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>Well let me add that I'm dissatisfied with the keyboard as well, >and state why. >- It is flimsy. When opened, the only real places you can grab >to pick the computer up is the front (too much torque - danger >of dropping), the keyboard (flimsy, feels like it might break >off), and the back near the screen (very thin decorative plastic >material that cracked the first time I did this). Solution: close the computer before picking up! I think picking up the 701 by its keyboard is a major source of trouble. (Reminds me of ex-US President Johnson and his beagles...) >- It sticks out. It gets in the way of XJack style PCMCIA modem >cards. XJack is *also* an idea better on paper than in practice - it seems to interfere with lots of stuff. >- It sticks out. It's fine if you use it on a desk. If you use >it on a cluttered desk, ...is where it shines. You can fit the floppy *under* the wings, so that the whole system will fit in a small space (like a sliding desk drawer shelf or airplane tray table); with the 560, I never know where to put the floppy drive when I need it. >That means I end up worrying about little things like that a >lot, which is enough to make me want a different (solid) form >factor for my next laptop. Overall I think the *physical* construction of the 701 (case strength et al) is much better than the 560. For example, I think my 560's last trip to EasyServ was due to a solder failure due to case flexure (the case will curve visibly if you pick it up from one side while open). >> As I said earlier, what hapened with the 701 was that it turned out >> that people wanted bigger screens more than they wanted small form >> factors. The 701 keyboard was seen as a way to reduce the form factor. Yet HP continued to use the small-footprint/small screen form factor in their 600/800, and now the Libretto is all the rage. I'll bet that a 701 with a faster processor, bigger HD, and a pound shaved off the weight would sell well. >> The idea of using it on a full size notebook was, as far as I know, >> never seriously considered My guess is that the 'thin' designers and the 'folding keyboard' designers were two distinct, competing groups within IBM. - David