Question : Problem: Buying a Notebook

What notebook would you suggest I should buy and with what configuration?

I am an user who needs power, don't mind paying a little high for quality and longevity. Should be buying by Fall 2006 to be used during my MBA studies as well for a change that I have been needing for quite some time now. I maintain my computer in such a way that my current 7 year old IBM T600 is in a great condition without any problems. Infra Red and some form of good Wireless technology is a must. 40GB is good enough, but I am willing to buy higher capacity drives as long as they are priced reasonably. Looks are absolutely not a criteria only the usability. RAM & CPU Speed: higher the better, but at reasonable and non-astronomical rates. 3-4 USB ports and a IEEE 1394 is a neccessity!!

COST: $1000-2000 is the range, but can go higher if need. Basically, Quality is a must at a sensible cost and if I maintain it properly, I must be able to use it smoothly, without hassles for the next 10 years, disregards of what technology changes may occur.

Answer : Problem: Buying a Notebook

A friend of mine recently bought a new T43, so I was just looking at the Lenovo site to see what it might have that the T42 you're looking at doesn't.   Not much :)   If you buy the 2379RHU model of the T-42 (1.8GHz Pentium-M and 60GB hard drive) about the only difference between that and a T43 seems to be the DVD recording capability and slightly better graphics (x300 instead of 9600).

Since you're already looking at it, I'm sure you know it does not meet your "3 or 4 USB port" requirement, nor your firewire requirement.  It only has 2 USB ports, and no 1394.   But a simply USB hub, and a firewire PC Card would easily fix that issue.   It does have everything else you've listed -- infrared, built-in WiFi, etc.   Notwithstanding your comment about 40GB being "enough", I'd suggest you get the 60GB model; and I'd also bump the memory up to 1GB.  I don't recommend more than that on a laptop -- depending on your use, the default 512mb may even be enough.   Unlike with a desktop (where I always recommend at least 1GB), there's a disadvantage to "loading up" a laptop with memory -- it's the one component that can't power down (like the hard drive & CPU) when idle, so more memory = less battery life.  Not a lot of difference, but it is a difference.   So I'd suggest either the default 512mb, or 1GB -- but no more.