in fourth grade, my school used lenovo thinkpad chromebooks for the state testing. the teachers told us the trackpoint was an "eject button" and that we should never touch it. kids used it and found out it just moves the cursor.
Whats the problem with calling them chromebooks? If you install Chromebook OS on it, it is a Chromebook as it no longer functions as a laptop would. Chromebooks just runs CHrome.
Charles Show - He's very wrong. Firstly, he's gratuitously insulting someone, after trolling about Chromebooks. Fail. Secondly, many Chromebooks now run Android apps, and will soon run linux apps, all at half the price of Windoze wallet eaters. Win10 is the crap ruining ThinkPads nowadays, collecting more personal data than Google does at the price of security. Lastly, silent seal's criticizing his teachers, not extolling the virtues of Chrome. I'm responding to you rather than Kandi because her comment isn't even worth responding to.
I have an IBM ThinkPad 600E and the battery died in less than a year, but the machine itself still works I have it from 1998 when it was just released to the market.
The 600 series models are seriously built like tanks. The battery problem was from some bug in the firmware that caused it to drain and die quickly. Other than that, there are no other flaws, and these machines are widely regarded as some of IBM's best machines.
My Lenovo T420 is a lot more similar to IBM's style - amazing keyboard, centered touchpad - one latch and lots of goodies. I also have the docking station for it. Love it.
I too have a softspot for old thinkpads, i always pick up old cheap defective ones fix up and resell, alot of people in their 20-30s still appreciate a solid old laptop.
I have a lenovo thinkpad Edge 330 from 2012, supplied by my college. People dropped them, stepped on them, and got them wet, but they never broke! Very impressive for such a cheap machine. Great keyboard.
Damnson Gaming, I bought my T500 2 days ago. It is extremely rough around the edges and was neglected badly by the previous owner (it even has burn marks in certain places!) but I bought it and it died within five hours of usage, The culprit was the hdd which has a 1mm deep dent in it and was secured in place with sticky foam acting as the hdd caddy. I got it fairly cheap and so I upgraded it to 8Gb of ram and a 500Gb hdd. the internals weren't put back properly with wires etc being clamped underneath parts of the chassis and body work and so i rebuilt the internals of the laptop. So far it is running smooth and feels very sturdy. In a way I have saved this laptop as it would have probably just been passed around as faulty and then scrapped for parts. I also am getting worried that I am starting to prefer it to my more modern z70-80. :-/ This is my first Thinkpad and I hope to keep it running for a very long time. :-)
@ Owen Wellspring: awww man, you really saved that poor thing. Yeah, i know what you mean. My first Thinkpad was a T61. It still serves me as a Windows XP device and editing system. It came with Vista and was literally useless with it. So i nuked the shitty vista and installed my personalized XP and all the servicepacks and it has been serving me well ever since. Also hasn't been online but only used as offline system.
I used the Thinkpad E335 until recently, since I got a used T440s. It still runs fine and I don't really get why people give the E line so much crap. The 335 is pretty much the same as the E330 but it has an AMD E2-2000 instead of the i3 and a bigger HDD and I think the CPU is the biggest problem that machine has. I think if I had the E330 I would also still use it (with an upgrade to SSD). The point is though. Even the cheap Thinkpads are pretty good for their price range and they are also tougher than average and have an awesome keyboard.
Both IBM and Lenovo Thinkpads provide you the opportunity to replace your parts easily. you also have access to almost any part anywhere. that's why I still stick with Lenovo!
Alex Shi Having the t420 im lucky. I think its the last one with the old style keyboard. Oh yeah mine had almost as stiff hinges until I dropped the machine down the stairs which loosened it a bit. (and made a crack on the plastic frame)
X300/X301 --> matches IBM's superb old build quality T60 and X60 --> very nearly matches IBM's T4* and X4* solid build quality W700ds/W701ds --> innovative similar to IBM's A31p These are Lenovo's best machines IMO.
Lenovo took over when the T60 was still in the design phase and licensed the IBM name for a period of time so the transition of ownership took place when the T4x series was current. The T60 in my opinion was the last of the IBM classics and those are great machines. T61 onward was Lenovo's work and they didn't really start screwing things up until the first gen i5/i7s. The Ivy Bridge T430/530 series they really dropped the ball, shitty hinges that snapped and the thermals got worse. Still hanging in there with a W520 rocking a i7 2920xm, quadro 2000m, 16gb of ddr3 (1866), and 4tb :) Love the older thinkpads as you can do board swaps to upgrade lower end machines without having to replace the whole machine. I even got a 701c buttery fly.
