I sold my burger

All of my personal ThinkPads are gone.

 

really where did they go?

 

I gave several machines to sons, daughters and in-laws. Sold the rest.

I was looking at the T60p with the Flexview 15" screen today while visiting my daughter. Wow, that machine is in pristine condition. Fantastic screen. Probably should have kept that one.

Basically I've been selling off the old iron to make room for some Ivy Bridge machines.

 

I'm about to downsize to just to my 2 x Z61t's. I hate the newer ThinkPads in terms of the keyboard and new palmrest feel.

 

The keyboard on my X220i is excellent, though the palm rest can't match the X6x ThinkPads. From a performance perspective, I see no reason to upgrade my R60e. Because it runs Linux, my R60e often feels more snappy than my X220i.

 

I've been doing the reverse - I've picked up a couple of cheap older ThinkPads for family members (they won't need that much power) and they'll be using it for office admin related work...or in the case of my Dad a good game of Solitaire!

Myself, I've also got my hands on a T60p (P/N: 2007-FBG) for £80 off of eBay UK - listed as spares & repairs but it's working fine after reseating the WiFi Card & the bundled RAM to get it up & running along with a good solid clean. I'll be using it as my personal laptop and right now all I need is a replacement CPU for it (I'm bidding for a T7600 just now) and more RAM (I'll be purchasing 2x2GB DDR2 DIMMs today) to get it up & running to the standard I need it at.

 

personally i like the X220 palmrest a bit more then the X6x series, but i hate the touchpad on the X220.

@Thors.Hammer, so are you going to go with the full size W series or the portable X series?

 

Like me, he couldn't resist the temptation of trying the Samsung Series 9.

John

 

whoa Thors sure is a new star member of the Samsung Series 9 team.

 

Unknown. If Lenovo gets the X2 right and I see a good price, I would like to have one but I haven't seen the final specs.

I'm not planning on purchasing another W series portable workstation until Lenovo solves the W520 problems and demonstrates smarter engineering and support.

After selling off my machines I have enough money in the kitty for a couple of Ultrabooks and a portable workstation. I am in no hurry to buy anything. I still have my company owned machines.

I am going to wait for the Ivy Bridge reviews and early adopters to say which machines are worthy of personal dollars. That and I want to see what Apple launches.

 

Thors.Hammer,

Curious...how many machines did you have?

 

Did? At one point I had 1-2 machines from each generation of ThinkPads since the T60p.

 

Yay, I buy. Yay, I sell. Yay, I like. Yuk, I hate. Yay, I have. Yuk, you don't.

This forum makes life a little bit more interesting, I suppose.

 

May I ask what is a flexview screen?

My t61 have a horrendous screen with no brightness and huge blue hue. (well at least it is matte.)

edit: i just check think wiki. IPS? I mean IPS for real? !!!?

 

FlexView screens are IBM nomenclature for an IPS LCD. IPS screens are a type of screen that offer wide viewing angles and a high contrast ratio, i.e. very nice to look at. They were first offered on the A series, then the R series. When the T42 got a 15" LCD model, the FlexViews migrated over to the T series. The 15" T60 offered them as well, but then the T series went wide screen, the FlexViews were dropped from the T series. The X220 is the first ThinkPad to offer an IPS LCD, outside of the convertible tablets, which also use IPS LCDs. You might want to calibrate your T61 LCD. It can help with the blue hue and contrast, though it won't match an IPS screen. Being your T61 is now five years old, the screen may have dimmed some as well.

 

That's a lot of systems...

 

Yes, but no where near as many machines as some of the other collectors here. I think at one point I had 10 machines. I made a modest profit on every sale. There is still a vibrant market for used ThinkPads.

 

It seem like a bunch of Thinkpad users are flocking over to the Apple. These are sad days to be a PC user.

 

I have used both extensively. I am throwing down the gauntlet for better screens from Lenovo. If they don't deliver Flexview screens or something equally killer, my money goes elsewhere. Screen tech is high on my list of priorities.

Maybe I am no longer the target audience for Lenovo. So be it.

 

Meh, both directions, it would seem. I've noticed quite a few X220 owners who switched from Mac, as well as a number of W-series owners as well. Both of those models have good screens as options, so it's not so surprising.

