What's your favorite classic ThinkPad, I need a T23 upgrade.

[Cuda]

Looking for suggestions on a upgrade, my T23 finally died, it worked fine for what I used it for which was mostly for image capture and running a telescope mount out in cold temps, but I want a newer model made before Lenovo took over, I don't mind running XP Pro but Win 7 would be nice, I need one with a thinklight and or a backlit keyboard and really good battery life, any suggestions?

[ajkula66]

Well, none of the pre-Lenovo ThinkPads have a backlit keyboard. Anything newer than a T23 - apart from the tablets - will sport a ThinkLight though.

If you want an IBM-era machine, a high-end T42/p or T43/p are likely your best bets along with an ATi-based R52, although they are getting somewhat long in the tooth. They will run W7 in a competent manner though.

Since the youngest of these is about to turn seven, a thorough check-up as well as a purchase from a known source is highly recommended.

You may want to post a WTB (want to buy) ad in the forum's marketplace if you decide to take this route.

Happy shopping.

[Cuda]

Ok, cool, are any early Lenovo models worth having that do have backlit keys?

[ajkula66]

Well, here's the story:

Lenovo started offering the backlit keyboard at the same time they removed the "traditional" ThinkPad 7-row layout...I don't know how big of a deal this is to you. To me personally, it was a dealbreaker.

The first models with optional backlit keyboard were T430/530, W530 and X230/T. They were introduced last year and there's still an abundance of them to be chosen from.

[ZaZ]

You'd help narrow the field if you said what you were looking to spend.

If long battery life is wanted, you'll probably better served with a more recent Lenovo ThinkPad. Newer Sandy and Ivy Bridge CPUs are more power efficient than older dual cores. They also use LED LCDs, which use less juice than older bulb lit LCDs offered in older ThinkPads. The T430 I reviewed last year went almost nine hours with the nine-cell using medium settings. Plus there's a slice battery if you need more.

Since your requirements are modest, an older ThinkPad will meet your needs. The T60, R60 and Z61 might be worth considering and will cost less than a newer machine. Those machine will have dual core CPUs and use SATA connectors for the drives, which will get you access to bigger faster hard drives and SSDs. All will run Windows 7 quite well despite their age.

[Cuda]

Not looking to spend much as this will be used at most once a week, I've seen some nice looking older T43's. T60's on e-bay for a good price under $150 but I read some T60's have issues with being failure prone.

[Dos3.1]

...I read some T60's have issues with being failure prone.

Right now, I'm on a T60 I purchased over 1.5 years ago and it's been working extremely well. I have other T60's that all work very well, too, even with heavy daily use. Never had an issue with the actual machines, apart from a noisy fan on one of them, which I fixed by oiling it. I did have one power supply blow out with a T60, but I believe it was a cheap knock-off power brick, and that machine has been fine with a true IBM power supply for well over a year and a half. I did have a used battery die on a T60, but I don't think this is limited to the T60, and more due to the battery, which was known to have issues. I run XP on my T60's, and also Linux, usually Mint, but Ubuntu works well, also. Crashes are a rare thing.

So, I don't know how much truth there is to that concern of T60 reliability, personally. I think they are wonderful models! It's true, they are aging, but as far as I can tell, they are aging well, and I use them daily.

[ZaZ]

Not looking to spend much as this will be used at most once a week, I've seen some nice looking older T43's. T60's on e-bay for a good price under $150 but I read some T60's have issues with being failure prone.

The T60 is a more robust ThinkPad than the T4x machines by a fairly decent margin, though it is not as slim and the keyboard isn't quite as good.

[Neil]

...I read some T60's have issues with being failure prone.

It was probably nvidia equipped T61 models you were reading about. T60's have their limitations, but durability it not so much one of them.

I would recommend a T60 if it fits your budget. If you need to go cheaper, then get a T43, they are fairly rugged too. I run a couple of T43 on a daily basis, and they are still going strong.

[Temetka]

I am going to agree with some other here in regards to recommended machines to fit your requirements. The T43 and T60 are excellent machines, I have owned both and love them.

The T43 will be single core, but still much faster than your old T23. The T60 being dual core of course will be even faster than T43. Either way considering you were using a T23, obviously GPU performance doesn't matter. The Intel GPU in both the T60 and T43 machine will suit your needs just fine.

I would personally go for the T60 with a 9-cell battery and an ultrabay battery. It will run Windows 7 very well. That being said the T43 with a 9 cell and ultrabay battery would be great as well.

The only reason I would go for a T60 over the T43 is that considering how long you used the T23, it would be nice if you could expect the same level of durability. It's a slightly newer model and should theoretically last a bit longer. But really, either machine will be just fine for you.

[Medessec]

I would side with these recommendations of the T43 and T60, however I'd like to add some points:

If you're thinking of being extremely conservative and favoring the solid build feel and pure-IBM lineage, you'll probably want the T43. The T43 is definitely a huge leap over the T2x, despite it being single-core, the Pentium Ms hold their own pretty well with modern basic tasking(even flash and other horribly inefficient web applications.) I would highly recommend an ATI-based T43, as the Intel graphics ones are not fond of Windows 7 in the slightest.

The T60, in terms of tech, is probably as much of a leap over the T4x as the T4x is over the T2x. Both SATA and Dual-Core CPUs trump the T43 in modern computing substantially, not to mention it doesn't matter what T60 you get, it'll run Windows 7 like a champ. It also is one of the last laptops to maintain the 4:3 screen format, if that's at all in your preference.