Pretty sure my SL500 was a Core 2 Duo and came out before the i5/i7 first gen; that was easily the worst laptop I've ever owned, from anybody. I'd say it was around that time when they started screwing things up. I think that was the first real "low end" ThinkPad, which isn't really something that existed under IBM. Only redeeming qualities it had were the TrackPoint and matte screen, but it was built like an absolute piece of trash and physically fell apart in several ways just out of warranty.
Modern Classic The only Thinkpads that are worthy of the Thinkpad name are not the junk that gets passed off a such and you learned why. Real Thinkpads back then were solid enough that you could probably beat someone up with it and still work. Now days just breathing on a modern laptop is taking a risk.
I personally have a thinkpad T420 here myself and yeah I could beat someone up with it and still have it working perfectly. I just had to replace the screen becuase the backlight went out but that was a simple replacement which is a good thing. Had to replace the battery tho since the one I got with the used thinkpad was recalled but that wasn't to bad. Paid about $300 for both the laptop and the replacement battery. $220 for the laptop and $70 for the battery not to shabby for a $300 system much better then anything new int he price range thats for dang sure. The i5 2520m does heat up to 90+ degrees tho when I am just doing basic stuff on it such as watching a video or browsing the web but thats fine since I plan on replacing it for something newer soonish. I needed a laptop at the time and only had the $300 to spend since we were int he process of getting moved out of the trailer we were living in so that we could put a modular home on the land. and I did NOT want to be stuck inside a tiny 250square foot home for to long so working with my desktop for long stretched was OUT of the question. It was fine for a n hour or 2 but the laptop really saved my sanity. It wouldn't have been to bad if it was a brand new tiny house but it was an old one made out of cinderblocks so yeah my bedroom was in the lousy basement so thats where my desktop was as well. So glad that did NOT last that long. So yeah the T420 has been great to me but its not holding its own any more for me. I need a more powerful gpu for example then the nvidia nvs 4200m thats in the t420 I have. The screen is lousy outside in any sort of sunlight. It is the better 1600x900 res one compared to the even lousier 1366x768 ones. So yeah I need better specs then what I currently have but its served me well for being only $300
Montisaquadeis Google search and install "thinkpad fan control" and you can manually control the fan to help cool it down. If that doesn't help enough you can always turn off the turbo (huts performance) and that will get it cool. Big life saver for the Hot running W520 with an i7 2920xm. By the way you can upgrade to a quad core in that T420 but I strongly recommend turning off the turbo if you do, dumped a i7 2630qm into my T420.
+MrKillswitch88 Fan control doesn't really help and I am well aware I can dump a quad i7 into here but yeah the dual core is plenty for my needs. My problem is the weak Nvidia GPU that doesn't let me run anything newer then say mid 2000s without FPS drops at 720p with low settings. The dualcore i5 is plenty for what I use it for since that gpu is holding it back for me.
While working as a desktop tech years ago I had to remove some really cheap, crappy asset stickers from a bunch of Lenovo Thinkpads. I ended up using Goo Gone, and to my surprise it cleans up the tops of these things pretty well!
I like the support available from Lenovo Owners groups, they can help you solve almost any problem that that comes up, Especially on the older machines and there a TON of parts available for very reasonable pricing.
I just got an old IBM R60 from 2006 for free! Runs great and was the top of the line model with the fingerprint read, a gig of ram, FireWire and the yellow ThinkLight that lights the keyboard up yellow from a led placed above the screen and angled down...really cool! Brings back my childhood memories of windows XP. Going to keep and use it for a workshop desk PC. 3D printing/simple modeling/CNC
My school has 12 IBM ThinkPads. Oh, the good old days of the 7th grade :) So many fond memories, I even tried to re-install Windows XP on one of them, but the hard drive wasn't recognized for some reason. I have a Fujitsu S7210, which is not even similar :( Still packs a punch, though.
One of the best features in the 600X was that you could add 10/100 ethernet with a PCCard. Xircom (?) even had one with a pop-out ethernet jack, avoiding the need for the usual dongle cable. It also ran Linux and OpenBSD very well (apart from needing a PCCard modem, as the internal one lacked drivers for non-windows OSes).
