I would just like to vent my frustration for a minute here.
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OK -- now here's the current status:
The 755C arrived, and worked as expected, including the audio chip with horrible SB compatibility, which I didn't know about when I bought it (curses, I thought all CSxxxx ISA chips were essentially the same!!) So you have to load drivers to get it to work in DOS, and although things like Adlib music work, they sound atrocious. None of the instruments are correct. It's like an elementary school band trying to coordinate their playing over the phone.
But I still see some use for the 755C.
On the bright side, it is a wonderfully well made machine. I love the construction and build quality. The keyboard is identical to the 365 series (excellent). The trackpoint is precise, and the trackpoint buttons are very crisp and clicky, unlike the 365. The floppy drive is very, very nice. I love having the drive right in the machine instead of having to use an external drive. I also rarely if ever use CD drives, especially for 486 things, so that's perfect as well. The finish on the laptop is a nice sort of hard rubbery coating, but not like the softer coating on newer Thinkpads that easily scrapes off. The 640x480 TFT screen is very nice. And to top it all off, my Orinoco WiFi cards work perfectly in it, which is not the case with the 365, in which they refuse to work no matter what.
Ultimately the 755C is a very tempting machine for writing, productivity, retro internet things, etc -- basically any Windows 3.1 stuff. But it's useless for DOS games.
I am discovering that being able to play DOS games on my laptops means less and less to me. I have a 486 desktop for that, not to mention DOSBox. Plus newer games work great on my newer Thinkpads anyway.
I think I will keep the 755C, and use it for any Windows 3.1 productivity and networking things. The 365, since I have already invested so much work into it, I will keep on as an auxiliary machine and the only Thinkpad I have that will run Commander Keen without issues.
So here will be my final setup:
Thinkpad 755C
DOS/Windows 3.1 productivity and networking machine
Thinkpad 365CD
Early DOS gaming, perhaps some productivity.
Thinkpad 560X
Some DOS games & networking, Win31 productivity/networking, but primarily Windows NT 4.0 productivity & networking.
Thinkpad 600E
Late DOS games that require lots of speed, Windows 9x productivity & networking.
I also have my Thinkpad T41 and T420s, which I use for more modern things since they are both running Linux, although the T41 is dual booting with Windows XP so I can do ~2005-era XP things with it.
This is absurd. I have old laptops coming out my ears. I wish I could get it down to just two, or maybe one, but I don't know if that's going to happen.
The Thinkpad 755 also needs a new battery. The old one will not charge. We will see what comes of that.
The moral of this story is: there is no perfect laptop that can do ALL your DOS gaming and ALL your productivity things. Or at least, not in the Thinkpad realm, that is -- and Thinkpad is where I'm staying because of the keyboards. Seriously, the keyboard is such a big factor for me -- plus that Thinkpad prestige and design, and the fact that they have aged much better than other 90's machines, due to their use of black plastic that does not yellow or otherwise discolor with age, and cleans up better in my experience.
I have put so much work into these Thinkpads, repairing, upgrading, and restoring them, installing software on them, getting them to perform to their best potential, etc., that at this point I feel like I have to use them regularly for it all to be worthwhile. I can actually see myself doing that. So over the next few months I will try to pay attention to which laptops I actually use. I don't like having extra things sitting around that I don't use. So if I don't use it, it's going away.
I put a lot of work into making everything I own useful in some way. If it sits there doing nothing, unless it is a decoration, I consider it deadweight and not worth having. I will either get it doing something or get rid of it. That's how I feel about these old laptops -- they can and should still be useful.
Edit: oh, and to drive that point home, I used my Thinkpad 560X to write this post, on Windows NT 4.0 with RetroZilla, over my home WiFi. There's usefulness for you.
World's foremost 486 enjoyer.