going to be email or maybe hooking up
to a projector for a presentation, then the X40 is a great little unit.
If you are going to try and sit on a plane and do a Spice simulation, you
probably want something with a bigger screen.

--
Joe Chisolm
Marble Falls, TX - (after 28 years in PHX)

On 2007-06-17, Eeyore wrote:

Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS,
CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ?

dell, lenovo, toshiba ... most brands.

Where can I buy them ?

open the paper (or intarweb) see who's advertising the cheapest laptops.

Why would I want to ?

the cheapest laptops, not recommended.

Bye.
Jasen

On 2007-06-17, Eeyore wrote:

So, does Hitachi for example have a 'crappy' range of hard drives that are
cheaper than their others ?

many brands do.

And how does one get a 'crappy' Intel or AMD CPU ?

buy a cheap one and overclock it.

Bye.
Jasen

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 18:03:53 GMT, (Nico Coesel)
wrote:

Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for
professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo
consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer
that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional
version.

Would you care to elaborate on that ?

Just which components are different and what differences do they make ?

In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy.
Bad design practise of critical components like the motherboard result
in timing errors and thermal problems (crashes / strange behaviour).
Also a lot of stuff is handled by the CPU which makes the system
slower than it ought to be. Support is lacking and drivers are hardly
tested.

A year or two ago a signal integrity engineer at a major computer mfgr
(sorry forget which one) reported on the SI list that management
complained about the high cost of producing servers compared to
desktop computers - more design time, more motherboard layers, higher
parts count etc. So they put a bunch of their high-end desktop
computers in the server test chamber, where they are expected to run
server type data transfer tests continuosly for months while the
temperature is cycled, with no errors. All of the desktop machines
blue-screened within an hour, even before any temp cycle was started.
That was the end of the "make the servers cheaper" whining.

Consumer grade stuff is of course even worse.

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:30:11 GMT, Eeyore
wrote:


Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham

I wonder. Anyone know why searchfilterhost.exe would be wanting to
call out to Microsoft all the time? AFAIUI that's supposed to be
indexing all the stuff on my machine, not calling the mother ship...

Best regards
Spehro Pefhany

SP wrote:

Eeyore wrote:

Why did you buy a PC with Vista ?

Graham

I wonder. Anyone know why searchfilterhost.exe would be wanting to
call out to Microsoft all the time? AFAIUI that's supposed to be
indexing all the stuff on my machine, not calling the mother ship...

In another place, discussing Vista, I read it comes with a 'XP downgrade
license'. Maybe not with an OEM version but it might be worth checking.

Graham

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:44:25 -0700, Fred Abse
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 18:00:08 -0400, Jamie wrote:

1.8 Litter Mitsubishi engine

Freudian slip?

1.8L = A Bottle of Wine

4.5L = A Real Car ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens |
| Analog Innovations, Inc. | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona Voice480)460-2350 | |
| E-mail Address at Website Fax480)460-2142 | Brass Rat |
| http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:48:00 -0700, Jim Thompson
wrote:

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:44:25 -0700, Fred Abse
wrote:

On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 18:00:08 -0400, Jamie wrote:

1.8 Litter Mitsubishi engine

Freudian slip?

1.8L = A Bottle of Wine

4.5L = A Real Car ;-)



1.8 LITTER, as in how many kitties a cat has. Or kids in an average
household?

Jim Thompson wrote:
I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely
ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz).

Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook.

Anyone experienced with this product?

Alternates?

I bought a System76 Gazelle as part of my Big Linux Experiment. I'm
loving it so far (but then, I haven't tried running any Windows apps yet).

Oh, you probably didn't mean _that_ alternate, did you?

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html