An interesting video. I've owned a lot of ThinkPads over the years from IBM to Lenovo, the main thing I like about them is that IBM/Lenovo release decent hardware manuals for them making them very easy to repair if anything goes wrong. Also, buying a ThinkPad that's 1 or 2 years old gives amazing performance for the money. I also like Dell Latitude laptops for the same reason, but I just can't get around the stupid power supply issues that almost every Dell has, every one I've owned in the last 7 or so years has had power supply failure where the chip in the PSU stops registering as a genuine power supply, or worse yet the laptop stops registering any power supply as genuine (even a genuine replacement). So the ThinkPad wins as you can chuck anything with the correct voltage at it and it'll charge as intended.
@@BJSteigner Agreed, a decent hardware manual really makes Lenovo and Dell worth owning. Unfortunately both manufacturers are using soldered RAM more frequently, but there's still a good range of upgradable models.
The quality is definitely not the same. The older T61s were probably the best machines they had made for their day. These old workhorses never died. Then the company I worked for upgraded to the newer T-series in 2010. We had constant failures including DOAs right off the pallet. Some worked, but it was a pig in a poke as they say. The last order I made in 2012 before I retired was for 350 Lenovo T-series machines. Being a corporate customer, I had a direct line to Atlanta support. This worked OK most of the time, but in the end I pulled my Lenovo orders because I had been back and forth over DOA machines and dead hard disks, and then one of their technicians accused me of faking failed hard drives because I wanted them for myself! I spoke with his manager then I pulled $350K in business, plus returned their hardware they sent, and they never got any future business from me. That was a big hunk of money in my book that I sent over to Dell. With that said I am quite leery of Lenovo and will never order a machine from them again.
I am currently rocking a Lenovo ThinkPad T440S that I've hackintoshed to run macOS 11.6 Big Sur. And all I can say is that it's the best $200 I have ever spent.
The 600 series was NOT the low end of the IBM line. As you mentioned it morphed into what is now the modern T series. But the earlier 380's were their mid line models which were below the pricing of the 600 series. They even had the IBM 240 model which was like their sub-notebook which was probably at the time their entry level laptop.
First Windows laptop I ever owned was an IBM ThinkPad 600 with Windows 98. The damn thing had a serious overheating problem. The T22 was a bit better, and the last ThinkPad I had bought for over a decade was an R31. About 3 weeks ago, I bought a Lenovo ThinkPad R61. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised that Lenovo had fixed the overheating problem, and in spite of being a tank of a laptop, it handles Windows 10 with speed. I'm glad to say I'm back into at least the older Lenovo ThinkPads again
All of the garbage decisions that Lenovo made - like getting rid of IBM's keyboard layout (not the keycap design), and their foundation software - drove me to getting a Dell this year. Lenovo installing Superfish on their new machines isn't even be the worst thing they've ever done.
I was driven happily to Dell after their t430 design... by the time t440... I was happily singing my way to laptop bliss. I love the classic Thinkpads but the newer ones just are not worth the asking. My Latitude 5491 bought last spring is built like a tank and can take the punishment that the newer ones just can't. Best of all other then my t61, every adapter just works across the board. Consumers might complain about the old barrel plug but for a frequent upgrader it's a blessing.
The philosophy of thinkpad is a sturdy, practical, modular design with upgradable and easily changable parts the opposite of macbook design. The biggest mistake of lenovo is trying to make macbooklike thinkpads. Well x1 carbon might be a great laptop but it far from the thinkpad design.
Great video. I remember the old IBM laptops. But it is a difference paying about 2 000 US dollars for the IBM back in the days and 500 US dollars for a modern, high spec Lenovo. Interesting topic though. :-)
My company just gave me the X1 Carbon. Aside from the headphones back need to install a codec, everything else worked like butter. I remember I used the IBM ThinkPad when I was a child, but I never really thought of how good it was until I touched a ThinkPad again after so many years.
