Thinkpad Appreciation Thread

[dylandylandylan]

Hey guys!

I thought I'd start up a thread for people that own thinkpads.

I love thinkpads for their modular outlook towards laptops. Everything is very easily replaceable. Too bad the keyboards started to go downhill after lenovo bought them out, but meh, my t40,41,t61p and my newest acquisition the T410.

 

Something I didn't know about until tonight was the thinkvantage update center. It downloads all necessary drivers for you, installs, and the like, without having to do anything, quite cool.

 

They're an awesome workhorse for the student as well, cheap, reliable, especially if you need a laptop on a budget. Some people don't like the look of them but I've also believed a business grade laptop should look like one of these. I haven't had the opportunity to try out the new edges, so I can't comment!

 

I'm going to be slapping a 256GB SSD in the t410, along with 2 x 4GB RAM modules, and it'll serve me as my programming workhorse for uni, my TF700T Asus infinity tablet just isn't up to the task unfortunately :(

 

 

[Glenwing]

I've got my T61 and it's still going strong 6 years later (still has original IBM logo hehe).  It looks exactly the same as it did when I bought it, and it seems to be indestructible.  Stuck in an SSD and it flies.  Not really suitable for gaming or CAD anymore but I just use it for lighter stuff.  16:10 screen is way better for browsing and documentation.  I love the tough look, I don't really like the direction Lenovo is taking them now, trying to make them sleek consumer devices rather than workhorse machines.  Hinges redesigned, touchpad redesigned, trackpoint buttons gone... :(

 

That being said I don't mind the new keyboard.  It's quite good as far as the typing experience goes.  The layout could use a complete overhaul (and by that I mean it needs to be almost exactly what it was before), although I'm glad they removed the page forward/back buttons by the arrow keys.  Those were a disaster.  Lost so much stuff I typed into internet forms because of those.

 

Yeah... when I finally retire this one I'm not sure if I'll get another ThinkPad.  Lenovo has messed with the ThinkPad design so much I'm not going to consider them with any more favor than other OEMs... as far I'm concerned they are not part of the same brand or line that my T61 is from.

[WoodenMarker]

It's a great sturdy laptop. As much as I would like a T or X series Thinkpad, I got my e420 with a Sandy i3 from a trade with a friend for my Gateway with a Sandy i5. I don't regret this trade a bit and I am eventually going to put an ssd in it. I have a Samsung 840 lying around and I'm going to switch out my Intel 330 from my desktop with it to put in my laptop--too lazy though.

[Lyons]

Hells yeah, love my X220. Use it every day.

 

- i5 2450M

- IPS screen

- 8gb RAM

- 128gb SSD (Samsung 830)

 

Dual boot Windows 8 and Crunchbang Linux.

[Glenwing]

I can't decide whether I'm jealous of your 16:9 IPS display or not... :P

[qwertywarrior]

i own a T530

its about 1 year old now

 

900p screen

dual core ivy

no dedicated GPU (cool temps)

9 cell battery

 

upgraded it with a 128GB samsung 830 ssd

added an extra 4GB of ram

and removed the dvd drive and installed an ultrabay and inserted a 1TB Hard drive

 

its the best purchase i have ever done in my life

 

amazing build quality

the fan is almost always off (down clocked - maximum battery)

very cool never gets warm even

the screen is superb

battery life is great ! 

 

 

[Lyons]

I can't decide whether I'm jealous of your 16:9 IPS display or not... :P

 

Next to my mate's X220 with a TN.... it makes the TN look awful  :D The res/ratio is fine for the work I do on it I guess. I love 16:10 but sadly it isn't really an option any more if you're buying new unless you go the MBP route.

 

The new keyboards are surprisingly very good, my father's T430 feels great. The chiclet keys are slightly more tactile.

[qwertywarrior]

does anyone here use an ultrabay ?

i bought mine on ebay

[Glenwing]

I've got the extra battery in mine... since my main battery is pretty degraded at this point xD even after a few replacements.

[Mrbluee]

Yeaaaaahh I dont even know what THAT is :l and Whats that red button :s

[Glenwing]

Yeaaaaahh I dont even know what THAT is :l and Whats that red button :s

 

It's a human interface device.  I like it better than trackpads personally.

[qwertywarrior]

It's a human interface device.  I like it better than trackpads personally.

for me its like a trackpad but difficulty set to hard xD

[Samdb]

For some reason Thinkpad's don't do it for me.

