This is a “let the buyer beware post”, learned from hard experience (mine, in this case).

I purchased the Lenovo X60 Tablet PC in May 2007 to replace my Toshiba Tecra M4 Tablet. I find a Tablet incredibly helpful in my work, both in my advisory work with clients, and in my PhD studies. This is the first laptop I have purchased in 12 years that DOES NOT include a CD-ROM or DVD drive by default in the base unit. Frankly, I am so conditioned to laptops including such a drive that it was a total shock when I came to install Office 2007 and realized there was no CD-ROM drive available. I know it’s my fault, and that I should have read the fine print and so on, but all I’m asking is that if you are going to exclude something that is generally expected to be included, explicitly point it out. A red box with “this laptop does not include a CD-ROM drive” would have been great pre-purchase warning to me.

The same thing applies to the X6 Tablet UltraBase … it includes an expansion slot for a CD-ROM / DVD drive, but not the actual drive. In New Zealand, the UltraBase is $320, and the drive is another $250-$290. So … add those together and you have to fork out another 20% of the Tablet base unit price to get a CD-ROM or DVD drive … I would have liked to know that in advance (kick self under desk).

I am generally happy with the Tablet X60, and it’s light and more portable than my previous Toshiba Tecra M4, but this CD-ROM drive thing has left a bad taste in my mouth and a hole in my wallet. I feel like I’ve been … cheated.