Is the X300 right for me?

[Oliver26n]

I currently have a T400 with 9 cell battery. It's a great machine with tons of power, but I occasionally hunger for something a little smaller & lighter, especially on the road. I have a soft-top vehicle, so the laptop usually ends up coming with me on hikes too. I looked at the X200, but I really don't like the lack of a touchpad. I have a couple questions about the X300:


How bad is the battery life? Is 6 cells pretty much necessary for work away from a power receptacle? My power usage is usually: all wireless devices off, since I have a tethered blackberry for internet, brightness at max or near max, little use of optical drive, moderately heavy hard drive access.

Is the screen worse than the T400 LED backlit screen in terms of contrast and color?

With 2GB of RAM and the SSD, is it a decent machine for photo editing (large Photoshop files)?

Does anyone know if the new 5400rpm micro-sata hard drive will work in the X300?

Thanks for all your comments and help!