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What's so good about IBM Thinkpads?

post #1 of 60
10/10/04 at 7:52pm
Thread Starter 
This is my first post on this forum and I'd like to know if anyone can tell me what is so special about the IBM Thinkpads. See I'm in the market for a new laptop and I was looking at a couple of Sony and Dell models but several people I know are trying to convince me to get a Thinkpad though they don't have one themselves. They tell me that from what they've read the Thinkpad has a great reputation. The problem is that I can't seem to find any retailers that carry them, when I go to CompUSA, BestBuy etc. I see Sony, HP, Toshiba & others but no Thinkpads. I know Dell doesn't sell directly to retailers but I didn't know IBM doesn't either.
I've checked the IBM site and the model that interests me is the T42 with the 15" display. There are alot of different models and I'm trying to decide which is the best for my needs. I'll be using it for quite a bit of Photoshop among other things and I'll be using it at home and on the road.
So if anyone here has a Thinkpad maybe you can enlighten me on what you feel is so special about it. Would I really see such a difference between it and a Dell? I have a couple of friends who have Dells and they seem pretty happy with them. If there are any negatives about the Thinkpads I'd like to know about that too.
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post #2 of 60
10/10/04 at 8:14pm
the build quality is great. The keyboard is the best I've used on a laptop (second fav is the acer keyboard. I've tried the dell and the compaq and I just cant get used to it). They IBMs are usually comparably light. However, they are expensive as all crack and dont have the specs to warrant the price.
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post #3 of 60
10/10/04 at 8:47pm
Like nark said, build & keyboard are the best. While the specs may not be the cutting edge, esp. with regards to the GPU, they are extremely reliable and feel "solid" to use. They're designed for corporate environments and are thus their biggest pro is stability. The ones with the FireGL card inside are quite good at full OpenGL support.

Negatives: expensive.

EDIT: The support and warranty are really excellent also.

But, if I had the money, I'd get one.

Regards,

zakaluka2.
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post #4 of 60
10/10/04 at 9:04pm
Simply put, they are the best.
Stable, extremely well built especially the X series.
Warranty and Service you have a problem, they have a problem and they
will take care of you. Computer needs fixing and they can't seem to get it to your satisfaction, after a couple of repair attempts, you will get a new one (I Did). Yes they are expensive but in this case you get what you pay for.
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post #5 of 60
10/10/04 at 9:32pm
They're built like tanks!
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post #6 of 60
10/10/04 at 11:35pm
Agreed; I buy them whenever I need a machine that might be subjected to less than caring use (Ie, company laptop pool, attorneys who will not take care of them, etc). In my experience they don't outperform the Dells (which I also have bought a decent number of), but the build quality was a lot better.

The XPS's build quality is top notch as well, I was surprised how much sturdier it is than the Dell 8200, which was what I had been buying in the past. Not sure how well the XPS will hold up in time, though.

Damn, that's a poorly written reply. Going to bed.
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post #7 of 60
10/10/04 at 11:36pm
A friend of mine has a Thinkpad. One of the best built laptops Ive come across.

Im in the market for a new one too, had a Compaq for about 4 years. The keyboard on it absolutely sucked. I lost the 'd' on it by the 3rd month. and 'y' after one year. Long story short, other buttons started falling off, well after warranty.

That friend I was talking about? Still has her pad (5 years) and her cats are free to roam across the board. Not one problem with it as far as quality built.

I found them too pricey as well. And their HD's aren't well stacked. I configured it and almost shat when I saw the price. If I had the money, Id get one tho.

Check out the PowerPro's, Im looking into them presently and their quality seems to match that of a high priced Dell or Thinkpad, in some instances, exceeding them.
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post #8 of 60
10/11/04 at 12:04am
The IBM is built very well. However, I would take my i8600's keyboard over that of a friend's R51 anytime. I love this keyboard.
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post #9 of 60
10/11/04 at 2:10am
what I found with my t21 was that the hdd was set to DMA mode 2, while the hdd was ATA-5. Really sucked in performance and with 128 mb of ram, it couldnt take win xp well.
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post #10 of 60
10/11/04 at 2:20am
they are highly over rated...
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post #11 of 60
10/11/04 at 10:12am
i think they are over rated too. the only good thing about them is the build quality and the service you get when they need to be fixed and for the money you'r paying them there should me more good thing about them. they didn't get the nickname "Stinkpads" for nothing.
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post #12 of 60
10/11/04 at 9:27pm
I just ordered T42 (2378fvu).
I think it is the best deal. Best bang for the buck for a thinkpad.
The express models are a lot cheaper.

1.7 Dothan
9600 Radeon 64MB
14.1" SXGA+
only 4.9 lb
4 hour battery life

and more...

It's not a high end gaming machine but it has perfect balance for portability or as desktop replacement.
Their service and warranty is top notch
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post #13 of 60
12/16/05 at 11:20pm
One year from this post......are ThinkPads still the best notebooks???
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post #14 of 60
12/17/05 at 9:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by galileo634
One year from this post......are ThinkPads still the best notebooks???
Yes.
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post #15 of 60
12/18/05 at 2:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thefultonhow
Yes.

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post #16 of 60
12/18/05 at 2:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by galileo634
One year from this post......are ThinkPads still the best notebooks???
They're definitly still good, but I think Asus makes notebooks of comparable build quality, more power and features, and in my opinion, superior aesthetics for a similar or lower price point, so I'd choose Asus as the best overall brand at the moment, but then again, I am biased.
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post #17 of 60
12/20/05 at 5:45am
who cares about built quality that much.. it's not like your laptop and your friends or whoever it is are going to start smashing into each other...
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post #18 of 60
12/20/05 at 5:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by koolposter
who cares about built quality that much.. it's not like your laptop and your friends or whoever it is are going to start smashing into each other...
Well, I'm clumsy and have dropped notbook computers before, so I appreciate a good build quality. But if you aren't as hard on your equipment as I am, maybe it's not as important an issue
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post #19 of 60
12/20/05 at 7:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by koolposter
who cares about built quality that much.. it's not like your laptop and your friends or whoever it is are going to start smashing into each other...
Laptops are by their design a fragile piece of machinery. If you don't require a more rugged laptop - all you. But there are many people who put their laptop to actual use; traveling, profession, diagnostics etc. IBM is sold heavily to the working professional.

I had a non-IBM for less than a year before it started to fall apart. Ive had one thinkpad for seven years now, it still works and it is still solid. Though I hardly use it- makes for a nice backup as I bought a newer one last May, same build, but smaller. I ravel alot and this new one is taking quite a beating as it is. I should go easier... had it been another brand, the top of the LCD would already be broken.
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post #20 of 60
12/21/05 at 3:36pm
In terms of build quality, Thinkpads are the best. Dell is second (the Latitudes and Precisions, not the Inspirons).

Dell does trump IBM for service, tho. When they say next day on site, 99% of the time they are there, next day on site with the proper parts.

IBM is not as good - I'd say about 75% of the time they are able to fully fix an issue the next day. The other 25% they show up late (2nd or 3rd day), they don't have the proper parts with them, or in several cases, they didn't have the proper parts in stock & it can take weeks for them to get them.

My personal preference is the T42p - best machine available today, IMHO. I switched away from the Precision M70 workstation in favor of the Thinkpad, and I don't think I'll go back.
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