ordered Thinkpad T60 not for business.

I ordered a Thinkpad T60 and waiting since March 22. I read the reviews , but now i'm having second thoughts about everything focused on business with the thinkpads. I just want a high end laptop that is not made out of cheap plastic. I'm starting to think more toward a macbook from apple. Why does everything point to a business user with thinkpads? Oh yeah the samsung screen comments are scaring me.

 

I have a T60 and I am just a student.

I really like it and appreciate the durability as well as the keyboard when typing papers.

If you have more specific questions I'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

 

People point to business class notebooks because they generally offer better quality and support if you can afford them. There certainly are some other good choices if you are looking for a more multimedia friendly laptop.

 

One of the selling points is: It's definitely not cheap plastic. It's a carbon-reinforced mixture material. It doesn't look or feel cheap or sound cheap. That's just the primary base and underside lid shell.

The top and sides of the lid are made with a sort of fine microtexturized rubber surface mix.

The hinges are metal, no play in the angular movement.

Base and lid are reinforced internally with a magnesium chassis.

(You know those Dell Dimension 8400 desktops with the flip-open front that exposes the USB ports? How the plastic on that feels. Think the opposite of that.)

The keyboard is even designed to divert any liquids directly out the bottom of the base.

The screen is great.

The mouse is responsive, with an on-board choice between TrackPoint, TrackPad or both at the same time. (So it's not like having a track pad only (like with some other computer manufacturers) whose mouse would--like a cat that's called--sometimes respond, sometimes not, with fingertip movement.)

The styling is conservative, tech, understated, and business-like.

ThinkPads are the original build-quality brand.

 

I am a student and have a Thinkpad T60. I have found that quit a few people in the business school at my college also have these things, maybe business tudents are smarter or they have worked for other companies in the past and know how nice the lines are?

I bought mine because the Thinkpad line is one of the few if only lines left that provides a reliabile durable product. Toshiba is nothing close to what they used to be, Dells business offerings are pretty cheap, and the Apple products which feel durable seem to have odd electrical failures come up.

 

I'm only a student as well, (just in high school, not yet even in college...) and I bought my T60 because I wanted superior quality. I also needed something with both PCMCIA and Expresscard 54 slots. The expresscard for future-proofing, and the PCMCIA for my EV-DO card.
I also wanted something durable that was going to last the test of time, and I also wanted something light and thin, which the T60 definitely is for its class.
I also wanted something that offered decent graphics since I do some graphic work, and would like to have the capability to play games if I decide that I want some new game that comes out.

 

Any laptop I buy needs to be sturdy enough to survive a mile walk to school in a bag with about 20-25 lbs of books. Is the T60 (I plan to buy the T61) strong enough to withstand this treatment for 3 years?

 

Why such a heavy load?

I don't see why the T60, or any decent laptop for that matter, would have a problem being carried for a mile as long as you protect it properly. Get a nice notebook sleeve for it and make sure that it's not being jostled around in there. Avoiding drops/agitation and other stress should help keep it in tip-top shape.

 

Mine once dropped onto its side from a height of about 5 feet onto a concrete floor. It was stupidly placed (in a thin-padded nylon case) on top of a hand dryer.

Not a scratch.

 

I bought a special eBags backpack for the travel because it has wheels. It has extremely thick padding for the laptop, but it lacks protection between the case that holds the laptop and the part that holds the books. I am a pharmacy student. Law, Pharmacy, Medical and many other professional students need to carry very large books.

 

I'm going to college next year and with the demise of my desktop, I went ahead and bought a T60 that will hopefully last me through my undergrad studies. The T60 is a high-end laptop that is not made out of cheap plastic and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. As for the Samsung screen, this review unit was a Samsung screen (I'm assuming you ordered a 15.4", as those are the screens that were iffy). The review says that the screen was decent, and had no major complaints. My laptop has a LG screen and it's very nice.

