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My ThinkPad T25 review

T25 Anniversary/Retro
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Bibin
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My ThinkPad T25 review

#1 Post by Bibin » Wed Oct 18, 2017 12:50 pm

I wrote up a review of the T25 based on my experiences so far. Later on I will be making a comparison video between it, my X62, and the old X300.

Introduction

The ThinkPad 25th Anniversary Edition, or T25, was released just a week or so ago, and it arrived on 10/13. It is the result of the "Retro Thinkpad" announcements and polls from the last year. Following the theme, it features a keyboard that resembles ThinkPads before the X230/T430 generation, with seven rows, classic keycap shapes, and the royal blue enter key that started with the ThinkPad T30 over a decade ago.

Classic Features

As the T25 is supposed to be remniscient of older computers in the ThinkPad line, it is worth discussing the features that would make it so.

Keyboard

As mentioned before, the keyboard is generally faithful to the seven row layout used for twenty years with little change. For reference, have a look at the keyboard of the T420 or X220. However, it is not lifted straight from these designs. The travel of the keys is lower than the original keyboard, but not necessarily at a detriment to the typing experience. Pressing on a key still provides a rising tension that then gives way at a breaking point to allow a keystroke, producing a nice tactile click. The key action reminds me of the X300. The ThinkLight, which used to illuminate the keyboard with an overhead light, is absent, replaced with backlighting. This is the first classic-style ThinkPad keyboard to feature backlighting, a feature introduced in the X230 generation.

TrackPoint

The TrackPoint, or Pointing Stick, or Nipple Mouse - or any other moniker or vulgarity you prefer - has a lower profile than the original, but the strain gauge mechanism is just as effective as before. The lower profile is appreciated as it will no longer make an impression on the LCD when the display is closed. The laptop ships with the "cat's tongue" style TrackPoint nub. The box features all three classic varieties. I switched mine to the "soft dome" style not long after unboxing the unit. My first ThinkPad was a T40, which introduced this style, and I am most accustomed to it. The TrackPoint buttons are hinged like on the old keyboards, rather than how the T450s does it. The button travel is lower, but clickier. This is a new feeling, but again, not necessarily an unwelcome one.

TrackPad

The TrackPad is a normal synaptics affair, much like the T470 it is based on. Not much to say here - it clicks down, tracking seems reasonably good, gestures work - but I spent little time before turning it off. I did not buy a ThinkPad only to ignore the TrackPoint. If you are going to invest so much in a computer, then you would do well to try to appreciate its unique points.

X300 Roots

David Hill, Lenovo's Chief Design Officer, drew comparisons to the ThinkPad X300 from 2008, an ultraportable intended to rival the MacBook Air. While the chassis design of the T25 is clearly based on the T470, some of the spirit of the X300 remains. The rubberized coating on the palmrest as well as the texture of the keyboard caps have been found only on the X300 and X301.

Missed Features

The "Retro ThinkPad" surveys teased at other features that might have been possible. An extremely vocal minority will whine about their favorite feature being absent, but it is important to remember that this is a limited edition short-run machine. While a custom keyboard may not be so expensive, a custom display would be prohibitively so. A 3:2 or 16:10 display would have been appreciated. A 4:3 display is simply a pipe dream. Microsoft and Apple monopolize the market of machines with 3:2 and 16:10 displays currently, and it is likely they have exclusivity contracts with the LCD manufacturers, so these extant LCDs are likely not usable. Some people are going to complain about not having a 45W TDP CPU, or not having full SIMM slots, or not having an optical drive, or a PS/2 port, or a parallel port, or a serial port. While I love all of those connectivity options, it is important to remember that Pandora's Box on laptop form factor has already been opened. How will you convince a customer that the added weight and size was worth it for them to have a parallel port? For these options I move to my desktop computer, where my few (but important) use cases necessitate the connectivity.
Outward Appearance and Construction

It is clear that this laptop is based on the ThinkPad T470. Generally, this is not a bad thing. The case hardly deforms when I firmly torque the base of the computer, and the keyboard does not flex when I press on it with a lot of pressure. This is a huge improvement over the generation of machines that the design harks back to, as the ThinkPad T420 and friends were victims of keyboard and palmrest flexing.
The machine maintains a respectible rectangular profile, and is a dark black color like the older ThinkPads. A fan will note that the ThinkPad T440 and beyond had a slightly lighter color, more of a dark grey. The case is covered in the same thin rubberized coating found on the X230. A nice touch is that the inside palmrest and keyboard bezel also have this rubberized coating, something that has not been seen since the ThinkPad X301.

