Why Thinkpads?

What made you pick lenovo Thinkpad over the other brands?

 

More like, why did I pick a ThinkPad over anything else.

1. No glossy parts.
2. Keyboard and ergonomics tradition.
3. Battery life.
4. Screen resolution.
5. Upgradeability.
6. Durability reputation.
7. Build quality reputation.
8. Again, no glossy parts.
9. Lid latch.
10. Appearance.

 

Thinkpad.... and the fact that in some countries you can interact with Lenovo staff on a personal level....

 

Why I am jumping ship to Lenovo? I only purchased business oriented laptops for normal use/work use, so that rules out 80% of brands (Acer, Gateway, eMachines, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, ASUS, MSI, Alienware). It leaves me with the big 3 of business, HP, Lenovo or Dell.

I'm going to be straight up about HP, I do not like them. They've always designed inferior cooling except for Elitebook, they had the crappy thin yellow tip AC adapter port. They are a pleasure as an ASP to RMA to, 90% of HP units get shipped to HP and back within 5 business days. But all I've seen with HP will never convince me to buy one, except for an Elitebook and I'll never have 8000 cash on a nice tricked out 8740W.

I've always been a big proponent of Dell. My mom has only bought Dell since 1995. We've owned 14+ Dell desktops, and my family has only bought Dell laptops (Inspiron 6000, E1405, E1505, M5030, Vostro 1500, Studio 1558, Latitude D600, D610, D620, D630, E6400, E6410, 13). Unfortunately the latest lineup from Dell...is well less than desirable. True Dell has always the better deal, better than any company. We've never had any problems with our Dells, but the newest E series Latitudes makes me sick to my stomach. They looked like they were designed by teenagers for teenagers. I mean come on, who the heck wants orange trim around the keyboard...? Coupled with not having some type of fan control, I will resort only to buying last generation Dell models and jumping ship to Lenovo.

After a long absence from ThinkPad (some old T20 from my youth), I purchased 2 ThinkPad Z61t's and received a free partially functional T60, and I absolutely love them. I've used ThinkPads before, and it is a legend. The keyboard feel, absolutely the best, and the feel of ThinkPad. And when you say you have a ThinkPad, people know you have a serious business machine. The newer ThinkPads (after Montevina platform) have had their keyboard changed and the palmrest feel, it is totally different but still deserving of that ThinkPad badge. You also get that classic ThinkPad look, the way IBM had it for over a decade before handing over the reigns to Lenovo. Also TPFanControl is an awesome program.

I'm sure lead_org will write a 2000 page essay...

 

^^^i think sony vaio has some award-winning laptops for the business laptop category.

 

1. I wanted the ability to customize before ordering.
2. A good sale + coupon deal.
3. Reputation of quality.

 

I haven't come a notebook that's easy to maintain, reliable or as ergonomic compared to the Lenovo ThinkPad. I have used Dell's, HP's, Sony's and Toshiba's before but I always felt the ThinkPad to be the best balanced, the complete all rounder for the criterias mentioned earlier.

I take it you haven't come across a VAIO when it goes wrong. I had to deal with too many in my office and i'm pretty much fed up seeing the sight of them! Plus driver support for the VAIOs is very dormant...

 

how did you know i was writing a guide to second hand thinkpad purchase?

 

VAIO are not anywhere close to business, and never will be. Sony is so proprietary with their parts, take so long to get service that they will never be considered as a main workhorse laptop. Maybe corporate big wig, but they would likely be using a ThinkPad if they were smart.

Plus everyone hates servicing Sony as an ASP, they are so terrible to work with, getting part numbers, dealing Sony's part ordering system (SPA/SPAN) and how long Sony RMA takes (2 weeks is quick, typically 3-4 weeks).

 

I wanted a business laptop for work. I've been unhappy with recent purchases/service with HP and Dell, so I decided to try a thinkpad. I'm pretty impressed.

 

-Reputation for quality. I bought it without ever seeing it in person, but hey, most Thinkpads look the same anyway.
-Sleek, matte design. I hate the glossy finish on anything.
-Price. With coupons I ended up getting ~51% off the retail price.
-Specifications. It offered almost everything I could ask for, and can be upgraded at a later time as well. Only things i would have liked are Blu-ray drive, better GPU, and possibly better cooling, but so far it's been just fine.

