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Are IBM notebooks overrated?

post #1 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 
Hi @ll, I know many people that say IBM are the best notebooks, most of them doesn't own one due to its high price, and I'd like to know why they are the best, if they are.

I've visited IBM homepage and don't find any reason to be the best ones. Maybe its screens are wonderful or they have the best warranty? Could you give me some arguments to say IBM laptops are the best? Do you think there is some brand better? Why?

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:34pm
IBM is hands-down the best notebook. Mainly because they're durable...I'm using a 600X that my company has had from 1999. It's just overall build quality and durability that makes IBM so good. You can't really judge laptops by looking at their specs on paper: you have to see them to get a good idea. So to answer your question, no, IBMs are not overrated..Just ask anybody who owns one.
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post #3 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:34pm
Because of the quality of the build of the notebooks.

Edit--Turanuk answered before I did, and explained it much better.
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post #4 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:38pm
IBM uses a high quality ODM:

"The Dell Latitude and the Sony Vaio are made by Quanta, who also makes many of the IBM laptops, and the PowerPro C 3:16. Quanta is well known as the best and highest quality laptop ODM in the world."

their laptops hold up unusually well to wear-and-tear, most likely due to the most robust no-frills chassis you'll find. many find the construction professional-looking, but others will tell you it's boring (me ). there aren't too many other major brand names that has customers who boast "my 5 year old thinkpad is still as solid as day 1," however, or "crap, i dropped my thinkpad today but hey, it's still chuggin!"

as to overrated? i would say no, not really overrated. overpriced? that's a different story.
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post #5 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:50pm
lol I think it's funny how people whine and bitch about how expensive Alienware is but when I've bought laptops in the past IBM was one of the first I ruled out because I found them to be the MOST expensive of the general mainstream manufacturers...but then again to the other poster's point specs are somewhat meaningless these days...and the ODM of IBM is the bomb...
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post #6 of 12
6/8/04 at 4:55pm
yeah i certainly wouldn't buy an IBM on my own money lol...anything decent is into the 4000 dollar canadian range.
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post #7 of 12
6/8/04 at 5:51pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the answers.

Then, if the most important component for me in a laptop is the screen, should I buy a Sony Vaio with a 16,1" Xbrite screen made by Quanta?
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post #8 of 12
6/8/04 at 5:52pm
Sony X-BRITE screens are tight...Toshiba CASV screens are the bomb too..also Fujitsu's notebooks have some really nicescreens..check this out:

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=23119
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post #9 of 12
6/8/04 at 5:54pm
Sony A series has amazing screens but they're DTR weight I believe
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post #10 of 12
6/8/04 at 6:17pm
This is actually a very good question.

I said it on another thread... But I bought a very expensive IBM in 1998, and kind of everything broke. Mostly the hard disk, failed three times. I think there was a problem with the motherboard, but IBM didn't care to check. I have to say the case was solid (and so very ugly, too), but that was the only thing that was solid on this laptop. In no particular order: 3 hard disks, one scorched USB port (yep, one day I plugged a USB device and it had this ghastly "burned" smell; the USB was sealed on the motherboard and it happened not so far after the measly 1-year warranty, so stuck without USB), broken floppy drive, dead CD drive, sliced graphic-to-screen map, and a recall for the power brick that could cause "fires". Not to mention the battery, though in '98 batteries never lasted long.

Since then, I keep my hard earned cash and buy other brands -- I have a 4-year old Gateway that works well, except the keyboard that is completely out. Isn't IBM a little what Mercedes is lately: a premium price for a substandard product? I wonder.
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post #11 of 12
6/8/04 at 6:26pm
every manufacturer has defective systems. for example, i could tell you some horror stories about the manufacturing of the computer controlling your F150's powertrain, but the fact is the defect to yield ratio still warrants that i'm shipping Ford a world-class product. a defect is still going to be a defect, however.

of the major laptop manufacturers, ibm probably has the least, and the most satisfied customers. that's why so many people have bought their systems in the past and will continue to buy their systems in the future--> usually a good sign for continuing tech support over the years.
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post #12 of 12
6/8/04 at 6:43pm
yeah old IBM batteries have a ghastly reputation...They die like hell...the one in this 600X lasted a grand total of 2 minutes until i got one from a co-worker that lasts 40 minutes...still pathetic. I've heard bad things about the hard drives too yeah...nothing's perfect, but use anything for that long and you're bound to have some problems.
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