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How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

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Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#11

Post by rpvnwnkl »

csmattryder wrote: post #8

> Hortensius, however, says that what keeps ThinkPads relevant is trusty productivity rather than any specific aspect of a given model. [...] “It’s because I can count on it that those things matter.” Funny to read this, as I await my Lenovo X1 Carbon to come back from repair, as it shut off one night and never came to boot again. I've also got an ~~IBM~~ (edit: it's a Lenovo!) Thinkpad X220, a motherboard-only shell…

Did IBM make the x220? I thought Lenovo produced that model (I have a Lenovo x201).

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#12

Post by cbm-vic-20 »

706f6f70 wrote: post #4

I'm amazed that there is no mention of the sheer repairability of these devices. I don't think I will ever encounter a laptop line that is generally so user-accessible. A couple of regular screws and you pop the case. A few more and you can replace the entire keyboard. The hard drive was held in by a single screw in most models and you could easily swap it in without even popping the entire case. The RAM had it's own…

> It's incredibly sad to me that we've abandoned that for the sake of "thinner"

I suspect they don't want to let customers add memory or storage space down the line, especially from a third party hardware vendor- they want that memory and storage money for themselves. And if your laptop breaks, they don't want you to attempt to repair it- they want you to just buy a new one.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#13

Post by userbinator »

706f6f70 wrote: post #4

I'm amazed that there is no mention of the sheer repairability of these devices. I don't think I will ever encounter a laptop line that is generally so user-accessible. A couple of regular screws and you pop the case. A few more and you can replace the entire keyboard. The hard drive was held in by a single screw in most models and you could easily swap it in without even popping the entire case. The RAM had it's own…

The fans were also easily accessible for cleaning after removing the keyboard/trackpoint assembly, which can be done without removing any other part of the case. They also made the keyboard cable just long enough that you can still operate the laptop with its keyboard half-out (to observe the fans/etc.), and it still folds neatly into place.

Like the cars of yesteryear that you could mend with some string and a brick. Sure they're not "sexy" and it won't get me likes, but it's actually mine.

There's actually quite a lot of classic car enthusiasts, not necessarily on this site but still significant. It mostly depends on what people you associate with.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#14

Post by userbinator »

rpvnwnkl wrote: post #11
csmattryder wrote: post #8

> Hortensius, however, says that what keeps ThinkPads relevant is trusty productivity rather than any specific aspect of a given model. [...] “It’s because I can count on it that those things matter.” Funny to read this, as I await my Lenovo X1 Carbon to come back from repair, as it shut off one night and never came to boot again. I've also got an ~~IBM~~ (edit: it's a Lenovo!) Thinkpad X220, a motherboard-only shell…

Did IBM make the x220? I thought Lenovo produced that model (I have a Lenovo x201).

I believe the last IBM Thinkpads were in the X60/X61 era. I have an X60 with a mix of IBM and Lenovo branding. Everything after that was Lenovo.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#15

Post by csmattryder »

userbinator wrote: post #14
rpvnwnkl wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did IBM make the x220? I thought Lenovo produced that model (I have a Lenovo x201).

I believe the last IBM Thinkpads were in the X60/X61 era. I have an X60 with a mix of IBM and Lenovo branding. Everything after that was Lenovo.

Huh, TIL.

I'll assume I'm right to give them a second chance, maybe it's just the X1 that's going awry? I've read a lot of reports about the X1's 2013 models that describe the issue that occurred to mine.

Like I say, I love Thinkpads, even with this blip - my next laptop will still likely be a Thinkpad, be it IBM or Lenovo.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#16

Post by JansjoFromIkea »

Bought an X220T a few months ago as a possible sturdy laptop for my mother. Was something like $80?

A day after delivery, I had purchased an 8GB ram stick and an SSD for it to keep it for myself. If it had a 1080p screen it'd probably be my main laptop until High Sierra isn't supported by something I need.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#17

Post by ce4 »

JansjoFromIkea wrote: post #16

Bought an X220T a few months ago as a possible sturdy laptop for my mother. Was something like $80? A day after delivery, I had purchased an 8GB ram stick and an SSD for it to keep it for myself. If it had a 1080p screen it'd probably be my main laptop until High Sierra isn't supported by something I need.

Some people are a bit crazy and love the X220 enough to attempt a FullHD mod (with custom hardware and rerouting of the external eDP signal/lane internally). Not for the X220T though.

A kit was for sale here: https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640

Edit: better wording

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#18

Post by x220 »

ce4 wrote: post #17
JansjoFromIkea wrote: post #16

Bought an X220T a few months ago as a possible sturdy laptop for my mother. Was something like $80? A day after delivery, I had purchased an 8GB ram stick and an SSD for it to keep it for myself. If it had a 1080p screen it'd probably be my main laptop until High Sierra isn't supported by something I need.

Some people are a bit crazy and love the X220 enough to attempt a FullHD mod (with custom hardware and rerouting of the external eDP signal/lane internally). Not for the X220T though. A kit was for sale here: https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640 Edit: better wording

This warms my heart. The x220 is one of the most oddly aesthetically pleasing laptops I've ever seen.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#19

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

706f6f70 wrote: post #4

I'm amazed that there is no mention of the sheer repairability of these devices. I don't think I will ever encounter a laptop line that is generally so user-accessible. A couple of regular screws and you pop the case. A few more and you can replace the entire keyboard. The hard drive was held in by a single screw in most models and you could easily swap it in without even popping the entire case. The RAM had it's own…

I've owned and fiddled with ThinkPads since the 486 days and my previous laptop was a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530. The screen resolution was 1366 x 768, but after some research I found that a W530 screen could be fitted which offered 1920 x 1080. It was literally a straight swap that must've taken less than half an hour.

Re: How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)

#20

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

ilamont wrote: post #5

I had the 701c "butterfly" described in the article. My previous laptop had been a no-name 486 brick with a black and white screen that I bought at a Taiwanese electronics mall for ~$2000. It was barely portable. The 701c, by comparison, was small and durable, had a nice screen, a faster modem, and easily fit into my daypack. I bought it used for about $800 in 1996 and carried it with me throughout Southeast Asia and…

My Dad had the 701c when I was a kid. When it broke (completely dead, some kind of motherboard / PSU failure) he gave it to me to "fix" so I dismantled it to see how the keyboard worked and then just threw everything in the bin. It still keeps me awake occasionally. :(
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