wow.. good info. i didn't get the email saying someone replied
anyways. that's interesting to hear about the pentium M, because performance here is a pretty big issue. obviously i'm using some healthy apps... often times several at once. that's basically why i was looking into the 8500 with the p4 2.5. i've pretty much ruled out the g40, although it was attractive for the price.
having the slimmer series of the 600m dell or t40 are very promising. since i'd be traveling most likely a considerable amount, and depending a lot on wireless, those would both be pluses.
still not entirely ruled out the mac. took a look at my neighbor's ibook, and damn that thing is small! it had to be less than an inch thick, but it was the 12" screen model. very nice, sharp screen though. and its size was very nice. but, i don't think the ibook would be a viable solution. it'd have to be Ti or Al.
i'm still pretty much thinking about going pc though. i mean, my real reason only to go mac is basically to avoid microsoft. that's pretty much it, and the fact that mac lappys have really nice screens.
most of my _dependant_ software is cross-platform. macromedia studio, photoshop, that kinda stuff. the web programming stuff would probably come more naturally on a pc, but i could manage. although, there are 2 programs that i rely on pretty heavily, and would need a very good replacement. outlook and gaim. the only reason i have a real dependency on outlook is my contacts (which i could easily move anyway), and my email. i've been using outlook for a long time, and i have a lot of pretty important saved email. i'm talking like a 175mb .pst file. a lot of my work correspondance goes through email, and i need records of that stuff. also, there's gaim, which i've become exceptionally fond of, and since a lot of my work also goes through icq, it's very nice to have logs. both for recordkeeping and for reference for design specs and such. comes in very handy, and as well uses all 4 of my messenger clients in one very tidy program. i much prefer it over trillian, as well. for some reason i didn't like trillian.
back to hardware, i probably wouldn't go with the 600m, if i'm going to get something that big, i just as well go with the 8500. the 8500 is definitely probably the most robust, which is good from the standpoint that this is going to replace my desktop a good amount of time. and, the t40 of course is just a sweet machine, and i love ibms. one question for you ibm owners.. the site said they have dual pointing devices, does it have a touch pad as well, like the 8500? that's one of the main problems i have with the ibm, no touchpad
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pricewise they're all around the $3k mark, for top-line. and, the 8500 uses the 15.4 widescreen or whatever. i guess it's just a bit wider than the regular 15" or so.
obviously this is a fairly large descision. i could build a lot of desktop stuff for $3300. but, this is also a work dependency, so i want to make sure i make the right decision. so, want to have all my ducks in a row before i jump in. right now i'd say it's between the t40 and 8500, maybe leaning a little more towards the 8500.