Looking into buying a Thinkpad...

[tse]

Hi, I have been a Mac user for the past 3 years. I recently sold my 15" MacBook Pro for $1,100 because I want to put it towards a new portable. The reason why I didn't want my beautiful MacBook Pro anymore was because while Mac OS X was great, I spent most of my time booted into Windows XP, so I think it would be more efficient and cost effective to just buy a PC laptop with better specs over my MacBook Pro.

I have been looking for a 14-16 inch laptop for under 1100 dollars, with a mid-ranged graphics card (better or around the performance of an 8600M GT), that doesn't look like crap.

About two weeks ago, I was one click away from buying a Dell XPS 16, but I opted not too because I didn't like the glossy plastic, it looks corny and attracts way too many fingerprints. I looked at HP, Asus, Dell, Sony, you name it, I try to make the most informed decision I can based on my research. I couldn't bring myself to buy any of them, because they all had the glossy plastic, and weird designs that make no sense whatsoever. I almost just gave up on buying a laptop.

Then I thought to myself the fact that I love the basic matte plastic laptops of the 90's-early 2000's. It's what I grew up using, afterall. But no companies still adopt the designs from back then anymore... until I remembered the good ole' Thinkpads. My dad used to use an old Thinkpad when I was just a little kid, and I loved that thing. I was astonished by it.

So, I have my mind set on buying a Thinkpad. The one I was looking at the most was the T500, with the ATI 3650 graphics card, and I would buy my own RAM and Hard Drive from Newegg and upgrade myself. But I also want to wait for Core i5 to come out, it's coming out in September, afterall. I heard it is a completely different processor, similar to the Pentium 4 -> Core Duo switch in 2006. So I mine as well.

-How often does Lenovo update their laptops to the newest architecture? Core i5 in this case? Can I expect to be able to buy a Thinkpad with a Core i5 in by October?

-Would the price stay the same, specifically for the T500? Would you recommend a T500?

-Are the T500's screens glossy or matte?

-Any chance of a 4:3 ratio laptop?

-What advantages to Thinkpads have over other notebooks, besides the looks?

-Would I be able to downgrade from Windows 7 to XP/Vista easily? I hate the Windows 7 UI and I have no real reason to ditch XP.

[RealBlackStuff]

For a 4:3 laptop, the choice gets smaller by the day.
Your best bet would be a 14" or 15" T60 or T61 (or the slightly bulkier R60/R61) with warranty left on it.
Top of the line would be T60p or T61p with Core 2 Duo.
15" models have the much-wanted IPS Flexview screens in either SXGA+ (1400x1050) or UXGA (1600x1200).
None of the newer laptops have a 4:3 screen, they are all crappy widescreens models.

I won't even look at widescreen laptops, someone please chime in on those and the newer Lenovo models.