Best ThinkPad for all times?

[eiwilde]

Past at least 20 Years since the first IBM ThinkPad 486 DX2 that happy my days.
I'm a very happy owner from several ThinkPads, and I'm try to buy every Little accesory to upgrade to the machine limit.
But i never find other ThinkPad best (at least for me) than the Very Best T30.
Hope all folks leave comments about your life with ThinkPads as the very best friends.
Warm Regards to all

[brchan]

I vote for the 600X, or the 770Z/770X with SXGA display. The 600X probably has the best combination of build quality, durability, keyboard, and reliability (no known problems except for battery draining issue) of all Thinkpads. It was also one of the fastest laptops you could buy in the day.

The 770Z/X are also unique since it had the option of a 1280x1024 resolution screen back in the late 90s. The resolution and pixel density is still higher than most displays in netbooks and lower end laptops today! Not to mention that it is still a good resolution for work. The build quality is also excellent and the unit is even more stable than the 600 series. IMO, the keyboard feedback is better on the 770 series than on the 600 series, but the keyboard flex sets it back.

[eiwilde]

I vote for the 600X, or the 770Z/770X with SXGA display. The 600X probably has the best combination of build quality, durability, keyboard, and reliability (no known problems except for battery draining issue) of all Thinkpads. It was also one of the fastest laptops you could buy in the day.

The 770Z/X are also unique since it had the option of a 1280x1024 resolution screen back in the late 90s. The resolution and pixel density is still higher than most displays in netbooks and lower end laptops today! Not to mention that it is still a good resolution for work. The build quality is also excellent and the unit is even more stable than the 600 series. IMO, the keyboard feedback is better on the 770 series than on the 600 series, but the keyboard flex sets it back.

Great comment my Friend, how to forget the Loyal 600X a great tech in a small package...

[jedisurfer1]

don't know about best, but my dad had a T22 with the serial port on the back. It was hooked up to router so he could remote in and console to a router. As I've heard it's been running 24/7/365/~10 years, without a problem.

For me the w520, has so many options can be run with 3 hard drives, 32gb ram, I've learned so much I bought a few. Great chasis, with good cooling if configured correctly, can run many virtual machines, nested vm, direct hypervisor can be run on it. Still a solid keyboard. To me it's almost like a full fledged server with a small footprint, draws very little power, and has it's own UPS.

[600X]

I vote for the 600X as well. As my Name might already suggest. brchan explained it quite well, the 600X is a true masterpiece in almost every way.

[Norway Pad]

The 600X comes in first here too. Followed by the 770Z, which comes in second due to a bulkier and less streamlined design, and lack of native support for PIII Speedsteps, like some 600X models had. And the 600X pretty much set the standard for the Thinkpad design for over a decade.

The 701C is an oddball I have always loved due to it's inventive design, but in all honesty it's wrong to call it a "good" Thinkpad. It's 486 DX4 was close to being outdated by the fast arising Pentiums already at launch date.

[Khipata]

Simple

Antique: 700T, 700C, 701C
Old: 750P, 360PE, 600X, 770ED, A31P
Aging: S30, X40, X61T, T42, T60P, T61P (Frankenpad), Z61T, T500, W700DS
Modern: W520, Carbon

If I were to keep just 2 thinkpads, I would choose 700T and W520

[ajkula66]

There are several ways one could look at this "contest"...

600 platform would win IMO for the sheer number of them still being around, 15 years after the series was discontinued. That's got to count for something. Seriously.

I'll admit that while I've owned a decent amount of 600-series units, I've never really developed a "relationship" with them in the way that I have with some other models. That doesn't take anything from their greatness, though.


Now, another angle would open up the discussion on what the best ThinkPad is/was in one's own user experience.

While my answer might surprise some folks around here, the ThinkPad which has proven itself to be the most reliable in *my* personal experience is a 15" T43p.


The third approach would entail choosing a system that kept on being relevant/usable for the longest amount of time. In my book, that award would go to T23.

Maybe not the answer(s) that OP was looking for, but here they are anyway...

[MisterB]

I'm certainly fond of my SXGA 770X but it isn't much use these days. Even the 15" T42P I'm typing this on is a bit slow for anything demanding but it is having a happy retirement browsing and posting on forums. There were a couple of fairly nice 600Xs on eBay recently for around $25 but I passed. T60s and T61s without hard drives sell for not much more and are much more useful. I like it that they work well with Windows XP through 7 and various linux distros. That has always been one of the things I liked about Thinkpads: They support a variety of OSes. The 770X officially supported Windows 3.1 through 2000 as well as OS2 Warp. Linux worked well on it too but wasn't supported by IBM.

The T60 is my choice at this time but times change. It's just that my preference for 4:3 displays hasn't.

[Temetka]

I think my favorite Thinkpad of all time was my X41T. Sure, it's slow by todays standards but it ran Windows 7 very well and had a nice display.

My 2nd favorite would be the T410 this post is being brought to you on. I really enjoy using this machine.

Although recently I read a few reviews of the X201 and I don't really use my optical drive. The idea of an even lighter Thinkpad really appeals to me. But funding doesn't allow for me to try one out.

[Unknown_K]

No love for the A2xp series? First with 1600x1200?

[ajkula66]

No love for the A2xp series? First with 1600x1200?

Lots of love. Sucky reliability.

And I'm being kind here...

[ZaZ]

No love for the X220? Well built, portable, all day battery life, full voltage CPUs, dual drives, 16GB, IPS screen, great keyboard, blah, blah blah... The fact I could buy one for $700 shipped the first day makes it even more remarkable.

