Technical managers have long waited for the arrival of a high performance laptop capable of running the various tools of the trade (development IDEs, content management applications, network and database administration utilities and fat e-mail clients). The arrival of the IBM T30 puts an end to that wait with the quick performance of an Intel Mobile P4 in a physical form that feels comfortable while still occupying very little space.
As other PC manufacturers have moved toward sexy looking materials and features that are neat but not all that useful, IBM has turned an eye to serious usability. The T30 includes all the standard device connectivity ports such as two USB ports, an RJ45 10/100 Ethernet connection and an RJ11 modem. But IBM has raised the bar by including built-in connections for infrared, Bluetooth, 802.11b, a joystick mouse and a track pad mouse. And it all works, all the time. If you like the track pad for scrolling but the joystick for drawing Visio shapes -- no problem. They're both always on and available for whatever task you may need to perform. It's the same with all four (IR, Bluetooth, RJ45, 802.11b) networking ports.
The combination of all of these built-in services saves a huge amount of bag space because it eliminates the need to carry add-ons such as printer cables, modem dongles, external mice, Ethernet cables and PCMCIA cards. This boils down to being able to stretch out your legs under the airliner seat in front of you, even when your laptop bag is down there, too.
The native video mode takes a day or two to get used to if you're shifting from an older 1024x768 model. But, once you're used to it, it's fantastic for running multiple apps simultaneously. You can read/write e-mail while reading a web page and developing lengthy code, all at once and rarely having to scroll. The one downside to the display is that it's not as bright as some other notebook displays. However, it can be adjusted to the ambient room light using the control panel. This helps a little, but a brighter screen would be nice.
Put all this together in a smaller case than the A series without sacrificing any functionality, and you have one very useful tool. Starting at $2,149, this is a power-packed laptop capable of handling nearly all the demands of today's technical managers and technical staff without breaking their backs or draining their wallets.
