thinkpad value for money?

[Tyler Smith <tyler.smith@mail.mcgill.ca>]

Hi all,

Fishing for more advice on a laptop purchase here. In an earlier thread 
on this list just about everyone was plugging thinkpads as the way to 
go. My budget is a little on the light side, but I could manage a 
'low-end' thinkpad like an R51 or maybe a T42. However, I notice that 
the specs on comparably priced, or somewhat cheaper, Dells (Inspiron 
e1505), Toshibas (A105), Lenovo (3000) and Compaqs are generally better 
than what I'd get with a thinkpad. These brands/models seem to get 
higher ratings in a lot of the on- and off-line magazines, while more 
geek-oriented sites push the thinkpads.

My needs are pretty ordinary: web, email, editing text and code, basic 
image manipulation, some scientific computing. I listen to some audio 
podcasts and streaming radio, but I don't otherwise use my computer for 
music, movies, or games. I've been managing quite well on a six year old 
700mhz desktop with 392 ram, so anything I get will be a big improvement 
in terms of performance. My main goal is to have a solid, portable 
system that plays well with Debian and will give me hopefully another 6 
years of regular use. I will need a decent, full-size keyboard, as I 
plan to do most of my work on this machine.

So my question is: is a 'low end' thinkpad worth the mark-up over what 
Dell and Toshiba have on offer?

Thanks!

Tyler