Thinkpads Forum

I recently got a new T400 , after much back and forth (I had to order the thing 3 times) with Lenovo about billing and shipping addresses. The nice 14" LCD screen, camera, 2gb, bluetooth, intel 5300, 2.8 GHz, ATI video, 4-cell battery. To cut to the chase, I think the thinkpad line is starting a quick slide downhill due to Lenovo's takeover. Let me explain.

My opinion is based mostly on the external design of the machine. The internals of my t400 seem pretty good, and are comparable with other lines. What I loved so much about my t43, what set it apart from the competition, was how *tight* it was. Everything snapped together well, and was well-thought-out. The titanium (is that the metal they use?) case, two pointers, sweet keyboard, etc.

With the t400, the thinkpad retains some of the genius left over from the previous thinkpad lines, but where they've changed it, they've fallen well short of the mark. To begin with, the screen. It seems as if some newbie straight out of highschool sat in front of a CAD program and dropped the screen somewhere within the lid at random! I mean, the thing is totally off center! They could have expanded the screen 1/2 inch in either direction without making the computer any bigger! This, to me, is a major failing - not just a small annoyance. And this is the major change that lenovo brings in the t400.

In making the new wide form factor of the t400, they've thickened the machine up a bit. This dimension of the machine just doesn't feel right to me. Thinner and wider is better than thicker and less-wide (if that makes sense). That is, as far as computers go, I'd rather have one that looks like a floor tile than a brick. Lenovo made a bad choice in going this direction.

They turned the usb ports vertical (huh??), making it difficult to fit certain usb devices. The cutouts around things like the monitor port are just plain clunky. The speakers in all thinkpads have always been pretty bad, which I've never minded much. After all, it's a business machine. However, the speakers in the t400 are *horrible* - far worse than in my t43. And placing them on top means they get covered up when you close the lid, which I often do while leaving audio running. The speakers coming out of the bottom bevel in the t43 was a great touch I didn't appreciate until now.

Getting more finicky, and at the risk of sounding petty, things like the "thinkpad" logo on the lid seem to be stepping back 10 years in design sense.

So while some of these things are smaller and pickier than others, I think the overall trend is clear: the more Lenovo changes the design of the thinkpads (which is more and more necessary over time), the further downhill they slide.

albo wrote:I recently got a new T400 , after much back and forth (I had to order the thing 3 times) with Lenovo about billing and shipping addresses. The nice 14" LCD screen, camera, 2gb, bluetooth, intel 5300, 2.8 GHz, ATI video, 4-cell battery. To cut to the chase, I think the thinkpad line is starting a quick slide downhill due to Lenovo's takeover. Let me explain.

My opinion is based mostly on the external design of the machine. The internals of my t400 seem pretty good, and are comparable with other lines. What I loved so much about my t43, what set it apart from the competition, was how *tight* it was. Everything snapped together well, and was well-thought-out. The titanium (is that the metal they use?) case, two pointers, sweet keyboard, etc.

The T4x series did not have a titatium lid, it was a carbon fiber composite.

albo wrote: With the t400, the thinkpad retains some of the genius left over from the previous thinkpad lines, but where they've changed it, they've fallen well short of the mark. To begin with, the screen. It seems as if some newbie straight out of highschool sat in front of a CAD program and dropped the screen somewhere within the lid at random! I mean, the thing is totally off center! They could have expanded the screen 1/2 inch in either direction without making the computer any bigger! This, to me, is a major failing - not just a small annoyance. And this is the major change that lenovo brings in the t400.

This is not new, it was on the T61's too, I believe it was offset on earlier models too.

albo wrote: In making the new wide form factor of the t400, they've thickened the machine up a bit. This dimension of the machine just doesn't feel right to me. Thinner and wider is better than thicker and less-wide (if that makes sense). That is, as far as computers go, I'd rather have one that looks like a floor tile than a brick. Lenovo made a bad choice in going this direction.

The T4x series was very thin and looked very nice but the thinness let it flex which eventually caused the loose GPU problems that plagued the T4x series. The T6x and newer ones have a titanium frame in them to reduce flex and that is why they are thicker. Durability is more important than sexiness in a business class laptop.

albo wrote: They turned the usb ports vertical (huh??), making it difficult to fit certain usb devices. The cutouts around things like the monitor port are just plain clunky. The speakers in all thinkpads have always been pretty bad, which I've never minded much. After all, it's a business machine. However, the speakers in the t400 are *horrible* - far worse than in my t43. And placing them on top means they get covered up when you close the lid, which I often do while leaving audio running. The speakers coming out of the bottom bevel in the t43 was a great touch I didn't appreciate until now.

