IBM ThinkPad R40 Laptop (1.8 GHz Pentium 4-M, 256 MB RAM, 20GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Sorry to break the news to the previous reviewer (please -you really have to use a product more than one day to give a competent review), but there is nothing cheap about this laptop. Perhaps he had it configured with a little less power, but mine works as well as any laptop I've ever used.

This is my second laptop, but the first one was a small 486 I bought because the size was cool. Now, THAT one was cheap. IBM has made the best laptops and have the best service. The only question for me was initially, whether I wanted to pay for it, and then, which one do I get. Mine is configured with a 2 gig chip, a 40 gig HD, and 512 Meg of RAM. Please don't skimp on the RAM or you will wonder whether your system is slow.

It came complete with Windows XP (which I don't care for) and I had to reconfigure everything so it looks more like Windows 2000, which I have on my other desktops. I use the laptop for surfing on wireless internet connections -both home and away, writing letters and other documents, doing some financial spreadsheets, and will soon be doing some film editing work. The trackhead (whatever its called) works MUCH better for me than the simple trackpad. But the pad is there, and you don't have to use the eraser shaped head in the middle of the keyboard if you don't want to. I don't remember hitting the head and moving the mouse when I typed the letters "h" and "g" (or whatever two keys it is between) so if you don't like it, it should never interfere with your work.

The screen is great! Big enough to have your desktop arranged like you like and plenty big to watch DVDs. The CD/DVD tray comes out, and feels somewhat flimsy, but you shouldn't have a problem taking care of it. On the left side are the various inputs, including (at least on mine) USB, firewire, and s-video. For you multimedia types who want a PowerBook for creative tasks but need a PC to do real work on, don't worry -the Thinkpad has what you need. I considered a PowerBook and might have actually bought one (even though I'm firmly grounded in the Windows camp), but the prices were just way too much, and I would need a boatload of additional software for the Mac. While your emotional side might miss a PB (Apple does have a knack for appealing to the emotion), the logical beast in you will realize the TP has what you need.

The unit will, like every other high powered laptop, get hot on bottom. Mine doesn't create much of a problem. When I'm using it on my recliner, I put a pillow under it and I am fine. When using it on a table or desk, there is no issue.

Battery life on every portable unit is always disappointing. I've had my TP since March and have used it some, but not a great deal (once or twice a week on average, but lately increasing). I'm at a little more than three hours, and there is an indicator that clearly gives you an idea how much time you have left. If you fly cross country or longer than 3 hours and need all that time to work, you will need multiple batteries.

Finally, I haven't noticed any pixel loss on my screen. The unit is solid enough to take most anywhere. While I treat all my equipment well and don't dropkick anything, if you are a bit rougher on your stuff than I am, I don't think you will need to worry. But don't take this review for any advice on how the IBM will work if mistreated.

I can honestly say that this thing is built like a rock! This laptop is now closing in on being ten years old. I noticed most of the reviews were old. Well here I am with it ten years later and it still runs like a champ. I would also like to say that I own a 2010 Macbook pro and this machine is built much better than that machine. Already had problems from my Macbook and I've never had a problem with the IBM which is what I'm using to post this review with.

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I have recieved the laptop today. The speed of the laptop is not what I was hoping for. I will have to purchase more memory for it. I have noticed it has been paging about 216 megs on the avg and only leaving me about 39 megs free on the Ram. I will be purchasing more ram for this laptop.

The Hard drive has a specs of 20 gigs. I think it might be from the way IBM had set this up its starts out at 15.6 gigs on the hard drive and only leaving you with 10 gigs free on it. You will def need a external hard drive with this unit.

There is no software so i suggest you down load open source or if you got copies of office you can use it.

One of the best features is it has a long battery life. But if you got the extra cash i suggest you buy HP, Sony or somthing better. if you need the extra power.

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