HighEnd IBM vs Compaq

Hello, I'm looking for opinion from people who used both or know enough to advice me. Here is the deal, After looking at all these wonderful new laptops I nailed down my choice to 2: Thinkpad t43p 14", 2.13 sanoma and HP Compaq nw8240 15.4" similar specs. Ironically, the last time I was in market for a laptop I was choosing between thinkpad and compaq evo, while I had a thinkpad, which is a similar case now. I would probably go with thinkpad again, but here is how I compare them (in prioritised order).

-Most important
1) They both have the best ever laptop feature - trackpoint.
2) Both have best casing material (magnesium)
3) Both seem equally thin

Pros for compaq:
1) nw8240 has a faster graphics
2) nw8240 is a wide screen and I really think I'm ready to try widescreen
3) Thank god they put serial instead of parallel, so much more useful
4) +1 usb port, 1394 port.

Pros for IBM:
1) I love ThinkLight (Little lamp top right corner), helps me find coffee, cigarettes, water, etc etc, genius invention.
2) Solid build quality and I am confident about it, never used compaqs before.
2.5) The keyboard on my thinkpad can type itself, I just put hands on
3) No windows key
4) longer lasting battery
5) stronger looking hinges (as strong on compaq?)


Advantage of one is obviously disadvantage of another, otherwise they seem preatty equal to me, both are hot looking (I think they are), both have useless Access IBM / HP Center buttons, both have similar specs, both have crappy VGA socket for external monitor, etc etc, rest is basically equal. So I was wondering if anyone maybe was in similar situation and especially interested how does compaq feel after thinkpad, are there other compatible laptops? Big factor is I have one of very early t40, and buying t43p in same casing after 2.5 years is a little odd. Also I might be going wrong about compaq, but I only read about it and never worked on one, corrections are welcome. Thanks for reading, waiting for replyes.

Yes, I was using thinkpad since a very long time ago, I know them well and very sploiled by the quality and durability of thinkpads, so I am really interested in view of those who went compaq. On paper and specs compaq is a better laptop that thinkpad. I need it for work and plessure, I work with high demanding java projects and power is not a significant factor, since neither provide complete solution anyway. On the plessure side, I don't play games too much, but like playing with maya, which is why v5000 chipset is a significant advantage, but not for now anyway, I don't render huge scenes yet. Widescreen, I won't die without it, but I just find it a worthless feature.

Thanks ccbrowning, another "+" for compaq. I'm provided with desktop at work, so have to pay for this myself. I noticed you are also in UK, my initial thoughts for a thinkpad is asking a friend to buy it in US and bring it over. Thinkpads are much cheaper in US, but with Compaq the difference is not that great really. And about being overpriced, as much as I want to agree with you and studio54, I'm looking at suggested Asus now, no trackpoint, looks plustic and not solid (comparing to compaq/ibm), I configured it with specs similar to t43p I want (at rjtech.com) and its $2,149.00, $600 cheaper than thinkpad (given that thinkpad is 14" and this one is a nice 15.4" widescreen). Am I ready to pay $600 more for above, most defenetelly. Maybe I'm missing something about the Asus, so correct me If wrong.

Thanx tommi, your review was really helpful also. In thinkpads the middle button has that same effect by default, but everything is configurable of course. Otherwise I'm leaning torwards nw8240, basically just to try something different and for better graphics. Price is rediculous for both nw8240 and t43p here, so I'm probably gonna try to get it some other way (US), I'm hoping to spend around $3000 and put a great system together, all I need now is find a compaq somewhere and poke it around myself, just as reassurance. The only other one I'm looking at currently is R259IA, but they don't seem to be too sturdy from what people say.
I also wanned to ask you:
- What are the dimensions of cd drive in yours, or at least what model is in
- Did you take it appart, are you going to ? Will you take pictures of how accessible insides are?
- What is the deal with the screen, I'm also looking at wsxga one, but all these posts are making me worried.
- I'm not a benchmark kind of person, but you posted ~6106 points, I found t43p scoring "3DMark 2003: 3174", which confused me a bit, is that a strictly gpu test?

And well done on the purchase, its a one sexy laptop.

Edit: actually was just looking at R259IA and realised no trackpoint, so no go