Most reliable classic?

[precip9]

This would have to be divided into two categories: IBM, and Lenovo. And personal experience provides too small a sample. But from reading the board, this is my impression:

The most reliable Lenovo models have been the X60/61(s), and the T400. My guess is that the T400 may set the all-time sales record, and yet very few patterns of trouble appear. Salesmen subjected these to daily abuse, yet the problems are disproportionately small. These are not necessarily the most desirable models in terms of screens, or performance, but desirability should be considered a separate issue.

Close behind are the T500/W500. There is an interesting correlation between the low temperatures in typical use (gamers excluded), and the rarity of the kind of odd problems resulting from electronic and solder joint failure.

Of my own collection, purchased randomly, there are no squirrely problems, except for the Intel wireless glitch, which some comments suggest may be an Intel problem.

Other models may be as reliable if certain configurations are omitted, such as the T61 with Nvidia graphics.

The rising frequency of board posts of strange, or hardware related failures seems associated with designs that increasingly veered away from the IBM basis, with changes of compactness and weight to the detriment of thermal stress and mechanical durability. The W510 seems the first instance of an outright design failure. Subsequent models improved on the W510, but without a return to the conservative design practices of the past.

I have no experience with genuine IBM Thinkpads. But at the prices they commanded when new, and IBM's impeccable engineering, I would guess they represented the upper bound of reliability for semi-rugged laptops.

[brchan]

IBM: 600X. Only had a very minor (compared to others) issue of dead batteries as far as I know.
Lenovo: W530/T530. No wobbly/snapping hinges/frame, nvidia issues, or broken usb tabs seen on the T60 - T400 era. Runs cooler than W510 or W520 and the issue of poor heatsink contact was fixed. Small, bottom left corner of the palmrest seemed to crack on earlier revisions, though.

Best Lenovo Thinkpad in terms of overall:
Quality: X300/X301
Durability: 14.1" T400 (excluding broken usb tabs and wobbly hinges)
Reliability: T530/W530

IBM Thinkpad quality stayed quite consistent. Toughest laptop was probably the 770 series and the least probably the 570/X2x series.