Hold on..... you said IBM only made a High End Thinkpad.. Aren’t 300 Series (360C, 380XD) and I Series (I 1400, Type 2621) supposed to be their low end IBM Thinkpad?
the most infuriating thing about ThinkPads is the BIOS hardware whitelist (particularly in regard to networking devices like WiFi and cellular network cards) advice for any prospective ThinkPad owner flash a modified BIOS to remove the whitelist (so you can install anything you want)
I still have an old 2007 Lenovo ThinkPad T61 running Windows 10 sitting on the kitchen table mainly used for burning Cd's & DVD's, the thing is a workhorse
I own a T530 and my dad just retired a high-spec (i9-9880H, Quadro RTX 4000) P53 from his work that he gave to me. My T530 definitely had more of the signature IBM features than the P53. The P53 actually looks pretty similar to the P50 shown in this video.
Got the E440 Edge here. Upgraded the processor from i3-4000 Duo-Core to i7-4712MQ Quad Core, Hard Drive from HDD to an M.2 and a SSHD (2 hard drives since the motherboard has an M.2 slot), 16GB DDR3 RAM, replaced the CD with a BluRay drive, did a little registry work to expand the Intel iGPU VRAM from 128 MB (lol) to 2.6 GB so it can run some Indie games, emulators, and MMO's on good quality. Bought the laptop used from someone, paid for all the parts, and the grand total for everything is around 450 bucks. This laptop was extremely fun to mod, does everything I need it to, and will last me for quite a few years.
I guess I should consider myself lucky that my SL510 didn't fall apart. I got it back in 2010 and it's still working fine now, only thing it really needs is a new battery. I upgraded to the T430 a couple years ago but th SL was a good intro to Thinkpads and convinced me of the merits of the line.
I had the smaller brother which was the SL410 and loved it. the SL model line was for small businesses line. Yes it didn't have all the bells and whistles that the T Series had but it was a sturdy machine. People always put down the SL series but they never owned one so they should keep their mouth shut.
I´ve mostly had old thinkpads.. I can´t understand why they seem to be abandoning trackpoints, I thought it might be more expensive than touchpad, then I found an article saying that touchpads are faster.. Can´t believe it´s true.I think when you learn to work trackpoint it´ s much faster, much more comfortable, it takes no space so the keyboard can be smaller and so is the notebook. Why don´t they make more of these? Do you know anything about that?? I really don´t like all the "paw-ing the surface- maybe I will manage to click something devices"... I am a girl- but firstly I have big hands, secondly I am a neurotic, thirdly- when I want to use a phone, I know I want to call somebody quickly.. I don´t use the phone for killing my time. I need to press the right button and call.. When I have a notebook I need a reliable keybord. That all seems to be going downhill now.. Sorry. Just got angry. My old IBM needs some work done, looked around for other possiblities, such as buying a new NB, got angry :).
I don't think they're abandoning TrackPoint, they just added touchpads. But I can't think of a current ThinkPad model without a TrackPoint (I'm sure somebody will now point one out, but there are a lot of models in the line and if there's *one* without a TP, I don't think that's a trend). They'd really be stupid to abandon TP because it is one of the line's main distinguishing features, and something they must know a lot of people buy ThinkPads specifically for. They have changed the TrackPoint a bit over the years - the buttons are softer now, and not as pointy, and the stick itself is wider and has a different surface. I think I like the old style better, but that's really personal preference - I'm sure others would like the modern one. But the TrackPoint is still there and I don't think it's going anywhere.
Summarized my concerns as well... they seem to be going down the Apple route & mimicking their aesthetics. The touchpad is absolutely dreadful in my opinion as the moment you type your wrists tend to rest on the pad causing erratic mouse movements that open up/closes applications & defocus text-fields, etc. The trackpoint mitigates all those problems, is much more accurate to the touch & is neatly positioned on the keyboard so you never have to move your hands up or down. If in any moment Lenovo decides to stop including trackpoints, I'll go with older models or ditch them entirely. Laptops with 'touchpads only' have become a deal-breaker for me.
@@imodium438 The T43 must have the best touchpad ever. It is remarkable. Very responsive but not overly so. It seems to read your mind and go straight to the place intended. It really is uncanny how good it is. Why, or how, Lenovo managed to create such an appalling touchpad leaves me mystified. I have a X220 and I don't know if there is a problem in the device but when plugged in to power the cursor just goes all over the place and is uncontrollable. But when unplugged and running on battery it doesn't misbehave. But it is still useless compared to the T43. Which I absolutely love more than any laptop I've ever had. I'm not a techie so does anyone know why, with the X220, I seem to get a strong electro magnetic field when plugged in. It makes the touchpad useless.
