You are browsing within the review sections of our forums. Content within these sections reflect consumer opinions of laptops. Our admins take the best and most objective laptop reviews and index them here to create a distinct selection of quality reviews with averaged overall ratings. Many of these reviews have benchmarks attached to them which allows for users to compare their laptop's performance with others, and ultimately enables us to provide a sortable list which at a glance show the fastest laptops amongst a variety of applications (gaming, video editing, web browsing, etc...). Help us build a better laptop database by submitting your laptop review.

stiofain · 06-30-2009, 07:43 AM

Intro

This is the first laptop I have ever bought/owned outright so it was a pretty big leap. I wanted something that I could use for work at home, in the office, while traveling etc It was not going to be used for gaming purposes but it should still have enough CPU/RAM behind it to make it fairly slick whatever use I put it to.

I had a straight choice between the Asus X58LE and the Thinkpad N500. After asking for advice on this foum I went for the Thinkpad.

Specs:

This was the advertised Spec.

Intel T6400 Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz Processor
Intel 5100AGN Wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n (draft)
3 Gb RAM (1x2 GB 1x1 Gb)
320 Gb hard drive
CD-RW/DVD Recordable (dual layer)
15.41" TFT (1280x800 widescreen) with webcam
Intel GMA4500 graphics
Gigabit Ethernet
4 USB 2.0 ports
1x PCI Express Card Slot
4-in-1 multi-media card reader
Weight 2.7 kg
One year carry-in warranty (battery one year)
Installed Ubuntu 9.04
Delivery included

There is an outstanding query against this though as the wireless card installed is different from the one advertised.
(it is a Broadcom BCM4312 802.11b/g). This is currently being investigated by the Linux Emporium (from whence it came) so we shall see how their after-care copes with this :-)

Design

While not exactly ugly the Thinkpad will certainly not win any beauty pageants. The kind of laptop you could bring home to your mother and not be embarassed....but not the kind of laptop you'd hope to get jiggy with round the back of the night-club either.....not sure if that metaphor works but hey...

Screen:

No problems with the screen.....great size for me which is useful as I can have a number of terminals open at any one time.

Keyboard

Keyboard layout again is fine. The Fn key at the bottom left hand corner takes some getting used to though as you assume that is where the Ctrl key will be.....

LEDS

The LEDs are useful but there is little or no explanation as to what they are in the documentation so you will a) have to be a regular laptop user to understand the symbols used or b) Google it....

Wifi –

The Wifi worked straight out of the box for me. no problems there.

Heat and Noise

Noise is non-existent practically. Does seem to get a little bit on the warm side though.

Battery Life

Battery life is just over 2.5 hours. Adequate again for my purposes.

Conclusion:

A very nice, very useful laptop for business purposes. Could also prove useful to those looking to learn Linux as everything seems to work out of the box.

Thumbs Up.

Steve · 06-30-2009, 07:45 AM

This is a great write up. Do you have pics of the notebook you could upload?

stiofain · 06-30-2009, 07:50 AM

I will see what I can do.

Steve · 07-22-2009, 01:59 PM

pics???

stiofain · 07-23-2009, 02:10 AM

got one - now, where is the link to post it on a review!

qhn · 07-23-2009, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stiofain

got one - now, where is the link to post it on a review!

Go back and edit your OP. Choose Advanced option. There you have the ability to attach pictures.

cheers ...

stiofain · 07-23-2009, 05:18 AM

Photos as promised (sometime ago!)

qhn · 07-23-2009, 05:22 AM

Brilliant (REP)! Busy work place :-)

cheers ...

stiofain · 07-23-2009, 05:29 AM

organised chaos...

qhn · 07-23-2009, 05:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stiofain

organised chaos...

