R Series Weight

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dustrman03 · #1 Post by **dustrman03** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:01 pm

It seems like the R series units are a little heavy. That is the only reason that makes sense to me why they are heavier notebooks (6+ lbs) is because they are built sturdy. Is this why they are a little heavy?

Jethro Bodean · #2 Post by **Jethro Bodean** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 5:39 pm

fast

light

cheap

pick two

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:32 pm

The R series is made of different materials, which are not as light and sturdy as the A/T/X series. Since the parts are not as light and sturdy, they are cheaper...thus a cheaper system.

dsigma6 · #4 Post by **dsigma6** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:34 pm

i would call the R series (just from using my R40) anything but sturdy, compared to the 600 series for instance. i imagine its not too big of a difference between an R40 and a T20, but from the older ones the difference is quite evident.

i can open the 600e up with one hand in the corner of the lcd, and it feels so solid. on the R40, the screen flexes a bit and makes some creaky noises. also, the keyboard hand rest can be pushed down easily on the R40, where on the 600E a strong fist down on the rest wouldnt do half as much as slight press on the R40.

it is much lighter though without the battery, being a modern laptop.

dustrman03 · #5 Post by **dustrman03** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:24 pm

Well I haven't ever used an R40 so I can't speak on that. But I have an R50 and I feel that it is fairly sturdy. Not as solid as a T series but it is very good.

ThinkPad R · #6 Post by **ThinkPad R** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 8:48 pm

My little brother dropped my R40 straight from 4 ft & it didn't break!

well, on carpet. ha.

still, very sturdy.

I fell asleep while using it lying down on bed--> dropped my laptop

--> the laptop hit the carpeted flower on its LCD screen

although the hinge is a little shaky, it didn't break & it's still usable.

(above happened 3 times, and there was no hard disk damage, surprisingly)

I bet it won't survive a 4ft drop on a concrete floor.

Still, I'd go for it.

cubswin312 · #7 Post by **cubswin312** » Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:52 am

I would consider my R31 fairly sturdy compared to other laptops of it's era (such as the Dell Inspiron 4100 or any of the HP Pavilions) but compared to my T60, the R31 feels pretty subpar. The palm rest has a fair amount of flex, the display creaks when opened, and there's some flex in the keyboard by the Fn key (but this last one might be because I pound when I type). I actually read somewhere that the R31 was made by a 3rd party manufacturer, but I'm not sure if that's correct or not.

As far as weight goes, I know that I once compared the R31 to both a T23 and a T40, with the R31 definitely feeling heavier than any of those systems. In addition, I would say that my T60 (14" model), with the 9 cell battery is comparable in weight to my R31 (with a 6 cell battery), with maybe the T60 just a tad heavier.

#8 Post by **thePCxp** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 10:09 pm

I think that the R series is as sturdy as any other ThinkPad. I once dropped my R51 and it was okay, nothing broke and it was still working (I think that I dropped my ThinkPad more than once).

riz · #9 Post by **riz** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 5:50 am

had a r32 still up and running feel like the weight is quite average compared to other brand of similar screen dimension

Puppy · #10 Post by **Puppy** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 6:06 am

The weight is very close to 15" T models. Lets see:

R60 - 2.95 kg
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/cr/products.nsf/ ... rcesite=CZ
T60 - 2.65 kg
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/cr/products.nsf/ ... rcesite=CZ

The difference is noticable when comparing to 14" T models where 14" R are rather rare. Comparing thickness of 15" R and T you get about 9mm difference, that's why R models has probably better cooling.

Pete Whiting · #11 Post by **Pete Whiting** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:41 am

My R51 1836 - Q4U may be a little heavier but the fan only operates for about ten seconds on startup - I nevefr hear it running during any computing.

christopher_wolf · #12 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:00 pm

The cooling is custom-designed to the system, the cooling isn't going to be "better" or "worse" than a thinner model if the airflow and heatsinking is done correctly.

The R Series is designed to be like the T Series, but without the added engineering requirements of light weight and a very robust frame/chassis assembly together as one; hence, the use of magnesium/titanium alloys on the T4X/T6X Series Thinkpads. As an example, the T43 and the R52 use nearly identical system boards and share just about all the BIOS and EC releases.

NS · #13 Post by NS » Sun Jun 18, 2006 11:45 pm

<sigh> ok, done...

I have a R52 and it is fairly heavy even on its own. With the AC adapter and accessories, the weight is at least 3.5kg. Laptop on its own is 2.5kg <-- at least. System speed is average. Cheap materials. LCD will flex when you try to push the screen. Tried typing very hard on the tp and nothing happens. For me, if i want to travel, i will bring my X60 and T60 along. Put both in my backpack and the weight is about 1 R series that heavy. <-- Wait!! It is the 15" R series. 14.1" should be a bit lighter. Always bring my TPs with me everywhere i go and sometimes, never use at all. But just bring it along for fun.

My R52 is my desktop replacement and not for travelling purposes.