Yeah, the vertical USB port present a challenge. Horizontal would be better. Speaker placement depends on how you use it. Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages. You can't make everyone happy.

albo wrote: Getting more finicky, and at the risk of sounding petty, things like the "thinkpad" logo on the lid seem to be stepping back 10 years in design sense.

So while some of these things are smaller and pickier than others, I think the overall trend is clear: the more Lenovo changes the design of the thinkpads (which is more and more necessary over time), the further downhill they slide.

carbon_unit wrote:This is not new, it was on the T61's too, I believe it was offset on earlier models too.

Indeed, but it only became noticeable, ugly and annoying on the T61/R61 and their successors.

carbon_unit wrote:Yeah, the vertical USB port present a challenge. Horizontal would be better. Speaker placement depends on how you use it. Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages. You can't make everyone happy.

Agree with you on the speakers. For USB ports, all vertical does suck, but all horizontal is not much better, since it would probably mean that at least two of them are right next to each other, and you would not be able to use both if you have a device with a wide plug (experience shows that most USB keys tend to be more wide than thick).

The best would probably be a combo - some vertical, some horizontal (like on the T60 - IMO, the best T-series model to date, when considering a combinaton of looks, ridigity and functionality).

In general I agree with the OP. Thinkpads were never very cool in the design department but they were extremely functional and as such made no excuses about how they looked. They looked that way for a very good reason.

Now I get the impression that they are still designed from a functional perspective but instead of making no excuses for their functional features it looks like some very mediocre design department has tried to dress them up. In doing so we end up with some odd features and some odd looks.

I really hope Lenovo realizes that the thinkpad line has always been targeted at the no-nonsense business crowd. Leave fancier designs for other Lenovo lines and to Dell et al. I've always bought Thinkpads because they have been bomb proof, not for looks or form factor. In a few months when I start scouting around for a new machine it'll be the first time in a decade that I'll seriously consider other manufacturers like Fujitsu.

pipspeak wrote:In general I agree with the OP. Thinkpads were never very cool in the design department but they were extremely functional and as such made no excuses about how they looked. They looked that way for a very good reason.

I have to disagree. I think ThinkPads look in fact cool (excluding the new noticeably off-center screens and thick bezels...) and many folks out there buy ThinkPads also because of the clean black-box design Just for a comparison I like ThinkPads design much more than that of Apple Macbooks which has been deified by so many... Well, I guess it is just a matter of taste

Thinkpads to me are also cool because they look uncool They never conform to the latest design fads, which is what I like, but the clean black box of yore is now a cluttered black almost-box. That's what I don't like so much.

And for the record, I hate anything Mac for two reasons -- the blind, cult-like status devotees heap upon anything Mac and the fact that design trumps function in many ways. A company I work with uses Macbook Pros and seems to have nothing but reliability issues with them, from overheating to dead batteries to dead hard drives. And don't even get me started on the non-replaceable batteries in Apple's consumer products

I think the T400 is a decent ThinkPad. It's certianly more of one than my T22. The T60 was the best Lenovo ThinkPad, though.

pipspeak wrote:Thinkpads to me are also cool because they look uncool They never conform to the latest design fads, which is what I like, but the clean black box of yore is now a cluttered black almost-box. That's what I don't like so much.

I got your point I like that "Thinkpads to me are also cool because they look uncool"

pipspeak wrote:And for the record, I hate anything Mac for two reasons -- the blind, cult-like status devotees heap upon anything Mac and the fact that design trumps function in many ways. A company I work with uses Macbook Pros and seems to have nothing but reliability issues with them, from overheating to dead batteries to dead hard drives. And don't even get me started on the non-replaceable batteries in Apple's consumer products

Oh, no, I don´t want to get you started I believe we have recently had too many discussions about Macs

I like T400 too (at least from a concept standpoint of view as I don´t have any). I only wish Lenovo would put more powerful graphics in the future models.

Some people are just never happy it seems!

My T400 2774 CTO is quite simply the best ThinkPad I have ever owned (starting from 600 series days).

