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Build:
Outstanding. Minimal flex where chassis/roll cage gets thin on edges (i.e. card slots & optical drive but it's nothing significant. The rest of the chassis and body are very rigid and solid (feeling and actual). I've pressed all over this thing with my thumb and there's only a couple of places where anything gives (upper left had corner of keyboard, left palm, etc.) but again, i'm really pushin and being picky.
It's the small funtional things that really get you about this machine. The underside drain holes in addition to the one up top on the left hand side. The way the the LCD fits tight against the base when closed but has a nice "lifted" look when open (being set off from the base). The way the keyboard almost has it's own "pit" with sloped edges all around it (the ESC key is REALLY cool).
Off Topic: One thing I found VERY interesting is that the plug on the AC adapter is not grounded...it shocked me, really. It's just a two prong plug...really!
Anyway, weight is nice (IMO) and seems evenly distributed. However, if I had to give an advantage to one half, it would be the top (lcd) part. It's REALLY solid feeling and has absolutely minimal flex.
Input & ergonomics:
Keyboard is just delightful. The way it tacts is better than any desktop I've used. And the large industrial looking letters almost glow in low light with the light from the lcd (and the thinklight). It looks really cool. Also, I'm not used to such a nice keyboard but I'm getting there (used to) real quick.
Trackpoint is nice. I'm not used to it but I won't be disabling it like I always did on my dell units. It seems nice enough to keep open as an option.
Trackpad is great. i don't care what any of you say, I've had oversized trackpads for years and this one is frickin' GREAT! Nice and compact. Not too easy to hit with your palm and the buttons (for both track point/pad but particularly pad imo) have very professional and smooth action. Again, not used to such generous travel on mobile input devices. It'll be a nice change.
General feel:
I guess this kinda goes with build but in a more esthetic way. The rubber paint is a real joy. In fact, I wish they'd used more. The way the lcd closes and opens with one hand is really smooth. One can almost pretend it's pnuematic if one wanted to...
Plastic on palmrest is a bit thin but not to the point of feeling chinsey or cheap. If anything, there are a few places (i.e. back of lcd when closed, left palm rest) where it's easy to feel the small space between the plastic (oh, sorry, um, carbon composite) and the roll cage chassis. It's actually pretty cool IMO. The point is, unlike most other lappy's, the outer case or body is NOT relied upon to hold anything together. It seems this machine was built from the inside out. NOT the other way around.
