One thing the Thinkpads do right, by me, is the keyboard, which I'm surprised no one here has mentioned. They have just the right depth of stroke, and the backing tends to be very solid to minimize flex. One thing that I wish most manufacturers would understand is that specs matter much less than the user interface. And for geeks, the UI is typically the keyboard, the display, and to a lesser extent the mouse (since the OS can be tweaked to the user's liking). Get these things right, and I don't care if it has a PIII in it, I'll use it.