Wait ... We just got a reward for this at work ourselves

ivar · 07-23-2009, 11:12 AM

The screen resolution is too small for my taste. How bright is the screen?

ivar · 07-23-2009, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stiofain

organised chaos...

or chaotic self-orghanization?

stiofain · 07-23-2009, 02:46 PM

Well I wear glasses and hate working in poor lighting but the screen suits me down to the ground. Absolutely no problem with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivar

The screen resolution is too small for my taste. How bright is the screen?

circuslife · 08-08-2009, 08:12 AM

This isn't a THINKPAD. It's under Lenovo's Ideapad 3000 line.

stiofain · 08-10-2009, 04:02 AM

...on the Linux Emporium website

http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/produ...ops/#pidR26958

Happy enough to have the review moved/renamed if the admins agree that it is the right thing to do...

06-30-2009, 07:45 AM	#2
Steve Dukefrukem Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 33,528 Reviews: 18 Benchmarks: 177 Credits: 1,871,352	This is a great write up. Do you have pics of the notebook you could upload? __________________ ^ (my stuff)

07-22-2009, 01:59 PM	#4
Steve Dukefrukem Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Boston Posts: 33,528 Reviews: 18 Benchmarks: 177 Credits: 1,871,352	pics??? __________________ ^ (my stuff)

07-23-2009, 02:10 AM	#5
stiofain Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 17 Reviews: 1 Credits: 205	got one - now, where is the link to post it on a review! __________________ "This is the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun"

07-23-2009, 05:18 AM	#7
stiofain Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 17 Reviews: 1 Credits: 205	Photos attached Photos as promised (sometime ago!) Attached Thumbnails __________________ "This is the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun"

07-23-2009, 05:22 AM	#8
qhn Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 20,009 Reviews: 8 Benchmarks: 18 Credits: 54,410	Brilliant (REP)! Busy work place :-) cheers ... __________________ m6805@3700; SZ71WN/C ; Macbook 2ghz/4gig/250gb/superdrive; 7811FX are u Folding@Home? - Firefox Beta - MediaPortal "the" Media Centre/HTPC! Last edited by qhn; 07-23-2009 at 05:42 AM.

Notebooks For Sale

User Links

Top Posters

Todays Top Posters

Fastest Benchmarks

Latest Benchmarks

06-30-2009, 07:50 AM	#3
stiofain Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 17 Reviews: 1 Credits: 205	I will see what I can do.

07-23-2009, 05:29 AM	#9
stiofain Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 17 Reviews: 1 Credits: 205	organised chaos... __________________ "This is the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun"

07-23-2009, 11:12 AM	#11
ivar Adiós! Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 388 Credits: 3,748	The screen resolution is too small for my taste. How bright is the screen?

08-08-2009, 08:12 AM	#14
circuslife Thinkpad Fan # 1 Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 1 Credits: 220	This isn't a THINKPAD. It's under Lenovo's Ideapad 3000 line. Last edited by circuslife; 08-08-2009 at 08:16 AM.

08-10-2009, 04:02 AM	#15
stiofain Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: N.Ireland Posts: 17 Reviews: 1 Credits: 205	Just reviewing it as it was branded.. ...on the Linux Emporium website http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/produ...ops/#pidR26958 Happy enough to have the review moved/renamed if the admins agree that it is the right thing to do... __________________ "This is the stickiest situation since Sticky the Stick Insect got stuck on a sticky bun"

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Lenovo N500 - any way of improving graphics?	Dunny#1	Lenovo Notebooks	3	03-28-2009 02:29 PM
Buy an Lenovo ThinkPad R61i or an Lenovo 3000 N100?	oskare100	Lenovo Notebooks	0	11-05-2007 03:46 PM
Lenovo 3000 N100 - Where is the DEL key?!	asad7874	Lenovo Notebooks	1	10-23-2006 01:24 AM
My Lenovo 3000 N100 review	paleo	Lenovo Notebooks	0	09-28-2006 08:51 PM
Lenovo 3000 notebooks with AMD	mmmeier	Lenovo Notebooks	3	06-10-2006 07:30 AM