 

sturdy design, high resolution screens for 14" models, price (employee discount through my family!), and keyboard

 

At the time, I decided upon Lenovo (specifically this model) because it was the lightest/smallest/best looking laptop at a good price in which I could have both an SSD and a high-capacity HDD. It also helped that Lenovo/Thinkpad line has a good reputation.

Since then, I've come to appreciate other reasons why I will most likely buy Lenovo for my next laptop:
-I love many of the ThinkVantage apps
-Many (if not all) of the classic Thinkpad line have docking options (something I'll want next time)
-They still put a VGA port on their machines (good for my use of projectors)
-Generally good battery options
-The ease of upgrading some hardware

And, my qualms with Lenovo:
-The imposition of 7mm hard drives on some models
-The lack of high-resolution (> 1366*768) on displays below 14"

 

I bought a Thinkpad because (I'm sure many others have listed the same thing):

- Excellent, sturdy build quality
- They last a LONG time in the field of heavy use
- Excellent keyboard
- Good warranties
- History with the Space Shuttle program

That's about it. Before I bought my T61 new back in the beginning of 2008, I had nothing but consumer laptops. I was AMAZED at the quality of the T61 when it came in the mail. The keyboard is the best thing about it, and I have never felt a keyboard comparable to it since, and here it is 3+ years later still going strong (knock on wood) and still LOOKS NEW after EVERY DAY constant use. THAT is something I'd like to see a consumer laptop do.

 

I bought a Thinkpad to replace a Mac and I was drawn by:

1. The lack of flashiness and gloss. I hate how nearly every consumer notebook these days contain such elements. I am a very conservative person, so I appreciated the aesthetic that Thinkpads had. Very few notebooks look this unique.
2. Durability. I had quite a few dings on my old MacBook, and I sometimes wonder why Apple bothered with aluminum in the first place. Yes, it offers a very premium feel and excellent build quality, but aluminum dents more easily than most metals used in laptops.

Other than that... yeah.

 

in my case, partly habit (as my sig suggests) and partly many of the reasons already mentioned -- in particular, keyboard (I write for a living), build quality, warranty service, and ability to upgrade a lot of parts myself.

I also like the fact that in this day and age of flashy, trendy "design" a Thinkpad is almost a statement against fashion. I've always been a contrarian and respect companies that resist following faddish trends in design (I also respect Apple for it's trailblazing designs but utterly disrespect the company for its closed ecosystem policies).

The T420 I just got in particular is one of the best looking T-series models I've had for a while because its casing is even more minimalist than the last few generations. Smooth, unadulterated screen bezel, flush speakers and trackpad -- absolutely nothing extraneous at all.

The one big disappointment that seems to run counter to the Thinkpad "high quality" philosophy is the appalling screen on the T420. Even for laptop TN panels, this one really is bad and Lenovo really needs to start speccing screens of the same quality as the rest of its package.

 

My T500 (more or less in order):

1. Matte screen
2. Great battery life and performance with switchable graphics (a rare feature then)
3. Very cool and quiet
4. Great build quality and keyboard
5. High-resolution 16:10 screen options
6. Reasonable price
7. Extended battery options that do not stick out downwards
8. Long term driver support

Item 2 crossed off the Dell Latitude E6500. Items 3 and 6 eliminated the HP Elitebook 8530p, and Items 4 and 6 ruled out the Sony Vaio Z. Those were the other primary candidates in my laptop search back then.

My X120e (more or less in order):

1. Great price (Adobe Acrobat price glitch)
2. Very portable
3. Great build
4. Thinkpad keyboard and UltraNav
5. Matte screen
6. Good battery life with the 6-cell
7. Good performance for the size/price
8. Long term driver support

 

thanks you for the replies.

 

-I wanted a powerhouse laptop that wasn't flashy.
----As such, I now love the conservative design of Thinkpads.

-THE KEYBOARD. It's awesome. Period.

