300-Series model range review

[solidpro]

Hi Everyone

I spent a few days exploring the timeline of the 300-Series and took all new photos and noted a bunch of hot-takes.

You can read it here: https://ret.rocks/index.php/projects/th ... ies-review

Just a bit of fun really, but some of you legacy freaks might find it interesting.

cheers

[astral]

Ooh - excellent writeup! Those photos will be great for MacDat

Just a couple thoughts and bits of info I can add:

1. I'd personally rate the ThinkPad 310/315 as worse than the 300. The TP300's worst offense is that it isn't really that much of a ThinkPad - I think when judged on its own merits, it's actually a pretty nice system. The build quality is actually pretty excellent on them - at least, it is on the Zenith version I own. The fact that they have built-in Ethernet in 1992 is also pretty special. As for the unreliability - I guess they did have that DOA issue when new. The surviving ones that worked are now suffering from bad caps (like, multiple dozen of them in a 300C model), so they still have the reputation. Recap one and it should be fine. People cite the price pretty often as a complaint, but it was actually pretty much in line with similarly-speced laptops from the time. They were just that expensive back then. The 300C upgrade on the other hand - that was a bit out there.
Compare that to the Acer 310... yeah. Keyboard is awful, plastics are awful, build quality is awful, and most of them have the terrible DSTN screens. I don't think it's much of a contest. Another note I'll add is that I've heard the Acernote Light version of these is actually way better built, AND has a better keyboard (hah).
Still, I personally rate the 350/350C as the worst of them all - probably just due to them being the only of the three that I've had the personal misfortune of working on.

2. The 365s are weird. When people talk about them, they're usually talking about the 365X and 365XD as they're the common ones - but there were six earlier ones that seem far less common. Those earlier ones were actually not made by IBM - they were made by ASE Technologies Inc, which was another Taiwanese OEM/ODM that made laptops for other companies under contract, like Acer often did. Other laptops ASE made include the Epson ActionNote SLC and 500C range, and the WInBook XP and XP5. In contrast, the X and XD were made in-house by IBM, although they share a pretty much identical physical appearance with the earlier models.
So - the ASE ones are a bit odd for ThinkPads. The 365C, CS, CSD, and CD used a Cyrix Cx486DX4-75 processor, and the 365E and ED used the IBM 5x86c-100 chip. They also used generic PhoenixBIOS, which looks incredibly cursed on a ThinkPad. The 365CD is the one to have as it has a 640x480 TFT display and the ESS 1688 sound, so it's a great DOS system (in theory).
Also - the 365s suffer from rampant hinge failure due to bad plastic. That is, the 365X and XD do. The earlier models are probably equally affected but I have no data on them.

3. For the 380 and 385 I believe it was that the 380s were sold to the corporate sector while the 385s were sold at retail.

4. I don't think the 340s, 345s, or the 370C were sold in the US. They should have all been available in Europe though (I think).

Anyways - that's all I have to add. Buncha new stuff coming to the IBM section on MacDat sometime soon.

[panips]

Yes, 365s are weird. For 365c/cd/e/ed, there are seldom seen on the market, or sometimes they were labelled as 365x but in fact they are not. BTW, 365c/cd are good for DOS gaming, but I think 760L/LD(VGA) are even better for their 2 speakers instead of 1.
310/315 are the worst IMO. So far I have no success disassembling a 310/315 without breaking anything. They are just as crispy as Lay's.
330c/cs are (pretty?) common in east Asia (market). They have really good build quality, but, well, they are not IBM, neither.
340/345/370c were sold in Asia, and it's not hard to find a working one nowadays. But I think they are so mediocre without any unique or compelling features.
350 has pool building quality, too. And I never see a 350 with a good hinge.
Are 355s and 360s (s=c/cs) the same?
I have several 300, but I've never seen a 300c. And I've never seen a 320 although I did my best searching them in Japan and China.

[astral]

The 300C is very rare because it was only available as an upgrade for 300 owners, and was very overpriced. Buying a 300 and getting the 300C upgrade cost more than buying a 700C.