X61 Tablet vs. Toshiba M400

[swaggoner]

Hi,

I'm on the verge of buying a tablet PC and I was looking at the X61 with SXGA+ and the best processor available as weight isn't such a priority for me (i.e. extended battery, ultrabase, etc), but dpi and processing power is. In my search, I was just about to order the X61 when they apparently stopped offering the SXGA+ screen (I see it is still on offer from CDW, etc, but....)

Anyway, this caused me to open my search parameter again and look at all the options and I am now down to deciding between a loaded XGA X61 and a loaded Portege M400. The pluses by the portege are that the DVD Writer is part of the main system, there is a nice desktop dock and most interesting, I can get a Core 2 Duo 7200-7600 processor.

I know we all have our favorites and obviously everyone here is in the Thinkpad camp, but I would like to know if there is any major gotchas with the Toshiba systems? I am currently using a T61 with 14.1" SXGA+ and the weight doesn't bother me at all, what bothers me is that I can't easily open the laptop on the plane without having to tip the monitor forward and sort of scrunch down to type.

Please don't start a flamewar over this one, I'm trying to be the good comparison shopper here.

Best regards,

-swag.

[pianowizard]

my search, I was just about to order the X61 when they apparently stopped offering the SXGA+ screen.

I couldn't believe you at first but I just went to Lenovo's American site and indeed they don't have the SXGA+ option any more. Does anyone know if it will be offered again in the future?

I know for sure that Asiafish has used the M400 and I think he likes it very much. If I were you, I would get it instead of the X60 tablet, especially if you like to have an internal optical drive. I should remind you that the M400 only has a touchpad, which is a problem for many people on this forum (not me though).

[swaggoner]

No, the touchpad only wouldn't bug me, either. I just noted that I used T61 and X61 in my original post. Of course, I meant to use T60 and X60, sorry for the confusion.

I think I will wait until I get a few more replies before making a decision.

I have had Thinkpads in the past break (through no fault of their own, of course) and have been impressed with both the speed and pricing of the thinkpad support as well as the ease of self repair on the thinkpads.

Of course, I have heard horror stories on the service from Sony, but had no issues with the VGN I had for the past two years, so I think I am pretty careful so could run the risk to get the right feature/formfactor mix.

[smvp6459]

Back when I was searching for a machine, the M400 and x41 tablet were on the top of my list. I couldn't find an M400 to try, but some of the complaints I read caused me to hesitate on buying it (this site has some of them: http://www.istartedsomething.com/200604 ... 400-lacks/ )

The X41 tablet I tried seemed well built, but hopelessly too slow. I'd imagine the X60t would take care of the slowness, but it might be a long wait before you get one.

In the end, I opted for the X60, which has worked well on all the planes (large and commuter) I've flown on.

[draco2527]

Hi,

I'm on the verge of buying a tablet PC and I was looking at the X61 with SXGA+ and the best processor available as weight isn't such a priority for me (i.e. extended battery, ultrabase, etc), but dpi and processing power is. In my search, I was just about to order the X61 when they apparently stopped offering the SXGA+ screen (I see it is still on offer from CDW, etc, but....)

Anyway, this caused me to open my search parameter again and look at all the options and I am now down to deciding between a loaded XGA X61 and a loaded Portege M400. The pluses by the portege are that the DVD Writer is part of the main system, there is a nice desktop dock and most interesting, I can get a Core 2 Duo 7200-7600 processor.

I know we all have our favorites and obviously everyone here is in the Thinkpad camp, but I would like to know if there is any major gotchas with the Toshiba systems? I am currently using a T61 with 14.1" SXGA+ and the weight doesn't bother me at all, what bothers me is that I can't easily open the laptop on the plane without having to tip the monitor forward and sort of scrunch down to type.

Please don't start a flamewar over this one, I'm trying to be the good comparison shopper here.

Best regards,

-swag.

I can only comment on the previous generations of both, and knowing toshiba more then likely the design of the LCD bezel has not changed between the M200 and the M400

On the X41 T the LCD display and "writing surface" are attached and "sealed" together this prevents DUST, ETC from making it UNDER the writing surface and INTO the surface of the LCD...something that happened A LOT with the M200, also the X41T has no special "skin" on the writing surface like the M200 did; this caused the surface to create bubbles in particular along the scrolling area (with pen) on the LCD. For me the X41T writing surface also feels smoother then the M200 as well as no " screen glitter" on the X41T

I am waiting on the X61T SXGA+ to be shipped on the 19th...so I am looking forward to it...

[centrex]

Do yourself a favor and stay away from the M400. I had one and got rid of it within 90 days of purchasing it.

Back then the X60 tablet wasn't out and I needed something with more grunt to replace the ridiculously slow X41 Tablet I had at the time.

The M400 is a joke. It's fat, it's ugly, it's build quality comes nowhere near Lenovo's Tablet. It feels like a cheap plastic dummy. Have you seen the size of the power supply for that thing ?

Do you realize that it has such a crappy BIOS, that you cannot attach an external USB 2.0 CD-ROM drive unless it is one of 3 models Toshiba have approved ? It's crap!

If you buy one make sure you have some sort of 30-day money back guarantee or you will regret.

I attached a Lenovo USB 2.0 DVD-burner to the M400 when it was running. It worked fine. I burned recovery DVDs with it. They created OK. I rebooted and tried to boot from the recovery media to initiate a restore and found that it flat out refuses to boot from it.

Hours of googling and dealing with Toshiba "support" confirmed that only Toshiba's own external DVD-burner plus one or two third party models will allow booting. Google it and see for yourself.

I never had any such issues with any external USB 2.0 DVD burner on Thinkpad T43p, T60p, X41t, X60 or X60 Tablet.

Do not buy Toshiba Tablet PCs!

I could go on and on forever. The fan is noisy, the machine gets too hot, the published battery life is totally over-stated whereas the Lenovo battery life is close to what they advertise etc. etc.

Did I mention yet? Do not buy Toshiba tablets!