The ThinkPad A31 supports ATI's Mobility Radeon 7500 video chip set with 32MB of dedicated RAM, as well as a 15-inch screen with a resolution of 1400 by 1050. The A-series ThinkPads are nothing if not flexible: Either of the A31's modular bays can hold the DVD-ROM combination drive you get at this price--or an extra-cost second battery, second hard drive. The extra-flexible right bay also can accommodate a numeric keypad or a pop-out syncing cradle for IBM's WorkPad, a Palm OS-based PDA.
The A31 features the familiar and comfortable red-eraserhead-equipped IBM keyboard, which now sports a bright-blue Enter key and an Internet scroll key centered between the mouse buttons. Six additional Internet shortcut buttons, the first three user-reprogrammable, march down the left side of the keyboard in a separate vertical panel. On the top edge of its screen the A31 has both a ThinkLight, an LED that helps illuminate the keyboard in dark rooms, and an UltraPort, IBM's proprietary USB 1.1 port. The UltraPort takes any one of several small devices IBM sells, including a basic digital camera.