New ThinkPad vs Old ThinkPad looks ?? (poll)

I just want to know exactly how many of us actually prefer the new ThinkPad looks with the RED & BLUE strips striped from the UltraNav, The black Function buttons instead of the OLD Gray and new UltraNav & Touchpad design.

 

I've never owned a Thinkpad. I personally don't think the looks have changed drastically enough to care. I do like the old and new look, I prefer when things are kept simple. I'm waiting until 3-14 when the Express rebates end on whether or not to buy one. $150 off rebate + $150 off using Amex seems like a decent deal.

 

I prefer the old look, but ultimately, Thinkpads aren't about appearance.

 

thinkpad is catchy.. its beautiful. designed for men, meant to be used by men.

 

Looks definitely matter as it makes the thinkpad package complete. The new look makes it really bland and soul less with square trackpad buttons etc. There has to be some character in the new design. New designs are supposed to be an improvement over everything, not a step down.

 

IMO the worst part is the thinkvantage/audio buttons

 

I like the old thinkpad look. I wish they keep the window key out of the keyboard.

 

I personally think these finer attention to detail is important. It wouldn't matter to me with a Dell which has many flaws, but for a Thinkpad, it matters.

I am more so pissed because there was no reason for Lenovo to go and mess it up. The Windows key is a true bummer.. there was absolutely no need for it with IBM providing a good tool to map the functionality. They just look plain and blant now.... Its a shame they did wht they did. IMO.

 

Im considering getting the last of the dying legend i.e T-43 before they're gone for good. Yes, thats how much i dislike the new design. lol

 

I liked the old look better. The stripes on the untra-nav buttons were more cosmetic than anything else. I preferred the curves on the touchpad and on the in front of it. Like most others, I think the Access IBM button and the audio controls now look cheesy. Biggest gripe of all is that they nixed the gray coloration of the function buttons.

That said, some new parts I like--like the flat bezel optical drive and the way the motherboard is mounted in the T60. The former is mostly cosmetic, but the later will help prevent motherboard fractures (and ultimate failures) caused by case flexing--a good thing given the problems some users have had with T4x machines in this regard.

 

I prefer the body of the T60 compared to the older T's - the T60 seems to have cleaner lines.

I prefer the button treatments from the older Thinkpads (the lid-release, thinkvantage/access-ibm, volume up/down, stripes on the nav buttons etc.)

I'm definitely not liking the Ti lids

Just as an aside, someone needs to tell the marketing genius that came up with "Lenovo 3000" that the 80's called and they want their name back.

 

I like both the old look and the new look.

What do you mean that its designed for men and meant to be used by men? ThinkPad's are for everyone.

 

I too think more women would prefer some colorfull ones to the black thinkpads.. and most men as opposed to women would really dig the jet black manly sharp edged looks of the Thinkpads. Women on the other hand may more prefer the rounded edgest of the Z-Series (ooH.. how much I hate the rounded edges).

 

I love my thinkpad looks, but most of the women I talk to don't. I just finished having a disagreement with one a day or two ago about this, she wants a new laptop to replace her 2+ yr old dell asked me which ones I thought she should get, I immediately told her to get a T43, the updated version of mine (T41p) and she asked if looked the same, I told her yes and she pulls out some magazine ad for sony and asks me if sony's are any good. They are, and I said so, just pricey and the service isn't the same, I started talking about build quality and tech support and I could see her eyes glaze over.

In short it just seems that some women at least find it to be just as important to have a cute and pretty laptop as a highly functional one and they tend not to like the thinkpads because they are all about function and reliability.

 

sony has always attracted the female market. I have heard too many horror stories regarding their customer care and have a personal gripe regarding the quality of the PSP and their lack of interest in correcting their screens (dead pixels). I was surprised my wife loved the T-43 even more than the usual line up of the toshibas and sonys at our local Office Depot. I love her even more now!!

 

Some females may prefer colorful laptops but I don't. (I love how ThinkPad's look, I love everything about ThinkPad's.)

 

quoted for truth.

 

I'am without any doubt a big fan of the old typically IBM look, which always clearly could be distinguished from other notebook brands and which always had it's own personal touch.