The world changes, learn to live with it!

Cheers,

Bill B.

bill bolton wrote: My T400 2774 CTO is quite simply the best ThinkPad I have ever owned

Quoted for truth, I couldn't agree more.

For me, the offset (which is a little annoying to be sure) is secondary to the unused space that could have been used for screen - that's what really irks me. I feel like I'm using my apple powerbook 500c everytime I let myself notice it.

bill bolton wrote: Some people are just never happy it seems!

au contraire! i think the first thing i mentioned was that i was overjoyed with my t43!

bill bolton wrote: The world changes, learn to live with it!

Yes, we all move on. But that doesn't mean we can't mourn the passing (IMHO) of a consistently-excellent line of products! And it shouldn't mean that we take whatever companies deem to feed us uncritically, as we pass them our hard-earned $$.

carbon_unit wrote: The T4x series did not have a titatium lid, it was a carbon fiber composite.

Gotcha, thanks. Whatever it is, perhaps the most striking feature of thinkpads (for me at least) is the rigidity of their frames - both lid and body. However, I've opened my t43 a number of times, and found metal-type frames in there. This review also says there are titanium composite frames in the t4x series. Perhaps you weren't referring to the frame, but rather the outer material?

carbon_unit wrote: The T4x series was very thin and looked very nice but the thinness let it flex which eventually caused the loose GPU problems that plagued the T4x series. The T6x and newer ones have a titanium frame in them to reduce flex and that is why they are thicker. Durability is more important than sexiness in a business class laptop.

Again, according to that review (the quickest thing i could find on google), the t4x had titanium frames as well.

I'd like to think I'm not just responding to the "sexiness" factor, though perhaps that's some of it. From my point of view, wider means a bigger screen (or at least *should* mean), and thus if you need more space in the body, building out would be preferable to building up. Also, when you're sticking your thinkpad in a bag (briefcase, backpack, etc), you usually don't fret the breath of the machine - the depth you certainly do.

I hadn't heard about GPU issues - I treated my t43 about as rough as it comes, and never had a problem. Still, I understand it's a statistical process. So, if that's an issue they had to resolve, I wish they'd found a better engineering solution than "hey, let's just thicken it up" (to be tongue-in-cheek about it).

And I agree that speaker placement has pros and cons however you go. Regardless - these speakers blow compared to the t43.

While there was some metal in the T4x series it was not a frame such as in the T6x and newer series, it was pretty minimal.
The T43 did not suffer as much as the earlier T4x models with the flexing/GPU problems but it was still a problem. You either have integrated graphics or you've been lucky.

bill bolton wrote:Some people are just never happy it seems!

The world changes, learn to live with it!

Cheers,

Bill B.

I seem to have heard this before, Mr. Bolton. However, I don´t think this can be a valid argument. People that are never happy are prone to suicide (not only physical, but also moral and intellectual)... Apart from this, happiness is only an inner state of mind and should and does not depend on outer circumstances, people who make their happiness dependent on external entities (such like the shape of my ThinkPad or its qualities) are not really happy and are dammned to suffer (no matter how ridiculous this may sound...). As for the world, just for the sake of conversation who do you think changes the world (I don´t think the world changes itself, it is just an abstract notion)? The Customer is the king, with all due respect, you should know that better than me, and we are by far not talking here (and in other similar threads) about unrealistic things not doable by Lenovo (if this wasn´t the case, I would understand your comment, but this is definitely not the case).

@albo: I think it´s wrong to connect any possible ThinkPad quality drop with the takeover from Lenovo side. I don´t think there is any correlation (if there is, prove it to me ). What is more, your beloved T43 has been probably manufactured under Lenovo, for reference see last IBM ThinkPad. In fact, the t60 which is considered by many as the best ThinkPad as of now (what "best" should mean is another question...), it was designed by Lenovo

Just my 2 cents

Marin

Part of any perceived decline is tied to the decline of the pricing too.

bill bolton wrote:My T400 2774 CTO is quite simply the best ThinkPad I have ever owned (starting from 600 series days).

I'm curious as to what, in your mind, makes the T400 the best Thinkpad ever (at least of those you owned, which I am sure are quite numerous).

Outside of the fact that it is the fastest and most feature-packed, of course (as these are due to the general evolution of technology, and not related to good design/manufacturing by Lenovo).