1) heavy
2) wi fi sux
3) a bit slow
4) screen not flexi view<15">
5) LCd flex a lot
6) Made from cheaper materials compared to other TP series

epeli · #14 Post by **epeli** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:39 am

My R40e weights 2.2kg with battery, and it's quite old. Not bad at all if you ask me. And it was cheap!

Generally, ThinkPads are very sturdy laptops.
I've seen one fall to concrete from over 2m... and it worked after that! No bad sectors on HD, no weird fan noises, etc. I guess that made me buy one, too.
And someone on these forums had a taxi drive over his TP.. only its LCD broke!

dsigma6 · #15 Post by **dsigma6** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:07 pm

NS wrote:With the AC adapter and accessories, the weight is at least 3.5kg.

I'd be willing to bet that the AC adapter isn't included in this. Wifi sux? Do you mean the card you have sucks?

NS · #16 Post by NS » Mon Jul 31, 2006 12:34 pm

dsigma6 wrote:
NS wrote:With the AC adapter and accessories, the weight is at least 3.5kg.
I'd be willing to bet that the AC adapter isn't included in this. Wifi sux? Do you mean the card you have sucks?

@dsigma6,

Correct! After i swapped to another card, it works well but still very slow and low signal.

#17 Post by **archer6** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 8:25 pm

I have noticed incremental improvements in the quality of materials and overall build quality since the beginning of the R series. As far as the target market for these ThinkPads I think they outshine the competition significantly.

I recently purchased a (new) 14" R51e for my son and it was only $635!

Try finding another laptop at or around that price that has a fantastic keyboard, trackpoint and display like this machine has. Not to mention the sturdy case , flex free display, and battery life. I must admit that even I as a longtime ThinkPad (T series) user was really impressed at how nice this computer is.

FRiC · #18 Post by **FRiC** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 9:03 pm

The R60 series also has a roll cage just like the T series. It's just thicker and has more features...

christopher_wolf · #19 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 10:23 pm

FRiC wrote: It's just thicker and has more features...

Really? Where?

I have only seen the S-Video port added along with some other media features, but I am not going to trade a sleek, thin T61p for just that.

gearguy · #20 Post by **gearguy** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 7:25 am

Unless you intend on throwing your laptop out of a moving vehicle or standing on it repeatedly...
I don't really see any point in worrying about the R series being weaker than the other series.

Hell, gasp, the other week I bought a laptop that was...

Not made by IBM dun dun dun.

#21 Post by **archer6** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 9:53 am

gearguy wrote:Unless you intend on throwing your laptop out of a moving vehicle or standing on it repeatedly...
I don't really see any point in worrying about the R series being weaker than the other series.

Thanks for the laughs, it's half the reason I enjoy this forum so much..

gearguy wrote:Hell, gasp, the other week I bought a laptop that was... Not made by IBM dun dun dun.

Now... you have my curiosity up, I'm dying to hear what you bought...

because...uh....true confessions, while ThinkPads are my absolute number one favorite laptop, there are many others that I like (and own) and if they were all listed in my signature line I would have to admit what a laptop addict I am...

gearguy · #22 Post by **gearguy** » Thu Aug 03, 2006 8:28 am

I got the LG M1 Express Dual - overall I am very pleased with it.

The one I have seems to be a good bit more powerful than the specs listed on LGs website so perhaps they have released a more powerful version of it since its release

Also the store worker gave us a free extra 512MB of RAM and a free LG mouse, LG case and a USB 2 Hub. He Also gave us a phone link cable however that didn't work with my phone so I gave it to a friend.

I am also a big fan of Thinkpads, and I was temptede to get one of the new Lenovo Thinkpads but I was swayed by the LG as it was essentially more power for money

NS · #23 Post by NS » Thu Aug 03, 2006 11:34 am

gearguy wrote:Also the store worker gave us a free extra 512MB of RAM and a free LG mouse, LG case and a USB 2 Hub. He Also gave us a phone link cable however that didn't work with my phone so I gave it to a friend.

If they also offer me with all these free gifts, i might go for this too.

So far, i loved all my thinkpads...!

gearguy · #24 Post by **gearguy** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:02 am

Haha, while I know I'm getting offtopic here, as far as I am aware LG were somehow involved with Thinkpads at one point. I'm not really sure how, but the "Product History" I saw at Sham Shui Po computer center in Hong Kong had some models of the Thinkpad under LG.

christopher_wolf · #25 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 4:23 am

gearguy wrote:Haha, while I know I'm getting offtopic here, as far as I am aware LG were somehow involved with Thinkpads at one point. I'm not really sure how, but the "Product History" I saw at Sham Shui Po computer center in Hong Kong had some models of the Thinkpad under LG.

There was a time for which LG actually made the optical drives for the Thinkpads, if I remember correctly. This was far back though, around 2000 and earlier. I remember members of my family that worked at IBM talking about it; yes, LG also knows how to grease a deal with "gratis" options as well (Guess how I got my watch with a world dial and a local time dial on the same face?

).

FRiC · #26 Post by **FRiC** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 11:11 am

The DVD Multi+ that came with R52 bought early this year is made by LG. (Actually HLDS, or Hitachi-LG Data Storage.)

R Series Weight

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