Thinkpads Forum

A very good friend of mine asked me to look for a nice laptop for her.She will be useing it for school so one on the smaller side would be great.Something like the "A" or "G" would be too heavy for her to lug around.
The "T" would be good.
She said around the $200.00 CDN shipped. But now if one that will do her comes along for 150.00 it will be great.

She needs a good battery.

I'm thinking about a nice T23 system.Maybe an X30(with base).
OR even a T21 or T22.

She even said she will look at other names besides Thinkpad.As long as it's a good deal.

Any reason to exclude a X23 or X24? Those are as fast or faster than the T21 and T22 series.

Got a nice T23 here
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=62215
I could throw in a PCMCIA wifi card

PM me if you want a T23 with built-in wifi.

I would suggest holding out for an R50 or R51. Even a Celeron model is more modern than six+ year old T2x's. You'll get a modern CPU, USB 2.0, internal wifi options, etc. Plus if you pick up a Celeron model, you can find Pentium M CPU's for as little as $10.

They occasionally sell for $200 and less on eBay. 14" models weigh about 5.75 lbs. Not too bad.


Or wait until you can buy something like this 5 lb. T40 for $275 --> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=62431

underclocker wrote:I would suggest holding out for an R50 or R51. Even a Celeron model is more modern than six+ year old T2x's. You'll get a modern CPU, USB 2.0, internal wifi options, etc. Plus if you pick up a Celeron model, you can find Pentium M CPU's for as little as $10.

They occasionally sell for $200 and less on eBay. 14" models weigh about 5.75 lbs. Not too bad.

I'm afraid I would have to go ahead and disagree.

R-series is heavier and in my experience isn't built nearly as well as the T. I had an R32 for a while and the design was pretty bad in several ways. Assuming the R5x has the same build/design quality as R3x I'd be against it.

T-series looks and feels like an enterprise-type system that is while R-series is (and feels) more regular consumer oriented. This is another reason why T-series holds its value better in general.

Technically, it all depends on the user's needs though. If you need a decent basic system I'd go for a T22/23 and upgrade it with 512MB RAM, 1+GHz CPU, CDRW drive, etc.

If speed is essential I'd get a T40 (they can be had as low as $250 on local craigslist) or perhaps a T30. Those are bulkier and hotter but are still fairly well built.

X-series is definitely an excellent alternative but imho slightly harder to live with on regular basis because of smallness of screen and lack of optical drive. If she can handle these minor detractions I would skip all the Ts and go straight for an X2x system. Try to locate an X3x one if you have the time, they're very nice too.

Disclaimer: this is strictly my own opinion and is not meant to insult R-series owners.

synchromesh wrote:

Assuming the R5x has the same build/design quality as R3x I'd be against it.

These are nowhere near when it comes to quality and build. R3x series leaves a lot to be desired, and hasn't even been built by IBM. On the other hand, R5x units are fast, solid and while maybe not as pretty as T4x, definitely a "best buy" if one can find it for $200 or so...

Thanks for all the info.
As of now i sent her the info about the T23 RealBlackStuff has FS.
We'll see what she thinks about it....