IBM models for Neptun IV announced

IBM models for Neptun IV – autumn/fall 2004 (Neptun site)

I think IBM’s notebooks are better than my current notebook/TabletPC m200 by Toshiba. Some quick notes about the IBM notebooks above:

IBM X40:

+ small, lightweight
+ SD card reader
+ long battery runtime
+ Bluetooth
– relatively weak CPU, only a 1.2 GHz Pentium M (not a Dothan core)
– small HDD
– very weak graphics chip (Intel Extrem Graphics 2)
– no DVI out (only VGA)
– bad design (tapered/slanted bottom/keyboard)
– no external drives included
– has a trackpoint, but no touchpad

IBM T42 medium:

+ nice and fast CPU (Pentium M 735 Dothan)
+ Bluetooth
0 CD-RW/ DVD-ROM Combodrive (adds weight; should be a DVD+/-RW nowadays)
0 moderate weight (neither lightweight nor very heavy)
– small HDD
– low resolution screen (only 1024×768 even if it’s 14.1″)
– average GPU (ATI Mobility Radeon 7500/32 – equals in about a Nvidia FX Go 5200, but without DirectX9 support)
– short battery runtime
– no DVI out (only VGA)

IBM T42 large:

+ nice and fast CPU (Pentium M 735 Dothan)
+ Bluetooth
+ high resolution screen (1400×1050/14.1″ ideal! – 1400×1050 is more adequate for a 14.1″ than for a 12.1″ screen such as with my Toshiba M200)
0 CD-RW/ DVD-ROM Combodrive (adds weight; should be a DVD+/-RW nowadays)
0 moderate weight (neither lightweight nor very heavy)
0 average/large HDD
0 long battery runtime (though only thanks to a 9-cell battery pack)
– fast GPU (ATI Mobility Radeon 9600/64 – drawback: demands a lot of battery power. IBM should have included the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700/64 like Apple with its Powerbooks. The 9700 uses less power and is even faster than the 9600.)
– the 9-cell battery pack increases the depth of the notebook (huh? despite of a decreasing battery runtime, they should have rather used a standard size battery pack IMHO)
– no DVI out (only VGA)

I’m curious how the Apple models will look like. The biggest plus of an Apple Powerbook is probably its nice overall design and well-balanced, powerful functionality and of course MacOS X (which is the only truly user-friendly OS at the moment). The biggest minus is the fact that everybody is expecting a soon release of 1.) a dual-core G4 Powerbook 2.) a single-core G5/64bit Powerbook. So people eventually decide to wait another half a year.