The Laptop Thread (ThinkPads with Accelerometers, G4 PowerBook)

[-Jrabbit]

This machine was recommended by my company's IT dept. It's basically a T40 in a 12" screen setup, Centrino powered, identical software load, etc. Two USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire port, Wi-Fi. Very slender and compact, just 3.5 pounds, seemingly everything you would want. As you'd expect, no room for a touchpad or calc keypad, but so what.

The problem is that this beautiful little machine does not include enough space for the CD-RW/DVD drive I need (despite IBM and CDW online suggestions to the contrary). But nnnooooooo... The drive has to be housed in a separate base unit that doubles the height of the machine and adds 2 full pounds to its heft.

OK, so it's not quite so light and compact as I'd hoped, but the footprint's the same and I'm manly enough to carry 5.5 pounds around. So despite the inconvenience of the disc drive, I decided to get it anyway.

But here's the kicker, the thing that put me over the edge.

Most of my PC work is in the office. To use a laptop there, we employ a separate monitor and keyboard. To avoid plugging/unplugging all the connections (T1, mouse, monitor, keyboard, and power) every time you take it home (which is, of course, the whole point of having a laptop), it snaps into a docking station housing all those connections.

When you do that with the (X31 + disc drive base), it turns out that, again, YOU DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE CD DRIVE!!!!! Instead, you have to physically remove the drive from the base unit and slot it into a port on the docking station.

AAAAARRRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!

Thus, IBM requires a corporate X31 user to constantly change connections, or to constantly remove and replace the disc drive. All that physical change inevitably means that the mechanics will wear prematurely. Pin connections, drive slot, whatever -- something will go before its time.

The whole point of laptops is portability and convenience. The design of the X31 dictates little of the former, and even less of the latter.

So I gave it back to IT and told them to get me a T40. It's not that much bigger and makes none of the mechanical compromises of the X31. It's faster. Same battery life. It's even lighter than the (X31 + stupid baseplate drive). Plus you get a bigger screen and a touchpad.

I hope to have it by end of week...

[Zopperoni]

Dang, that sucks. Good thing you can change to a T40 now.

[-Jrabbit]

Yeah, I'd hate to make this mistake on my own dime. Still, it's frustrating. I know the T40 is in stock, and yet my replacement unit has not shown up after a week.

Unfortunately, making this ill-fated recommendation was a very public misstep for our IT group, and I think they're PO'd about it. The delay seems to indicate that they may be taking out their frustration on me.

(sigh)

[Atahualpa]

Is a T40 really all that good???

14" with XGA and Radeon Mobility 7500 seem quite outdated to me.
Whats with HP nx7000 ? They have good specs and arent too expensive.
Or everyone I know is praising Acer's Travelmate 800 Series. What about them?

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Asher

This is all made up! None of it is real...

Some of it is made up. For example, the guy in your last post could take it back and have it repaired for free or get a new unit - again for free.

What's also made up is the implication that this is a problem with all the powerbooks. It isn't - it's affected a few people. I should know, when there is a real problem with an Apple product you get a lot more complaints than I've seen around.

But hell, when you can exaggerate, why not?

It's a worldwide conspiracy against Apple!

No, it's an inadequate loser from Calgary who feels the need to bend the truth. You've been caught out in numerous lies now.

[Atahualpa]

Agathon, people are driven by believes and they believe what they want to believe and if Asher believes what he believes is what he wants to believe then actually this is quite normal

Believe it or not!!

[laurentius]

It's in the air...the smell of shameless self promotion
Last days have been really smelly here at OT with Slowwhands thread et all. I think it has something to do with the general arrival of autoumn blue and colder weather. Anywway I thought joining the club aussi. So consider these pictures 100% pure shameless self-promotion and ego tripping

desktop

some pictures taken with my phone

listening to music enjoying the visualisations
enjoying the train ride
in hotel lobby
in hotel lobby lid closed
on my desk couple minutes ago
on my desk couple minutes ago lid closed

[Az]

Shame on you people, for badmouthing eachother because of computers. Shame on you.

[-Jrabbit]

Originally posted by Atahualpa
Is a T40 really all that good???

It doesn't matter when you're in the thrall of a corporate IT dept. They will only support a few laptop models, and our CEO likes his thinkpad, so we're pretty much IBM-centric here.

Mind, the just-approved T40 is a huge upgrade from the 4-year old Toshiba laptops most folks here are saddled with. I never came close to convincing them to get something even remotely sexy. When I suggested Vaio, they just rolled their eyes.

So the T40 looks pretty good to me.

BTW, laurentius -- I like that desktop screen.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Atahualpa
Agathon, people are driven by believes and they believe what they want to believe and if Asher believes what he believes is what he wants to believe then actually this is quite normal

Believe it or not!!

