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>Sounds like beginnings of a plan to me. :-) Do you know someone that can >manufacture this stuff? How about the Thinkpad User's Group Company (THUGCO). Only half jokingly, the collective knowledge of this group on issues of TP accessories/compatibility/user-needs probably far outstrips that of any OEM firm (though IBM itself still probably has us beat :-)). If some of you energetic young bizness types (Randy, you listening?) were to put do a little research into the mechanics and economics of commissioning offshore manufacturing runs, establishing distribution channels, venture finance, etc. etc., I'll bet we could put together a commercially-viable cottage production entity that could easily undercut IBM and the OEM suppliers on things like drive units, memory packages, batteries, expansion units. Myself I wouldn't care if such a thing were wildly profitable or not but it would be fun and, dammit, where the hell else am I gonna get a port replicator with built-in SCSI? Perhaps I'm naive about the realities of the rough-and-tumble hardware industry to think such a thing possible but there are good precedents in other sectors. In the late 70's a group of climbing enthusiasts in Vancouver became frustrated with the overpriced, technically-outmoded outdoor gear available from the dominant manufacturers, and started spec'ing out their own gear and commissioning small runs from various (predominantly East-Asian) job shops. The stuff was intended for their own use but it was so cheaply priced (near-zero overheads, mfg on bid) and in tune with the up-to-the-minute technical demands of the adventure-sport community (they could go from design to delivered good in a matter of weeks, unlike the dinosaur companies) that outside demand rapidly picked up. Now the Mountain Equipment Co-Operative is the #1 specialty mfr/retailer of outdoor gear in Canada, while still member-owned and operated. [Disclaimer: I am a member and satisfied customer!] The point is that a small group of enthusiasts *can* move a market if they have a bit of technical expertise, a lot of unmet needs, and an entrenched supplier community that is fat, slow-moving, and greedy. Any of this sound familiar? I would say of all the Intel notebooks the Thinkpad best lends itself to supporting a specialist third-party supplier. Just guessing, but between the 360/750/755 there are probably more units in existence than any other technically-consistent x86 portable "family". And IBM shows no signs of abandoning this successful architecture, what with (most) accessories being announced and sold to this day being forwards/backwards compatible throughout the line. And then there's the Trackpoint II/III, the only *real* Trackpoint, which for me cinches the future of the line. So, any thoughts on this fantasy? Bring me back to earth, someone, PLEASE! Best, Tim Vetter Frankfurt vetter@hookup.net uwe@odb.rhein-main.de