Thinkpad build quality - your opinions - Page 2

SGF

Wrong, dead wrong. Heck, even Lenovo doesn't make them now. They have always been designed in house and still are...by the exact same people who designed them at IBM. They all work for Lenovo now.

Dell may add ram and swap out a HDD in their facility, but the guts of their systems are built in Asia, like everyone else's.

No one makes a fault free PC...but putting much stock in one survey issued by some obscure marketing company is just nonsense.

If you want to compare accolade, just look at the trade mags (e.g. PC World, PCMag, etc.) and the industry experts like IDC and Gartner. They consistently rate the ThinkPad line tops in quality, reliability, service & support.

A quick google search turned up these:
Reliability and Service: The Best Companies to Buy From
PCMAG 18th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey
ITWorld - Study: Dell customer rating plunges, Apple leads pack
eWeek.com: Dell's Customer Satisfaction Drops, Survey Shows

The Frost research seems to be an anomoly.

The question was about manufacturing. As far as I'm concerned, several ODMs has made IBMs. Quanta and Arima has made those too and now Lenovo has chosen Compal to produce at least three Thinkpad models... The Frost & Sullivan survey was accurately targeted to the business sector and that is what makes it valuable. We were talking about business use right?

Just to ask the bleedingly obvious and try to stop this, are you two going to see who can pee the farthest next?

We all have prefences and biases, and we all have our own reasons for these things. So let's respect each other's viewpoints even when we disagree, since it certainly doesn't hurt anyone to do that. Personally I've had great experiences with thinkpads and generally poor experiences with Dell across the board with one notable exception. Conversely a colleague of mine swears by Dell and won't use anything else.

We cant forget that Thinkpads are the only laptops in space right now 7 A series are in orbit right now.

They probably won't do so well on re-entry.

Gentlemen. I've been using Thinkpads in excess of 10 years. I tried a bunch and when I stumpled on a Thinkpad, I knew I found the laptop I'd been looking for.

However, I'm always looking for a better mousetrap, so when Dell came out with the new D620 and D820 line of Lattitudes, I was smitten and bought one of each. I've been using them on and off for the last 3 months or and have been fairly happy with the quality and reliability of the laptops. I used the D620 for traveling and the D820 at the office with a port replicator.

I finally ran into a couple of issues on shutdown. Both of them started generating memory errors when shutting down and I found myself having to close a dialog box before it would shut down. Sometimes, I'd just have to hold the power button down to get it to shut off. A nagging, but certainly not a serious issue.

Anyhow, I recently switched back to a Thinkpad T60 that I had actually purchased around the time I got the D820. I really wanted to give the D820 a trial so I put the T60 on the shelf until this past weekend.

I have to admit, and I'm really trying to be as impartial as I can; until I started using the T60, I didn't realize what I was missing. Yes, the D820 and D620 are fine laptops, but they simply are a cut below the T60. All 3 of them are configured similarly (2.0 ghz, 100 gig 7200 RPM, 1 gig MEM, DVD-RW, 1400 X 1050 on the T60, 1680 X 1024 on the D820, and 1440 X 900 on the D620).

The first thing you will notice is that the T60 runs substantially cooler than the Dells. It gets HOT nowhere and barely gets warm, even on the bottom.

The LCD is brighter and has a larger viewing angle.

Seems to run faster but this is strictly an observation; I've done no benchmarks. All have the same software installed.

And lets not forget the phenominal keyboard/trackpoint on the Thinkpad. The Dell is much improved over the previous Lattitudes (I had a D600 before), but not really as refined as the Thinkpads.

I can't find a lot of fault with the Dells and I've had very good service with Dell, but if you want the BEST business class laptop around, then your decision is easy. If you're wlling to settle for something less, then Dell is an excellent choice.

I have to admit that I really enjoy the resolutions on the Dells and I'm looking forward to seeing the T series widescreen. The Z series just isn't industrial enough for my needs.

Good post. I have nothing against IBM/Lenovo. In fact I was looking for one few months ago but ultimately went for Dell for few reasons. I am not fanactic at all to the brand I use at the time. My only goal is to point out that Dell also can make good business laptops (Latitudes, Precisions).

I just got my T60 the other day, and am very impressed. I love it.

