Rethinking the Thinkpad

Octiaviane writes to tell us that XYZComputing has a review of Lenovo's Thinkpad X60 with a look at not only the current specs but the evolution of the Thinkpad line. From the article: "One constant which has remained throughout the evolution of the notebook computer is the Thinkpad. Processors and operating systems have changed, designs have been updated, and ownership has changed hands, but the Thinkpad remains. This product has never stopped being a top choice for demanding consumers and corporate buyers, whether they are looking for size, power, or features."

Bias?

[Filik]

That excerpt from the review made me not click on the link. The reviewer blatantly admits bias to the whole line of laptops instead of concentrating on reviewing the latest model...

A bit offtopic, but...

[svunt]

The current Lenovo ThinkPad ads in Melbourne have either a man saying something about how he wants to change the world, not back up his data all day, or a female, staring vacuously into camera with a smile that could start drooling any second, saying "I don't care how it works, as long as it works". If my pee-pee was a woo-woo, I'd be hunting down their marketing department with a sledgehammer in each fist. How fucking patronising.

Re:IBM Ugly

[bubkus_jones]

I must be the only one here who prefers the "nipple" to a trackpad. I tend to have more control with it than the trackpad, and it's quicker to get to than a trackpad, as it's in the middle of the keyboard. I barely have to shift my hand to be able to control it.

Of course, half the time I use a USB mouse, but still. I'm not a fan of the trackpad style control.

a feature...

[Fanther]

This product has never stopped being a top choice for demanding consumers and corporate buyers, whether they are looking for size, power, or features.

Or just a single feature - like the TrackPoint... Few other brands have them nowadays.

Multi Search [friskr.com]

Re:IBM Ugly

[rah1420]

Boy, you don't know how to use it, do you? I'll bet you scrape your finger across it like a trackpad and think that it's gonna make the mouse pointer move.

Think of it like a joystick without the handle and you'll do much better. Five minutes, huh?

Re:The perfect laptop

[interstellar_donkey]

Actually, I see it as a choice between Cheep, Durible and Performance. You won't get all three, but I don't think it's a reach to expect you get two of them.

A $500 laptop will last a few years if it's handled carefully. You still wouldn't throw one in your backpack full of books and other assorted hard objects.

Nipples for Great Justice

[psychosquee]

Fortunately for you, you're not. I've become so accustomed to using the Tracknipple that I actually become infuriated when I have to use a touchpad... so hideously inefficient!

Re:Stubborn to the end...

[Sepodati]

You should teach the idiots how to use the TrackPoint correctly, then. You only need one hand. Index finger is on the TrackPoint and the thumb is on the buttons. You can press any of the three buttons with your thumb and it's easy to hold them down while you're dragging something. The contours on the buttons make it real easy to press, too, not like the sunken buttons on the Dells.

The first thing I did on my Thinkpads was disable the horrible trackpad thing.

---John Holmes...

Re:reduced market

[TerranFury]

...which is funny -- because, before IBM sold the brand name to Lenovo, guess where the laptops were made?

(Hint: Not Ohio.)

This is just politics, pure, xenophobic, and simple.

It's true that you need to watch your back when doing business in China. I've had too many Chinese friends, with too many frightening my-dad-the-doctor-was-approached-to-sell-organs-on -the-black-market type stories to be naive about that. There are plenty of good people, but Communism, poverty, and the greedy allure of soul-crushing Capitalism got together and twisted China into a horrendously corrupt anything-for-a-buck place that makes Enron's board room look like an ivory tower. It makes me thank God for my heretofore suburban American life. But that doesn't mean that Lenovo is a disreputable business, and it certainly doesn't imply that other suppliers should be trusted any more.

I personally own a Dell. My company gave me a Thinkpad. The Thinkpad has a broken monitor latch (plastic). The Dell has thermal problems that cause hard drives to fail with annoying regularity. So neither is perfect. But, broken latch notwithstanding, the Thinkpad feels solid. It also has the perfect dimensions for a laptop, and it runs Debian like a champ -- with rare kernel support for my wifi adapter! (A Cisco Aero, if you're in the market). So of the two, I'd take the Thinkpad.

Besides: When you're running MS Windows as your OS, worrying about the security of your hardware seems like misplaced attention! Why would Beijing design motherboards when they can just hire script kiddies?

Re:Nipples for Great Justice

[hpavc]

Agreed, I love it as well. I couldn't go back. When I think of switching to a Apple, the keyboard is what stops me.
IBM has a great keyboard especially with the trackpoint + trackpad setups. The synergy features are great.

Re:IBM Ugly

[Ethan Allison]

Thinkpads have good touchpads too.

Re:This will probably get me labeled

[Viceice]

Personally, any arguement that quotes Greenpeace as a refrence instantly loses all credibility with me.

Re:This will probably get me labeled

[darkwhite]

Aside from the fact that Greenpeace is an unreasonable organization to begin with, this study is a measure of how much money the companies on the list put into "green PR", not of how environmentally friendly their manufacturing processes really are. Their measures are really laughable, and most of their information is quite obviously gathered from the manufacturers' and contractors' websites and press materials. Just because a random Chinese company decided to slap a page on their English website about how they comply with RoHS and have an "environmental roadmap" and another one has nothing but spec sheets on their homepage says nothing about their environmental impact. Every single one of their measures is problematic, if not in principle, then in the reality of how they gathered the data and what real-world impact it has.

This study is worthless for the purpose of fairly judging companies on their environmental policies, and I speak this as a committed environmentalist.