What's wrong with IBM desktops?

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gearguy · #31 Post by **gearguy** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:32 pm

Although that said, contrary to what many people think - it is actually possible to built your own notebook as well. You just need to know suppliers of notebook parts

However yes the end product you get wont be as sophisticated as a Thinkpad build qualty wise.. unless of course you buy thinkpad parts and build your own thinnkpad lol

nxman · #32 Post by **nxman** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am

At work i use ThinkCentre machines they are excellent and rock solid!

Waukeen · #33 Post by **Waukeen** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:15 am

My current desktop PC is a homebuilt. I have never bought an off the shelf unit. The machines I usually get are given to me by people.

I refurbed an older IBM 300PL desktop unit (512MB memory and a 450MHZ P3) for my mother to use for Word and Surfing. It may be slow, but it is very reliable.

I used to have a PS/1 Consultant that had 16MB of memory and a 486SX processor. Was a nice little DOS box, then later a nice little Linux Box. Eventually replaced it with a home built P3-800.

I have always liked IBM thinkpads mostly because of how well built they are and they usually get good reviews. I am happy that somebody gave me the one I am currently working with.

#34 Post by **jdhurst** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:29 am

Waukeen wrote:<snip>
I refurbed an older IBM 300PL desktop unit (512MB memory and a 450MHZ P3) for my mother to use for Word and Sufrfing. It may be slow, but it is very reliable. <snip>

I have an IBM 300 PL machine in my basement. I put a PowerLeap upgrade in it to bring it over 1 GHz. Performs quite decently and remains very reliable. .. JD Hurst

losmeme · #35 Post by **losmeme** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:41 pm

If you could afford the high prices, there is no better built desktop IMO. But earlier posters are correct, a desktop is a desktop is a desktop. IBM's focus had always been the business consumer.

I like to buy IBM cases, and rebuild to my needs. I have several xSeries 225 server cases I have completely rebuilt. Beautiful case, nicest I've seen on market to date from any manufacturer. Standard parts fit, except the I/O Plate. The air flow is second to none.

These cases were the first to use a perforated grill that Apple RIPPED OFF from IBM. These cases came out 2 years before the G5 did!

#36 Post by **jdhurst** » Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:36 pm

losmeme wrote:If you could afford the high prices, there is no better built desktop IMO. But earlier posters are correct, a desktop is a desktop is a desktop. IBM's focus had always been the business consumer.
<snip>

I have done apples to apples comparisons and the IBM machines are always competitive pricewise. A one-year warranty is not cheaper than a three-year warranty to a business. Parts that will go five years and warrantees that can be extended are cheaper than machines that are gone after two or three years. So if you look carefully and objectively, a desktop is not a desktop and never was.

... JD Hurst

fongj · #37 Post by **fongj** » Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:42 pm

notebooknewbie wrote:
jdhurst wrote:It turns out that, from any reasonable perspective, Aptiva and IBM are mutually exclusive. I got an Aptiva for my oldest daughter for University. It was junk, a major mistake on my part. ... JD Hurst
The IBM Aptiva was the first PC I ever got (in 1998) and to this day I still use it for word processing, surfing the net and mild stuff like that...hasn't given me ONE problem to this day. It's probably the reason why I've become an IBM fan.

But then again, I have heard of people having big problems with their IBM PC...

The Aptiva that my father bought for us "kids" in 1999 is still running strong today. It is now his computer for using the internet, and we all have our own newer and faster laptops/desktops.

I didn't think about our Aptiva when I first did my research for a laptop for college. After I became an IBM fan, one day I considered that the HP desktops that my brothers each got for college (in 2000 and 2001) broke down within the first few years... I became much more impressed with IBM. The only "problem" we've ever had with the Aptiva was a noisy case fan last year. Even though it was the primary computer for the family for many years, and is still kept running 24/7 now, all the components work fine. (Including the keyboard and mouse, which I replaced only because they gathered too much dust, and the CRT monitor, which I upgraded to an LCD last week).

My apologies for reviving an old thread, but this was something I just had to share.

smoothoperator · #38 Post by **smoothoperator** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:40 am

Just bought a M55 SFF great computer I use it more than my thinkpad...Im hooked on IBMS

furrycute · #39 Post by **furrycute** » Sat Jun 30, 2007 8:19 am

I am thinking about purchasing an IBM desktop for home use as well. Those M55 towers sure look sexy!

T22 4me · #40 Post by **T22 4me** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:16 pm

I started with the thinkpad ;but, as it is now my T22 (which I have had for 2 yrs now and takes more abuse than it ever should) is an extension of my M42 desktop.I would have nothing else but an original IBM.This is what I reccomend to family and friends.

To people I dont care for I reccomend DELL.

