Thinkpad Dilemma - what to do?

[zetheroo]

It's come time for me to get another Thinkpad however I find myself in a very rare position of not knowing if Thinkpad can actually do for me what it has been doing for the past 15+ years ...

Initially I wanted to get a T420/s, and then I heard of, read about, and saw images of the "screen door" screen effect ... so I dropped that idea.

I then worked my way through the T400 and T410, and I got to know of the keyboard and build-quality issues with the T400 and was also met with the same screen issues with the T410 as with the T420 ... so out went the T400 and T410.

I then hopped over to the X series. The X220 is too small (especially the screen) with too low a resolution, for my needs. The X1 has a glossy screen (gorilla glass) and not the legendary TP keyboard. The X301 is AWESOME, but finding them is not easy and cannot seem to find any with warranty left, let alone any new ones .. (as they have been phased out since a while) ..

The T5xx machines are ... well, not as portable as the T4xx machines ... but maybe they are more dependable all around!? ... This is the jist I am getting from reading through dozens of forums and reviews at least ...

The W series machines are just a bit too bulky.

So I am wondering .. is my best bet to get a T5xx machine? Is this the most dependable solution for me?
I don't want to be buying one T4xx after another in the hope of catching hold of a solid machine with a half-decent screen ...

[pianowizard]

Take a look at the Sony Vaio SE Series. It has a great IPS screen with 15.5" 1920x1080, weighs only 4.4 lbs (2 kg), and is pretty cheap.

[zetheroo]

Take a look at the Sony Vaio SE Series. It has a great IPS screen with 15.5" 1920x1080, weighs only 4.4 lbs (2 kg), and is pretty cheap.

Thanks, but really not keen on forsaking the Thinkpad line ... if I absolutely must than I will ... but I am very reluctant to.

I just had a look at a T420s and am pretty interested ...but so scared of getting one with an awful screen ... Has anyone gotten a T420s with a good screen?

[JohnD.]

Hi zetheroo,

Can you help me understand, when you say “saw images of the "screen door" screen effect” on the t410 and t420 models?

John

[zetheroo]

Hi zetheroo,

Can you help me understand, when you say “saw images of the "screen door" screen effect” on the t410 and t420 models?

John

What I mean is that I viewed images of this issue which were posted online in various forums. A good friend of mine who also is an avid user of Thinkpads said he himself saw this with a T420 he was thinking of purchasing.

[pianowizard]

Thanks, but really not keen on forsaking the Thinkpad line ... if I absolutely must than I will ... but I am very reluctant to.

It's not that hard to do. I did it, after owning 45 Thinkpads for 8 years, and was so glad that I migrated to other brands. Back in the 1990s and for most of the 2000s, Thinkpads were clearly the best laptops in the industry and it made sense to ignore all other brands. But times have changed.

[elray]

It's not that hard to do. I did it, after owning 45 Thinkpads for 8 years, and was so glad that I migrated to other brands. Back in the 1990s and for most of the 2000s, Thinkpads were clearly the best laptops in the industry and it made sense to ignore all other brands.

What other brand gives you a Thinkpad-equivalent keyboard with a trackpoint?

[pianowizard]

What other brand gives you a Thinkpad-equivalent keyboard with a trackpoint?

I weaned myself off the trackpoint long ago. Through practice, I learned to use touchpads much better that I could ever use Thinkpad trackpoints. As far as keyboard quality, it's also possible to learn to adapt to non-Thinkpad keyboards.

Stubbornly adhering to Thinkpads just because of their keyboards and trackpoints causes one to miss out on lots of great laptops, which may have better screens, higher screen resolutions, lighter weights, cost less, look nicer, better warranties, etc.

[LegendaryKA8]

I weaned myself off the trackpoint long ago. Through practice, I learned to use touchpads much better that I could ever use Thinkpad trackpoints. As far as keyboard quality, it's also possible to learn to adapt to non-Thinkpad keyboards.

Stubbornly adhering to Thinkpads just because of their keyboards and trackpoints causes one to miss out on lots of great laptops, which may have better screens, higher screen resolutions, lighter weights, cost less, look nicer, better warranties, etc.

That could be true, but personally I just cannot use a touchpad on a notebook for more than a couple of moments at a time. All of the notebooks I've owned without a Trackpoint-style pointing device have had an external mouse practically married to it. The only way I could get on with a touch navigation device is a tablet or an actual touchscreen. I will admit I sometimes use the touchpad on my laptops for scrolling but that's about it. Since I use my Model M when I'm at my desk the keyboard quality issue is less of a big deal to me, but keep in mind those are my personal opinions.

That said, don't the HP EliteBooks and Dell Latitude series typically have Trackpoint-style devices? I know some of the older Dell systems I've used had them. I've also heard both HP and Dell offer great display options in their workstation-level models; very expensive upgrades but likely well worth it.

[bit_twiddler]

I have to agree about Lenovo falling behind on screen resolution.
I have a T420 1600x900 which is actually quite good for text
work, but I wouldn't use it for any graphics work.

If Lenovo can't respond to Apple and others with respect to
display quality in the next 12-18 months, they'll probably
get kicked out of corporate America because young people
are bringing their Macs in to work with them. The days
when it mattered what a corporate IT department thinks
should be on every employee's desk is coming to an end.

Nonetheless, I still love my T420 for what I use it for.

[agarza]

To answer the OP, I decided to get ultimately "maybe" my last Thinkpad.
I will be getting a T420 with HD+ screen. I've read some reviews and in one of them one guy rated him as a recommended model to get, the keyboard according to him is in the Top 3 of all The Thinkpads he has used in the past.

Tomorrow I pick it up, It's a shame the T430 is using the island type keyboard, a real shame, I don't even care if supposedly it gives a more nice tactile feedback, the legendary TP keyboard is gone.

[Art Vandelay]

I am struggling with a similar decision. I am very interested in the ThinkPad X1, but its hard to make an informed decision because no specs or price are available yet. I've had reasonably good luck with ThinkPads over the years (except for one bad T400s) and I'd like to stick with a brand that I know. I don't know whether I want the X1, the T430s, or throw Lenovo over the side and get the Vizio CT14 ultrabook. I looked at one in the Microsoft Store yesterday, and for less than $1000 it is an extremely compelling product. Since Lenovo has abandoned the traditional keyboard, and I think that was the best feature of the ThinkPad, it might be time for a change.