Ports and switches and lights and such


IO

On the left side of the machine is the rectangular charger port, introduced with the original X1 Carbon. This is the current Lenovo charger style. Next to it is a USB 3.1 port, as well as a USB-C port. The USB-C port can charge the laptop as verified with a friend's Dell USB-C charger. On the right side is an SD slot, Ethernet, two USB 3.1 ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack. These are all welcome additions, though I would not have minded a MiniDisplayPort option as well.

Power

The T25 has two batteries for the "power bridge" feature. I remember this fondly from my T450s. One three-cell battery resides inside the computer near the palmrest. The other three-cell battery is removable near the back. It can be upgraded to a higher capcity one if desired, but since the internal battery is separate, you can swap external batteries without shutting it down. The true battery life is something I will see with usage, but so far it has been favorable. I can't speak for performance with the default bloated Windows 10 install.

Display

The T25 features a 1920x1080 LCD display. It is an IPS panel, and it has a touch feature integrated. I am not a fan of touch, but I am relieved to see that it was implemented without needing an ugly glossy overlay on top of the display. The LCD has a matte finish as I would hope to find on a premium product. In previous LED-backlit ThinkPad units, the backlighting has been inconsistent in implementation. On my ThinkPad T460p, the LCD backlight used an irritating low-frequency PWM scheme to control brightness. After finding a defect in the panel elsewhere I used the warranty to change it to another panel, which thankfully did not have low-frequency PWM. On my ThinkPad T450s, I found the backlight used linear voltage control to change brightness. This is my base reference for a good configuration. It was a relief to find that the T25 display I received did not use low-frequency PWM. The display looks at a glance just like the one on my T450s. Aside from the 1080 pixel display height, I am happy with it. Some (probably many) will complain that the display is not a "HiDPI" display. Personally I am relieved, as I enjoy crisp bitmap fonts intended for low-density displays, I often work with and look at pixel art, and much of the software I use is not HiDPI aware. For the time being, this will sate me.

Technical Things

I won't prattle off the specifications of the machine as I don't have any incentive to pad this review with drivel. You can look them up yourself. The computer is new, and like most new machines not a lot sets it apart from others internally.

Linux Compatibility

Since the T25 is based on the T470, which has already been released for some time, I had no trouble installing Debian 9 via a netinstall. Suspend worked out of the box, as did audio, ethernet, trackpoint scrolling, trackpad gestures, and intel video. I had to make one change to the boot options in Grub (acpi_osi=Linux) to get the backlight to respond, and had to install the firmware-iwlwifi package to use Wi-Fi. I had the machine up from a clean format to booting to my desktop in under ten minutes. I installed the proprietary NVIDIA driver to use the (slightly dated) GeForce 940 MX with bumblebee, though I expect I will seldom use this at all and will stick to the Intel graphics most of the time.

Windows Compatibility

Lenovo ships Windows 10 Pro x64 with the machine, so there is not much to talk about here. I'll keep a Windows install around for the occasional game or CAD work. The default install did not seem too bloated, but the sound drivers come with some absolutely terrible defaults. Out of the box, the speakers will be loud and strongly distorted. The geniuses who put the audio package together decided to install some Dolby-branded bloatware that applies "audio effects". Ultimately it just makes the sound distorted, and will make you think the speakers are damaged. You can disable this caucophony by right-clicking the sound icon in the tray --> Playback devices --> Right click Speakers --> Properties --> effects --> "Disable all effects".
Here's the kicker - if you format and do a fresh Windows 10 install, as I did, these [censored] features will still come with the drivers Windows pulls automatically from Windows Update. You'll have to fix this even if you install your own copy of Windows.
I fought hard to try to get Windows 7 on the machine, but the combination of no native USB 3.1 drivers plus no native NVMe drivers proved troublesome. I am still working on slipstreaming support in the installer, but since the internal drive is a new NVMe model I am having trouble finding drivers that are appropriate for it.