For those interested in Specs and Quality the Thinkpad T430 is the one to look at. The T430 does have a latch, and this is the last Thinkpad that has a similar keyboard to the 600X. The 600X was powered by a Pentium 3, and the RAM just is not enough to power a modern O/S, though it would do well with the XP Operating System. The specs on the T430 are impressive. My T430's are powered by a CPU that is now 11 years old, yet can run almost every newer O/S. It is an Intel Core i5 3210M, a duo core, quad thread, 2.5 GHZ Base frequency with a TurboBoost to 3.10 GHZ. They also can have memory up to 16 GB, though DDR3 and not DDR4. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 supporting 1355x768 seem nice. Matching these laptop with a 250 GB SSD makes a great laptop. One can get the T420 or T430 for super low prices on Ebay. For me, having close to the original Thinkpad idea of design and quality, (better keyboard), the DVD Drive, the easy ability to change out the RAM and the Hard Drive on the bottom, makes me wonder if spending $400 on my modern HP laptop with the i3 12th generation, no DVD Drive, no easy way to change out the RAM or Hard Drive if they go bad...well I think the $400 is better than spending $1,200 for some super fast monstrosity. I know, they say nobody needs a DVD ROM drive anymore, we can stream, yet the ability to watch a movie when the Internet goes down is pretty good? I am using Zorin 16.2 Core on these and it is working super! Not Windows? Well, I do have Microsoft programs on their with Wine and Play with Linux, and also have W98 and W7 within the VirtualBox. Amazing what old junk one can put on these things!
just got a t420 the manual is awesome I’m so impressed it has actual information it walks you through hard drive installs and such (you can put up to 3 SSDs in this thing!!) most user manuals aren't worth a sideways glance.
I’m surprised that the Fn key is still to the left of the Control key on the Lenovo versions. That was my main complaint about IBM Thinkpad in the day, as the Fn key would crash my Lynx browser, when I’d instinctively press there for the Control key. Other than that, I’ve always loved the quality of the IBM Thinkpad. Nobody has ever made a better laptop keyboard, and they last practically forever compared to other name-brand laptops of the late 1990s vintage. Toshiba probably comes in 2nd for me from the same era.
I heard through the grapevine that the new P53 is coming with an internal battery and abolishing the external swappable one. Another hit towards the fixability index.
I recently picked up a Lenovo Thinkpad X100e. Not a bad little machine for the $50 I paid for it! I have a new, Lenovo brand replacement battery coming for it in the mail and will be upgrading to a Solid State Drive after I image/clone the software. It already has 4GB RAM so that helps. Seems to be well build and the keyboard is great to type on!
I just bought an x100e and love it. I use it for local tasks and nothing too heavy. This does NOT compute RU-vid channel has a video on his channel about that model. Go watch it.
i used a lowish end thinkpad... the dvd drive broke but it was user-replaceable easily! which is still more than i can say for a lot. though lenovo frustratingly moved the location of key screws between iterations of the same model, seemingly - both the parts i bought (one broke bc of environmental reasons) didn't quite line up with the screws and couldn't be completely secured. they were both a cm or two off. but besides that, the fact i could easily replace the keyboard and dvd drive at all on a then-modern laptop was amazing to me.
I bought a "high end" ideapad and upgraded RAM and HDD to SSD. Yes it was not "intended" to open but still took just an ordinary screw driver. Made a good deal doing that and I don't regret it. That was like two years ago and no problems since. I think you pay for the Thinkpad name and all you get is some retro good old days feeling :P
I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro 4300 series laptop, it also just has a "trackpoint" mouse, the same build quality as a thinkpad, and the battery still holds a charge, its my dads old laptop, my dad is gone but this laptop still works on its original battery from 1998 which is insane! Good review man! I now own the T460 and its a good and light thinkpad, i use it not that much but its ok for the things i used it for, and i love the trackpoint, i never use the trackpad on my t460, i disabled it.
