I'm So Excited (and I just can't hide it...)

About 5 years ago I purchased a Dell Inspiron 8500. For the most part I've been happy with it, and it has served me well.

A few months ago it developed a problem that is, practically speaking, unfixable. The laptop will not charge batteries, and will only run the CPU at 50% of it's maximum speed. This means the laptop must be plugged in always (even with a new battery), and the Pentium 4 2.4ghz processor only runs at 1.2ghz.

The problem is due to a defect on the motherboard. In fact, searching the internet reveals that this is a VERY widespread problem. A replacement motherboard would be about $300, and isn't a reasonable purchase in my opinion.

So I've been looking to replace the laptop, but a new laptop simply isn't in my budget.

Well, for years I've known of ThinkPads, and known they are considered the creme de la creme of laptop computers. Last night I found a ThinkPad in excellent condition on Craigslist, and bought it tonight. It wasn't inexpensive, but rather than taking money out of my bank account I cashed in some of the change collected on my dresser, and that covered it.

I may try and sell off my old laptop to cover part of the cost; I haven't decided yet.

But on to the good stuff:

Thinkpad T41, model 2373
Excellent keyboard!
Cool light that illuminates the keyboard, so you can work in the dark. (Doing this right now, as Jess sleeps right next to me!)
The whole laptop just feels solid. It feels like it is of much higher quality than my Dell.
Compared to the Dell, the machine seems quick. The specs on the two machines are actually fairly close, with the Thinkpad a little bit faster. I think the difference is the 50% CPU speed the Dell is running under.

An extra bonus is that just a few weeks before the Dell began having the charging problem, I bought 2Gb of memory for it. The IBM uses the same memory, so I can use the RAM from the Dell to take the IBM up to 2Gb, and leave the Dell at 1Gb for whoever ends up with it.

I've been using the ThinkPad all night, and love it.

(EDIT - May 12, 5:30pm - Discovered yesterday the TP includes built-in Bluetooth. Nice.)