Not everyone is like this. Part of the value of discussion is that people can learn things from each other. This requires a basic honesty on the part of the discussants. I don't see the point of it if some people are deliberately going to lie or play fast with the facts to score points.

[Drake Tungsten]

Not everyone is like this. Part of the value of discussion is that people can learn things from each other. This requires a basic honesty on the part of the discussants. I don't see the point of it if some people are deliberately going to lie or play fast with the facts to score points.

Well said.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Atahualpa
Is a T40 really all that good???

14" with XGA and Radeon Mobility 7500 seem quite outdated to me.

That's only one of the models.

You can get a 1400x1154 screen with a Radeon Mobility 9000 as well, and the line is going to be updated again once the new Dothan Centrinos come out.

It's not meant to be a powerhouse, nor a gaming laptop. It's meant to be a sturdy, reliable, fast, and long-lasting laptop in a small package.

It's actually a business-class notebook.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Some of it is made up. For example, the guy in your last post could take it back and have it repaired for free or get a new unit - again for free.

Did you intentionally miss the part of the post where he mentions that's precisely what he was going to do the next day, or are your reading comprehension skills not up to par?

Further, how does this make him a liar?

As someone who consistently says other people lie, exaggerate, and bend the truth, you seem to be doing an awful lot of that yourself.

What's also made up is the implication that this is a problem with all the powerbooks.

The implication is quality control must have a serious issue if after such a limited distribution after such a limited time it's all over the internet -- even the review unit they sent one of the biggest hardware sites is ripe with problems.

Not to mention, the reviews not only are critical of the quality but many of the design features.

No, it's an inadequate loser from Calgary who feels the need to bend the truth. You've been caught out in numerous lies now.

WHAT lies? This is about the 12th time you and Drake have both accused this, and neither of you seem to be willing to back it up.

Are you hoping that by repeating it enough you can get people to believe it?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Not everyone is like this. Part of the value of discussion is that people can learn things from each other. This requires a basic honesty on the part of the discussants. I don't see the point of it if some people are deliberately going to lie or play fast with the facts to score points.

How can we have a discussion when all you do is add obvious rhetoric like "they're not all like that!" and "you're a liar!".

You've consistently done nothing but troll and flame in these threads, never once providing counter-examples or evidence or even logic and reason.

All you do is denounce and insult, then have Drake come up behind you and reword what you've said with the occasional thrown in for variety.

It's time to rethink your strategy.

[Brundlefly]

Originally posted by Asher

How can we have a discussion when all you do is add obvious rhetoric like "they're not all like that!" and "you're a liar!".

How dare he take your traditional argument position in threads on this board?!

You've consistently done nothing but troll and flame in these threads, never once providing counter-examples or evidence or even logic and reason.

All you do is denounce and insult,

Are you looking in the mirror as you write this? I could not have given a better description of your behavior on these boards myself.

It's time to rethink your strategy.

And your strategy of taking psych drugs and a d*** in the a** has been effective? Thats the example we should follow?

[Q Classic]

quiet, the lot of you.

let the market decide.

[Asher]

Good idea, Q Cubed.
/me checks marketshare numbers.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Feephi
How dare he take your traditional argument position in threads on this board?!

When have I called him a liar?
And I actually back up what I say, with links and first-hand accounts of the products in question.

And your strategy of taking psych drugs and a d*** in the a** has been effective? Thats the example we should follow?

Your obsession with my being gay disturbs me.

[laurentius]

Yeah! Ashers apparent Gayness has nothing to do with this thread, nor does the fact that I still don't get hard on just by reading these threads. So Feephi stop picking on peoples personal..um orientations...damn narrowminded heterosexuals

[Imran Siddiqui]

However, usually Asher does beat the Apple side of the argument. If he didn't lump in bad sarcasm, cheap insults, and etc. failures, he'd probably be a lot more convincing.

That's true. It's fun to see a trainwreck (ie, these threads) sometimes .

[MattH]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Quote:

However, usually Asher does beat the Apple side of the argument. If he didn't lump in bad sarcasm, cheap insults, and etc. failures, he'd probably be a lot more convincing.

That's true. It's fun to see a trainwreck (ie, these threads) sometimes .

I only read them for their natural humor value .

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

Quote:

However, usually Asher does beat the Apple side of the argument. If he didn't lump in bad sarcasm, cheap insults, and etc. failures, he'd probably be a lot more convincing.

That's true. It's fun to see a trainwreck (ie, these threads) sometimes .

Only if you believe that making up the "facts" constitutes winning an argument.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I haven't seen you guys contradict them in anyway.

[MattH]

Originally posted by Agathon
Only if you believe that making up the "facts" constitutes winning an argument.