So I miss somehow the overall clear "corporate thinkpad identity" blue and red stripes on the mouse buttons, the of better quality looking power and access buttons, the former keyboard key section colorings etc. - All in all some of the typical long tradition thinkpads key factor visual/optical design accents have been replaced by more casual looking ones. - This makes it IMHO nowadays harder to distinguish a Thinkpad clearer from other brands notebooks.

 

I say.. blame it on the Dell guy up at Lenovo .. what the hell were they thinking?? They should have kept the IBM guy in charge of the ThinkPads (someone who respects it) and handed all the Non-ThinkPad lenovos to the Dell guy to execute his knowledge of making cheap inferior ugly looking Dells to generate some neat profits.

 

Very true!

 

Another woman here, another vote for the ThinkPad's black matte finish. I guess I just like how distinctive it is. Besides, it looks classic and businesslike and still kinda seems elegant.

I really dislike the new titanium covers too. I know a lot of people are into 'em, but it seems way too trendy to be a ThinkPad.

 

Wow some PEOPLE actually SAID they LIKE lenovos NEW style... LOL It looks lucky and SMALL. bad for FAT fingers. Titanium Covers... Hmm I got mixed opinion... WILL IT REALLYYYYY not crack ur lcd screen or whatever if u drop a water bottle from high weight on it? Or will it? Will the non titanium cover crack the lcd (probly)? or will it not? What I trying to say is will the titanium cover really save ya from something a regular cover would.

 

wear one as a bulletproof vest and find out.

being serious, I would imagine it helps some, but won't make the screen indestructable. Nalgene bottles are supposedly unbreakable, but I know some drunks who slammed one repeatedly in a heavy door until it cracked.

 

So Why the HECK DO u waste money on it? Give u that "feel"??

 

why do people spend $5k for a custom-painted notebook? why do kids throw park benches on the trunk of their civics and think it's cool? Some like the decoration.

 

why do people spend $5k for a custom-painted notebook?
BECAUSE THEY ARE SPOILED LITTLE IDIOTS
why do kids throw park benches on the trunk of their civics
They got drunk

LENOVO is messed up. It's decoration THAT DOESNT PROTECT THE NOTEBOOK.


WOW...

 

I did find that many people who voted for the New Lenovo ThinkPad looks and/or many folk who voted as they don't care are actually not ThinkPad owners.. at least by their signature. That is totally understandable then.

It took IBM probably several years of dedication and vision to create an un-disputed identity for their ThinkPads. Lenovo one fine day just strips the ThinkPads of this meticulously created identity. The cosmetic changes they made were not at all required and they did a worse job at it too. Why change something that has a unique well respected identity to make it look more like all the other brands out there?? They tried to make the ThinkPads look plain because that is what most other manufacturers are trying to do. They made rounded edges for the Z series, again because that is what most others are doing. IBM never designed ThinkPads to reflect the trends of other brands... they instead went against the norms making a pure black ThinkPads with boxy sharp edges and fine touches of color to extentuate its beauty.... They made the computer boxy because it made the laptop look smaller, they did not include the windows key but instead included a maping software so as to facilitate the most done task.. TYPING. Most things were done for a valid REASON and not to blindly copy the competetion. Lenovo is following other brand trends because they don't have the dedication IBM had.. Sure they may manage to sell the more by marketing, but hey we live in a world were Dell sells the most!!!

 

I don't disagree, and like I said, I don't like the new look, but I don't want to be too harsh on Lenovo. They just picked up a new product line and they want to play around with it a little bit, considering that IBM sold it because it wasn't performing as well as they wanted this is sort of understandable. The fans of the Thinkpads just need to make sure Lenovo understands that we liked the cosmetics of the old units better. They are a major company and will listen to consumers if enough of them speak clearly, after all buying a major notebook brand rather than building one yourself is kind of silly if you promptly trash the identity and reputation of that brand with its fans.

 

I have a Z60m. What do the old thinkpads look like?

 

Dell sells the most? Yes they do cas they make cheapest made plastic shells that have the worst keyboards and.. they have the most returns, most problems, most complaints, most unhappy customers. Yet they sell the most because they are making those things for customer market, that's where the most money is these days. IBM (Lenovo) is doing business with businesses. There is nothing that can get the attention of the regular customer to buy the ThinkPad, because they lack juice. Yet they are the BEST for longest lusting, trouble free business use, that’s why they cost more and are the best to use (and work on).