It's one downfall, proving perfection remains elusive, is the 1366x768 LCD. If it had a 1600x900 LCD I'd still have mine. The T450s and X1C interest me, now they've got the buttons back, but are still too expensive for me. If the T450s hits the outlet at the price the T440s has been selling for recently, it'd be hard to resist.

[Adda]

They are usually not very reliable, they are not particularly rugged, but the A3x series ThinkPads with IPS screen have my vote.
No other computer has been in my possession longer then my A30, and it has been in operation and been used for most of the time I have had it.

If we include reliability as a requirement, then the T43p is hard to ignore, but an IPS equipped R60 is nicer overall I think, no mods required for low temps, but it was not available with IPS from factory.

[brchan]

I like the X220 quite a bit actually, but the black strip at the top of the lid, where the wifi antennas are, tends to deform and come apart over time. I wonder why Lenovo didn't just fuse the lid with GFRP (for antenna signal pass through) and CFRP like on the W510?

[dr_st]

No love for the X220? Well built, portable, all day battery life, full voltage CPUs, dual drives, 16GB, IPS screen, great keyboard, blah, blah blah... The fact I could buy one for $700 shipped the first day makes it even more remarkable.

Also: supports 54mm ExpressCards, its own Ultrabase and all the Series 3 Docks, and the i7 variant actually gets USB3 through the USB3 docks.

It's one downfall, proving perfection remains elusive, is the 1366x768 LCD.

Totally hear you on this. Has there been some talk about retrofitting one of the newer FHD LCDs from the Yoga or something along those lines?

[axur-delmeria]

Has there been some talk about retrofitting one of the newer FHD LCDs from the Yoga or something along those lines?

There was mention of Leokim of 51nb using the FHD panel from an XPS DUO: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 9&start=30

It's possible that other panels can be installed using the same technique.

[TuuS]

I'd have to split my votes up between

A31 series, the dual ultrabay setup was awesome, they are tough machines came equipped as a very reilable and affordable model, or the elite A31p. However with todays need for multiplecores and more than2gb ram I'm about to sell my A series collection as soon as I get them boxed up.

T60 series, the last flexview! Limited in Ram and cpu, but easily upgraded with T61 motherboard

T61 series, Last 4:3 laptop, one of the last 16:10, first to be fully 64bit, first to support SATA2, first to support Penryn cpu and nVidia graphics. First to support 8gb ram. With moderate upgrades one of these will do pretty much anything you want for yearsto come.

From here on things declined... sure we got faster cpu chips, more ram, but our beloved thinkpads, once king of the business class laptops gradually became a second or third rate copy of a macbook. The last new thinkpad I purchased was a W510 and the poor support I received after the purchase has convinced me not to buy anymore new thinkpads. If the day comes that I need some new state of the art laptop I'll have to think really hard, but I don't see me buying a new lenovo anytime soon.

*typed on my trusty T61*

[jdrou]

No love for the X220?
. . .
It's one downfall, proving perfection remains elusive, is the 1366x768 LCD.

That was a major factor in my not buying one when they came out; secondary issue was the 7mm HDD bay which at the time seemed too limiting.

I'll agree with the 600X (or the 600-series as a whole) as being probably the best of what I've owned. If you include usability for modern tasks as a criteria I'd probably say W520.

[RMSMajestic]

I'd vote for 701c, Transnote, S3x and A31p for IBM era...
For Lenovo era, X301, W701(ds), 15" T60p and X61...

But it's hard to find a perfect thinkpad. :/ even W701(ds) and X301 has a few disadvantages

[jonashendrickx]

The X301 had a bad display.

I vote for the T61p and X201

[stu1982]

What would it be.

From IBM or Lenovo

[hwattys]

The obvious: 701C. Less obvious: The 600.

[Puppy]

S30

[shawross]

X...

[brchan]

Hasn't this topic already been posted before ? Anyways, mine would be:

701C, 600X, A31p, 770Z, then T43p 14"

[JaneL]

Hasn't this topic already been posted before

Yes, it has and recently at that. Use the search function, people, before you start threads like this!!

I merged the two threads.

[Kasm279]

600 series machines, hands down. It's the number one selling ThinkPad, although I imagine with the increased volume across the industry a newer machine has passed it by now. Anyway, they're also the first ThinkPads to use CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) in their construction, and it definitely shows. Zero case flex on the base. Amazing keyboards, too.

[brchan]

Didn't all 600 models have GFRP base covers? My T23's base cover is made from a titanium reinforced composite case (T-CFRP when I opened it up I believe) and felt very nice, but still was not as rigid as my 600X.

In the end, both materials and design are important to create a strong laptop. I was very surprised that other than some aluminum reinforcement parts, 770 models are made almost entirely of PC + ABS, but still very durable (in part due to its thickness ).

[Kasm279]

Didn't all 600 models have GFRP base covers? My T23's base cover is made from a titanium reinforced composite case (T-CFRP when I opened it up I believe) and felt very nice, but still was not as rigid as my 600X.

In the end, both materials and design are important to create a strong laptop. I was very surprised that other than some aluminum reinforcement parts, 770 models are made almost entirely of PC + ABS, but still very durable (in part due to its thickness ).

Nah, as I said the 600 series used CFRP. The base also has quite an internal skeleton around the battery and drives. The older ThinkPads are essentially a plastic tub- very resistant to bending.