Marin85 wrote:I think it´s wrong to connect any possible ThinkPad quality drop with the takeover from Lenovo side. I don´t think there is any correlation (if there is, prove it to me ). What is more, your beloved T43 has been probably manufactured under Lenovo, for reference see last IBM ThinkPad. In fact, the t60 which is considered by many as the best ThinkPad as of now (what "best" should mean is another question...), it was designed by Lenovo

Marin, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I think you're right to question my dubious assertion that Lenovo is indeed the curse of the thinkpad line. Here is my hypothesis: the more that Lenovo puts their own designs into the thinkpad, the worse off they become. The evidence is what I have stated: every design change that lenovo has put into the thinkpad brings it down just a little bit. The design changes that I notice:

smaller-than-could-be screen, not using the entire space: -
all vertical usb ports: -
the worst speakers i've ever heard: -
thickened body: -
wireless switch on the front panel: useless
firewire port: +
clunky designs (silver buttons, really off-center screen, thinkpad logo from the 80's): - (IMHO)

There are other design changes inside, but they mostly have to do with evolving technology. I'm sure there are other good things I'm not aware of.

I'm arguing that the designs are bad, not the manufacturing. The t60, while ostensibly designed by lenovo, still had IBM logos on it. My guess is that IBM had some to do with the design of that machine as well. The main thing about the t60 though, is that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Lenovo didn't *change* the design of the t60 from the t40 much. So the IBM legacy built into the t60 was still strong.

That legacy became much weaker in the t400. Lenovo *did* introduce many changes into its design. Almost all of those changes, IMHO, are poorly thought out and poorly executed (see the list above). So, there's your correlation! r-squared = 95%. IBM=good. Lenovo=bad. QED.

allie

blackomegax wrote:Part of any perceived decline is tied to the decline of the pricing too.

I don't know what a sorely off-center screen, or clunky buttons, have to do with pricing. The size of the screen and pricing? Hmm, that seems a little dubious to me too - another .5 inch in diagonal wouldn't cost that much, would it? And speakers just a little less tinny? Hard to imagine that costing an arm and a leg. So, not sure how much it has to do with pricing, though in some instances you may be right. In the end, I suspect it has more to do with a design process that is not as rigorous as before. But that's just my guess.

Well...

Off-center screen is a design issue, that has its reasons behind it, although IMO, they are not good enough (i.e., I would look for different solutions to whatever challenges the design team encountered before setting for the off-center screen).

Clunky buttons are user imagination. One may not like the coloring, but the buttons are just as sturdy as the ones on any pre-Lenovo Thinkpad. In fact I feel that the T4x buttons are more flimsy and likely to break (although that is also just a subjective feeling). This is no more an issue than the fact that the power plug is now grey and not black.

Screen size is not due to Lenovo, it is standard. Everyone makes 14.1" screens, so this is what you get. Lenovo cannot just decide - hey, we want a 14.3" (or 14.7") screen.

There are 15.4" wide screens too, if you want to sacrifice portability for screen size. Just like before, there were 14.1" and 15" laptops.

Ok, if screen sizes come in fixed dimensions, then lenovo should have built the laptop around that constraint. They obviously did not. Come to think of it, I'll bet they could almost have fit the 15" screen in the 14" lid - seriously. There is at least 1" of plastic in the diagonal not being used.

And yes, the button design is my own personal peeve. I like the feel of these buttons better than the t43 actually, but the design sense is as clunky of the rest of the changes. It fits the trend perfectly.

albo wrote: I'm arguing that the designs are bad, not the manufacturing. The t60, while ostensibly designed by lenovo, still had IBM logos on it. My guess is that IBM had some to do with the design of that machine as well. The main thing about the t60 though, is that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. Lenovo didn't *change* the design of the t60 from the t40 much. So the IBM legacy built into the t60 was still strong.