[Lyons]

For some reason Thinkpad's don't do it for me.

 

Have you ever owned one? They are the epitome of function > form  :D

[Samdb]

Have you ever owned one? They are the epitome of function > form  :D

No, I was thinking about buying one but they don't seem like my sort of thing. I guess if I ever have the chance to try one my opinion may change.

[Nirmal]

I have a ThinkPad W500,

I haven't had to use it in a while because I have my desktop, but since I am on vacation I have to use it now.

I once spilled a bit of tea on the keyboard but almost all of it just came out of the bottom, that was truly awesome.

Anyways my specs are:

 

1920x1200 screen. (Awesome but TN. lol)

4GB Ram.

Core 2 Duo T9600.

320GB HDD

One Lenovo 9-cell and one AGPTek 9-cell. (The Agptek one is not working so I will have to return that one.)

 

I am planning on doing some upgrades later this year though.

 

 

 although I'm glad they removed the page forward/back buttons by the arrow keys.  Those were a disaster.  Lost so much stuff I typed into internet forms because of those.

 

 

I know that feeling way to well. Just this week I think that that happened to me about 3 times.

 

Anyways I think that one of the best parts of the ThinkPads is that from a distance they all look the same. hehe.

[pjm0925]

Thinkpads were always favorites of mine.  My first work-issued laptop was a 600e with a 6GB hdd 

[Glenwing]

Have you ever owned one? They are the epitome of function > form  :D

 

Well, they were xD Seems every successive release now they are sacrificing functionality to make it look nicer.  7-row keyboard is gone, to make it look more modern.  Trackpoint buttons on the way out with their upcoming Haswell releases, to take away as many buttons as possible and reduce clutter.  Angled edge at the front of the palmrest/top of LCD which kept out dust and dirt gone, upcoming Haswell designs are flat all the way across.  Display latch gone... I guess that didn't serve a huge purpose but it sure felt good whenever I closed it :P... LCD Roll cage gone for thinner displays.  Strong steel hinges attached directly to the internal metal frame gone, now replaced by drop down hinge like their Ideapads, with the hinge attached to the LCD now, and again with no magnesium roll cage in the LCD anymore... :/

 

EDIT: Anyway... Thar she blows!  Beautiful!

 

[Lyons]

Well, they were xD Seems every successive release now they are sacrificing functionality to make it look nicer. 7-row keyboard is gone, to make it look more modern. Trackpoint buttons on the way out with their upcoming Haswell releases, to take away as many buttons as possible and reduce clutter. Angled edge at the front of the palmrest/top of LCD which kept out dust and dirt gone, upcoming Haswell designs are flat all the way across. Display latch gone... I guess that didn't serve a huge purpose but it sure felt good whenever I closed it :P... LCD Roll cage gone for thinner displays. Strong steel hinges attached directly to the internal metal frame gone, now replaced by drop down hinge like their Ideapads, with the hinge attached to the LCD now, and again with no magnesium roll cage in the LCD anymore... :/

EDIT: Anyway... Thar she blows! Beautiful!

Well I really meant Thinkpads of the past and present, not the future...

[Glenwing]

Well I really meant Thinkpads of the past and present, not the future...

 

Indeed...

[dylandylandylan]

I need to get one of those ultra bay hard drive inserts, It's right up there on my to do list. I took it to uni today and it served me very well. I'm going to put #! on it and see if I can use it as my linux daily driver, it's about time I make the switch :P

[ObeseWalrus]

I have only bad experiences with thinkpads, but maybe that's because my school used crappy Celeron ones with 512 MB RAM and Windows XP, they had IBM logos on them and they weighted more that my old friends MSI gaming laptop, but I really like their ruggedness. We have just shifted over to Dells and Windows 7 Enterprise but I think that is only because the support for XP ends in 2014.

[dylandylandylan]

Yay for crunchbang on my thinkpad! It runs so smoooooothly!

 

[Lyons]

Yay for crunchbang on my thinkpad! It runs so smoooooothly!

 

How's battery life so far?

[dylandylandylan]

How's battery life so far?

 

3-4 hours with light use, not too bad, it's enough for university classes, and I've got hardware classes in the afternoon so I just plug it into the wall if I need it, I haven't noticed much differences with battery life between windows 7 and Linux so far ..