Thinkpads Forum

recently, after some coaching from Bill Morrow and Ray Kawakami, I
ventured forth yet again unto eBay, and scarfed up a 600e/366/128/12.
Luckily, the seller stretched not the truth: "beautiful machine, lightly used."

I prefer it to others in the collection:
-vs 760e: thinner machine==keyboard less elevated
-vs x20: bigger keyboard, fewer key miss-hits (esp. ' for enter)
-vs t22: solider feel, crisper keyboard, superior handrest feel
-vs a31p: as t22

The speed differences (150-1800mHz) seem rather unimportant for my
uses (all linux)--writing, web surfing, some programming: kernel
recompiles rare. The screen display resolution (800x600-1600x1200)
differences also rather unimportant.

And the 600e cost (much) less than the others (all eBay)
760e/600e:1.5 (1998--would be reversed now)
x20/600e: 1.8 (2005--close to even now)
t22/600e: 2.8 (2006)
a31p/600e:4.0 (2006)

Now the x20 is good at the e-mail store (small & light); onboard NICs
are nice & thinklights are cute. But though I'll never match Ray's
collection, I'm already haunting eBay for another 600.

tom

ps. having removed some unseemly stickers, and applyed kerosene on
paper towel to remove the stickum, I discovered that wiping gently
also the top (LCD cover: not the LCD) removed some unsightly
superficial scratches. Two days ago; still looks good. YMMV.

I totally agree with your post.

I recently bought a 600e/366/160/4 off craigslist for $100 CDN. It wasn't in the best of conditions (missing hd door/caddy). Replacing the door/caddy cost me $25 CDN and a wireless card that works under Ubuntu cost me $40 CDN. So for $165 CDN I have a beater notebook that I can just toss in the car and not worry about. I've also replaced the 4gb drive with a 40gb 4200rpm drive I had left over from a previous upgrade of my X31.

I've used and owned several notebooks since the mid-90's. I figured out just how nice the Thinkpads were when I had a T20 through work for about 4 years. It never seemed to have any of the quirks and problems that I always encountered with other brands.

I eventually ditched the consumer Toshiba model I had at home, bought/sold a used T20, bought a refurb T23 from IBM, and then did a (free) exchange for a T30. I used the T30 for a couple years and liked most things about it (except the weight, battery life, and USB1 ports). I've finally settled on an X31 which is great, but I find I don't take it out that much 'cause it's such an expensive unit.

The 600e has an awesome keyboard and runs Ubuntu surprisingly well. I don't think twice about taking it out (I don't even bother using a case most of the time). For most things, it just seems to work and I find I end up using it as much as my X31.
-Norm
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I think answsers on this forum will not be surprising

My first personal laptop was a 600 -- an inexpensive laptop that has been durable and reliable for rugged applications. We take it outside, camping -- anywhere. Never have had a problem with this and it is still in the fleet.

The 600 was so popular that it was soon joined by three 600e's. Each cost less than the 600, had a bigger screen, and played better games. If it rains when we are camping, the kids break out the 'camper router' and play a little Age of Empires or Doom or Quake.

Zero failures to date. I appreciate this because my 'gently used' Dell 600 has had the following componenents replaced over the same period of time...

system board
keyboard
memory
dvd drive
wrist rest assembly
cpu

and the keyboard is broken again. I couldn't afford to own a Dell, dude.

Real question for me is, what comes after the 600?

I wouldn't mind replacing this generation with a class of machine with that had 3d acceleration, but is there an aftermarket option that is as reliable as the 600 class thinkpad? As prices for new laptops plummet, does the value of an offlease 'premium' laptop diminish? I certainly would not buy a d600 off lease.

My sister bought a 600 for her [too] young son. Running across the living room with the laptop open, he tripped over the dog and the laptop flew from his arms into the wall onto the floor. Amazingly, the only damage was to the keyboard -- the force of the impact cut the ribbon from the keyboard to the system board.

Got a new kbd on ebay and repaired the PC for short money.

FRUs and cost/ease of repair are major attractions of the 600 class thinkpad.

definately agree that ease and cost of repair are the highlights of this model!!

I just purchased three 600's off ebay, complete with power supplies. I have been told they have been drive wiped and they boot OK. Total cost $200 (110 pounds UK), so less than $70 apiece.

Not sure of the specs, but have to assume they are 233MMX's or whatever the lowest spec was, with 64MB and minimal hard disk.
All have CD's.

Not even sure what to do with them yet.

Yep. I now have 1 600e and 4 600x's. I also have 2 T23's.

I like the T23's, but love the 600's. You just can't kill them.. I buy them for under $100, fix them up and they just go, and go, and go..

Of course if I don't get going and start to sell some of these 600's my wife is going to kill me. But thats another story..


I notice the pickins are getting thin on Ebay for the 600x's, especially the speedstep machines. Lately they have been few and far between.


BTW Before I got into these TP's I bought my wife a Dell... What a POS.. IMHO only...

It took me while to get a cheap ($300 is cheap for the UK) A20p model (the "p" models are quite hard to find, very few and far between).

600's are plenty and are almost like computer currency on ebay UK, buying and selling almost hourly, the X's of course get a premium.

T2x's and T30's are easy to get, but again only the standard versions, the "p" versions of almost any IBM sells at quite a premium and are infrequently advertised here in the UK... you'll see a handful of these a year.. maybe 10-20... never even seen a T2x"p" advertised!

I don't think there was a "p" version of the 600 (unless of course it was called the "x" !)

BillD: Your T23 SXGA+ must be what is termed a T23p !

BillD: Your T23 SXGA+ must be what is termed a T23p !

I have never seen a 'P' attached to any T2x machine, even mine.. But since I've bought these 2 T23's I haven't been looking at T 2x's.. Just looking and looking for 600 deals..


I bought my T23 used awhile ago off of Ebay. It's been a great machine and this past summer I've taken it everywhere.. No problems at all, but I still like the 600's alittle better..

BillD wrote:I notice the pickins are getting thin on Ebay for the 600x's, especially the speedstep machines. Lately they have been few and far between.

When I first starting looking for more 600X systems (when I only had three), I noticed that most of the 650Mhz 600X machines being offered on eBay were by Canadian sellers. I have no explanation why.

I only have the one 650 but I really haven't noticed any real speed difference between that one and my 500s in day-to-day use. I haven't run any benchmarks on them either.

According to the tawbook, the T2x series did not come with any P designation. My understanding is that is stands for "Professional". What that really means is lost to me.

you are right.. no T2xp machines. The "p" designation (Professional) usually designates a higher spec machine (usually but not always at least an SXGA+ display).

The 600's are fantastic. I owned one for a time (and even had a docking bay for it) and have nothing but praise for the quality. Something that was sacrificied on a lot of later machines.

Used 600 (PII/366 MMX's) are sold by retailers here for an average of $400. There is always a demand for this machine!

How big would you say the X20 is compared to the 600e? Same size but lighter? Even smaller than the 600e?

I still have my 600X, and to me, it's the very best ThinkPad model that was ever produced. Even though I don't use it regularly any more, I can't bring myself to part with it simply because of the keyboard. The difference between the 600 series keyboard and the ones that preceeded and suceeded it is stunning.

Saysana13B wrote:How big would you say the X20 is compared to the 600e? Same size but lighter? Even smaller than the 600e?

Smaller and lighter. You can find the dimensions from the links in item #1 in the FAQ.