 

Agree to everything to what you say, byt why mess with something that does not require messing??? Lenovo's cosmetic changes are a direct adress of the market leaders choice...... come on a rounded edged Z-series!!!!! the new plain look!!!!

 

ive never owned either new or old. so can i ask whats the differences.

 

Looks mostly. Whatever you like is whatever you'll choose. As long as those new mouse buttons click silent, I would not care much about the looks.

 

Although I'd be the first one to say looks don't matter, one T42 and one T43 later, the old look and layout do matter to me. IMHO ThinkPad people do not buy a TP for fancy looks but ergonomics and reliability and I can't say the T42 or T43 have failed me. The original sombre look from the T40 onwards is timeless! Besides, what do I now do with my docking station if I want to move to a T60?

JP

 

**** right good looks! They finally listened to me after many years of complaining .

 

:Achem: You've got a little foam ... riiiight ... there - at the corner of your mouth.

Seriously, though, the titanium lid is pretty sweet. Personally, I think the black lid does look better, but the titanium tacks on a tremendous amount of torsional rigidity. I didn't choose it to stand up to huge impacts; I got it to stand up to sustained pressure (carrying it against my back for 30+ minutes straight) and daily wear/tear (doing that a few times every day).

 

I saw t43. And yes, i compare it with Z series and i found the buttons look cheaper and plasticly. And there is little flex if you press the bar between Think Vantage and Power button.

I want to make clear something here. The t60, Z60 (+Z61) and R60 - those "bland looking" Thinkpad - is never developed by Lenovo. The prototype of the design already been there before the acquisition. Those models were born in the hand of IBM's engineers and designers.

I dont think "Lenovo" create drastic change in Thinkpad design. If there is any, it was from IBM and now also being done by ex-IBM people. The true Thinkpad that was born from Lenovo table is T61 and afterward. Even in this release, there is not much difference with the last generation that out from IBM.

If you compare the style from T60 to T61 is fair. But remember, from aesthetic perspective i think the big change come in T60 generation (the end of T4x).

I saw much complain here is around those (bland looking, Titanium cover, missing of red stripes, new volume button, new touch pad, windows button, etc). This happened already under IBM.

We cannot blame Lenovo for these, as most of it happened during IBM timeline. Heck, even now the same people from IBM still managing their laptop division.

 

For the average person, an old Thinkpad and a new Thinkpad will look exactly the same. I personally like the new look without the red stripes. It looks even more clean.

 

I don't think it matters who instituted the changes. In my opinion they were bad moves, Lenovo bought the brand so they are responsible for all decisions whether they happened under IBM's ownership or Lenovo's. Unfortunately I don't see them moving in the right direction either with the T61 (what were they thinking when they put the audio jacks on the front?).

The thinkpad is still a great machine but it concerns me the direction that Lenovo is continuing with it. How many little mistakes/price cutting tactics will it take before the thinkpad is nothing more than a poorly designed budget notebook? I hope that doesn't happen but I am not "brimming with confidence."

 

Yes it is matter! How can Lenovo be responsible of something they cant control of? If you are talking about the T60, Z60 and R60 design- those are purely come from IBM desk. Lenovo have no control in those lines at their development stage because they were under IBM's management control. They were separate entity, remember?

Lenovo just continue selling it until the end of the line's life cycle and support whatever product and services from IBM PC division at the time of the acquisition.

I just want to say if you complaint about Z60, T60 and R60 design changes from previous line (T4x), you cannot blame it on Lenovo. At the time of buying IBM PC Division - those models already put into market.

Like i said, if you are talking about T61, then yes that is Lenovo's responsibility. Lenovo have complete control of its design building and development.

 

I really dont like the new look. The fact that the screen is no longer balanced - it is wider on the left side to make room for the WWAN option and the top is bigger for the webcam. The front ports I really hate though. I'm just happy I have my T60. Granted it may not be "quieter and cooler", which I still have to see some hard evidence/proof on this, at least mine looks better, haha.