I've used Macs quite frequently too, seeing as some lab software only runs on Macs (though this is less the case in more recent years).

In the past, PC manufacturers have gotten away with sub-par screens since it was rarely the focus of computer marketing and consumer hype (sadly) other than "HD" qualifications. With the prevalence (relatively) of great displays in tablets, smartphones, etc, though, there's more and more attention being paid to a laptop's screen.

In short, in terms of screen quality, I think there's a bright future ahead, for PCs and Macs alike, Thinkpads or non-Thinkpads.

 

This statement is dated. The term "PC" is practically meaningless, in same the sense that "a Lenovo" is: a ThinkPad is not an IdeaPad.

Anyway, @Thors.Hammer's statement about lack of quality screens for ThinkPad has been raised for years, sometimes with negative reactions from those who think they know better. At the end of the day, it's one's money and needs.

My business partners and I use ThinkPads for certain business reasons. (I do have a so-called "burger," but that's no big deal.) However, ThinkPads are not my only choices of computing tools: I've been enjoying the best from Apple, Dell, HP and other manufacturers, especially for their superior displays.

The customers decide. Life is much more than a "traditional" ThinkPad keyboard. "Office workers" need not stare at lousy displays.

 

i am waiting for what Apple comes up with with the new retina display MBP.... i may get another Apple and check out the dark side (oh is that the light side and i am really stuck with the old Empire and Darth Vader.. LOL).

But on a more serious note, i think the W520 could have done lot better with a separate fan/heatsink for GPU and CPU, like their competitor's machine. The combined TDP is just too much for single fan/heatsink to handle at the peak load.

 

^^ That's the biggest reason that I may not buy another thinkpad for my next machine. I will be looking for a very gaming capable unit and until the cooling\GPU performance changes, I doubt I will choose lenovo.

I can only hope other vendors improve on build quality such as Asus.

 

i thought lenovo machines had great cooling and didnt get very hot. have i been given some false info? i would consider a mbp but ive heard they have really bad cooling and get so hot that you cant rest the computer on your lap.

 

My former T410's fan was always running (even after repasting and blowing out the fan), and even shut down on me several times due to overheating when I tried to play Crysis.
From other comments I have read, I think if you're going to get a thinkpad your best bet would be a W series, if heat is your concern. MBP's do get hot, yes.

 

that is true they do run cooler externally, what we are talking about is the issue with the W520's quad core CPU and nvidia 2000m GPU combo, which throttles due to heat issues.

 

ahhh i see.

 

Hm, that's weird. My Thinkpad barely gets warm when I'm playing a game. The fan is completely silent and is only a little audible when playing games. Compared to some other laptops I've owned in the past sound like a vaccum cleaner when playing games. That being said, if you're getting a laptop to play 3D games, you're better off getting an actual gaming laptop.

 

Put a W520 on F@H duty, and it'll burn your finger within a second of touching the metal grill. It's a very effective space heater for the tiny dorm I live in...


Otherwise, you're correct.

 

I was hardcore Lenovo when I got my t500 and I am buying the next 15" macbook pro no matter what. (over the T or W). (I use a 27" iMac at work and love it and got a macbook air 13" for my wife.)

Only thing that would stop me from going with a new macbook pro this refresh is if I decide to buy the previous gen model instead of the new one to save the money.

This will probably offend people, but as it stands right now, the touchpad on an apple laptop to is worth so much.... even > the lenovo trackpoint for me. (It makes my finger tired.)

That combined with the no creaking and cracking plastics on the palm rests, and a battery that is rated at 1000 cycles instead of 300, and the backlit keyboard, and the better sRGB coverage, and the better speakers, the smaller powerbrick, air play, thinner profile, working 2 finger scrolling, multiple desktops with mission control, time machine for easy versioned backups, and believe it or not, I actually type faster on an apple keyboard due to less force required to activate the key.

Guess when you have an Apple TV and an iPad and an iPhone it helps sway you also for the synergy.

I still like to keep up with you guys though!

 

You do better than me... I just horde computers forever, I can't let them go, they are like my kids!

 

Your kids are worth money. No, really!!!

 

I have been a big MBP fan for ages, probably had every one of the model till the Unibody refresh.

