Are Thinkpads really all that great?

[ultimatebob]

Have an X230 (I always only considered the T series a real thinkpad), but I'm not too pleased with mine. Broke several times under warranty including the motherboard fried as did the hard drive. Lenovo repaired it, and it said the windows is not genuine, it's just a complete piece of crap.

That last part is not Lenovo's fault. That's Microsoft's antipiracy check being overly sensitive. Go bitch to them about it.

 

[theeedude]

They just switched me from a 6 year old Dell Latitude D830 to a Lenovo W530 at work and am not a fan.
Terrible small touch pad with wrong button positioning.
Enormously sized power brick, cable doesn't wrap around like the Dell. Poor design.
Extended 9 cell battery is flimsy and sticks out back. It's a huge laptop, they could have made it fit inside. Poor design.
Function key is in lower left corner where CTRL key should be. This is a business laptop, business users are most likely to use shortcuts that depend on CTRL key. You can swap it in bios, fortunately, but that's just a hack. Poor design.
Screen is dim and meh. Coming from 1920x1200 in the Dell it's definitely a step down to go to the 1080p display in W530. Why have a fancy GPU if display is going to suck?
I understand that it's the state of the industry, but this laptop makes clear why PC sales are in decline. Aside from a faster CPU, and being lighter (without the power brick), and Windows 7 instead of XP, the 6 year old Dell was superior in every way.
I miss it already.

 

[crashtech]

I've worked on more broken Dells than anything, aside perhaps from HP DV series junk.

 

[beginner99]

I have an x220 and I'm happy with it. The form factor is pretty great. Not too small but still portable. I admit i don't use it that heavily. Still looks pretty new.

However I got it with student rebate, namley for half price. I would never pay the full price out of my own pocket. You could get 2 cheap consumer laptops for the same price. Just get a good case/bag/sleeve for carrying.

 

[raildogg]

I've worked on more broken Dells than anything, aside perhaps from HP DV series junk.

Dell Latitude and Precision laptops are highly regarded. Many of the models are rugged as Thinkpads. Some might be even more so.

So this is true for almost every brand. Some like it, some don't.

 

[theeedude]

Dell Latitude and Precision laptops are highly regarded. Many of the models are rugged as Thinkpads. Some might be even more so.

I don't know about the new ones. But my D830 was built like a tank. I think in general, the industry has gone downhill in the race to the bottom, with the exception of Apple. Cheap screens with aspect ratios optimized for movies have no place in business laptops.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I bought a used X200s, installed Win8, replaced the hard drive with an SSD, and upgraded to 4GB of RAM. I just replaced the 9-cell battery too, and I get 6-7 hours on a charge. Best of all, it doesn't even HAVE a touchpad, just the lovely trackpoint.

It's my favourite laptop that I've ever owned, performs better than the brand new Dell I use at work, and cost me less than $500 even with all the upgrades. Not bad for a computer made in 2008/9.

 

[mrblotto]

I've been using Thinkpads forever it seems:
-701 'butterfly' - quite innovative for the time
-760XD
-380 (with OS/2 installed woohoo!)
-770Z (was awesome for it's time, had a wacky HD formfactor tho)
-T20
-T30
-T42 (sturdy, one of the best made IMO)
-T61p
-T410 - pretty good, but DVDROM removal buttons are ridiculously placed. (Really, you need 2 hands to remove the thing?)
-T420
The above were all provided for me by my work.
-T530 - personal one I picked up last year. Liking it for the most part. The speakers went out a few months after I got it, but IBMSERV was outstanding. I've called them probably thousands of times over the years at work (deal with a lot of customers on a daily basis) and for the most part their service is great.

I've definitely noticed a downward trend in quality (not a huge fan of the new chiclet kb), esp after Lenovo acquired the line a few years back. But overall pleased.

 

[007ELmO]

I like the W530 a lot, I'm not sure how the T differs in quality but my W has survived many a fall and is my work/home laptop. It's on 24/7 and performs admirably for work. The DVD drive is flimsy, but who actually uses these things anymo'?

 

[HOSED]

I an so glad I joined this forum. I am not real savvy with computers but I do need to upgrade my Dell D610 (Intel graphics, 1 GIG ram, Bodhi Linux). I do not want win 8 so have been wavering between Lenovo and Dell Business notebooks 15-17 inch screen (1920 x 1080) with Win 7. Does anyone know if Lenovo laptops generally have a BIOS switch to turn off the Nvidia or ATI graphic cards? TIA, Joseph

 

[ultimatebob]

-T530 - personal one I picked up last year. Liking it for the most part. The speakers went out a few months after I got it, but IBMSERV was outstanding. I've called them probably thousands of times over the years at work (deal with a lot of customers on a daily basis) and for the most part their service is great.

I've definitely noticed a downward trend in quality (not a huge fan of the new chiclet kb), esp after Lenovo acquired the line a few years back. But overall pleased.

