New IBM Website does not separate X as separate grouping!

[HarryWild]

I am hoping that that means they will incorporate the optical drive back into the notebook. It just adds 1/3 of a lb.; and the conveniences is more then worth the added weight. This is just a guess on my part so see the link and judge for yourself!

All other 12.1 inch notebooks that were introduced past August have the optical drive together: Dell 700m, Alienware Sentia, and Sony Viaos. From my short plane trip; their were alot of Dell 700ms and Viaos being used by business people in the WAGX format. I cannot help but to see IBM Thinkpad execs taking planes too and noticing it too and adjusting their configurations to the widescreen even it is thought of as a consumer item. A financial analyst was using a 700m and if she is using it; IBM cannot be to long before they copy the 700m design and placing it into the marketplace - with the new graphics chipset too!

By the way' she like it because she can see more of the Excel spreadsheet! So much for the square being strictly business.

Not only that all the screens have that "extra bright" coating so you can see it bright and from any angle. I don't think the current Thinkpads have incorporated this technology yet. It cost around $5.00 more which is really a lot in terms of component cost! But I think IBM can get away with it by marking the cost up an additional $500 per unit!

http://www.ibm.com/products/learn/actio ... =4&trac=L6

[monty cantsin]

I am hoping that that means they will incorporate the optical drive back into the notebook.

Can't follow your reasoning. However, my hope is that the X-Series will never have an optical drive built in. My point of view is that IBM should make the unit thinner or add battery run-time rather than waste space with such an integrated optical drive.

It just adds 1/3 of a lb.; and the conveniences is more then worth the added weight.

I almost never need an optical drive. So I find it much more convenient to leave it in the ultrabase. Simply looks like you're not the target customer for an X40, perhaps you should take a look at the T4* line then.

IBM cannot be to long before they copy the 700m design and placing it into the marketplace - with the new graphics chipset too!

The new, smaller form factor hard drive in the X40 was already a really big disappointment for me (and several others), but if IBM started to switch to a widescreen format (especially on the ultraportables), I would lose all my confidence in IBM. And the X40 is certainly no gaming-notebook or portable workstation either, so a much more energy-consuming 3D accelerator of the latest generation would run against the design goals. I think it would be nice, however, to have DVI with it.

[leesiulung]

I totally agree with monty cantsin. The X-series was never intended for high performance, but rather portability. I can't stand having an optical drive in my laptop when I use it once in a blue moon.

I want a laptop for portability, not as a desktop replacement. If so I would just get desktop, it is cheaper and more powerful. I do wish they did add a slightly more powerful graphics card in the X-series. Even in the X31, the ATI mobility card is outdated. Perhaps a ati radeon 9000 series...

I think the important thing to remember here is that IBM caters to business people, and most business people don't want a laptop for entertainmnet purposes etc...

However, the T series as monty cantsin mentioned is an excellent series and what ibm refers to as their flagship. It is light for what it packs and has integrated optical drive.

Of course all of this is subjective

[roblim]

Never had the need for an optical drive during the 3 years I owned an X22. Two days ago I received my new (refurb actually) X40. It came with the base/slice thing. I used the dvd/cdrw drive to install windows and my programs but after that the base went into the closet and it will probably stay there until i need to install something else.

The x40 is really a "less is more" laptop. i can understand why some would want certain features like a built in otical drive or firewire but at a certain point if you add so many of those features the X series starts to deviate from its intended design.

I guess I come from the opposite viewpoint- make it as small and light as possible but not so small that it is uncomfortable to use (keyboard exactly as it is and screen no less than 12"). Actually, I even think the sd card reader is pretty unnecessary and could go.

BTW, the X40 is a sweet machine. I had some reservations about its performance but now that i have it, it has not disappointed me at all. i'm not selling my x22 bec it has aged very well. It's funny, last night i was using it as a local coffee shop and a stranger leaned over and said, "wow, nice laptop". he was actually a mac user, so quite a compliment. You dont hear those comments about those 7 lb. dells or hp's- god are they ugly.

[mattfromomaha]

Agree with the three guys above me. The X should not have an optical bay - the weight is more than just the weight of the drive itself - there's a housing and additional cables, etc. Plus, having a drive in there sucks up juice, even if it's not spinning.

Personally, if you need an optical drive, use the UltraBase. Even with that in the computer is about the same size and lighter than my T30... Or, if you really need an optical drive built-in, buy a T series!

[LumberJack]

X series is an ultraportable. That's it. You don't need CD-Rom other than to install software. Externals are fine for the odball time. At the same time though I think that IBM may have crossed a line with the X40. To me it seems to small, too fragile, and too slow. Also, the use of non standard HD for example make it very unflexible.

I like the X31 because its small light, AND you can still crank out some power if you need.

I think I posted this before, but I think the ideal machine should be sized somewhere between X31 and X40, and any updates should be made just to the internals. and ofcourse the LCD

LJ

[devilsrejection]

anytime i need an optical bay i just hare my cdrom dirve in my desktop across the network.

works like a charm!

[verktyg]

I used external CD drives with all of my laptops until I bought a T20 with a 24x CD in 2000. A year or so later I picked up a CD-RW-DVD combo drive from Bill Morrow thinking I would use it a lot on the road and watch DVDs on long flights.

I never even set up the DVD software and only used the burner about 10 times.

I been using a Virtual CD program called CD Anywhere for map and reference programs that run off of CDs. This program unfortunately doesn't work with XP so I'm going to try a program called Alcohol52 instead. Also a lot of the newer versions of these kind of programs can be installed to the HDD which further reduces the need for a built in CD drive.