good x series

[Tasurinchi]

Yes, they do a good job cleaning up used machines in Akihabara

You bet they do... In many cases they looked brand new!

Very interesting information about IBM, thanks. I was 2008/2009 on business projects there and all Japanese-based consultants had either X61's or X60T's. I always felt ashamed every time I've pulled out my Dell D630 which compared to their TPs looked like an oversided, ugly, cheap, grey plastic brick.

My X41 is a souvenir from that project, bougth her in Den Den Town in Osaka. Even when much smaller than Akihabara still a Thinkpad paradise and a recommendation for every notebook/electronics/geek fan, (As in Akihabara, the best deals are in the side streets as well). My X41 was (and still is) in excelent condition, it looks brand new compared to the used R50, T40's and my X31 I bought here in Switzerland in the second hand market. The only annoying thing is the keyboard layout around the spacebar, where there are lots of (for westerners) unusefull keys (will put some pictures of it one of these days).

Cheers

Tasurinchi

[sjthinkpader]

The Den Den Town is getting a lot of competition from Yodobashi mega stores popping up in various places. But there are no other substitute for older used stuff. In smaller scale is the GuangWa market in Taipei and SumShuiPo in Hong Kong. If I fly out of Osaka, I will stop in Den Den town before heading to the airport.

It should be easy enough to get an English or French KB in Switzerland.

[Tasurinchi]

But there are no other substitute for older used stuff

Sure there's not. And it is much fun browsing the used stuff instead of the Yodobashi stores, not that they are not interesting, but the Den Den town is very special and in my experience not so crowded like Akihabara. There's also plenty of NEC's laptops for very cheap prices. If you are around Osaka a visit to Den Den Town is a MUST.

It should be easy enough to get an English or French KB in Switzerland.

Kind of easy yes, but very pricey. I've seen Ebay stores asking around 80 Euros for a keyboard. Considering what I paid for the X41 it makes no sense to invest that amount of money. I can get used to the tiny spacebar. X-Series are not so popular here as the T-Series. Original replacement parts for X3/X4/X6 models are rare and expensive.

(I have the impression in the US there are far more 12"/13" TP than here. For example, our company has a global contract with Dell, and my American colleagues have all 13" models, where we have almost only 14" models).

Cheers...

Tasurinchi

[sjthinkpader]

I have a few T4x/R5x 15 inch French KB here if you need one.

[Tasurinchi]

I have a few T4x/R5x 15 inch French KB here if you need one

So far only my X41 has a non-swiss keyboard, but thanks for the offer.

(Btw I would also prefer a Swiss German layout before the French one )