Sorry, I didn't read the quote closley enough. I'm not picking sides, just watching and giggling.

P.S. I enjoy using both macs and pc's, what others dislike about them will not change my mind.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I haven't seen you guys contradict them in anyway.

I don't even see how he can think I'm making them up when I've linked to many sources for it...

And then it makes matters worse for him when he doesn't even try to contradict them, simply calling anyone who has something negative to say about Apple's quality control as a liar, then plugging his ears and shrieking "lalala, I can't hear you..."

[MattH]

Originally posted by Asher

I don't even see how he can think I'm making them up when I've linked to many sources for it...

And then it makes matters worse for him when he doesn't even try to contradict them, simply calling anyone who has something negative to say about Apple's quality control as a liar, then plugging his ears and shrieking "lalala, I can't hear you..."

*cough* truth *cough* Let's see some proof, you guys!

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
I haven't seen you guys contradict them in anyway.

How can you contradict a fact?

Or more importantly how can you contradict something that is mere rumour, unproven, exaggeration, or cribbed from a blatantly anti-Apple source, short of pointing out these facts.

I mean, I'm sitting here doing things on my computer that he's told me I can't do. That's not just me, but other Apolyton mac users as well. Ask Drake or Monolith, they realized this long ago. As Drake said, he makes stuff up.

And, if you find something that does contradict his earlier statements he flagrantly lies about them. That's why he's staying on ignore for the foreseeable future. He's almost as bad as the other person I have on ignore, who refused to concede that so-and-so said something even after I provided him with high quality streaming video of so-and-so actually saying it.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by MattH

*cough* truth *cough* Let's see some proof, you guys!

What kind of proof do you want. According to Asher, the new powerbooks are a mess and almost all of them suffer from horrible problems.

It turns out that the latch on a few of them doesn't work properly, but if you take it to the store they will fix it in 5 mins. A few people have also had screen problems. This is quite normal with a new product and you are entitled to a free replacement within the first 10 days. Why make it the end of the world then?

Since I often look around mac websites and know when there are really big problems because of the volume of posts, and that hasn't happened this time, I assume that it's a relatively small problem.

Also according to Asher, your purchased itunes music will automatically delete forever if you move out of the US. Yet Drake is happily sitting in Japan playing his (which have mysteriously escaped this satanic deletion) and I haven't seen a massive outcry from mac users about it. What am I supposed to believe?

I mean, who the **** cares? It's clear that some people have had problems, but it doesn't mean that every Apple product you buy will explode - it means a few people have had problems, which always happens no matter what you buy.

That's all I have to say. As I remarked before, these debates would be interesting if people behaved honestly, but that hasn't happened.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
What kind of proof do you want. According to Asher, the new powerbooks are a mess and almost all of them suffer from horrible problems.

Please.
When did I ever say almost all of them suffer horrible problems?

Also according to Asher, your purchased itunes music will automatically delete forever if you move out of the US. Yet Drake is happily sitting in Japan playing his (which have mysteriously escaped this satanic deletion) and I haven't seen a massive outcry from mac users about it. What am I supposed to believe?

According to APPLE and the person who was affected, this did happen. Obviously, things change over time -- I've provided you several links to back this up, so how can you claim I am "lying"?

Apple has removed that "feature" from iTunes due to the backlash that the media coverage gave Apple when it was discovered the music files were deleted when you changed your regions.

Apple has changed it, it doesn't make what I said a lie, particularly when it did happen.

That's all I have to say. As I remarked before, these debates would be interesting if people behaved honestly, but that hasn't happened.

We have you to blame for that, you never -- ever -- contribute anything of substance to tech threads like this. You blindly follow Apple, set up strawman arguments left and right, and resort to ad hominems because you can't do any better.

As Drake said, he makes stuff up.

I did NOT make this up, as any fool with a web browser can see! The irony here is killing me, here you are making stuff up about me making stuff up.

http://politechbot.com/p-04993.html

It is quite sad that this is all you can do. You can't deal with the subject matter so you resort ad hominems by claiming I make things up and lie all the time, and then the only backing you have of this is claiming I make up the fact that iTunes deleted a user's files when she moved to Canada. Yet I've provided links online to first-hand accounts of this online, which I clearly did not write, and you still insist that I "made it up".

And if you're going to assert that I'm making things up in this thread, you have to at least throw me a frickin' bone and tell me what I'm making up, then refute it.

You need some help, Agathon.

[Atahualpa]

bahh people this whole performance story doesnt matter at all
Because I am posting here on apolyton right here right now from the most crappiest of all laptops


okay it is not muahahaha but who cares

for purpose of posting on apolyton everything faster than a celly is good enough
err wait I mean a celly is already fast enough
oh well
oh boy