1-800-IBMSERV still works? Wow, I figured that they would have changed that.

 

[mrblotto]

I an so glad I joined this forum. I am not real savvy with computers but I do need to upgrade my Dell D610 (Intel graphics, 1 GIG ram, Bodhi Linux). I do not want win 8 so have been wavering between Lenovo and Dell Business notebooks 15-17 inch screen (1920 x 1080) with Win 7. Does anyone know if Lenovo laptops generally have a BIOS switch to turn off the Nvidia or ATI graphic cards? TIA, Joseph

Normally there is a 'switch' in the BIOS to enable/disable:
-integrated (ie Intel HDxxxx graphics chip)
-discrete (either Nvidia or ATI)
-both

1-800-IBMSERV still works? Wow, I figured that they would have changed that.

LOL, yup. Got 'em on speed-dial, although I usually have the customers call them now with error codes or messages they need to get a repair/replacement going

 

[takeru]

I dislike my T430 for the sole reason that the Ctrl is where the Fn key should be, and the Fn where the Ctrl key should be!

most lenovo's are like that. i've only seen one that doesn't have the Fn key in the bottom corner.

the IdeaPad Yoga series:

it's a shame the Thinkad Yoga's maintained the Fn in the corner though:

 

[996GT2]

most lenovo's are like that. i've only seen one that doesn't have the Fn key in the bottom corner.

the IdeaPad Yoga series:

it's a shame the Thinkad Yoga's maintained the Fn in the corner though:

There is an option in the BIOS to swap the locations of the Fn and Ctrl keys on many Thinkpads. If you enable this option then pressing the "Fn" key will give you the function of the Ctrl key. It does mean that the keys will end up being mislabeled, but what power user actually looks down at the keyboard when typing anyway?

 

[marcplante]

So has anyone pried off the keys to swap them after changing their functionality in BIOS?

 

[marcplante]

I'm using a t520 that it's new to me (getting a t440 soon), and my left pinkie is not happy...

 

[007ELmO]

you shall get used to it, if that's the only thing you have to complain about your laptop you are in good luck. Lenovo forever, for Business purposes.

 

[Kroze]

The only thing i hate about ThinkPads is that they keys/keyboard/trackpad wear out fast. You'll end up with shiny looking keys/trackpad

I wish they make them more resistant to wear & tear

 

[taq8ojh]

After getting disgusted with HP, I bought a Thinkpad for my mother. To me it's night and day difference. (Partially) the build quality, aesthetics, price, and most of all, support. Lenovo got me sold for future.

 

[GoSharks]

The only thing i hate about ThinkPads is that they keys/keyboard/trackpad wear out fast. You'll end up with shiny looking keys/trackpad

I wish they make them more resistant to wear & tear

Used to be true before the change to the chicklet keyboard. The new keyboard and trackpad have different surfaces than before, so we'll see.

 

[kevinsbane]

Trackpoint is godlike for mousing on the go.

Actually, it's the perfect control input for almost all common office applications. Being able to use the mouse and switching instantly to touch typing just feels amazing. That and navigating documents is best done on a trackpoint keyboard. Too bad most people don't know how to use it

My X220 is a pretty darned solid little laptop. Feels a little clunky nowadays compared to the newfangled FHD IPS monsters that are half the thickness, but man, I like the keyboard and my HD IPS screen. Lasted me 2 and a half years now, and it sold me on trackpoints. If only I could get this exact chassis, with haswell instead of sandy bridge, and a FHD screen instead of a 768p...

 

[takeru]

new x1 carbon touch that's coming out
http://arstechnica.com/staff/2014/01/stop-trying-to-innovate-keyboards-youre-just-making-them-worse/

The machine looks glorious in just about every regard. Fully decked out, it has a 2.1-3.3 GHz two core, four thread Core i7-4600U processor, 8GB RAM, a 14-inch 2560×1440 multitouch screen, 801.11ac, 9 hours of battery life, and a fingerprint reader. It all weighs in at under 3 lbs. It's a sleek, good-looking machine, and I'd buy one in an instant...

... if it weren't for one thing. The new X1 Carbon has what Lenovo is calling an "Adaptive Keyboard." The gimmick of this keyboard is the row above the number keys, the place where the function keys should sit. The markings on this strip change according to the mode it's in. It can show a bunch of function key labels—F1 through F12—or media keys, or volume/brightness/etc. buttons, or whatever else is appropriate.

 

[KentState]

Getting rid of physical functions keys is a horrible design. In a business environment, they are heavily used with certain applications, especially in more technical jobs.

I had an X1 at my last job and it was such a mixed bag. The arrangement of the CTL and FN key was a problem, though I wasn't aware of any BIOS setting to change that. Also, the trackpad was downright horrible. HP and Apple are miles ahead of the solid pad without separate left and right buttons. I much prefer my HP Elite Book Folio to the X1, though both are stuck with a lower resolution screen than what I prefer.