ideapad durability compared to thinkpad

I've been trying to look for a thinkpad for a while now. The attraction of thinkpads to me is the build quality and the durability, however, I would like to do some light to medium gaming as well. I looked into some of the ideapads recently and they are doing a nice deal on the ideapad y560p currently. It fits the bill in terms of configurations, but will it last me around 5 years+ even though its not a thinkpad?

thanks guys

 

5 years is a long time even for a Thinkpad. A couple of years maybe, but 5 years for an Ideapad just isn't going to happen. My suggestion is to get a Thinkpad with an ExpressCard slot and connect an external GPU to it.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-diy-vidock-experiences.html

 

Step up to the plate when the Lenovo Thinkpad Edge appears with AMD 6630M.

I don't like the quality of the Ideapad's at all nor the user interfaces. The Thinkpad Edge is a much better design.

I was looking at the Ideapad's but they weighed more, were of worse build quality and lacked the better user interfaces than the Thinkpad Edge series.

 

In their early inception, and it still continues to plague Ideapads is poor hinges. Ideapads = consumer; ThinkPads = business/professional use.

 

The Thinkpad Edge has the better hinges and better build quality than Ideapad.

To me all consumer grade notebooks are bad even as a consumer because its of worse quality.

The Sony VAIO SB had nice specs but is of inferior grade consumer quality than the Thinkpad's.

Amazing how poor the SB build quality is. Lenovo is just a superior machine in every direction.

 

That would be perfect. When are they going to include the edge with the 6630? Also, I' guessing they are trying to get rid of the old edges without only hd integrated gfx before they introduce the newer ones with better gpu.

 

The E420s is set up to be a best selling machine. The E420s is out with integrated video only in limited quantities but Lenovo stopped taking direct orders and AMD 6630M is not out yet.

I am not sure if Edge 14" last year had a discrete gpu option or not. I never looked into that.

As to when it will be out, I don't know. I am going to guess the earliest we could see it would be mid April but it could be delayed further.

Right now it is 4/5/2011. So nothing to do but wait depending on how desperate you are to buy something.

 

I guess I missed out on the E420s. I am in little rush of buying a laptop, although I would really like to get my hands on one by end of april. I hope the 6630m version won't be too pricey compared to the older edge models.

 

e420s is in stock for integrated video only. The top model of the 3 in stock has the Intel 1000 wireless, bluetooth, fingerprint reader, i5 2410M and windows 7 professional. Video is Intel 3000 HD integrated on the CPU.

Just need to wait it out like I am.

 

Cool. If they manage to keep the price relativly low on this thing, then I can finally end my nearly 2 month search for a new laptop. Im bouncing between the e420s and the Sager np5160 currently. Price will be the deciding factor.

 

My acer 5672 has lasted over 5 years and is still running and I garauntee is built with lesser components then an ideapad. But if this comment was pertaining to the gpu then I agree. Heck even high end desktops wont last 5 years without an upgrade.

 

The most common fatal failure in laptop for me is the ac plug become loose and I can't sent power to the machine. I have two laptop that fail on me this way.

 

It largely depends on your luck. I know plenty of people who have been using consumer-grade laptops that are still fully functional (although obviously with some wear and tear) for 4+ years (ie, some old Dell Inspirons, HP Pavilions, etc). As the IdeaPads are more or less in line build-quality-wise with offerings from other OEMs, I'd imagine that you could potentially use it for 5 years, if you're careful and slightly lucky.

In my experience, the parts that are most likely to go bad over a long period of use:
- the hinges of a laptop
- frequently-used ports such as the AC jack and potentially some USB slots
- the screen (more so with CCFL-backlit screens, I'd imagine LED-backlit ones will last longer)

 

Not sure about laptop CCFL. But my CRT with regular backlighting works perfect and it is very old now.

Bought a Hitachi CM753 over 10 years ago I believe. Unit is as sharp and bright as ever. Picture has never faded.

My Panasonic LCD TV is also perfect and is older now as well.

I don't know the failure rates on Lenovo notebooks.

 

CCFL Last only a couple of year, they get dimmer over time.

 

Are CRT's CCFL? I have no clue what this Hitachi monitor backlighting was made from but the backlight is rock solid for over 10 years.

No dimness whatsoever. Goes from low to full brightness and works beautifully. Monitor was made in the factory in Osaka, Japan.

Im not sure what technology was used for backlighting in this unit but if it has been working for over 10 years without issue.

Its from around 1999 so 13 years of use now. In fact when I get the new laptop of mine, guess which monitor I will still be using.

I paid a lot back in 1999. Others I know have bought cheap chinese monitors and have replaced them dozens of times over.

 

No, it uses cathode rays, hence 'CRT', it makes its own light.
Only LCDs use cold-cathode fluorescent tubing (new ones use LEDs), backlighting for a display that doesn't create its own light.

 

CRT monitors have an useful life of around 150,000 to 200,000 hrs, while an average CCFL has useful life expectancy of around 20,000 hrs. Standard LED should last around 100,000 hrs, the blue LED with white phosphorus will have significant colour shift after about 20,000 hrs (so there will be a yellow tinge to the colour).

 

Hence why I have never replaced this monitor. It just keeps going and going.

Since LED lasts longer it is more appropriate for notebook pcs. Would never buy a CCFL one but the transistion was made a long time ago over to LED.

I guess its akin to Plasma vs LED. Plasma wears out quicker.

 

no you misread, the type of LED technology used in most laptops (single colour one) doesn't last particular long. I think the only LED technology that can match CRT is the RGB LED LCD.

 

There are certain advantages of CRT monitors over LCD monitors (longer-lasting, better colors/contrast, quick response time) and vice versa (much lower power consumption, doesn't take up half the desk), so to each his own.

Not as long as you might think--only one of my laptops has LED backlighting (my X120e). My T500 and Averatec 2155 both have CCFL LCD panels. Most external displays in the lower price brackets are still CCFL-backlit--I don't have a single LED-backlit LCD external display.

But back on topic: I've seen numerous dead backlights on old laptops, so at least from personal experience, they seem to be more prone to failure. Of course, this is also partially tied to the hinge--sometimes, the backlight itself is still fine, but the backlight cable becomes frayed or loose over time (as in my Averatec--the backlight switches off past around 90 degrees).