I <3 my thinkpad

[slackerinabox]

Typing this on my new, admittedly low end thinkpad x100e and have a few very positive impressions. I've recently purchased 2 other laptops and none quite fit the bill, being too big, fragile, or having a crappy trackpad, etc - usability issues that I did not want to deal with during my stressful new, commuting heavy job. A dell vostro v13 seemed perfect on paper but the trackpad was so unusably horrid and the build quality so lacking that I couldn't imagine it surviving one commute. My wife's new HP DM5(i think?) looked great on paper but looked and felt like a toy in person. And the trackpad was awful as well. Cut to me buying the thinkpad x100e. I had concerns about battery life but thought I'd give it a try, since the $418 investment wasn't that much.

It's perfection - the high res 11.6" screen prevents the frustrating horizontal scrolling through a majority of websites (like most netbooks)... It's outstanding, firm, assertive (flex free) keyboard felt better to type on then my much bigger macbook. The trackpad is a thing of beauty, and the rubber track point a nice addition that I need to practice using more. And the build quality is outstanding. I'm tired of glossy, finger print magnets and the tough, matte finish has a strength to it that makes me confident that it'll survive a few bumps. This does not feel like a toy at all, something I can't say about the msi winds, asus eeepcs, and hp minis of the world. Lastly, the boring looks are misleading - the industrial perfection of the design, the clean lines, and perfect seams (no stupid touchpad button alignment issues!) make for a subtly beautiful, simplistic and efficient classy design.

I'm ranting too much but, really, these are the best made Windows laptops out there! Good job keeping the IBM legacy alive!

 

[CurseTheSky]

Glad to hear you like it. I had the same experience from my Envy 14. Granted, that's a $1300 (when configured) laptop, but after receiving over $250 in discounts for various reasons and finally seeing it in person, I was completely awe-struck. It's nearly impossible to find a single thing to bitch about (unless you have unreasonable standards), save for perhaps the battery life, and even that isn't bad.

On a side note, my fiancee's family purchased a $380 Acer special from Best Buy the other day. I was actually surprised that it didn't suck horribly. The build quality was worse than an Envy / Thinkpad / etc. as expected, but it wasn't a flexy piece of junk like the Acers I've used in the past. The keyboard was also relatively good. Looks like some laptop manufacturers are finally getting the hint.

 

[Dankk]

I wish I could afford a Thinkpad. They are probably the best laptops out there - damn solid and reliable, not to mention powerful. And even though they're a bit more "industrial" looking than other laptops, I'd still totally prefer it over one of those curvy flowery designs that many laptops tend to have nowadays.

Of course, my ideal Thinkpad is probably in the ~$1,500 range, so it's probably not gonna happen anytime soon.

Instead I bought one of their "Essential G Series" notebooks, which is pretty much on the opposite end of their product spectrum (it was $380 on Newegg). I like it though. It's definitely a budget laptop, but it's large, masculine-looking, and I've done a lot to squeeze as much power out of it as possible. Right now I use it for LAN parties, and for when school starts next week. Hopefully it serves me well for a long time.

At least I can still say I own a Lenovo.

 

[slackerinabox]

Glad to hear you like it. I had the same experience from my Envy 14. Granted, that's a $1300 (when configured) laptop, but after receiving over $250 in discounts for various reasons and finally seeing it in person, I was completely awe-struck. It's nearly impossible to find a single thing to bitch about (unless you have unreasonable standards), save for perhaps the battery life, and even that isn't bad.

On a side note, my fiancee's family purchased a $380 Acer special from Best Buy the other day. I was actually surprised that it didn't suck horribly. The build quality was worse than an Envy / Thinkpad / etc. as expected, but it wasn't a flexy piece of junk like the Acers I've used in the past. The keyboard was also relatively good. Looks like some laptop manufacturers are finally getting the hint.

How's the trackpad on your HP? I hate the overly clicky, cheap feeling, inaccurate touchpad on my wife's HP, which seems to be used on a lot of their products. Engadget's review mentioned that the recent Envy (I think the 13?) has an improved trackpad, but how improved? I really wanted an HP Probook but touchpad fears made me go for thinkpad... No regrets either way.

