Flagship of thinkpads

Hey guys, i was just wondering what you considered the flagship of thinkpads, either the t series or the z series.

 

T series being the old, trusty ThinkPads with the Z series being the more "multimedia" line.

 

I beleive the word is intended to be largely synonymous with "staple," rather than with something like "best" or "largest." For that reason, I think it really has to be the T-series. Could be wrong on either interpretation.

 

I would agree with your interpretation. Maybe not staple, but more along the lines of their model line? The typical IBM (so, yeah...staple).

 

T-series definitely. Some say it's the X-series, but IMO, they don't qualify, because their ultraportable form factor makes them lose to the T-series in overall usability.

 

T series (darn, couldn't post just a "T" because it wouldn't qualify as a full post)

Z series may become more mainstream, but by flagship I interpret as the system that carries the banner and newest technologies. Like with gaming systems for other companies, they create buzz and credo that filters down to the cheaper laptops (i.e. Dell XPS series helps lift the budget series Inspiron notebooks because it's from the same brand, or high-end Apple MacBook boosting luster of the iBook -- without high end models the low-end models would actually be cheapened)

 

I think that you as an administrator have the option to lower the minimum required post length from 10 to 1. At Gamewinners we had that done.

 

T - for sure. I tend to agree with the abaxter definition of flagship.

 

The T is, but the Z might become . . .

Widescreens are popular because most people prefer them. Me, I haven't used a widescreen yet, so can't really made a decision at this point.

 

Without question, the T-Series is IBM/Lenovo's flagship ThinkPad.

 

They may or may not be better as a general rule, and they certainly are better for some people. I'd bet serious cash, though, that the main reason most people buy widescreen laptops is because it's still the new thing. In fact, this is the main reason widescreens will eclipse standards - because, at one point, they were new (not saying that the new always overtakes the old; obviously, this is not the case).

The secondary reason is salespersons making the pitches they've been trained to deliver, whereas they never got a pitch to deliver for a standard screen.

 

Most of the time a flagship model is the one with the highest performance overall... So that's why I'm going fot the T-series.

 

Sorry, Howie, I was having a Yogi Berra moment.

I don't want to get into an overall "widescreen versus standard" discussion, but do hope standard screens survive long enough so that I actually have a choice on my next notebook purchase.

 

I must be very old-fashioned...becuase I can't see any possitive things with these widescreen laptops, except if you want to watch movies or play any modern games on it....Other than that it only serves to make the laptop wider, which isn't a good thing in my book.

Anyways, voted T! The people at IBM Worldwide uses T, and they're built to withstand everyday professional use, be it on the field or in the cubicle.

 

Having two documents open side-by-side is certainly a plus. You can compare websites or different versions of a document or examine different tables or spreadsheets as well.

 

the one time I tried using the output of a widescreen (Toshiba) on a standard TV, it didn't work right, wouldn't get the whole image in the frame. do other makes have a more elegant way of handling that?

 

It depends on your resolution. The Z60t has a max resolution of 1280px horizontal, but a 14inch T43 has 1400px with the SXGA resolution. You get more realestate on a SXGA T43 and so far there is no WSXGA on the Z60t.

 

true, true

 

Z60m however has WSXGA resolution (1680 lines) so its a moot point in my opinion. The widescreen is the future of computing, just as HDTV is future of television programming. Puts more on screen and more closely matches what the human eye actually sees in natural world --I think thats whats good about it.

 

The T Series has always been the Brooks Brothers suit of IBM laptops. Others may have similar hardware such as the R series but the T Series is the top offering from IBM.

The Z series does look and feel similar to the T. The main difference is the widescreen. The PR propaganda states that 16x9 widescreens offer more real estate than 4x3 standard view laptop screens. You need at least 1 full inch and maybe more to equal a 15" inch standard screen. I would guess without pulling out a calculator that 16"-16.5" widescreen would be equal to a standard 15".

Like many have stated before. Who wants their laptop getting wider? To each his/her own.

 

Note that the Z60 is in the same performance realm as a T 43, not a T60.

That says it all right there.

Also, in automobiles, it's not the most fuel efficient, or cheapest car, or even the one that appeals to everyone that's the halo car. It's the fastest and most expensive.