-I got a great price on it ($1500, plus $150 for 2yr TPP and laptop lock), so ~23.2% off retail

-One night I was walking in my house in the dark. Had the laptop opened, powered up, and was holding it with half of my hand gripping the palm rest. Cat made me trip and I threw my W520 onto the ground from ~5.5ft, crashing display-first. No cosmetic damage, no internal damage whatsoever, and all I need to do was take a loosened RAM stick and pop it back in and the W520 still works fine!

-I wanted to try out the TrackPoint and now I love it when I don't have my G9x with me.

-When I'm around people I want to impress, my W520 makes me look very professional, especially for an 18 year old.

-Battery life is amazing for a workstation laptop. I get ~4 hours with higher power settings, and nearly 7-8 hours (avg. 7:30) with a dim screen and typical light usage (Office, Internet surfing with Flash and JavaScript, etc).

-I wanted a matte 1080p screen so I could see it outdoors, and with great detail.

 

Im a nut for business laptops and in my humble opinion there are only three companies that make business class notebooks: HP, Dell, and Lenovo. HP is too expensive so I never really went that route. Dell makes great notebooks and I buy them all the time. Lenovo also makes thinkpads and also the only thing I would buy from lenovo.

I rely on my laptop to make my living and I need it to be able to take a beating and keep on ticking as well as perform and feel great. Dell and Lenovo are the only companies that have made a computer that can fulfill my needs (Im sure HP would be the same, but too pricey for me right now).

 

- Great build quality and durability
- Probably the best keyboard out there
- Matte 1080p, 95% gamut screen
- Plenty of power from a quad core and quadro 2000M
- Lightest out of the top three business laptops
- Amazing battery life (when coupled with its weight make it easy to take around)
- Capable of having an mSATA (the benefits of an SSD while keeping the storage of an HDD)
- Good custom configs for the W520 can be had for under $1600
- Fairly useful pre-loaded software

 

* Build quality and durability
* Matte screen
* Keyboard
* Support
* Aesthetic design

 

1. I cannot tolerate any glossy screens, so this alone is decisive
2. Great keyboard tapping feeling
3. Classic look of the thinkpads
4. Light weight of the X-series

 

There's something about Thinkpads. Even if I'm messing around in paint I can't help but feel that I'm working on some serious top secret high priority governmental stuff.

On a more serious note;
Lenovo had me at the professional looks and also the famous durability. However, after using my Thinkpad for more than a month now I know it's more than that. The keyboard is the best I've ever used, the matte screen is great, trackpoint is top notch and the performance is also very good.

Ofcourse, I have some minor gripes about the T420s, but I've pretty much always had problems with all my tech so I realize that it's part of the industry. As long as things get fixed quickly I don't see a huge problem.

 

I wanted a serious development laptop. Needless to say there is absolutely nothing businessy about any lenovo.

The Lenovo is very well built and it's my second. My T61p has taken over XP testing because the Inspiron died.

Renee

 

My W520 can play Bad Company 2 at medium settings in full 1080p with no lag whatsoever (and, it's still running cool). 'Nuff said.

 

-The reliability of Thinkpads.
-Great driver support over the years.
-Classic Trackpoint.
-Easy to upgrade or repair.

 

What websites did you guys purchase you Thinkpads from?

 

Direct from Lenovo Canada.
Lenovo - Laptops, notebooks, tablets, netbooks, desktop accessories

 

Many of the same reasons stated, the ones thinkpads are known for. While i have never had a consumer laptop really fall apart on me, even with constant travel in less then ideal environments, I love that they arent glossy colorfull brightly lit machines that consumer laptops are these days. The color schemes get to flashy....all those glossy finishes look like crap after even minimal handling with all the fingerprints, smudges, mars, amplifies every little scratch, etc....and since I often use my laptops in dim lighting or dark, and even as an alarm clock in certain situations, the overly bright status leds, and the excessive number of them in some cases, is annoying at the least with modern consumer grade machines.

 

While I dont think Im working on some government secret, everything I do on my thinkpad feels different then on other machines. Makes the task feel more important and special.

To think I thought I was the only one who felt this way...

