Worst Thinkpad?

In your opinion, what is the worst thinkpad ever made or the thinkpad you dislike the most?

 

T400/T410... lots of hard drive failures at work.

T201... POS screen compare to T200.

T60... just flimsy compare to T43.

 

Are you sure you didn't confuse both machines with each other? As far as i am aware, the big news with the T60 was the introduction of a rollcage in order to get rid of the flexing danger of the T4x generation, to which the T43 still belongs to. I wouldn't trust a T43 any farther than i could throw it.

 

T43 has VERY strong & stiff LCD hinge even til today. Can't say the same for T60.

 

Don't have a big preference for Edge/L/SL/R. Also any Nvidia ThinkPad that melts constitutes as a "bad" ThinkPad at least one I will never buy.

 

I gotta agree with rumbero, the T4x line had that crazy flex issue picking it up by one corner (yes I don't do it but lots of people did apparently) causing the GPU to loose it's connections to the motherboard because of all the flexing. The T60 was like a freaking tank!

For me the worse one was the T30 series, didn't even get one. I got a T40-43 however I just feel like they were hot and heavy. Surely they were like a tank also too, probably why they made the T40 so thin.

I'm loving my T410s however, no issues other than LCD being a little wobbly. I might send it in oneday under warranty but not that big of a deal for now.

 

Nonetheless, ekam was probably also right in regard to the T6x hinges. I noted this mostly with T61's, where it really is a nuisance, but my 15.1" T60's hinges still appear to have stood the test of time.

Although i was very happy with my T23 while it lasted, i was abolutely annoyed by the bad soldering of four capacitors on the mainboard, which simply fell off and made it eventually die.

 

No kidding I am typing on my tank (T60p) right now.

 

I haven't been around the Thinkpad community long enough to judge best/worse. The Edge, imo, makes for a decent consumer/business hybrid, and the L/SL seem like good choices if a rollcage isn't required and budget is limited. Don't have an option on the R series due to my only recent entry to the community.

Also, I've only seen the Edge/T520/W520 in real life. Caught a peak at a T420, but never a long enough peek to judge screen quality for myself.

 

Lenovo (and other OEMs) use the same hard drives across the board, so a larger number of failures observed in just one or two models is probably just random variation.

And I think you mean X201 versus X200? As far as I know, the LED-backlit displays of the X201 are the same as the LED-backlit displays of the X200. The only difference was that the X201 lost the CCFL-backlit display of the X200.

Not sure about "worst"; I can only say the Thinkpads I personally would never get are the W70x series and SL/L-series Thinkpads.

 

X1 10 char

 

T500 flimsy and POS screen.

 

X201 has TN screen. I'm a photographer and I edit tons of photos, X201 screen is unbearable to me for this type of work.

Lenovo X220 (IPS) vs X201 (TN) - Screen Viewing Angles - YouTube

 

Isn't the SL series hated by people more than the Edge. The SL's hinges are the reason for the blame.

 

If I remember correctly, you had the WXGA LED screen for the T500? If so, the WSXGA+ CCFL was far better; probably the best screen in the Tx00 and T61 generations of Thinkpads. As for flimsy, I'd say my T500 feels like a rock, but your experience may differ.

Oh, definitely agreed on the X201/X200 versus the X220, but you were comparing the X200 and X201.

I believe Lenovo resolved the hinge issues with the L-series (which succeeded the SL-series).

 

Counterpoint:

T500 was one of the best. It had a rollcage for both the lid and chassis, and featured one of the best non-IPS panels ever on a ThinkPad (the WSXGA+ panel.) Flimsy implies structural weakness. I think you were probably complaining about "fit and finish", a different matter altogether.

My vote for worst in terms of internal hardware reliability/performance would either be the T2x series due to the RAM slot failures or the T4x series for the Southbridge + GPU issues.

In terms of cosmetic durability, I'd say the X3x series and X6x are tied with the T400s/T410s chassis, as all three designs suffered from chronic stress fractures.

In terms of worst design, I'd say that the X4x wins, if only because of the choice of hard drive.

 

Is it overly exaggerated? Is the design that poor besides the palmrest problem?

 

I only have experience with two thinkpads, the T410 and SL410. Of the two, I prefer the SL410 by far.
My T410 had the fan noise issue, it also ran much hotter than my SL410 doing the same tasks. Both screens are equally as crappy however. Interestingly the T410 had a little more keyboard flex, which is almost non existent on my SL410.

 

That indeed is very interesting, must be the way they are build. You got a good SL410 while luck had abandon you when you order the T410.

 

T400s and T410s due to the use of the lower quality CFRP also have higher incident of LCD fracture as compared to say X300 and X301. The T420s top LCD case is much improved and so is the palmrest design (which is now one piece rather than 2 pieces).

 

I kind of like the two piece palmrest design on the SL410. It makes it easier getting to certain things, instead of having to practically disassemble the whole damn laptop. Plus, I really like that both RAM slots are on the bottom, which is easily accessible via one cover on the bottom.