T = Best feature set, fastest, can be somewhat pricey, good balance of performance and weight
Z = Widescreen, budget territory on performance, not great prices for performance, performance and weight have poor balance
R = Budget all the way, good price/performance ratio, not great weight/performance ratio
X = Decent feature set, NOT the fastest, awesome weight/performance ratio, acceptable price/performance ratio

And I'm a fan of the X, and I say the T is the flagship.

 

3:2 is close to the golden mean, so some will argue that the wider ratio is more pleasing. and I would expect the reason 4:3 was around so long was that CRT tubes can't be made widescreen without huge stresses and weird image distortions. with the move to other display technologies for TV, they can make the ratio more closely match cinema.

that said, I have nothing against 4:3 laptops, don't need a wider unit.

 

If the thread titel would read instead somehow from overall sellings, I would say that it's close to an alpabetic order, e.g. A, ..., R, T, X, Z (I'll leave out the more desktop like G here).

However, from a more business point of view and the term flagship specifically here, it's actually still without doubt the T-Series, next followed by the X-Series and maybe in a near futute with more advantages towards the Z-series, since widescreen notebooks do dominate the overall notebook market generally today.

 

Doubtful.

T, followed by R are the most "business suited" in the line (Lenovo's bread and butter), with T providing the best balance of portability and performance. I'll bet T makes up over half their sales.
The audience for the ultra-portable X is much smaller, maybe 15% or less.
Tablet is very niche. I doubt it's more than 5% of sales.
Z is still very new, but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't displace R, since the price points are close. If the new verison of the Z60t's have decent graphics, it could challenge T.
G isn't even on the website any longer.

 

I can imagine that, related to overall mass sellings, that the R-series leads the pack here, since it's more on budget and cheaper. In europe for example, a bunch of bigger companies do buy and use R50e express models and the like, since these are much cheaper there to get on volume than T-series models. - However, it's difficult to say and sure would be interesting to know in exact selling statistics, how each Thinkpad series sells on the global market and which one is the one always sold mostly in quantity.

 

I always found out that the Ts were less "stable" then a R series... For example T23 the thing feels so Wobly. This is the reason I bought a R over a T. I might be wrong. The newer Ts still don't feel "strong". LCD flexes, and such.

 

No that doest.

Z's are going dual core just like the T's.

 

Right, just a little later.

 

does anyone ever notice: there is T60P, but there isn't any Z60P or x60P(of course it will be ridicious to have a firegl on a x serie.)

i also think all the x series should go tablet. (they get the same proformance, less weight, touch screen all for 200 dollar more? who would buy a x60 if there is x60t?)

 

I'll jump in as hopefully soon new owner of brand new T43 (just won on Ebay).
I have an experience of about 8 years in Israeli hi-tech industry and during teh last 3-5 years there is a certain trend of shifting from regular desktop PCs for a hardware/software engineering stuff (also relevant for marketing, sales and even many of accounting employees in hi-tech companies) to a laptops, so each engineer have a laptop and carry it to and from work, all arround.
Guess what, Thinkpads T dominate by about 90-95% (probably even more), literally in almost every hi-tech company you see the stuff with Ts, rarely any desktop any more.
I think it says a lot in this regard, no one serious company would choose a laptop brand (and type) which couldnt' be relied upon in terms of reliability, quality of service and performance, even though paying premium prices compaartive to other possibilities.
This is one of the main reasons I hae chosen to look hard for a good deal on T42/43 and finally came upon...

 

T

 

T
But I think Lenovo wants to position them equally. Maybe. The widescreen T rumors throw me.

 

T series is certainly the flagship, but X-series wins the awards and demonstrates superior engineering prowess.

 

True, the T really isn't anything special. Makes you wonder why nobody else can come close.

Does anyone know why this thread keeps bumping itself with no new posts?

 

Probably from people voting without posting.

I agree with Bunny, the X always wins the awards in the ultra-portable category. But I disagree with Ethyriel that the T "isn't anything special." All the Thinkpad have enginering aspect that make them unique from all other laptops. Whether it's "spill trays" or "airbags" or ""roll cages" or whatever...no other laptop is made like them. The "T" is the one with all them and it has the best balance of wieght and performance.

 

That depends on the users needs & preference.
I've always had T's (or A's before that haha), but I found the T's too big & heavy when i noticed ppl with full-featured 12" laptops

Many brands now offer spill trays and airbags and reinforced cases
But something all the 'pads have that I could NOT live without... the IBM Access / ThinkVantage utilities that come on every thinkpad.
The version on all the 60-series thinkpads is definitely the best yet.