Did it again

OK, everyone who knows me knows I'm a bit off my rocker when it comes to collecting.  You can go back to some of the early posts in this blog, and see the crazy fountain pens I have floating about.  I have a horrifyingly magpie-ish sense of "gotta have it" when I get fixated on something...

Not too long ago, I picked up a copy of Steve Hamm's The Race for Perfect: Inside the Quest to Design the Ultimate Personal Computer.  It's a decent general history of the evolution of portable computing systems.  However, it uses as its main focus the development of the Lenovo Thinkpad X300, an early contemporary/competitor for the MacBook Air.  (Designed at almost the same time as the original Air.)

The X300 (originally code named "Kodachi", after the shorter Japanese sword) is a wonderfully cool design, and of course I fell straight in love with it.  And, of course, started hitting eBay looking at used models. 

But there were some things I didn't like.  I wasn't fond of the 64 GB SSD, which seemed a bit slim for my taste.  And the "collector's premium" kept seeing in the 'Bay listings didn't appeal to me, either.

However...  (Damn, there's always a "however", isn't there?)

There was the X301, the refresh of the X300.  Basically the same case, a slightly updated processor, and a 128 GB SSD.  There still tended to be the collector's premium, but...

Yeah, I found one.  Whether it was a fluke or not, i found an X301 at a decent price.  Not sure what the deal was, but I snagged it.  The system is in good shape, and the battery (a replacement) is of decent quality.  It was loaded with, of all things, Windows 7 Premium (32 bit), which I wasn't thrilled about.  However...

It took a goodly bit of work, a bit of cleaning, upgrading, and some fortuitous application installations, but I have it up and running properly now.  I think I'm hitting around 4 to 4.5 hours on the battery, which is decent enough for me.  I didn't upgrade the OS, as I really just don't feel like doing so.  It's functional, especially after I managed to dig out my old copy of Office 2007 and install it.  Certainly not "cutting edge" nor "feature-rich", but functional.  And that's what I wanted.  Functional.

Have to admit, I find it a bit odd to go back to the "old" Thinkpad keyboard.  I've solidly adapted to the new, "island-style" on my X1 Carbon, but...  Both versions are the best you can get, so...  I enjoy typing on either, and I do have to admit to really liking the old "forward/back" key set (the one thing I do miss on the new keyboard).

The X301 has sort of moved into the space that my X60s was inhabiting.  (The X60s is still loaded with Saluki Linux, upgraded with a new web browser.  But I still need to download and test Carolina on it.)  It's a bit of an upgrade, especially as it gives me access to an optical drive in a system of this very compact size.  (Yes, I am still old-fashioned enough that I do occasionally watch a DVD...)

So, I guess I'm still running in Windows mode for the time being.  But, at least I'm running it on Thinkpads.  And, as far as I'm concerned, you just can't go wrong there.  Especially if it happens to be one of the cooler Thinkpads around...

Breaking Silence

Maybe that should be the title of my TV show, "Breaking Silence"...  I seem to have to do it enough.

But...well, the usual excuses.  Work.  Work.  More work.  For which I should be eternally grateful.  It's paying my bills.  And letting me indulge in a little system grabbing.

I have switched almost entirely into Windows usage.  Not sure when that pendulum will swing back in another direction.

I have an interesting collection to play with at the moment.  I've been using a factory-refurbished Thinkpad Edge 531 with a Core i7, running Windows 8.1 as my work computer.  (I wanted a 15" screen for that.)  As my knockabout personal "notebook" computer, I've been using a refurbished X1 Carbon with an i5, 4 GB of RAM, and a 256 GB SSD, also running 8.1.  I managed to get incredible deals on both of those system (particularly the Carbon, which I couldn't have touched otherwise.)

And, right now, I'm typing this on my "birthday present", which is a little Thinkpad X120e.  About 2 years old now, with a dual-core AMD E-350 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 320 GB HD.  Running, believe it or not, Windows 7 Professional.  It literally just looks like a miniaturized Thinkpad.  I think I got infatuated with this model after seeing the slick Lenovo "tour" video  awhile back.  (Yeah, I am that pathetic.)

Trapped here "on assignment", as it were, for several weeks at a time, Ive not had much to do but play with my computers.  I've truly, truly fell in love with Microsoft OneNote.  I truly think this is one of the best programs in the world for someone as discombobulated as I am.  And why Microsoft doesn't push it more, I don't know.  I'm beginning to think this is the Microsoft equivalent of HyperCard.  An utterly awesome program that the parent company can't get its head around, and horrifically neglects.  (OK, a bit overly dramatic.  MS does vaguely seem to know they have OneNote.  And Steve Jobs didn't neglect HyperCard, he killed it because he saw it as a John Scully project...)

So, here I sit, playing on my miniature Thinkpad, fantasizing about traveling the world.  Fantasizing about being some grand tech writer type.  Fantasizing about the cute little redhead standing at the bar...

Uh...maybe I better quit while I'm ahead...