Conclusion

The T25 is fairly pricy, but compared to the highest-spec T470 it is based on, it adds the rubberized coating, a dedicated GPU, and most importantly a seven-row keyboard. Considering this is a limited-run collectors item, the price is not so outlandish in comparison. Every time a computer feels expensive, please look up listings for computers in the mid 1990s. I bought it because I wanted to vote with my wallet for laptops with nice keyboards, and unless this design catches on (and I doubt it will), this might be the last laptop ever produced with this style of keyboard.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#2 Post by shawross » Thu Oct 26, 2017 12:37 am

Great review with all the major points articulated well.

Bibin wrote:Microsoft and Apple monopolize the market of machines with 3:2 and 16:10 displays currently, and it is likely they have exclusivity contracts with the LCD manufacturers
Although I don't agree on the above statement unless Lenovo come out and state this categorically. To think that arguably the biggest Chinese Computer company is being bullied by Apple and other Chinese factories and other screen makers is ludicrous IMHO.
There is probably some truth to allowing a larger keyboard but ultimately I believe it all comes down to money and it is cheaper to make 16:9 ratio screens.

It is inconceivable to believe that if Lenovo had the desire to consistently make 16:10 ratios that they couldn't. It all comes down to bean counters I am afraid and I don't believe that Lenovo listen to their fans and give them what they want. The retro surveys are proof enough.

I hope people buy this T470 AE but I am voting with my wallet also until they start listening.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#3 Post by exTPfan » Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:46 am

There is also the problem that only about 1% of purchasers know that a 15 inch 4:3 screen is bigger than a 15.4 inch 16:10 screen, which is bigger than a 15.6 inch 16:9 screen (in area). Also a 13.3 inch 4:3 screen is bigger than a 14 inch 16:9 screen.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#4 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Thu Oct 26, 2017 2:32 pm

They should just measure the screens in sq in instead of diagonal. Diagonals were used in the 1950's when screens were circular(ish), isn't it time for change?
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#5 Post by w0qj » Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:36 am

You are quite correct; lurking in my mind is that the vast majority of younger population has never seen a 16:10 screen in front of them (let alone a 4:3 screen).

So moaning about how the superior 16:10 screen is much better than a 16:9 screen may well be met with a "So what?" response from the younger computer users, who have never seen a 16:10 screen in real life.
Unfortunately, more and more computer users are exclusively using 16:9 screens :(
(And we have not even talked about the superior 4:3 screen yet).

Yikes, we may be betraying our age discussing this! ;)
exTPfan wrote:
Thu Oct 26, 2017 6:46 am
There is also the problem that only about 1% of purchasers know that a 15 inch 4:3 screen is bigger than a 15.4 inch 16:10 screen, which is bigger than a 15.6 inch 16:9 screen (in area). Also a 13.3 inch 4:3 screen is bigger than a 14 inch 16:9 screen.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#6 Post by kony » Fri Oct 27, 2017 4:49 am

I'm hardly old (27), and I've been using both 16:10 and 4:3 in the past, most of my computer life was on 4:3, so assuming few people today remember the 'good olde days' seems odd to me. In fact, I see quite a lot older 4:3 screens around here in most offices, universities and schools. There's only few laptops that use 4:3 screen. My father uses 4:3 too and he's not going to change it to anything else, but he uses desktop. In fact, he has 3 monitors so if one ever fails he's got enough replacements ;)
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#7 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:31 am

Nothing personal, but don't forget that former East Bloc countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania etc. are taking a lot longer to have the finances to use more modern equipment.
You are bound to find a lot of old(er) equipment there, that will also be used a lot longer than in Western Europe.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#8 Post by shawross » Fri Oct 27, 2017 6:19 am

I personally think 4:3 is superior especially for 12 to 13 inch screens but I have probably been brainwashed to accept 16:10 now.

