"After conquering Everest and exploring Antarctica, we couldn't possibly imagine how we could be impressed by a computer. The first time we took a ThinkPad^® on one of our expeditions, we weren't convinced that it would be useful so we made sure we had pen and paper in tow. When we got home after four months of trekking and river rafting, we realized that none of us had used the pen and writing pad even once."

Sebastian Alvaro, TV Series Host
Al Filo de lo Imposible, Spain

Many people in Spain are living vicariously through Sebastian Alvaro and his team of thrill seekers. For over two years, Alvaro's popular TV series has been treating viewers to extreme expeditions such as scaling the Himalayan peaks, or negotiating raging rivers in Indonesia. They have even conquered the Arctic to reach the Magnetic North Pole, where they used a ThinkPad notebook to make a real-time connection to their World Wide Web site and Spain's national news broadcast.

Alvaro's team treasures their two ThinkPad notebooks, which they describe as "an essential tool." The computers are used for storing photographs taken with a digital camera, writing scripts, email and accessing news, weather and other important information via satellite. In China's Bramaputra Valley, for example, they were able to use the ThinkPad notebook to pinpoint and have help sent to where another group was stranded after an accident. Accounts of many of these adventures are posted on the program's Web site as they happen.

"I will always remember the day we were lost deep in Tibet. Suddenly two nomadic shepherds appeared out of nowhere. Two completely different worlds stood face to face in one of the most isolated places on earth. But our excitement soon turned to frustration as our attempts to communicate failed. Then someone thought of the ThinkPad. Our new friends were astounded as they watched a drawing of the area appear before their eyes. Ten men gathered around this computer that was able to bridge the abyss that separated us. Communication flourished through the one thing that everyone has in common--a yearning to discover the unknown," says Alvaro.

The stylish but sturdy ThinkPad notebooks have endured tough conditions. They have been subjected to altitudes of over 6000 meters, temperatures under -30C and extreme humidity, not to mention the constant jostling that is inevitable when pursuing the edge of the impossible.

To read more about Al Filo de lo Imposible visit www.rtve.es/tve/program/alfilo/index.html

This may not be a typical user experience; individual experiences may differ.

ThinkPad notebooks and the Hard Disk Drives inside the ThinkPad notebooks are specified to work up to altitudes of 10,000 feet (3,048 meters).