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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)

#61
Last year, I decided to build an X62 (Thinkpad X61 or X60 with custom hardware) after reading about it here [1]. Shipment of the modification kit (some plastic parts + a new mainboard) took 2 months from China to Germany. It took me a while to find a brand-new screen as a replacement for the original 1024x786 screen (which has to be modified, including some minor metal-working).

After roughly a year of heavy daily use, I must say that this is the best laptop I have owned in my life (including previous Thinkpads R60, T510 and and T460s). The size is just perfect. With the new hardware, it is incredibly light-weight. The 4:3 screen is something I have been missing for a long time on my laptops, and the classic Thinkpad keyboard is just a million times better than the new model. The quality of the original X61 chassis is also very good, and it looks just great.

Overall, the laptop cost me roughly 1000 EUR and around 20 hours of work. This includes 32 GB of RAM, a brand new 100 GB SSD and a brand new replacement screen I bought at Alibaba. I started with a broken X61 I bought for around 40 EUR on eBay, on which I replaced the new Lenovo "ThinkPad" logo with the original IBM ThinkPad logo that was still used on the X60.

[1] https://geoff.greer.fm/2017/07/16/thinkpad-x62/

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

#63
post #45

It's really sad that Lenovo has driven the design into the ground. I have a X201 running NixOS, that I still use from time to time, and I pulled it out recently to show it to friends. Physically speaking it's a revelation . Three USB ports? Check. Because even today, one port permanently has a YubiKey Nano, one port permanently has a Logitech Unifying nano receiver, and I'll probably be charging my phone out of the t…

[deleted]

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

#64

Any recommendations of Thinkpad model to buy in 2018 ? I can wait if anything promising is coming in 2019.

For me, the "vanilla" T-series is the best compromise for weight, build quality, and repairability. My personal laptop is a T480, and it's an excellent machine. Very portable, screamingly fast, very good screen (I have the high-res IPS variant).

If you want a bit more premium feel and lighter weight, the Txxxs (e.g. T480s) is a bit thinner than the regular T-series, and feels a bit sturdier (so I've heard, anyways; my T480 is no slouch here, either). It also has less user-replaceable parts, and is more expensive for the same specs. The X-series also fits here.

If you're going more for a luggable desktop replacement rather than small size, the P-series is what you want. I have a P51 for work, and it's an insane machine: 64 GB RAM, Quadro graphics, touchscreen, Xeon processor... It also barely fits in my laptop bag and comes with a massive 170-watt power brick. But since I work from home and drive into the office once a month or so, it's a great machine that gives desktop-level performance (including very good cooling) while still being at least somewhat portable.

If you want the Macbook Pro experience of premium feel, thinness, less ability to be repaired, and higher cost, go for an X1 Carbon. I'd still prefer the X1 Carbon over a Macbook Pro, but I'd prefer a T- or P-series over either of them.

There are some home/SMB-targetted models, such as the E-series; avoid those unless you absolutely can't afford something better. All of the ones mentioned above were designed for customers that maintain fleets of machines, which has benefits even for non-enterprise users.

The current models are very good, and are a big upgrade from the previous generation. Of course, there is always something nicer coming, if you want to wait.

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

#65

> 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…

Sorry to hear about your machine, I hope it gets better soon! The X1s are well built, though. I have the first-gen one and it still works just fine, dual booting Fedora (24? I think) and Win7. The one thing that ever broke was the square power plug. Not because it's square, but it did break- and then it took me a week of phone calls very patiently speaking to Lenovo reps until I convinced them that my accidental dama…

Had small issues with X1 over the years - e.g. a key fell out (fixed next day by replacing the machine), but otherwise an excellent machine. The trackpad is bad (on Linux) and I didn't find a fix. I like touch to click (without pressing the dedicated button or pressing the trackpad) and it almost never works.

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

#66
post #45

It's really sad that Lenovo has driven the design into the ground. I have a X201 running NixOS, that I still use from time to time, and I pulled it out recently to show it to friends. Physically speaking it's a revelation . Three USB ports? Check. Because even today, one port permanently has a YubiKey Nano, one port permanently has a Logitech Unifying nano receiver, and I'll probably be charging my phone out of the t…

After seven years of hassle-free service, I upgraded from a T410 to a T480. I miss a few things (mainly the non-chiclet keys and the Thinklight), but otherwise the T480 is—not surprisingly—better than the T410 in almost every way, while retaining much of the heritage and features that led me to purchase my T410 back in 2010.

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

#67
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The Ultrabay mechanism was also a huge nod to the design philosophy of making the user feel like the hardware was his/hers to do with. At first I agreed with you, reminiscing that I really loved Ultrabay customizability - switching between a battery when I was on the road, a CD drive to load software when I was in the office, and a hard drive when I needed to archive stuff. Today though, in the age of fast bandwidt…

I have an extra hard drive in mine. It means it's basically hot swappable too.

I extended the useful life of my T410 by doing the same thing. I had a spare SSD lying around, so I put it in the ultrabay to bring my total SSD storage up to 768 GB.

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

#68
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately they are going away from that. X280 the same as X1 series do not have easily swapable battery (you can still replace it but you have to get inside of the machine). X280 also don't have Ethernet port even tho there is a room for it. They are replacing SD card readers for useless microSD card readers. X280 have also soldered RAM with no expansion slot. Thinkpads was and to some extend still are great mach…

It's a compromise. You can still get a T480, which does all the things you list afaik. But I'm glad that I can also get an X1 Carbon, which is much thinner and lighter. These things aren't achievable without making some compromises. And for how integrated they are, they're still incredibly repairable. Here's the hardware maintenance manual for mine (X1 Carbon 5, last year's model): https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/…

> It's a compromise.

The X200 weighed 1.34 kg, the X280 weighs 1.27 kg. What a massive weight reduction indeed. Totally worth ditching all upgrading possibilities.

Reminds me of Apple ditching the 3.5 mm jack with the pretence of making devices thinner and lighter, when neither happened.

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

#69

Any recommendations of Thinkpad model to buy in 2018 ? I can wait if anything promising is coming in 2019.

Is weight an issue? I recently got the P51 for work and was really surprised at how solidly it was built.

My previous laptop was a T450 the ThinkPad reputation really surprised me because it felt a bit flimsy

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

#70

Any recommendations of Thinkpad model to buy in 2018 ? I can wait if anything promising is coming in 2019.

Not sure about a recommendation but stay away from T480s. My roommate has had so many issues with his that it has driven him mad. He's had so many things fail and had to send it in for repairs that he's used my old MBP more than he's used his new T480s. First, he had issues with battery (it stopped charging), then the internal keyboard failed (wouldn't get recognized) and now one of his USB ports doesn't work and his trackpad intermittently stops working. He still hasn't sent it in for a repair and is contemplating just asking Lenovo for a refund.

This is not an isolated incident... lots of issues with some new Thinkpad models. Make sure you do lots of research before you buy any of them.

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