 

On a large laptop that is okay. But the one piece design on the T420s increase the rigidity of the laptop base thus minimizing flexing.

 

Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

 

For the T400s/T410s? Debatable. The palmrest is a problem, no question. They issued a new FRU which helped reduce the failure rate, but the thickness (or lack thereof) is still a design flaw, and even the newer FRU isn't immune to the problem.

As far as the lid, I don't know. I've seen scattered posts about it, and have certainly heard the [plausible sounding] theories that the increased screen size (as compared to the X300) makes screen damage more likely, but I don't think it's anywhere near as much of a problem as the palmrest; the palmrests fail even when handled carefully, whereas screen damage at least seems to be somewhat avoidable.

As far as the X3x and X6x are concerned, it's not really a big problem. They both have higher failure rates than I'd expect, no doubt, but it's almost entirely a cosmetic issue.

 

The screen rigidity between the T400s/T410s versus T420s are noticeable.

 

My original palmrest cracked on my T400s, but the new FRU has yet to, so I think they addressed the problem.. it's pretty much the same thickness.. but the sleeves that the screws go into seemed to be more sturdy and thick.

 

I believe you. I just don't have enough first-hand experience with the T400s and T420s to say. I've only use those designs briefly -- not nearly enough to gauge lid durability.

 

My T410s screen felt kinda flimsy. And personally given the lack of connectors, the s version of T series isn't really worth it...plus the battery get gimped...badly.

 

W70X series are a no no for me.

 

Worst Thinkpad....no such thing if you dont like them goto Dell or worse become a Machead

 

So what is wrong with the ThinkPad W7xx? What specific thing dont you like about it?

 

i series was made by Acer-Wistron. Wistron which was spun off still manufactures the X series machine for Lenovo. W70x/ds machines are also made by Wistron.

Basically anything that ships out of the Shanghai depot would be manufactured by Wistron in Kunshan.

 

I can't say there's any ThinkPad series I inherently dislike. However, the T4x with he board flex issues were probably the worst reliability-wise for me. Out of the five of them I've had only two made it a significant amount of time without the GPU issues the 'board flex' problem introduced, and both of those were machines I pieced together. One was a 15" T42, one was a 14.1" T41.

 

I vote for the X1. Or at the very least all of those Edge punk a$$ ThinkPad wannabees.

 

To play Devil's Advocate, if I had to buy a basic consumer-class machine, I'd probably go with the Edge over anything else sold in a retail store. I see them as a mix of true Thinkpad and regular, consumer-class laptops.

 

We just have to wait long enough until all models have been mentioned.

Personally for me it was the T40p because of its pulsating fan annoyance, unreliable WLAN card, and egg shell thin palm rest. Not that it was a totally bad machine, for I'm still using it from time to time.

I'm also not sure about my 'new' T420 refurb. The screen showed that horizontal line failure after only 7 days of use. Sure, it's a refurbished machine but still, never had a failing screen on a Thinkpad before.

 

Do you consider the Samsung Series 7 consumer class? What defines consumer class? Low price?

 

Some people define anything glossy and shiny as consumer class, while other define price as the metrics to which quality (and therefore whether it is business or consumer) is measured by, while others define availability of different docking options and upgradability/how much parts are compatible with previous and next gen laptops. Series 7 is a compelling machine and it is as much a business laptop as the MBP range.

 

Are we including non traditional ThinkPads in this? I do NOT fancy the "Edge".

 

I'm not including the Edge series in my assessment -- I'm only considering ThinkPads.

 

The X100 was 'somewhat' bad.
..at least they fixed that one with the X120 which is a really neat machine.

 

My x100e was just plain awful. (Ate motherboards like you wouldn't believe. Could have been heat related problem.) I still want a x120e with an ULV Intel but it seems Lenovo isn't interested in bring one to North America. I love the design, build quality, keyboard, etc. on the x100e/x120e.

 

does X120e have an intel cpu model? i thought X121e was the one to have intel cpu and amd cpu choices.

 

Not sure. I know there is the Edge 11 which is exactly like the x100e/120e, but with an Intel CPU available. Again, can't get one here in the States.

 

I have an Edge E120 that is identical to a X121e, with the i3-2357m. But it is not from the states either. Love that CPU though

 

The R52 that I once owned was slow, ran hot, and was heavy as lead. To this day, I regret not spending the extra few dollar to buy a T-series model instead.

 

I find my X201 to be a great little machine - as of now, that is. That being said, I will probably go to a T series in the future (around mid-next year). I so wish ThinkPads came in a 13" model (ain't gonna happen, I think). I also love my R400 (which is a close clone of the T400).

So, in my (limited) experience, I have not yet come across a "worst" ThinkPad...though as the saying goes..."never say never"!

 

Have to do that.

 

Definetly the T61, high failure rate of GPU.

 

Sorry, forgot to add the R40 seemed to flex more that any other IBM/Lenovo that I have owned