The envy 14's beautiful though, I'm sure the build quality's a huge step up from the dm* value line.

And acer's timeline series always seemed quite good for the price, though I've always feared it snapping in two!

 

[slackerinabox]

I wish I could afford a Thinkpad. They are probably the best laptops out there - damn solid and reliable, not to mention powerful. And even though they're a bit more "industrial" looking than other laptops, I'd still totally prefer it over one of those curvy flowery designs that many laptops tend to have nowadays.

Of course, my ideal Thinkpad is probably in the ~$1,500 range, so it's probably not gonna happen anytime soon.

Instead I bought one of their "Essential G Series" notebooks, which is pretty much on the opposite end of their product spectrum (it was $380 on Newegg). I like it though. It's definitely a budget laptop, but it's large, masculine-looking, and I've done a lot to squeeze as much power out of it as possible. Right now I use it for LAN parties, and for when school starts next week. Hopefully it serves me well for a long time.

At least I can still say I own a Lenovo.

Well, my x100e was only $420 from amazon, though it's honestly just a very rugged netbook vs. a full fledged system like the essential G. It plays 1080p clips and does everything I need it to, so I'm not complaining. Honestly, I can't imagine your system being much of a letdown either way - my dad's lowly IdeaPad S10 cost $299, just like the asus eeepc we returned for being made of the cheapest plastic possible, but is amazingly well built and flex free for a cheapie netbook..

And aim high - get that thinkpad of your dreams in time! I spent an hour configuring different configurations and now gotta figure out how to save $1,9000 for an Thinkpad X convertible tablet

 

[slackerinabox]

dp

 

[NitrouseXpress60]

at one point, i agreed that the high level T series was out of my budget reach, and it was for a long time. however, i believe their prices have come down quite a bit. i, of all people who don't upgrade a computer for many years at a time, purchased a near top of the line thinkpad T510 for around $870. that was with a core i5, 7200RPM HDD, dvd burner, LED screen, and, well, thinkpad T series quality. to be honest, if you shop around, and use coupons, you can get one at a great price. i know, because i did.

 

[CurseTheSky]

How's the trackpad on your HP? I hate the overly clicky, cheap feeling, inaccurate touchpad on my wife's HP, which seems to be used on a lot of their products. Engadget's review mentioned that the recent Envy (I think the 13?) has an improved trackpad, but how improved? I really wanted an HP Probook but touchpad fears made me go for thinkpad... No regrets either way.

The envy 14's beautiful though, I'm sure the build quality's a huge step up from the dm* value line.

And acer's timeline series always seemed quite good for the price, though I've always feared it snapping in two!

The trackpad on the Envy line is different from any other notebook HP offers as far as I know. I had both an Envy 15 (returned) and now my Envy 14, and both times the trackpad hardware was excellent. It has a smooth feeling, and the left / right buttons are integrated into the bottom potion of the pad (some love it, some hate it). Unfortunately I had some driver issues with it on my 15 that made the trackpad suck after a fresh reformat, but now on my 14 it seems to be sorted out and I have no problems (both before and after a fresh reformat). The trackpad also supports gestures like pinch to zoom and two finger scrolling, which I love.

Overall, I'd give the trackpad an 8/10. It's not quite as good as a Macbook Pro, but it's better than a lot of the junk ones I've used. It does take a bit of getting used to (the integrated buttons primarily), but it's nice a large and has a wonderful surface.

 

[Emulex]

now that the new air's will be out soon; the massive price drop in the sata lineup (just picked up a fresh macbook air late-2008 rev.b 120gb for $700 with 1.8 years applecare remaining); we should be able to see the rev.a 64gb ssd for about $500 and rev.b sata for about $550-600 shortly ($700 for rev.b ssd).

how do you think you'd compare the envy to macbook air. Dual boot osx and windows. 1.8" drives take less power (they do!) than ssd at a great speed loss but i'd rather have 6-8 hours than 4-6 hours.

any thoughts on how you'd compare the envy to its natural 3lb competitor the macbook air (rev.b the core 2 duo 1.6ghz/9400m both under and overclockable). just for putzing around - nothing serious

 

[CurseTheSky]

The Envy 14 really is the best of the entire lineup. The Envy 15 has great specs and build quality but horrid battery life (2-3 hours TOPS) and several design flaws (shortcut keys on the left-hand side of keyboard, etc.) The Envy 13 has excellent build quality and great portability, but the specs aren't great for the price. The Envy 17 is a desktop replacement, so I won't touch on that one.

