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Yeah, I know--I've been a *seriously* loyal ThinkPad user for about 4 years now. And I've loved every one of 'em. ;-) But in a nutshell, I saw a good deal on a new NEC Versa 5084X on the E-Bay auction site and I couldn't pass it up. ;-) Almost as thin (1.5" vs. 1.2") and light (5.2 lbs. vs. 4.1)as my 560, bigger & higher-res screen (13.3" XGA vs. 12.1" SVGA), and capable of swapping in a CD-ROM drive to boot? Hard to pass up. Oh yeah, did I mention the 233 MMX chip? Yeah, I know--the 600 series should be coming out soon that will incorporate the same kind of features (at least the ability to insert a CD drive--I don't know about the larger screen & etc.), but the opportunity was there and the price was right (new in the box for about $600 less than I could buy it from normal channels). My concerns? That I might hate the touchpad. I've grown to really like the Trackpoint for my notebook use. Anyone have similar Trackpoint vs. Touchpad thoughts? Another concern is the support structure I received from this community of TP users. I don't know that there's anything similar for Versa users (Please let me know about it if you *do* know). This list has made my ThinkPadding a richer experience. But alas, I'm not plunging in just yet. I figure I'll use the Versa for a while and then make a decision whether to keep it. I think (hope) that if I just don't like the feel of using it, I can sell it for near the price I paid for it, given that I got a good deal on it to begin with. And of course, until I decide for certain to keep the Versa, I'm not not selling off a ThinkPad. We'll see... ...and of course, some of you know that I not only have a 560, but when I got the 560 my wife got the 701C (which was upgraded to the Cyrix 586/100 CPU last December after which I did those benchmarking tests for the list). So if I do keep the Versa, it will be an interesting question which ThinkPad to sell. Any list members have an opinon on that? ;-) ------- Randal J. Whittle whittle@usc.edu (213) 740-7775 Director, Electronic Commerce Program Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California