It was an invaluable tool in training for me, we have a flows CD trainer and they gave us all the slides on cd. Helped a ton when studying on my own. Thinkpads are nice. I've used them for work in previous jobs. I love em. They can be pricy but they are well put together, powerful and decent on battery life. Built in wi-fi, bluetooth, little keyboard light so you don't wake up your roommate while studying and they aren't honking ass big! Thats important for us being as were all over the place. Makes it easier to transport. I have a T60 and I love it. I used to have a toshiba Satellite, a MAC Powerbook, one of those Alienware gaming laptops and an off brand laptop. The Thinkpad is my favorite. the MAC was cool, but it lacked everything that I was already familiar with. I had one for about a year and gave it up for a Thinkpad. I think the MACs still have a long way to come in the software department. Things just aren't as readily available for them and there isn't much of a variety. Which sucks because I loved my MAC. They are damn solid machines.