Appearance: The 600s "IBM ThinkPad" logo is mounted so that the user can read it, while the lenovo ThinkPad sticker is in the showoff postion. If you hold each one in your hands and slam them together, the 600 casing will take less damage. If you repeat that several times with increasing force, the P50s cage will ensure better survival of the modules inside. The 600 hinges, when still in good shape (like on my 600 models;), do not require to hold the lower part, as it does not lift off, and the lid still stays in position when only 1 cm away from closed. Similar for most pre 600 ThinkPads and also T2x - T4x at a lesser degree, as a bigger part of the the torsion force was distributed to the keyboard bezel which also had become much weaker on that models. Lenovo has come out with far less real innovations, and limited the model palette to mainstream noteboks @ high - low end range, while big blue also offered specialized stuff like 755cdv for overhead projector, Transnote, Tablets(at a time nobody wanted them) ... I have two pre_2k 600 batteries with untouched cotroller in excellent condition, 25 died too early, most of those i checked showed no failure of the LiIon cells themselves, many could be reset to real capacity by overwriting data in the controller followed by use of battery recalibration, so in most cases it was caused by the freaking algo which calculates weardown based on battery age (it did help to set bios date e.g. 2 years ahead previous to 1st use!) and number of recharge cycles. Use a mix of 1/3 isopropyl + 2/3 destilled/demineralized water to clean the coating, for stains add a tiny amount of solvent free abrasive stuff, e.g polish for stainless steel pots/cars etc. Or use Nuguigami. :D
the difference I have noticed is the support. the support for Thinkpad is in North Carolina and if I remember correctly for Lenovo product line was Philippines. in terms of product quality, the chassis is far superior in Thinkpad. I am simply accustomed to the feel and use of the Thinkpad red dot mouse. I am not a fan of track pads. I will only buy a Thinkpad. there was one model I had the Thinkpad X230 which had cheaper plastic and bad bezel design. X240 and on they have fixed that.
I have bought an HP Elitebook 8440p from Newegg several weeks ago and I loved it. The only downside is that the battery had reached 100% battery wear. So I have it in the ESD bag since it was packaged it like that way. I have gotten more than it was advertised for, front facing camera, keyboard light (not within the keyboard mind you, but near the camera), and 300GB HDD (it was supposed to have 250GB, but I am not complaining about it). It is a great and solid laptop, and it has latches (in the front). Also the touchbar as well (obviously not like apple).
I have a wallstreet powerbook from 1998 and the battery still functions perfectly fine, with a full charge you will get the advertised 3,5 hours out of it and yes, its the original battery that came with the machine!
The P50 just has another TrackPoint cap than the 600X. The 600X has the Classic Dome, while the newer Thinkpads have the Soft Dome, which is a bit larger. Although I personally prefer the Soft Rim version, which you can buy and replace (as well as with all the others).
Still loving my T61. Damn thing can do anything and is tough as nails, and topshelf for ten years old, but it's still a lot more powerful than the laptops that folks I know have, that they bought recently. With 4GB of RAM, the Nvidia GPU, Intel duo core 2.2Ghz, I can edit videos, watch movies, play even Borderlands 2 with no problems, etc...I'm not a fanboy, but I have owned HP (junk), Toshiba, and a Sony...Have yet to find any of those hold up to the Thinkpads. Thinkpads are ahead of the rest as far as tech, power, stability, versatility, and being practical and easy to work on. My first Thinkpad was the older one in this video, and in 2002, it was great with 2000 Pro on it. Now, I have the Lenovo T61, and love it.
I miss IBM machines. I'm not very trusting of Lenovo, and hate them for going over to chicklet style keys. Glad they kept the general Thinkpad aesthetics though.
I don't like chiclet style keyboards either; I also prefer the old style. I'm actually open to new designs in most things, but I am a total purist about computer keyboards. Laptop keyboards have just gotten worse and worse, even as desktop keyboards bottomed out in feel about a decade ago and have gotten somewhat better on average since then. But laptop keyboards seem to still be on the way down, and that includes ThinkPads.
Although I don't own one, and probably wouldn't myself. The thinkpads are remarkably well thought out devices. The fact that they're customer servicable and you don't have to send them out under warranty definitely aims them at a very specific customer base
"i had a thinkpad SL500" huh i also had a thinkpad SL500 which i used as my main computer up to 2013 it wasnt bad for a first computer and i still have it somewhere in my basement and it still works too
I picked up a few 15in t43s and t60 t61 and the t43 have better plastics and build quality and a nicer keyboard and for some reason with the large screen and keyboard felt like it would be comfortable to use for hours, something my t420 never felt like
The lid cleans up perfectly with a Mr Clean magic eraser. I deal mainly in the T and W series and I have had an Edge come through and a few of the X220's and 230's. I buy them from colleges as scrap and normally I don't have to do more than add a hard drive and power supply, some need batteries. I have mixed feelings on the Carbons, I like how light and fast they are, but I don't get the battery life like I do with the 9 cell on the t420's
I have a Lenovo SL500 (brazilian model) and it's my only computer since 2010. Great machine ! I daily use it, never had any kind of problem, and I keep it connected all day long, every day. Of course, battery has died, but it's expected. I'll only trade it by another Thinkpad...just love them !
