Old or new X31?

[ishinryu]

I am about to buy my first pc notebook. I am very keen on the X31 in its old guise. The new one is lacking firewire which I need. The only way to get an old model is second-hand and I have spotted one with my name on it.

Mainly, it has a 1.3GHz cpu, 512Mb of RAM, 30Gb drive @4200rpm and 802.11b.

The new model has a 1.6Ghz cpu, 256Mb of RAM, 40Gb drive @????rpm and 802.11b too.

Both have 3 years warranty but the second-hand model has only 2 years left.

What else do I need to know before I dive in? Thanks.

[whizkid]

You need to know that all X31 have a FireWire port (at least the four for sale at IBM's US site do), as well as two USB 2.0 ports, one of which is powered. Go to the spec page for any X31 and look under parallel ports (oddly enough) and you'll see one IEEE1394 port, 4 pin. That's FireWire.

Also, from the ta(w)book, it looks like every X31 that had a 1.3GHz CPU came with a 20GB drive... but I think that book just covers standard models. It's just a little unusual.

[ishinryu]

I rang IBM Hong Kong yesterday and the bright spark on the phone said that "...they don't sell any notebooks with firewire". Guess whose first language is NOT English?
I had a look at the web site again this morning and after some digging found what you referred to.
Originally I went direct to the attractive looking special offers for the X31 but that had no link to specs. I then started from scratch ... notebooks - x31 - then click on the model number (taken from special offers page). Scroll down to "Expansion options" and yes next to "Parallel Port Type" it says "IEEE 1394".
Thanks for that. I think I'll give IBM HK an abusive call.
I am still looking for suggestions as to which model to go for.