IBM Thinkpad T22 Notebook (900-MHz Pentium III, 128 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful keyboard, screen and features
Review: Another solid performer in IBM's excellent ThinkPad series. The T22 steps up to 800MHz and 900MHz Pentium IIIs, 10 and 20GB drives, and 128MB RAM (expandable to a half-gig of RAM pretty cheaply at today's RAM prices). The full-size keyboard retains it terrific feel, and the expanded 14.1" display on the top-of-the-line T22 is exceptionally crisp and bright. (The smaller 13.2" display available on some T22 configurations provides the same 1024 x 768 native resolution, but its smaller physical size may render text difficult to read for some users.)

IBM's ultrabay comes loaded with either a CD-ROM or CD/DVD (or, optionally, a CDRW/DVD), depending on which configuration you purchase. The ultrabay can also be used to house a second battery, or left empty to lighten the unit for travel. At a little over 5 pounds, this is a reasonably weighted unit for the function, but a long day of toting this around will still wear out your shoulder.

In addition to ThinkPad trademarks like the trackpoint for moving the cursor, several other niceties have been added over the years, including dedicated speaker volume control buttons (including a mute) just above the keyboard, and a small keyboard light housed at the top of the screen. The light is surprisingly useful when operating in a dark environment like a late-night plane flight.

The ThinkPad control software provides a great deal of flexibility in managing power, timers and shutdown modes (including both memory-based stand-by and disk-based hibernation). Special power-saving modes for viewing DVDs and listening to CDs are available, as well as general battery-saver features. The fast processors in these machines generate a good deal of warmth, no matter what, however. Not so much as to be uncomfortable, but enough to let your left hand know where the CPU is.

Ports are reasonably plentiful, including serial, parallel, display, USB, modem/phone, ethernet, mouse, headphone, microphone, card slots, infrared, and a display-top connector for webcams and such. In a corporate setting, the optional port expander is a useful accessory.

Amazon carries several configurations of the T22, with different combinations of CPUs and screen sizes (900 MHz/14.1" versus 800 MHz/13.2") and operating system (Windows 98 versus Windows 2000). Windows 2000 is the pick over Windows 98, and unless price is an issue, the larger screen is the pick over the smaller.