It annoys me though to see Macs using 16:10 but most others still persisting with 16:9.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#9 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 6:31 am

I like 16:10 becase there is no vertical loss compared to a 4:3 resolution. On 16:9, there is a vertical resolution loss which is unacceptable. Going from UXGA to WUXGA, well it is beautiful for vertical resolution and great for photo editing with a 2mp picture right in the middle with room for all the tools.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#10 Post by RealBlackStuff » Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:47 am

All we need to do is convince the movie industry (and the TV manufacturers and the cinemas) to switch to 16:10, then all laptop makers will follow suit! :mrgreen: :jhem:

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#11 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 8:52 am

Samsung 13" Chromebooks have 1280x800 displays. That a step in the right direction.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#12 Post by Ibthink » Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:01 am

The movie format is 21:9, not 16:9. 16:9 is the standard format for TV...

16:9 is standard, because it was standardized for multimedia-notebooks in 2009. Thats why it was first introduced in the 15" class. It was cheaper to make for the screen manufacturers and they didn´t want to have two different standard formats. So 16:10 had to die as well. Since business-customers didn´t boycott 16:9, the PC-manufacturers had little to no leverage to keep 16:10 screens in production.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#13 Post by theterminator93 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 11:48 am

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Fri Oct 27, 2017 6:31 am
I like 16:10 becase there is no vertical loss compared to a 4:3 resolution. On 16:9, there is a vertical resolution loss which is unacceptable. Going from UXGA to WUXGA, well it is beautiful for vertical resolution and great for photo editing with a 2mp picture right in the middle with room for all the tools.
This is a good point, which I find quite possibly the most convincing argument I've heard in favor of 16:10 over 16:9, and even over 4:3 in some situations.

I think the hard part to overcome for many is the fact that the standard for decades was 4:3, and now all of a sudden that's changed. Change is hard to adapt to for many (legitimate) reasons, but it's impossible to stop for just as many.

I agree with just about every point of the review. Thanks. I can say that I get a real-wold battery life of 8-10 hours based on what I'm usually doing. If I'm doing lighter work, 12-14 hours. More strenuous (but not constant or high load, like video encoding or gaming), closer to 4-5.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#14 Post by exTPfan » Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:11 pm

We are not resisting change for the sake of resisting change. I've tried 16x10 and even 16x9 laptops for quite long periods, and can work with them, but I always heave a sigh of relief when I go back to 4x3. Tall screens are simply are better for what I do. When Thinkpads had 4x3 screens, the area of the screen was about 80% (or more) of the area of the laptop. With 16x9, this has become less than 70%. That's not progress.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#15 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:52 pm

exTPfan wrote:
Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:11 pm
We are not resisting change for the sake of resisting change. I've tried 16x10 and even 16x9 laptops for quite long periods, and can work with them, but I always heave a sigh of relief when I go back to 4x3. Tall screens are simply are better for what I do. When Thinkpads had 4x3 screens, the area of the screen was about 80% (or more) of the area of the laptop. With 16x9, this has become less than 70%. That's not progress.
I just powered up my A31 for the first time in a while. Wow 15" of 4x3 is nice!!
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#16 Post by w0qj » Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:15 am

Wow, a 15" 4:3 screen, one would imagine that a mid-sized pizza would almost physically fit onto that cavernous screen!
(no wonder folks used to call the 17" Thinkpads with 4:3 screens a big pizza box).
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I just powered up my A31 for the first time in a while. Wow 15" of 4x3 is nice!!
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#17 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:31 am

AFAIK there never were any 17" 4:3 Thinkpads.
Only some of the A2x, A3x, T4x, R5x, R6x and T60 Series had these 15" 4:3 screens.
And some of the R6x, T6x and Z6x Series also had 15.4" 16:10.
Newer models had 15.6" 16:9.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#18 Post by w0qj » Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:13 am

OK, we stand corrected ;)
RealBlackStuff wrote:
Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:31 am
AFAIK there never were any 17" 4:3 Thinkpads. ...
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#19 Post by shawross » Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:37 am

I have an A30 with a 15 inch screen and it feels like a monster after being on the X220 although the A30 is only XGA.

