Best Laptop of 2005?

since you ask what's your favorite laptop ...

Stefen, I looked on Dell's website and didn't see anything from Motion. I remember testing a motion at Microsoft a couple of years back and they were really nice but expensive.

Brett, give me a call. 425-205-1921 and I'll try to help you.

Brett, isn't Dell promoting Motion Computing (www.motioncomputing.com) when it comes to Tablets?
Honestly, when using a laptop without pen input I feel handicaped.

Currently Dell only has them "in the labs" and will releases them once the market is big enough. I wouldn't be surprised if they come out with their "own" Tablets next year.

Robert: I'm in the process of purchasing a number of workstations and laptops for our small company. We are a Microsoft shop and MS partner. Would Tablets be good for certain individuals at our company? Maybe so, but I have no way of knowing that unless someone can take the time to help me understand the reasons. The other issue is that all our servers/workstations are from Dell. So unless the Dell rep has the time to educate me about the Tablet's virtues, it's going to be a hard sell to my manager.

The Samsung X1 or the Vaio TX1 are the only Windows machines I would use. The powerbook is old and on its way out, but still much prettier than the Lenovo beast.

Fujistu (Siemens) P1510. Small, powerful Tablet including touch input. And the new cPC - but that's next year ;-) (http://www.dualcor.com)
Stefen

I just tossed a dell i600 and got a ibm-t42. So far that's the best I have.

As I wrote on my own post, I agree that this is a great piece of hardware, that does not involve the compromise that the first generation of tablets implied.

Brett: I'm seeing more and more non MSFTies have Tablet PCs. But, yea, they are about as rare as PowerBooks in Europe.

I keep hearing about how the Tablet is on the cusp of success. But I don't see it. In fact, the only time I see Tablets are when I'm over in Redmond at Microsoft for a meeting. I don't see them in the coffee shops downtown. I don't see them on the Sounder Train and none of my non-Microsoft friends own a Tablet. The majority of laptops I see at the coffee shops in Belltown are Powerbooks.

I dunno if it counts (might be 2004... can't remember), but I love my Sony VAIO TR3A.

I've got an HP Pavillion ZA8000 Media Center Edition Laptop and it's the best computer I've ever had. It has a huge 17" wide screen, dual TV tuners, Harmon Kardon speakers, 3.4 Ghz processor and 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X600 card. It's not for airport jockeys though, the thing is HUGE.

I like it because I can edit video or play Battlefield 2 anywhere and I'm not on a crippled laptop, this thing screams.

I ordered an X41 (first-generation) from Lenovo and have, sadly, not regretted a single computer purchase more. Lenovo service was a disaster, from the disastrous "you'll-get-it-when-we-feel-like-it" fullfilment of the order to the awful service when it arrived with a faulty inverter board. The HDD is incredibly slow, and the digitizer seems to have a mind of its own when wireless network access is peaking.

As for the tablet interaction itself; it proved useful a couple of times, but not enough to warrant the increase in weight. The handwriting recognition is surprisingly good, but not good enough (why doesn't it learn?) for writing email. The limited screen resolution makes it hard to use for graphics or note-taking applications (you run out of space for notes really quickly). I found myself using the tablet aspect for reading on the go and not much else. Once I swung the unit into laptop mode, I yearned for the sleeker (and faster) X40 models.

I think I'd give my vote for best laptop of 2005 to the X40, with the recently released 15" PowerBooks (which is what I'm now using) as runner up. The X41 gets an honourable mention, but until they get a better HDD and screen resolution, they're not yet ready for the podium.

The X41 is changing the way I compute... great machine, see my review at

http://www.efvincent.com/PermaLink,guid,8465cfc...

Another vote for the Powerbook 17"

Powerbook G4 17"

Excitedly purchased first Tablet in August, a Tecra M4, but the performance was terrible and the construction not to my satisfaction. I replaced it with HP's nc8230 and how glad I am to be back on HP/Compaq. Easily the nicest laptop I've owned (considering my 12" Powerbook, previous Tecras and HPs).

Jacob: I do, especially in planes where Macintosh users look at me jealously cause I can actually use my computer in coach while using a standard laptop is really painful.

I'm very happy with my Tecra M4.

I'd love to nominate an Apple laptop since I'm a Mac fan, but I both the iBook and the Powerbook I bought during the last two years have broken down after little more than a year (battery, hard drive, and/or display failures). Both very pretty pieces of hardware, but slow and with questionable build quality.

By the way, does anyone actually use tablet PCs?

Although it has great functionality, when will IBM update their notebook design? It looks like I'm playing with a Lego set!

The powerbook. Yes I know its not been updated like forever but the thin 15" is still a work of art

Put, not but. Too much egg nog tonight.

But a higher screen resolution in it and Michael might be correct.

I have an X40 and I am loving it.

If I knew there would have been an X41 Tablet I would have waited for it, but I have no regrets as I've been enjoying my X40 for well over a year now!

I'm with Michael. I think the X41 is the best laptop and the best tablet on the market
http://www.newsome.org/2005/12/more-good-review...