i must get a new laptop. this one is already three years old, and is not only broken along the hinges (i dropped it once too many times) but by now madly slow and chunks of the hard disk has failed. honestly, the sounds emitted by the hard disk when i try to work gives me the creeps. and lately the fan doesn't seem to be working properly because the laptop heats up in record time. i have decided to take von's advice and give up X series thinkpads for the sturdier T series. i have misgivings because i already find my current X24 heavy, and since my very first thinkpad (a 560X) have always loved skinny black laptops, they just make me feel happier. the way i could spay less rent in somerville, but living in west cambridge makes me feel better. so to switch to a T requires a great deal of will. especially when the new X41s look so good. (the ordinary x41s, not the ones with the tablets.) the T43 is what i'm looking at now.