General Thinkpad Question

[awannet]

HI everyone... I just bought my fist Thinkpad and had a couple of questions.
I have heard these statements but am not sure about it. Is it true that since Lenovo has taken over that the quality (build quality, quality of parts) is decreasing now going from the T43 to the T60 and so on? Second, is IPS available on the T60 or will it be in the future and which are the good resolution screen models? When will the IBM name officially be removed from the thinkpads and finally will they ever offer built in memory card readers? THanks!

[dr_st]

Is it true that since Lenovo has taken over that the quality (build quality, quality of parts) is decreasing now going from the T43 to the T60 and so on?

In general, no. Some people claim that their T60 is not as solid as their T4x, others claim that it's significantly more solid.

Second, is IPS available on the T60 or will it be in the future and which are the good resolution screen models?

IPS is being phased out, or so it seems. It's still available on the T60, in the same way it was available on the previous models - 15" SXGA+/UXGA screens only. But these are getting very rare, almost impossible to find nowadays. Lenovo is no longer offering them on their website, and everything you can buy now is old stock. There will be no IPS on T61.

When will the IBM name officially be removed from the thinkpads

It seems that quite soon (there was a thread here at one point about it: link). Personally I'm not happy with it.

and finally will they ever offer built in memory card readers?

The Z-series has them. Hopefully the T-series will have them soon.

[schen]

[

Unfortunately, it's already happened! I have a R60 sitting right here that just says ThinkPad with no IBM. It's a sad day.

[pianowizard]

Is it true that since Lenovo has taken over that the quality (build quality, quality of parts) is decreasing now going from the T43 to the T60 and so on?

Of the Thinkpads introduced after Lenovo took over, I've owned a T60 and an X60s. I've also owned about 20 Thinkpads made before the takeover, including the T43. It's true that the T60 and the X60s aren't as good as the best Thinkpads from the IBM era (i.e. the 600 series), but they are more solid than the T43 that I owned.

[wackydan]

[

Sad from a legacy perspective.... But IBM has nothing to do with THinkPad anymore so what is the point?

[RealBlackStuff]

Schen
You could always get an 'IBM Thinkpad' inlay, as used on the 'real' keyboard bezels, and stick that in your R60.
Other than being an optical illusion, it might boost your ego!