I’m still browsing around (Google doesn’t want you to google for such things, but “search”, remember?) for a laptop to buy next, when my thinkpad finally dies (or I need to be mobile again, which might be in some weeks).

I’ve found another wishlist candidate: the Panasonic Toughbook T4. It’s small and tiny, extremely solid, it needs no fan, has a touchscreen (and you can carry it book-like, since it’s light and comes with a hand strap) and extreme battery life. Apparently it does actually run over 9 hours in third party benchmarks.

But it also has some drawbacks:
There are next to no reviews, especially no information on Linux compatibility (which shouldn’t be an issue, embedded Intel graphics, and very little hardware in it, but e.g. the touchscreen might or might not work) - and it’s not very widely used or known. It’s also very expensive (Thinkpad X60 1500 Euro, Toughbook T4: 2500 Euro with the two big plusses for me being better battery life and the touchscreen, thats too much) and said to be quite ugly.

I sent an inquiry if there will be a successor with maybe a Core CPU - I don’t know if there is an ultra low voltage core - or if there will be a version without windows (it’s expensive enough, I’m going to use Linux, I don’t want to pay 200 Euros for Windows). I got a quick reply - that my questions will be answered when a certain colleque is back from vacation…

This probably means that despite me loving the idea of being able to read papers on the laptop just like with a real book (with a pen, and as mobile), another candidate has dropped off my list…

Guess I won’t be buying a new laptop until my old one is completely dead and then I’ll be going for something used and cheap as “temporary” solution…

I guess I’ll browse the web for the HP tc4400 and Toshiba M400 next. I didn’t actually intend to go for a tablet PC, but apparently these are more designed for weight and power consumption than regular notebooks with their nvidia and ATI power wasters.

P.S. Yes, I am aware of Thinkpads. But they are either to heavy for my liking, have too bad battery performance or have too low screen resolution (X series).