Still rocking a w510. Fantastic device. I've tweaked it, upgraded the RAM and swapped the drive for a hybrid. But damn if it's not a great machine! Picked it up for 100 bucks last year and the first gen i7 is STILL a power house!
I've got a t520. I like how most people who don't know about Thinkpads think they're from the 90's or something when they see them... But its definitely the FRU's & CRU's that've been my reason for loving this laptop. Upgraded my CPU, HDD to SSD, more RAM, new keyboard and easily swapping between an optical disk and second SDD - so versatile and she absolutely flies!
I made the mistake of purchasing a Lenovo E545 ThinkPad 2 years ago for programming. For programming it was a mistake, for business, office, and general use; definitely a machine I'd recommend! (Although maybe I'd recommend the E550, for Lenovo at least)
One interesting thing I found on my old Dell Inspiron 1564 is that it has some sort of hybrid keyboard....like it looks like an island style keyboard, but there is no actual physical separation between the keys. Better than the keyboard in my cheap HP 15-f039wm, but worse than my ThinkPad T61.
The SL500 you refer to, I believe, is technically not even a ThinkPad. It's actually built on IdeaPad technology but was rebranded as a "low-end ThinkPad" I owned the SL500 for a while and I actually quite liked it. Then again, I own the T-510 now and it is much better.
You can not get a Thinkpad rainbow logo in the limited edition T25, old fashioned keyboard layout and key style; although both the sculpture shape and travel are more shallow. BTW, the x280's memory is soldered in place indicating that Thinkpad is moving away from self service and expandable paradigm.
Laptops are the kind of devices that should NOT get thinner and thinner. This insanity has to stop! It sucks that you cannot even replace the battery in many modern laptops anymore. They become as useless as smartphones. Hardware wise, usability wise and even operatingsystem wise… I have seen the design studies of the future thinkpads and i'm already scared of the bleak future that lies ahead of us. The rest of the laptop marked has already become pointless, when they sacrifice stability and effective cooling and input/output interfaces for saving yet another half an inch…
The new thinkpads doesn't have the blue enter and thinkvintage key anymore. They don't have latches. So after few months the top part becomes lose. Then there is the new logo. It's just an insult to people like us who have been thinkpads for more than a decade now.
Eric Xu don’t fix what not broken is my key here with a thinkpad! What are the reason to switch to a new chiclet keyboard? the old ibm style keyboard are the best. Lenovo is a chinese company and it can degrade a thinkpad true quality.
Well I'd do a review of anything, but unfortunately I have limited funds :) The P50 is my own personal machine that I purchased, and the 600X is something I picked up at a thrift store for $20. Maybe if and when my channel gets a bit bigger.
There was some cheaped out options in the IBM range as well, like passive vs active matrix screens in the mid 1990's and the R series is just T series that's built a bit cheaper.
I have an older Latitude E6230, which is a 12.5 inch laptop, it has a part that sticks out of the back like that extended battery. I hold it just like you are holding that Thinkpad, but it is much smaller.
Nice video showing some of the heritage of the Thinkpad tradition. One thing that might be worth noting about the difference in screen wobble, is that today's screens are much thinner, and consumers demand a compact product. Would it be fair to say that the hinges are still just as strong, but the bezel is just thinner causing more flex/wobble than the older IBM version of the Thinkpad? I just ordered a P50 a couple of weeks ago. Looking forward to it coming in the mail.
The hinges are definitely stronger on the 600X. It's really easy to feel the difference. If I stand both screens up vertically (so the weight of each screen isn't a factor on the hinges), I can easily move my P50 screen in either direction with just a flick of one finger. The screen isn't flexing, the hinges are moving. On the 600X, though, doing the same thing requires a lot more force - I can still do it with one finger, but it's a lot harder. There's no real flex in the P50 screen, although it is definitely thinner than the 600X screen. I don't feel like Lenovo should be worrying about that with their workstation ThinkPads, though - these are supposed to be monster machines. I would prefer a screen and hinges like on the 600X.
