About quality/rigidity

[jbrown]

I'll probably buy a ThinkPad T60 in the next months...

Like you know, ThinkPads are hard to find in store to touch them and see them. The other day, I found a store where they had a R51e. I examined it in detail, opening/closing the lid, pressing on it,etc. to have an idea of what a T60 could be like...

I'd like to know if the T60 is similar to the R51e I saw in term of quality/rigidity? If better, what are the differences?

thanks a lot

[Kyocera]

I have an R52, and there is ever so slightly more flex in the LCD cover, like pressing on the back will cause a slight wave effect. I would hesitate to grab the R52 by a corner and pick it up one handed, the t60 does not have this flex type feeling anywhere.

Both machines are 14" models. I am not slamming my R52 as I love it and use it exclusively at work and I am constantly in and out of customers offices plopping it down wherever and plugging in to their network to troubleshoot. The outer finish is of course not the rubberized, but i don't find that a huge issue, it is just smooth plastic.

All the buttons, on both machines are solid no jiggling, nothing loose feeling.

[nxman]

The T60 exceeds any other notebook in terms of stiffness and quality of built.

[pianowizard]

The T60 exceeds any other notebook in terms of stiffness and quality of built.

May I ask what "other notebooks" you're comparing the T60 with?

[Rwang]

T60 should good quality judging from my current T40. I am still waiting for my T60p to arrive. My old X31 had excellent quality. The new X60 I saw at Best Buy is unfortunately a step down in quality. The LCD screen flexes when you push the middle bottom, and I could get the bezel on the sides to move outward to expose more LCD screen. very troubling. I hope it's an isolated instance from the abuse of BB's customers. In any case, the LCD cover seems a bit thin and not rigid. And the X60's keyboard feels a bit mushier than what I used to get on X31. Thogh the x60's keyboard is still better than the HP's dv6??? and compaq's v3??? next to it. All in all, I would not buy a X60; it is light and slim, but somehow a bit flimsy.

[pianowizard]

I hope it's an isolated instance from the abuse of BB's customers. In any case, the LCD cover seems a bit thin and not rigid.

Customer abuse is very likely part of it. Another thing is, are you sure it was an X60 rather than X60s? If it was actually an X60s, then it could have the ultralight LCD, which is thinner (and thus lighter) but is also supposed to flex a little more than the non-ultralight version. My non-ultralight X60s' LCD cover is very rigid.

[ichkriegediekriese]

Hi!
I recently held the new Acer 8204Wlmi and one of Samsungs new NB in my hands.
Both are very rigid and have no loose parts. They dont crack squeak or do any strange noises when you lift them holding only one end.
So you could say they are really good quality.
The keyboard and touchpads seemed fine also.
The only weakness I can think of is the LCD cover from the back, when you press hard on it you can see that it touches the LCD screen - I couldnt reproduce that on m T60.
Overall I would say that the Lenovo T60 are slightly better build when you take a very, very close look. But the difference ist not very huge in terms of build quality.
Where I see the most difference is the support area, I do not know of any NB manufactor that lets user download a service guide (HMM) which schows the user how replace pretty much everything and where the supports actually sends parts to the user for self-replacement.
greetz

[Rwang]

I hope it's an isolated instance from the abuse of BB's customers. In any case, the LCD cover seems a bit thin and not rigid.

Customer abuse is very likely part of it. Another thing is, are you sure it was an X60 rather than X60s? If it was actually an X60s, then it could have the ultralight LCD, which is thinner (and thus lighter) but is also supposed to flex a little more than the non-ultralight version. My non-ultralight X60s' LCD cover is very rigid.

Yes, it was a x60. the label says so. and the base is not rotatable.

[pianowizard]

Where I see the most difference is the support area, I do not know of any NB manufactor that lets user download a service guide (HMM) which schows the user how replace pretty much everything and where the supports actually sends parts to the user for self-replacement.
greetz

Dell has HMM's on their site and sometimes sends parts to their customers.

[tomh009]

And the X60's keyboard feels a bit mushier than what I used to get on X31.

All depends on the keyboard supplier for that particular ThinkPad ... X31s, as a rule, had good keyboards, though.

[nxman]

The T60 exceeds any other notebook in terms of stiffness and quality of built.

May I ask what "other notebooks" you're comparing the T60 with?

HP & DELL ACER etc...

[RUSH2112]

All in all, I would not buy a X60; it is light and slim, but somehow a bit flimsy.

I couldn't disagree more. I have an X60s, and it is the most solid machine I've ever used. It has virtually no body flex at all, and I wouldn't even go near calling it "flimsy."

The keyboard is the best I've used since the X20.

[jbrown]

I have another question: if we consider that the 15" T60 could be *a bit* less solid than the 14" T60 because of its size, is the 15" T60 still more solid than the 14" R60?

In other words: is it the size that is the most important or the materials used if we compare 14" and 15" R60 vs 14" and 15" T60 in term of solidity?

thanks

[brikeh]

I am suuuuper impressed with my T60, coming from a Macbook Pro. I felt that Apple has really gone downhill lately in terms of quality, Ive had seven repairs, returns in less then two years. My T60 feels very sturdy and nice....