But the thing i can't stand about a MBP is how difficult it is to upgrade the hdd, you really have to rip it apart to get to the hdd.

Then there is the hinge design. The fan exhaust and intake is another stupid design.

But what the MBP wins is the overall aesthetics, screen quality and the touchpad... oh and the speaker quality is great too.

Personally if i don't get ThinkPads then it would be Apple MBP and Air that i would get. Oh and that 27 inch iMac is an absolute design genius (and i got one), very few company can replicate it.

 

I actually went the other way from hardcore Apple to this x220. I have pretty much owned everything from Centris 605, Powerbook 165c, more Macs the names of which I do not remember, iMacs galore (from the original and sunflower), Powerbook G4 12", more Powerbooks/Macbook Pros, and my remaining Mac laptop - a white MacBook. I also owned a time capsule, airport extreme bases and adapters, pretty much every version of the iPod (including the original click wheel) and an iPhone.

The only Apple product that maybe tempts me now (and it really doesn't) is the MBA.

The reason why I switched last year is because the quality of my Macs have noticeably gone downhill and the fact that Apple loves to obsolete its software and hardware too quickly. My MBPs easily dented, overheated quite a bit and suffered from battery bulges to just plain crappy performance.

OS X is frankly not as stable as my current Win 7 setup. When I switched I automatically assumed that I needed 8GB of RAM because I would beachball to death on my MBP without at least that much. The one white MacBook I kept was the most reliable of my last few Macs and that has so many chips in the plastic that you can clearly see inside the laptop in between the huge gaps. The chips were not my fault at all. If you Google white Macbook and chipping or cracking, you will find a bunch of users like me. Unfortunately, the aluminum laptops may actually be less reliable. The fact that people on Mac forums actually suggested that I change the thermal paste on my MBP or that overheating is no cause for concern because the MBP will shut itself off before that is ridiculous.

The Mac aesthetic has worn off on me. It is like the emperor's new clothes. It just looks like a plain aluminum laptop, and most every manufacturer has a very similar looking laptop now. Also, the glowing Apple is tacky and is contrary to the understated looks of the rest of the laptop.

I sold my 2010 MBP but kept the 2008 white MacBook that has Leopard (10.5) on it. Of course, Apple screwed 10.5 users by no longer supporting it with security updates so now I shut off Java on all my browsers because Apple doesn't feel the need to update a four year old laptop. I also can't use the Mac App store in iTunes because only 10.6 users and up have access.

Finally, a quick list of other keyboard annoyances: no forward delete key (pressing fn at the same time doesn't count). No home, end, page up, page down keys. After using the x220 keyboard, I realized chicklets suck.

The only good thing I can say about Macs now is that the touchpad rocks compared to any other touchpad that I have used. It is great for browsing the web and scrolling. Otherwise, I will stick the trackpoint, and more importantly, a mouse when I want to get real work done.

Sorry for the long rant. I don't troll Apple users and hope they enjoy Apple ecosystem and don't run into any issues. My brother just switched to Apple and he loves his MacBook Air and iPhone (and didn't once try to convince not to try Apple out). However, I am obviously fed up with Apple at this point. I do believe it is partially the luck of the draw and that my previous Macs have probably suffered from bad luck. However, the planned obsolescence and other annoyances became too much for me to take given how much money I have spent on Apple products over the years.

 

my first notebook was actually a thinkpad bought in 1999. After that my company gave me a number of HP/DELL notebooks which all had serious problems (won't wake up from asleep, took a long time to reboot, took a long time to shut down). At home I also bought some Dell since my old thinkpad, though still works, does not have a wireless modem. Finally I bought a entry-level E420 two years ago which has worked very well so far. I will upgrade to either a X220 or X220t.

 

Whatever happened to the original intent of this thread?

Last time I checked, there was a separate forum for Apple products.

 

My original intent was to say out with the old, in with the new. Ok Lenovo, bring on the new. I want to see the swanky X2!!!

 

black color and white color don't get along well ~~

 

black? white? gray? wannabe?

 

That isn't a ThinkPad.

 

Soon enough, it will be. "Out with the old, in with the new."

 

And I'll be a Dell or HP customer again.

 

Unless Latitude dramatically changes with refresh or Elitebook price drops like a ton of bricks, staying Lenovo.