 The Thinkpad R60e is the “economy” version of the Thinkpad r60, but don’t let that in itself put you off. The differences are discrete and it’s not like you get a general loss of quality - and if you can handle them, you’ll save a bucket of cash by going with this model over an r60. The differences are: No express card slot, R60es come with two cardbus slots located under the palm rest. No graphics card option, i.e. integrated graphics. The screen - R60es come with lower quality screens, xga resolution and they are not particularly bright or high contrast. R60es usually come without a trackpad built into the palmrest, they only have the trackpoint pointer for cursor control. Hard drive accelerometer and security chips are not an option on r60es. Chipset options, when you buy an r60e, be sure to verify which chipset it uses. There are two options, one of which only supports the core duo processors, not the core 2 duos. The r60 only comes with the core 2 duo-capable chipset. That’s it! Those are the only differences. You will otherwise still get the very same Thinkpad keyboard (which is not bad, but, personally, I think, overrated. It is solid, but I prefer less key displacement.) You get the same built in wifi, and other less quantifiable features, such as tech support and the thinkpad roll cage. My R60e came with a core 2 duo 2 ghz processor, 60 gig 5400 rpm HD, xga screen which I upgraded to sxga+, 1 gig 5300 ram, and a DVD super multi drive. Remember, these machines are desktop replacement machines. In my case, I wanted it as a desktop replacement, and an R60 was the cheapest way to get me some serious computational horsepower in a business class laptop. I wanted the most computational capacity I could get in a business class laptop within my budget, and the R60e was the clear winner. I have not regretted going with the R60e, I have never in the past year needed an express card slot, though a discrete graphics card might be nice, and though I did end up upgrading the screen, I saved a couple hundred bucks vs. buying an r60 with an sxga+ to begin with. The battery life is great, I get over 2.5 hours out of it, and I could replace the DVD drive with a battery for an extra 1.5 hours. I have considered upgrading my hard drive to something faster and larger, though. The hard drive is the bottleneck in this particular system. They are heavy, but, again, they are supposed to be desktop replacement machines. I have hooked up an external monitor, and the image is as crisp and clear as can be, with no blurriness of text, though slight diagonally moving "waves" can be distinguished on a white background under some circumstances. The colors are also a bit sandy, not solid, as they are on the integrated screen, but for all I know that might be the monitor itself. Links IBM Product Page
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