I like my R51e for sure.

I recently had a tough experience with a bad thinkpad --that's being resolved to my satisfaction.... that's something that can happen to ANY manufacturer.

The reason I bought a Thinkpad is because do CAD, 3D modeling and rendering... and I wanted an open GL card.... so that cuts down the field considerably.....

While i was still shopping, I went to an AutoCAD 2007 demo and the guy from Autodesk who was giving the presentation was using a thinkpad.

Now, I know Autodesk has a close relationship with nVidia.... So I asked him why he was using a Thinkpad..... and he said i(1) nVidia was indeed the card to beat; and (2) Thinkpads are the standard issue Autodesk notebook.

(1) Autodesk has enough money that they can buy any notebook they want --at a screaming price--- and their software requires a LOT more horsepower than say "a power point sales presentation" or writing a report in Word.
(2) They have a financial arangement with nVidia (at least they obviously promote them --and Dell uses nVidia Quadro cards in their M series) yet
(3) Autodesk gives *their* employees Thinkpads. --with ATI's card.... to use to go out and demo and sell their product.

So,despite me reciving a manufacturing defect in own my personal machine --which Lenovo is now replacing and totally upgrading for me (see sig) I can only assume Autodesk choose Thinkpads as *their* standard notebook because --in general-- they work, and work, and work..... without a lot of IT headaches.....

I own/have owned dell 1150, d600, d800, 8600; hp nx1000 and compaq x1000; and my roommate's laptops which I also have used are Sony vaio tx series and toshiba sattelite laptops.

Thinkpad T60 blows all of them out of the water. First time I ever experienced a keyboard so solid and absolutely now palm rest creaking and a stiff lcd that doesn't wobble, even on the train. I've been on this thinkpad t60 for about 3 weeks now and after using many other laptops for extended periods, I see now why they are expensive. If solid feel, solid performance (not the best but solid and stable), and security are what you need, then you wont be dissapointed because it is money well spent.

I'm a dedicated Thinkpad owner/user and I don't want to sound like a traitor, but there is nothing that screams BUSINESS better than a Thinkpad.

What I am saying is that Autodesk may be just trying to send the suttle message that they demand the best and so should you... presumably by buying their expensive software.

There is no doubt that I have had Thinkpads that have lasted much, much longer than any other model that I've owned, but I'm not ready to say that this is just because I've bought more Thinkpads than the others. However, I have to admit that at my company (I own a 10 person software development company), I've bought Thinkpads for all my developers for the last few years.

We tried Sony... good laptop, lousey support.
Dell... I liked them, nobody else did.
Toshiba... too many problems and failures.

We've stablized with Thinkpads for the last 3 or 4 years and they couldn't be happier with the features and support.

BTW, we don't do any demonstrations so we are quielty using Thinkpads because they are the best we've found, not because we're trying to send a mesage to anyone.

I think this is fair..... It's part of the reason I got a thinkpad.... I do design work... I have clients looking at my machine.... I often work with them and do design changes while they are sitting right there.....

You're right... nothing screams "business" like the thinkpad... (for a reason).... so using one is a marketing thing for me as well, You pull one out, and people KNOW it's something special.... (as well as a constant pleasure to use)

I've been using a T60P for about two weeks now. It's very well built and even more solidly put together than my old (six years old) Compaq with the solid steel construction. It's a very tight and llight package. The only complain I have with build quality is the strip of plastic above the keyboard has a bit of flew, and I only noticed that because I was looking for problems - there is no reaosn why I would ever touch that part of the laptop. The keyboard is the best laptop keyboard I have ever used.

RIT.... thanks for reminding me about the nature of forums and the ratio one finds.... I am soooo waiting for my T60p to show up, I'm chomping at the bit..... It's supposed to be here today.... but they never sent me a tracking number, so .....

But yeah.... After using the T43p I had, particularly the keyboard.... it's tough to use anything else.... I guess it's true --specifically in terms of Thinkpads... "once you go black, you'll never go back"

I am now on my 5th Thinkpad - an r50e and I believe, after trying many competing brands, that there is nothing that can touch the Thinkpads for build quality, ease of obtaining and using FRU's (Field Replaceable Parts) and if you need any factory service on your Thinkpad, it is the best there is in the industry.