ThinkPad is for me

[Tõnis]

I can't imagine any reason (other than lack of availability) why I would ever buy any other notebook computer besides a ThinkPad. Many people complain about the way Thinkpads look, but I think my R61 looks great. Even the "bezel" people grumble about is all right by me. Trackpoint, touch pad, Think light, Ultrabay, roll cage, Bluetooth, 4-in-1 card slot, wireless on-off switch, not one, but two long-life, 9-cell batteries -- Lenovo ThinkPad is the clear choice for me.

As for software, I love the hotkey functions, especially Fn+F3, which I use to shut the screen off at my whim. I also like to use Fn+F8 to enable the Trackpoint, touch pad, or both depending on my mood, and Fn+F5 to separately control the wireless radios. I also have the ThinkVantage suite set up to my liking. Power Manager is fantastic for maximizing battery life, and, since I use my ThinkPad in my van, having Active Protection enabled can't hurt.

I do use Access Connections, and I'm generally satisfied with it, but I think it's ridiculous that it doesn't have a software "off" switch. The reason being, I use a Sprint Novatel U727 USB modem (which has its own connection manager) when I'm on the road. I find that even if no Access Connections profiles are in use or connected, and the wireless LAN radio is off, AcSvc.exe will occasionally spike the processor to 50% when I disconnect the USB modem or when the com comes out of standby. I know this has been discussed at length in other topics, but I'm just pointing it out here because it's one of my few gripes. The other one is buggy Thinkvantage software behavior (on occasion) when switching Windows users. As a workaround to the first problem, I usually keep Task Manager in the tray, and I keep an eye on it. If I see the CPU spiked at around 50% while I'm using the USB modem, I just kill AcSvc.exe and the processor use comes back down to a reasonable level.

Because of all the pros and the few cons described above, I give "Thinky" an overall rating of 99%.

[Mike Blake]

Words of wisdom from the legendary
town in Rhode Island once called
"the Square Mile of Smiles."