Thinkpads Forum

I need (ok want!) a small computer for class. I'm a medical student, and all of my lectures and all of my studying is done on Power Point and Word (or Open Office for you Linux fans).

So all I do all day is Office work and a little bit of websurfing here and there.

I'd like to be able to watch some Divx files if thats possible on long trips.

I have a 17" widescreen HP (dv8000) that I am tired of dragging to class everyday!

I've been looking into the 240x and it seems perfect to take to class, follow along on the PowerPoint lectures and do some websurfing when I'm bored.

Can a 240x handle Divx files?

I've read all the posts about modding. So I'd add a mini-pci wireless card and more ram. And a faster & larger hard drive.

BUT, like everyone else, I've been intrigued by the s30. I have some friends in Asia who can get me one off eBay Japan. The 240z looks interesting too.

Overall, how does a 240x compaire to a s30. Performance wise, is a 600mhz s30 that much different than a 500mhz 240x?

The 240z just seems like a s30 in a 240 case, if that makes any sense?

Overall, the 240x can be had on US eBay for less than $200. getting parts (like batteries) does not seem to be a problem, nor expensive.

The s30 on the other hand, seems to be about $450, and certain parts like batteries can be only gotten overseas? and parts are expensive!

So...looks aside, rareity aside...how much better is the s30 than the 240x?
Same goes for the 240z. Is it really worth the hassel and expense to get one from Asia if all i will be doing is office?

Thanks for any replys.

The S30 would be a good computer to have but there just don't seem to be many going for a price that justifies the computing power you get. Value-wise, the 240X might have a better price/performance ratio. Still, the S30 does have a nice formfactor. The 240 would also be easier to acquire.

Personally, I think the best value would be in an X series. They are a good bit bigger than the 240 and S30 but they are still very portable and small. On the other hand though, my opinion may be off somewhat. I never really understood why the 600 series laptops were so sought after until I got my 600E.

For not much more than you'd pay to get a 240 up to a decent spec, you'd have an early X. And certainly for what'd you'd have to pay for the S30, you'd be able to have your pick of any number of X Series nicely equipped. The main negative is that the X would be bigger, but for somebody that's been toting around a DV8000, it would seem positively tiny. Get yourself one of the IBM portfolio cases and you'd be set! Also, those machines share many parts with the T and A series so the bigger supply makes them much cheaper to buy as well. That plus amenities in the later units such as built-in wireless make it almost a no brainer.

forget the 240x, it only have a 800 x 600 resolution display.

the S30 have a 1024 x 768 resolution.

so better to think about an S30 OR an X20...

or IBM i-series 1124 (PIII 500 mhz, 1024 x 768 10,4")

I managed to use mplayer on linux to play DivX/XVid/3Vix files on TP240(Celeron 400MHz) without delay(average cpu load ~ 85%, play local files) However nowadays for web surfing I would say cpu power is becoming more and more critical. I have a PIII500 TP240x too with 5400rpm hard drive which works a little better than the c400MHz but still I don't really think it's powerful enough for heavy web surfers. Besides the resolution issue. It's just not worth it to spend almost the same amount of money for 240x when you can get x20/x21 with faster cpu/better screen resolution.

Some TP240Z models have XGA (1024x768) resolution.