 

I think the question should be rephrased into 'Why Thinkpads' because the other Lenovo laptops (ideapads, essentials) are significantly inferior to other consumer-graded laptops by competitors, e.g. Asus and HP. The multifarious advantages of the thinkpad have been mentioned by others earlier in the thread.

 

hum.... ideapads are ODM products, they are probably made by the same manufacturers whom make Toshiba Satellite, ASUS laptops... don't let the external case fool you. Essentials are just dirt cheap laptop, i wouldn't think HP or ASUS laptops of the same price and spec would be of any higher quality then the Essential series.

 

Great point. I have always been a fan of Thinkpad for the many reasons listed in this thread. I'm looking at picking up a T420 or T520 to replace my old Sony Vaio, my first and last consumer grade notebook. After a number of years with IBM Thinkpad mobile workstations I see nothing in a consumer grade notebook that entices me.

 

The keyboard and the maintainablity/upgradeablity top my list, although one other major factor was the fact that they are fairly well-supported by the free software community. Getting Linux to run on a random laptop and support everything can be tricky. Thinkpads use standard high-quality parts, and therefore have drivers and such that get written.

 

They're probably made by the same manufacturers, but Lenovo always manages to pick crappier laptops for repackaging. They're often sold at a much higher price too, apparently.

Asus and HP have some pretty nice gaming laptops (G series), ultraportables (U series, e.g. U36SD), pretentious blingly laptops (envy), while there are none from Lenovo. Just look at the Ideapad gaming series - their display cards are centuries behind Asus.

Of course, these laptops that I mentioned lack many qualities Thinkpads possess, such as the keyboard, battery life, matte screen, so on and so forth.

 

Actually, I kinda feel that way too >.<

I was visiting some of the area high schools last week to recruit students into our FIRST Robotics team, and I used my laptop as a display for videos, pictures, and the website (usfirst.org). Made me, and the team, feel important lol.

Speaking of well-supported, I love the online manuals, guides, and videos that Lenovo/IBM provide on the service training website. It made it that much easier to take apart my W520 when I had to get under the keyboard to install RAM.

 

How I do the bold?

 

IIRC, a member can't change the title for a thread themselves. You might have to ask a NBR Mod to help.

 

ok oh.............

 

What accessories you guys brought for your thinkpads?

 

ODM made notebooks is a cut throat competition of who can make the cheapest crap and sell the most of it.

ThinkPadders like to have something a cut above that, and that is why I jumped ship.

 

See my sig. I also have a 320GB, 5400RPM WD drive and a 500GB, 7200RPM Seagate drive to use with the Thermaltake dock. For travel, I have a Targus mini-mouse, Targus messenger bag as well as a Verge messenger bag, and various cables (as well as an Ubuntu DVD to help fix other peoples' computer, when need be).

 

Do you run Ubuntu on your W520?

 

Nope, Win7Pro. I use to toy around with Win7Home/Ubuntu dual-boot on my old laptop, but I never cared much for Linux.

 

If you ever used the consumer laptops from HP then you would know how hot they run.... packing a lot in a crappy case with poor heatsink/air ventilation is not going to lead to a long living laptop. HP consumer laptops are one of the most unreliable piece of junk ever made by the tier one manufacturers. So far i have had 4 HP laptops of various kind, non lived past their 2.5 years birthday.

Regarding ASUS, well they do manufacture and package graphics card, so on that front that is one competencies that non of the tier one computer brand companies have. Personally speaking the only good thing about ASUS laptops are price and their graphics card, other than that they are no better than the rest of the ODM laptops that flood the market.

But that is my opinion on this matter.

 

did anybody brought a printer with their thinkpads?

 

I have a printer already at home and never use it. Will be going to college soon and thus won't need my own printer.

If you want one, I suggest a cheap monochrome laser model.

 

You know some people take your opinion as law.

I have been meaning to get a dock for my Z61t's as they would also work with my T60..

 

I got a MS Arc Mouse (the old one), an Ultrabay Battery and a Seagate GoFlex Slim external drive. Both the mouse and the HDD are matte black with grey or aluminium details which pairs well with the Thinkpad look.