I know this isn't exactly relevant, but I have an 11 inch MacBook Air, a 2011 model, the hinges on its screen feel relatively sturdy and the screen does not wobble at all despite how wafer thin the screen is, that said, the screen moves easily. The reason why the screen doesn't wobble is probably because of its size.
+IThinkAbout43 Very rarely did old IBM ThinkPads suffer hinge breaks. I have several heavily used ones that are perfectly fine. They probably loosened the newer ones up because they aren't as rigid and probably couldn't handle tight hinges like the old ones could.
I'm still up in arms over the new keyboard because I'm so used to either scissor switch, Cherry ML, or straight up mechanical NMB switches, but I idd use a friend's T410 for a few while I was in high school along with my sister's HP Compaq 6910p that got her through the start of her physical therapist career. I liked all of those keyboards for various reasons, but mainly the tactility of them all. Yes the HP wasn't AS good as the T410 to me, but I still liked it. When I went to go try out a Thinkpad T440, I wasn't really impressed with it. It was good, but not great, and I missed the upper section on the T410 and T420. Now I'm in the process of getting a T410 exchanged for a T420 on Amazon. Fingers crossed I can get something a bit more like the older Thinkpads and not the newer ones.
The trackpoint can be used to scroll and zoom like a mouse wheel in combos with the middle button (a feature that I found useful). Otherwise both are a bit flimsy (compared to a mouse) for my taste unless we talk about word processing and consumer tasks. A plus is that I feel for using those pads and knobs on Thinkpads to a degree... which is bad news for other models like the Y520 and whatnot being complete crap where I attach a mouse much quicker.
NICE LOUD INTRO, DUDE. NOW I NEED MEDS FOR TINNITIS. WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED LOUD MUSIC AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR VIDEOS? OH, DON'T LIKE ALL CAPS? Well, then you understand about not needing things so loud, right?
I still love thinkpads, and currently I have a t510 I picked up off of ebay for $130, I had a t500 before that I picked 2 of them up for $130. Solid laptops.
Using a T60 to type this. Maxed the RAM and threw an SSD in it and it work great for browsing and most "office" tasks. It doesn't look like the hinges are any better or worse on the newer machine. The screen itself is larger and thinner so it has a bit of flex in it. If you watch the hinge area it holds steady.
my school uses lenovo thinkpads, they're slightly smaller than the one in the video, they're very tough things, they stand up to being dropped in the sink an being covered in paint!
I don't have problems with wobbling with my E550 - it's of it in definition of first thinkpad by lenovo - it have the old lenovo logo also! It feels like premium machine.
Daniel Simpson Why? Why does a laptop with a technical lifespan of 4 years need to last 10? Why is it bad that good laptops are available for more people?
IBM thinkpads tend to have bios lockouts for hardware. They won’t boot with an “unsupported” wifi card and will complain about a non original hard drive.
People produce modded BIOS files to circumvent these restrictions. On the X61 series there is a simple BIOS upgrade file that unlocks SATA2 bus speeds for the hard drive. Not sure why Lenovo locked that in the first place, as it causes no issues at all when activated.
i'm on my third t-series thinkpad, now a reconditioned t520 .. Perfect machine (will buy another one), runs cool, fast and silent, designed for ergonomics and functionality rather than imitative fashion aesthetics ... lenovo are gradually fucking up, drifting from the potential ideal .. peace :j
Really enjoyed this video. Nicely done. I have used Thinkpads since the 90s at work. They have all lasted a long time. My last one was a T420 which lasted about 6 years. Was working fine until the hard drive crashed after an IT update about 2 weeks ago. It was replaced with a used T430s in mint condition. I thought the keyboard on my T420 was great but I am starting to like the T430s keyboard even better as I am getting used to it. I have had such good success with ThinkPads at work I decided to get a Thinkpad X1 Yoga for personal use. The hinge on my X1 Yoga is actually quite stiff. It is so thin and the keyboard has a little less travel but still great to type on. I have to say that I absolutely love my X1 Yoga. For my needs nothing on the market comes close. I got the one with the OLED screen and to me it is worth every penny.
I have used only T and X series, they are indestructible and the most comfortable laptop to work on. Their only issue is corporate security idiots installing custom windows versions on them which eventually crashes.