That legacy became much weaker in the t400. Lenovo *did* introduce many changes into its design. Almost all of those changes, IMHO, are poorly thought out and poorly executed (see the list above). So, there's your correlation! r-squared = 95%. IBM=good. Lenovo=bad. QED.

allie

Interesting proof , but truth is I couldn´t agree more! You said it very well: "The main thing about the t60 though, is that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree." My impression has always been that the T60 was designed and built with the last breath from IBM, and paradoxically, probably the "best" ThinkPad so far...As for the wireless switch, it´s actually a connection switch which is very useful if you happen to be under hacker attack or you are a hacker yourself As for the mathematical correlation, you are right, there is even perfect correlation because the decline design of ThinkPads is observed entirely after the takeover from Lenovo... (I hate statistics, no matter how much you try to be careful with your statements and no matter how much you may hope for things to change, you can not escape the soft facts...). As you and dr_st already pointed out, we should judge the added value of Lenovo ThinkPads (I don´t mean the monetary one) by taking the "general evolution of technology" for granted. Only this way it´s possible to understand quality and distinguish it from its opposites.

Just my 2 cents (probably worth less than 1)...

EDIT: The only models I like from the current Lenovo ThinkPad line are X200 Tablet with the frameless (!) screen (because of its aesthetics, phenomenal battery life and IPS screen with LED backlit) and W700 for it´s a real engineering miracle (even if you take Eurocom or Alienware 17'' laptops for comparison, the W700 is far superior to all of them in my opinion).

Marin

Salut Marin! Hi all.

In my opinion, the ugly-izing of the T series comes in an marketed and strategic effort to popularize other thinkpad lines to a broader audience. Perhaps the T series fans were the most hardcore, so why not capitalize on that, that is to divide the fanbase into smaller ones, like (1)the Symmetricals so perhaps some of us would step toward the X300/X301, as it is sleek, serious, like an impeccable, refined and prompt secretary/companion, and all things simmetrical, in aspect too , not only in work, (2) the Visuals enjoying perhaps some glare on the SL series, entrylevel thinkpadders, still lingering from Toshiba/Dell/Hp/Sony et al. shine and glitter debauchery, or (3) the Horizon and Power Hungry, upholding the last breath of the SXGA+ mohicans on the X61t, now moving towards the X200s/t series, or the insatiable post-UXGA crowd having to endure the less than QXGA, having to settle for the new found W-land.

And once the trend is there, the new hives having their matriarchs in place and adepts being converted to the broad and diverse empire of the Pax Thinkpadiana, we could once again challenge the status-quo pushing the T as primus inter pares. But for now the T is sharing some of it's DNA broader across, as it did with the R, but only with more sacrifice, perhaps too much. I can only hope that the Essence of T remains there, but it seems that X is a more symmetrical letter, going towards a platonic (?) perfection.

Happy T60.

albo wrote:To begin with, the screen. ... I mean, the thing is totally off center!

This blog explains why the display lid is designed the way it is. If you have read the blog, you know that the lid houses antennas. One must also know that the display panel's frame contains metal. I suppose that if a designer positions an antenna very near to a metal part such as the display panel's frame, that such a metal part would disturb the antenna's radiation pattern and thus reduce its efficiency. Therefore, it's a good idea to have ample metal-free space surrounding the antenna. I believe that this is the reason why ThinkPads have an asymmetric lid design. Please remember that no user has to position his or her head central to a notebook's display lid. Everyone is free to position his or her head central to the display panel. That should mitigate the problem.

Some notebook manufacturers have circumvented the whole problem by integrating antennas into a notebook's base (bottom part). From a user's point of view, this is not a good idea. In order to minimize negative biological effects from oscillating electromagnetic fields to the user's body, the antenna should be as far away as possible from the user's body. This goal is best accomplished by placing the antennas in the display lid. So, although some ThinkPads may not be symmetrical, they are better for your health than many other notebooks. And this choice of priorities is the right one, health should always be paramount to looks.

As to the materials used in T43 ThinkPads, the bottom cover was made from titanium- and carbon fibre reinforced plastic, the top cover was made from magnesium composite. The T400 has not only one magnesium structure frame, it has two. One in the base and one in the lid.

@csioucs: Interesting classification...

TTY wrote:This blog explains why the display lid is designed the way it is. If you have read the blog, you know that the lid houses antennas. One must also know that the display panel's frame contains metal. I suppose that if a designer positions an antenna very near to a metal part such as the display panel's frame, that such a metal part would disturb the antenna's radiation pattern and thus reduce its efficiency. Therefore, it's a good idea to have ample metal-free space surrounding the antenna. I believe that this is the reason why ThinkPads have an asymmetric lid design. Please remember that no user has to position his or her head central to a notebook's display lid. Everyone is free to position his or her head central to the display panel. That should mitigate the problem.

