Quote:
Originally Posted by GQgeek 
What bad reviews? Only negative thing i've read about it are poor vertical viewing angles (but horizontal are ok) and lousy contrast, which imo shouldn't be present on a machine in that class, but I guess no laptop is perfect. FWIW, my boss has an x200 which has a similar screen, and i never even noticed until i read the reviews. Then again, I'm not expecting to use lightroom or photoshop or do critical viewing of HD movies on my 12" ultraportable... I will either be in windows doing windowsy stuff or in a linux console, and neither of those things really matter for those uses. I will admit that I was briefly considering a MBA because of the beauty of the 13.3" screen and slightly higher resolution, but then i saw the reviewer walk by it and there was a reflection of everyone in the room in the glass. The thing is basically a mirror. And the battery life on the MBA would be terrible for the type of work I do.
It's really the T410s (slim version) that isn't what it should be because of where they placed the battery and the issue with ultrabay batteries. Its battery life is decent, but you can't get the 10+ hours you can with other thinkpads, which was a disappointment.
And you're right, you can't get the X serieswith switchable graphics in , so no, it's not going to be a gaming powerhouse. I doubt any civ game would be a problem though... The T series you can get switchable graphics for, but they're of the business kind, not high-end 3d for gaming. Wait for the new notebooks based on intel's sandy bridge architecture (releasing in feb) and you can get passable integrated graphics for older games (more than double 3d performance of today's integrated video solution). Power numbers will be a little better too.
The T and X series were really never meant to be gaming laptops. If that's what you want, look at something from asus or dell (which has the XPS and alienware lines). Both will be quite a bit heavier/hotter though, and you won't get the same battery life.
It's really the T410s (slim version) that isn't what it should be because of where they placed the battery and the issue with ultrabay batteries. Its battery life is decent, but you can't get the 10+ hours you can with other thinkpads, which was a disappointment.
And you're right, you can't get the X serieswith switchable graphics in , so no, it's not going to be a gaming powerhouse. I doubt any civ game would be a problem though... The T series you can get switchable graphics for, but they're of the business kind, not high-end 3d for gaming. Wait for the new notebooks based on intel's sandy bridge architecture (releasing in feb) and you can get passable integrated graphics for older games (more than double 3d performance of today's integrated video solution). Power numbers will be a little better too.
The T and X series were really never meant to be gaming laptops. If that's what you want, look at something from asus or dell (which has the XPS and alienware lines). Both will be quite a bit heavier/hotter though, and you won't get the same battery life.
i meant bad reviews for civ5. not looking for a gaming laptop. just want to be able to watch hd video and play civ4.
For $699 my Mac Mini has a 2.4 Core 2 Duo, 2 gb ram, and 320gb hard drive. It's portable too. 
Okay so no display, keyboard or mouse but I already had those. 