It would be about pizza box size but weighs a lot more mind you. :)
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#20 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:38 am

Just because there werent any doesnt mean we cant make one....hehehe.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#21 Post by Bibin » Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:08 pm

Of course the thread turned into a [censored] "Well it could be X, I prefer X and they should have made it X" discussion. Do people get off on complaining that a product that isn't identical to a ten year old one was released?

Imagine if they re-released the X6* or T6* lines with modern processors. Nobody would [censored] buy it because it would stand out in the marketplace negatively for the vast majority of consumers. If you're a business and your main goal is to make money and not get [censored], then you sure aren't going to release a machine like that, no matter how nice it would be for the slim <1% of people who would prefer it that way. I like the T60 for its strong points, but the chassis was a flexy piece of [censored], the weight unreasonably high, the battery life terrible, and the backlight dark (even on a NOS panel). The X61 had a 50Hz native TN panel screen and ran too hot and had an extremely variable keyboard lottery.

I hate when people say lazy umbrella phrases like "get with the times", and I'll never pretend that 16:9 is a positive direction, but if what you wanted is a tweaked re-release then go buy an X62 and have fun with all of the mechanical design quirks the X60/X61 series were faced with. The TP25 keyboard takes a [censored] on both X61 keyboard variants, and that change is purely positive for me.

I see [censored] complaining about the trackpad buttons on the TP25 not being present. If you are buying a ThinkPad and using the trackpad and not the trackpoint, then I don't think anybody can help you.

If you're unable to look at the fact that the ThinkPads of the past have all had compromises somewhere in the product, then you're not in a good position to judge a new one. No manufacturer has ever made a computer that has every exact thing the "fans" want, let alone the rabid foaming-at-the-mouth pile of grumpy forum users who will never agree.

Just a reminder that IBM never turned a profit on the ThinkPad line.

And [censored] "[censored]". Censorship like that is for preventing little kids from picking up bad words and habits, it doesn't hide the tone or irritation in the profanity it's covering up. I think the average age of this board is well above 30.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#22 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:11 pm

While part of your point I absolutely agree with, there are parts I don't.

We can ALL agree on the following:

Why didn't it have options for specs. That isn't something that is 10 years old, or something Lenovo doesn't already do, even on their dirt cheap machines.
For 1899$, why doesn't it have WQHD. I won't complain about the aspect ratio, just the fact that I buy the MUCH higher end X1 Carbon with an i7 and WQHD for less than 1800$. The base price of the T470 is 400$ lower than the X1C.
Sorry, but how hard is it to show consumers what you are working on. This was like playing a game of peek-a-boo with a toddler.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#23 Post by TPFanatic » Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:51 pm

But the classic keyboard yo.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#24 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:01 pm

TPFanatic wrote:
Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:51 pm
But the classic keyboard yo.
Something that 51NB has, and the LCD with all of de' pixels in a nice square form factor!!!
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#25 Post by ajkula66 » Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:22 pm

Bibin wrote:
Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:08 pm
Of course the thread turned into a [censored] "Well it could be X, I prefer X and they should have made it X" discussion. Do people get off on complaining that a product that isn't identical to a ten year old one was released?
You've been both a valued and valuable member of this forum for quite a few years now. Did you really expect something else?

I, for one, am thankful to you for a candid review of the T25.
Imagine if they re-released the X6* or T6* lines with modern processors. Nobody would [censored] buy it because it would stand out in the marketplace negatively for the vast majority of consumers.
This is one point where our opinions differ.