Cheesemanx · #41 Post by **Cheesemanx** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:12 pm

Just for some random input, many of the Aptivas were built by Acer. I had one that my parents bought for me and I limped it along since 98. I recently replaced it with my 300pl. It is a night and day difference between the two. I love IBM desktops! AT work we deal exclusively with IBM. We have A55 S50 S51 S51p and many more. The onlt model we had a problem with was the 8171 with the Maxtor hard drives, we have about one a week go out. Thats the end of this rant.

jgrobertson · #42 Post by **jgrobertson** » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:59 am

I have a Thinkcenter A51P and it has been an excellent machine. Support is great and I extended the warranty to 4 years. It is a big tower however. I see that the smaller units are more popular in industry but not good for adding things to.

I think the issue is really cost of ownership for the companies. They cut a deal for a year or two to go exclusively with one company or the other and then when renewal time comes, maybe they get a better deal with somone else.

As a consultant, I see a lot of places using Thinkpads and then either Dell or HP for the desktops and servers. I think the quality of build and support for the Thinkpads keeps the overall cost of ownership down.

The other comments I think are right on. The Lenovo market is the large corpoaration and not really the single user. HP is really out there at the Best Buys trying to reach the small company and single user with flash and entertainment stuff.

#43 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 3:20 pm

So what is the differences between a Netvista and a Thinkcentre? Is one more business oriented than the other? Does it use better parts or what.
The Netvista 6350-25U seems to have regular consumer oriented parts in it. Is this model any good?

#44 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 3:25 pm

I think ThinkCentre is just a newer moniker. I have a NetVista A30 at home, and I have NetVista's and ThinkCentre's at clients and they are all Commercial and have all stood the test of time. My A30 has been running non-stop for years. ... JDH

#45 Post by **ryengineer** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 8:43 pm

carbon_unit wrote:So what is the differences between a Netvista and a Thinkcentre? Is one more business oriented than the other? Does it use better parts or what.
The Netvista 6350-25U seems to have regular consumer oriented parts in it. Is this model any good?

NetVista was launched by IBM and withdrawn by lenovo to replace the product line with new more innovative ThinkCentre desktop PC's. The former is slightly outdated but yet still powerful.

NetVista (personal line) came in many series (i.e. X, S, A, M etc.) targeted at users from different walks of life, ThinkCentre comes in two series: A is for business/people that requires industry leading technology and M is for business that needs more than that.

We had 8 NetVista machines running at work which we had to withdrew due to a move, otherwise no one in our team wanted them to go away, they've now been replaced by ThinkCentres.

If you're getting a good deal on NetVista then I say go for it, you won't be disappointed.

#46 Post by **carbon_unit** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 7:12 pm

Those Netvista's turned out pretty good. We got a real good price on them (too cheap to mention for a quantity of 10 or more) and they run really good for a 1.6ghz. They are selling like hotcakes even if they are a little rough looking.

poweragemk · #47 Post by **poweragemk** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:56 am

Have an A55 and like it, though I wonder if the HP/Compaq units of similar price class aren't a better value. Still, hard to beat for under a thousand CHF.

Techgurl · #48 Post by **Techgurl** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:11 am

My first two PC's were IBM's an 8088 and a 286 PS/2. They were built like tanks. I still use the PS/2 286 keyboard best ever.

The company's I work for all seem to like Dell desktops and Thinkpads for notebooks.

I build my own desktops but now it seems so much cheaper to buy one. But the ones I looked at were so poorly made I might have to build another one.

#49 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:13 am

Techgurl wrote:<snip> I still use the PS/2 286 keyboard best ever. <snip>

That keyboard is on my 300PL in the basement. Fantastic keyboard. ... JDH

#50 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:21 pm

Are they the famous IBM Model "M" keyboards? I have a few of them laying around here too.

Techgurl · #51 Post by **Techgurl** » Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:45 pm

I think so they are the buckling spring ones. Loud but solid.

Andersonjoe711 · #52 Post by **Andersonjoe711** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:47 am

back when Win98 was new, and a 20 GB HDD was HUGE my dad bought a Gateway performance 600, I think. still the original setup with 300 someodd megs of RAM, and although running slower, it's still running to date, without ever re-installing or repairing ANYTHING. That's pretty darn good.

Me and my M-Pro aint that lucky, I've already had to swap out the Mo-Bo, but it was an E-Bay deal, so you have to expect something to go wrong.

joester · #53 Post by **joester** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 7:50 am

I have an IBM 300 PL machine in my basement. I put a PowerLeap upgrade in it to bring it over 1 GHz. Performs quite decently and remains very reliable. .. JD Hurst

I have a few of those, but never heard of PowerLeap. Would you have info on that upgrade?

Thanks.

Joe

#54 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:13 pm

Powerleap is a Company - just Google for it and carry on. .. JDH

leoblob · #55 Post by **leoblob** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 11:08 am

PowerLeap doesn't make those Slot 1 upgrade adapters any more (and these are what you need for those PC300PLs and GLs)... maybe on e-bay?

What's wrong with IBM desktops?

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