With that said, The Envy 14 really isn't in the same class as the Macbook Air. It's similar to the MBP 13 / 15 (in between size / weight wise, and superior specs wise), so it's really an apples to oranges comparison. In the end, if you value OSX / battery life / exterior finish the most, get a MBP. If you value Windows 7 / overall power / value the most, get an Envy 14. You can't go wrong either way.

 

[slackerinabox]

The Envy 14 really is the best of the entire lineup. The Envy 15 has great specs and build quality but horrid battery life (2-3 hours TOPS) and several design flaws (shortcut keys on the left-hand side of keyboard, etc.) The Envy 13 has excellent build quality and great portability, but the specs aren't great for the price. The Envy 17 is a desktop replacement, so I won't touch on that one.

With that said, The Envy 14 really isn't in the same class as the Macbook Air. It's similar to the MBP 13 / 15 (in between size / weight wise, and superior specs wise), so it's really an apples to oranges comparison. In the end, if you value OSX / battery life / exterior finish the most, get a MBP. If you value Windows 7 / overall power / value the most, get an Envy 14. You can't go wrong either way.

Yikes- I didn't realize that the 13" macbook pro and the 13" envy are the same price!

Specs - envy 13: $1,200
5.1 lbs, Lithium ion battery, 12.6&#8243; x 8.5&#8243; x 0.8&#8243;
2 hours battery life (5+ with optional slice battery)
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 / 1.86 GHz
3gb ram
250 gb hd
ATI Mobility 4330

Macbook pro 13 - $1,200
4.5 pounds 12.78x8.94x.9
10 hours battery life
2.4ghz core 2 duo
Geforce 320m
Optical Drive
4gb of ram
250 gb hard drive

Seems like the mac book pro's the better value, but HP does offer a lot of rebate/specials.

(the apple refurb store has macbook pros starting at $910)

 

[jihe]

Yikes- I didn't realize that the 13" macbook pro and the 13" envy are the same price!

Specs - envy 13: $1,200
5.1 lbs, Lithium ion battery, 12.6&#8243; x 8.5&#8243; x 0.8&#8243;
2 hours battery life (5+ with optional slice battery)
Intel Core 2 Duo SL9400 / 1.86 GHz
3gb ram
250 gb hd
ATI Mobility 4330

Macbook pro 13 - $1,200
4.5 pounds 12.78x8.94x.9
10 hours battery life
2.4ghz core 2 duo
Geforce 320m
Optical Drive
4gb of ram
250 gb hard drive

Seems like the mac book pro's the better value, but HP does offer a lot of rebate/specials.

(the apple refurb store has macbook pros starting at $910)

Seems like terrible design by HP: heavier, no optical, low power cpu, yet 1/5 the battery life. WTF????

 

[slackerinabox]

Seems like terrible design by HP: heavier, no optical, low power cpu, yet 1/5 the battery life. WTF????

Note the battery life on the HP was based on an engadget review, while the MBP rating was from specs. Cnet got about 8-9 hours on their tests. Seems like in the world of Windows PCs, you either gotta sacrifice performance or battery life. Apple has much more experience with this form factor and doesn't share parts across lines, so I bet they spend a lot of time optimizing everything. Internal batteries can also have a much bigger surface area. I could be talking out of my ass, of course - I haven't tried the HP. But my old (as in my last work computer, which I had to return) macbook pro had stellar battery life, and that was a 3 year old system. Of course it had an insanely annoying problem with it's dvi port and nvidia graphics crashing when switching from lcd to external monitor.. OYE!