Tpad 4 me.
We've had Dells (poo build quality), Compaq (Goodbye), Sony (Compatible with?), Toshiba (who?), and IBM.
We've consistently (sp) stuck with IBM. my T21 has had 2 glasses of wine over it and plenty of bumps and its been fine. Only issue is with COM port conflicts, but they go away with XP
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For battery probs, got NO advice I use my lappy as a desktop and usually keep it plugged in.
PS: Lifespan = 2yrs (but depends on what U use it 4)