Like I said, there is a reason to it, but I don't feel it is a good enough justification for something as ugly as a T61. As was said before, previous Thinkpads had slightly offset displays, in a non-intrusive and barely noticeable way. The T61 is just badly designed, period. And I wish people would stop using good engineering as an excuse to bad design.

I showed my Z61t at work today to a bunch of colleagues who all have T61 widescreens, and they couldn't help notice how much nicer the Z61t looks and feels compared to their brick. Has anyone ever noticed any problems with the design of the Z61t that lead to inefficient wireless reception? Can anyone provide any data showing that the T61 is superior to previous laptops in this department? I'm guessing no.

TTY wrote:Some notebook manufacturers have circumvented the whole problem by integrating antennas into a notebook's base (bottom part). From a user's point of view, this is not a good idea. In order to minimize negative biological effects from oscillating electromagnetic fields to the user's body, the antenna should be as far away as possible from the user's body. This goal is best accomplished by placing the antennas in the display lid. So, although some ThinkPads may not be symmetrical, they are better for your health than many other notebooks. And this choice of priorities is the right one, health should always be paramount to looks.

This is very far-fetched, really. Just another attempt to justify bad design, IMO.

It really blows my mind how people obsess over the screen placement.

wswartzendruber wrote:It really blows my mind how people obsess over the screen placement.

With the amount of people on this forum (and similar forums) that were obsessed with red stripes on the trackpoint buttons, I don't see why you should be surprised.

wswartzendruber wrote:It really blows my mind how people obsess over the screen placement.

I'm quite surprised there aren't a lot of complaints about the W700. The keyboard includes a numpad which puts the home row keys off center from the base. This offsets the screen much more than any T61 or T400 if you were to line yourself up with the home row keys. In fact, I would think it would make it down right awkward to use in your lap (granted most people don't). The new dual screen is even farther off to the side. I mean, there was one guy complaining about neck injuries using the asymmetric T61 who was going to move to a W700 to avoid straining his neck. It's a bit comical and ridiculous.

albo wrote:My opinion is based mostly on the external design of the machine.

While I own a widescreen T61 and not a T400, my criticisms are also on the external design. Not so much appearance, or speaker placement. I was aware of those before purchasing due to numerous reviews, etc. I don't have a problem with how sturdy it is. It's a definate improvement over the T4x series I own. However, it is lacking in that *tight* feeling that you mention. For example, the palm rest feels like cheap plastic. It's not so much due to the materials used, it's the fact that it doesn't sit perfectly against the underlying rollcage. There is a little play in between and it will make little squeaks, and creaks. It feels hollow and loose, like it will break off easily. I do realize it is actually very strong, but it leaves a bad impression regarding perceived quality. I also realize how well the parts fit together vary between samples and not every T61 will have the same issue. This is also an indicator of quality.

uux wrote:I also realize how well the parts fit together vary between samples and not every T61 will have the same issue. This is also an indicator of quality.

Interesting - I would attribute that to manufacturing quality more than design. I assumed that manufacturing would stay relatively constant in the lenovo/ibm shift than the design would. But I also suppose that design and manufacturing have to work closely together in order to produce quality products as well. So perhaps its not just the design team that is going down the tubes, but they may be bringing manufacturing down with them. The caveat here of course is that this is based off of one complaint, which isn't fair, but I wouldn't be surprised if this was a general feeling.

I can get a T400 equipped the way I want with an LED and a DVD burner for around 800 dollars now, provided I buy my own ram. This machine is better (functionally) than all of the past machines.

My T20 does feel better though. I know it is heavy and would break if I dropped it onto pavement, but the palmrest and the speakers that are audible make it feel a -lot- better than the newer machines I've had. And I have the most experience with a couple of Z61T's which are now more or less considered nicer than the widescreen T61's.

Basically, the new machines are affordable. They are not high-end priced, they are completely affordable, functional laptops. Other laptop companies make better feeling machines, for more money, that function just the same or worse.

Pick your poison. I do wish Lenovo made an extra-good model.

Regarding the huge bezel - anything beats ugly bezels. There is no excuse for them, as they are too stupid and ugly. When designing things, you face problems like antennae and a decent looking machine and a good design team would figure out a solution instead of simply placing them comfortably next to the display, and moving the display over to compensate.