To address some other points, I recall that the Macbook will be coming out with a 15.4" version sometime soon (not MBP). Of course, the MBP is also a great choice. I must admit that MB(P) look great and feel great, as far as build quality goes. Their screens are excellent. While the ThinkPads have the TrackPoint and ThinkLight, the Apples have (in my opinion) the best touchpads out there and backlit keyboards. In the end, I also narrowed my choices down to MBP and T60. I opted for the T60 because 1) it was slightly cheaper (and more configurable) than the MBP and 2) I am much more used to Windows than OSX. I'm not too keen on change, and I'd really had no big problems with Windows.

 

"Business" class laptops, as I understand it, just mean that they are built with specific scenarios in mind -- not "a little bit of everything but a master of nothing" like the vast majority of others on the market.

Trackpoint & Trackpad response and quality, absolutely outstanding keyboard, weight, high durability for high mobility, above average battery life, screen quality (FlexView especially), wireless and bluetooth sensitivity and range, heat/noise, other little features and innovations...

 

I'm in the same boat... I was considering the dv9000t, T60, and the 9400. I've since narrowed it down to IBM and Dell although, now that I know that the 9400 has the option of a matte screen, I'm leaning towards it.

Note:I'm not thinking about the 1505 because it doesn't have a matte option with wxga+.

I just don't think that right now I should get an IBM because it's more towards the "business" side of things. I don't know too much about hardware such as how well a x1400 will preform whilst using CS3/maya/3dsmax/10-20 browers/tabs up along with other applications running. Also the Dell states it has a 256mb x1400 while IBM only states 128mb x1400.

I might play some games in the future but that I would probably leave to my desktop. I don't play oblivion/etc. Maybe Diablo III when it comes out. I certainly don't want to be limited to not being able to play any games on the notebook I decide to go with.

QUESTION: How easy is it to upgrade components with the T60? From what I've read, the Dell's just have slots in the bottom. The T60 needs to be totally taken apart?

 

I am torn between the upcoming Dell Latitude D630 and the upcoming 14.1" Lenovo Thinkpad T61. Both are well built business series laptops that are great for students.

 

See, I do mostly 3d work as well with very little gaming, but there are a few games I might like to play when they come out. So I opted for the X1400, it'll certainly do better than a GMA950 for my 3d tasks (Inventor and 3ds max primarily), and will be decent for playing games on lower settings. I believe you can find drivers for the X1400 that make it a better workhorse card. Don't quote me on that though.
I didn't want a workhorse card since most tend to do bad at gaming, so I didn't want to shell out the extra for awesome 3ds max performance and nonexistent gaming capability. Also, the X1400 will borrow system ram if it needs it. That difference in ram between dell and lenovo I believe, is that dell states what it is w/ the hypermemory, and lenovo states what it is w/o it. They both have 128mb dedicated, but dell states what it is when the hypermemory borrows more ram from the system. Lenovo doesn't. But they both have hypermemory.

I was deciding between a lattitude and lenovo at first too. The dell was quite a bit cheaper, but I wanted the lenovo more because of some of the other features it had. Then I found an awesome sale on the lenovo site, so I went lenovo.

 

So I guess go lenovo if one can get a discount, otherwise dell. I wonder if dell has a 21 satisfactory gaurentee policy...

 

Yes it should last you long even if you carry it in your bag.
however, i have carried mine in my backpack for about 1 week and the coating on the corners of the lid came off .

 

Reason why thinkpads are considered business notebooks is not because it ONLY caters to businesses. The number one priority to a business when it comes to computers is that it MUST WORK when needs to, no tinkering involved, must be reliable, must be able to take abuse because people tend not to baby their gadgets when its company owned. This is my 3rd laptop and by far the best. It may look a bit outdated a bit old school and not as flashy as the macs or others with glossy finish, metal exteriors and what not, but this is THE most durable and high quality laptop I have ever owned bar none. It is solid, excellent finish, durable, never get tired of typing on its keyboard, almost prefer using the trackpoint to a mouse because my hands are still on the keyboard.

Before I bought this, I've always thought just what is the big deal with thinkpads, they don't look that modern, looks like they're made from the mid 90s and why do they charge more, but now after owning one, I know the reason. My future upgrades will be of course, thinkpads assuming they continue the quality.