Originally Posted by
number_6
The screen resolution (and quality) is an important consideration. Each of the available screen choices has a difference and if you are picky then it matters a lot. My personal favourite is the original 1400x1050 display, which is gorgeous, but some people cannot stand it. Now I would only buy the 1200x1600 (or 1920 in widescreen)because I really need the screen real estate. For mobile use, the 15.4 inch is a lot bulkier than the 14.1 -- amazing the difference an inch makes.
I agree absolutely. I travel with a work Dell D610 (14.1" 1400x1050, non widescreen) and my Thinkpad T61 (15.4" 1600x1200); and previously have had a 14.1" 1400x1050 T42 and T43, and a 15" 1400x1050 R40.
I'm regretting buying the widescreen T61, although they do not offer 4:3 T61s in Australia any more (or at least not when I bought it): the bulk is just annoying and excessive. I don't get much additional value out of the width. I find 1400x1050 a small struggle on 14.1" screens, so for me my R40 was perfect.
Originally Posted by
number_6
As for the battery life comments on this thread, they are true for XP but less true for Vista. One of the big improvements in Vista is power management (much of it due to the new driver model), so some of the high power graphics mobile chipsets will run in low-power mode for "desktop" use. Doubles the battery life. Turning off Aero increases it even more. My new Vista notebook really surprised me with the increased battery life, it wasn't something I expected.
I haven't noticed a difference in battery life on my T61 when I had 1GB, 2GB, 3GB, or 4GB installed (it now has 3GB as I am running 32-bit Vista). Battery life in suspend might be
slightly shorter, but that's what hibernate is for.