If this were a "regular" production ThinkPad, I'd agree with you 10001%. For a 5K limited run, Lenovo could've gotten away with a re-vamped T60 sporting an Ivy Bridge architecture, and at a higher price.
If you are buying a ThinkPad and using the trackpad and not the trackpoint, then I don't think anybody can help you.
ROTFLMAO
If you're unable to look at the fact that the ThinkPads of the past have all had compromises somewhere in the product, then you're not in a good position to judge a new one.
No argument from me on that point.

What matters is where the compromises are being made, and everyone has a right to their own view of what is acceptable, or not.
Last edited by ajkula66 on Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#26 Post by dr_st » Wed Nov 01, 2017 1:24 pm

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Tue Oct 31, 2017 6:11 pm
just the fact that I buy the MUCH higher end X1 Carbon with an i7 and WQHD for less than 1800$.
Really? Full specs, and where you bought it / can buy it now for this price, please. Also, how much of the price is cashbacks / coupons, etc?
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#27 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Nov 01, 2017 4:06 pm

I went on their site and looked at the mpst expensive option for the X1C. Currently, it has some 'web-sales' of 542$ but I don't totally buy this because every product has it nearly year round.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#28 Post by dr_st » Wed Nov 01, 2017 5:23 pm

Yep, but does a newly release product immediately get this discount? I'd say no, and it's possible it will get it in the future.

The price of the Thinkpad 25 sits well in between the "normal" and the "sale" price for the X1 Carbon.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#29 Post by xsixt » Wed Nov 01, 2017 11:23 pm

w0qj wrote:
Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:36 am
You are quite correct; lurking in my mind is that the vast majority of younger population has never seen a 16:10 screen in front of them (let alone a 4:3 screen).

So moaning about how the superior 16:10 screen is much better than a 16:9 screen may well be met with a "So what?" response from the younger computer users, who have never seen a 16:10 screen in real life.
Unfortunately, more and more computer users are exclusively using 16:9 screens :(
(And we have not even talked about the superior 4:3 screen yet).
I realise it's a complex issue - but on that point - True, but isn't the the responsibility for older or experienced people to educate those that lack knowledge?

Not to preach, but to actually educate. Google topics like 4:3 vs 16:9 vs 16:10 and you find almost nothing. People need to start teaching their coworkers, friends etc., "hey look at your stupid useless widescreen - they're only useful for gaming". Whip out your T60 (or 3:2 surface for that matter) and show them what it's like to use a proper screen.

I am also surprised there hasn't been any sort of movement by universities or engineering departments to push for better aspect ratios. I always hear the excuse it's panel manufacturers driving supply - but the buck literally stops with the consumer.
T60p 15" UXGA T7600 | T61p 15.4" WUXGA T9500 |
Former: X61 T8300 [Slow GPU] | W510 FHD QM [Top screen but 16:9 sucks] | T420s [Portable but worst LCD ever] | X201 | X200 | X60T [Slow & hot]

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Re: My ThinkPad T25 review

#30 Post by Bibin » Thu Nov 02, 2017 5:35 pm

xsixt wrote:
Wed Nov 01, 2017 11:23 pm
Not to preach, but to actually educate. Google topics like 4:3 vs 16:9 vs 16:10 and you find almost nothing. People need to start teaching their coworkers, friends etc., "hey look at your stupid useless widescreen - they're only useful for gaming". Whip out your T60 (or 3:2 surface for that matter) and show them what it's like to use a proper screen.
When I was a loser teenager in high school, this is the attitude I had towards this kind of thing. Imagine if someone was so pushy about something you've never given a second thought to like that. Your reaction will be to turn away entirely. Whipping out the T60 (as I liked to do, with a foolish child attitude in High School) the reaction is "why's it so dim? the screen is yellow? the resolution is quite low". While I am keen on solving the first two issues with things like the great CRI LED replacement backlight kits, and do not mind a lower display density in order to enjoy the things I like more about 4:3, other people do not feel this way. They may come to the same conclusion as you, but it's a thought they must arrive to on their own, and the best you can do is provide information that will help them understand your viewpoint. Twisting people's arms and being pushy is only going to make someone dislike it even more; that kind of argument is the backbone of 2017 political conversion and it's not pleasant.

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