R31? It would be my first IBM notebook

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rlkleijn · #1 Post by **rlkleijn** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:53 am

I have the possibility to buy a Thinkpad R31, second hand.
A few weeks ago I had to buy a notebook very quickly as my brand new desktop had to go back for repair, the ASUS motherboard had failed. As I was told that it may take weeks before seeing it back again I bought an old Fujitsu, for the Japanese market only, so no support.
If only I had noticed the other shop closer to my home then I would have bought the Thinkpad.

As I can still do so, he has got several, I looked on the internet and came across this forum.

Seeing the amount of support I have decided to go ahead with buying the R31. One question, I noticed there can be issues with the wifi. I do not know if that machine I wish to buy has got one, to avoid opening up the case, can I install a PCMCIA wifi card for ease of installation?

PS I enjoy reading all the articles. I used to own an IBM desktop and got the matching monitor keyboard and mouse through ebay.
My computer career started working on medium sized IBM systems like the system 32 and 34.

#2 Post by **underclocker** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:21 am

Welcome to the forum! Yes, you can install a PCMCIA wifi card very easily in the PC Card slot.

You could also install an internal one with antennas under the the keyboard or behind the screen if you'd like, but that will take some work.

If available and affordable, I'd recommend an R50 or R51, since they are modern computers with Pentium M CPU's, internal wifi antennas, USB 2.0 and long battery life.

rlkleijn · #3 Post by **rlkleijn** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 7:44 am

Thanks, however, I haven't seen those yet, and reading most of the topics, the R31 isn't mentioned much as having major problems.
I certainly would not want a Lenovo Thinkpad, but a real IBM one.
There have been too many posts on other sites about the drop in standards, not very fast but noticable anyway.
After all, a Lenovo is NOT an IBM.
When I had my desktop (had to sell it as I couldn't take it to Thailand with me), I was very happy with its performance, though it had only an pentium 3 in side, but I increased the memory and put a 80GByte HD inside, plus a DVD burner.

So the vendopr has got a few R31s lying around, when I have the cash I would want to see them work first, and a decent battery and charger. Don't know if it does have internal wifi. I do not need it right away because even with my present notebook I hook it up to the router with a network cable. It has got 4 ports. The router isn't a wifi version anyway.
If I go further afield I could get a T41, however, it costs a lot more. The R31 is 7,900 Thai Baht, the T41 is 15.999 Baht. About twice the price.

goofyGAguy · #4 Post by **goofyGAguy** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:02 am

rlkleijn wrote: I certainly would not want a Lenovo Thinkpad, but a real IBM one.

An R5x is a real ThinkPad, and a rock-solid one at that.

rlkleijn · #5 Post by **rlkleijn** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:54 am

Okay, I will look into that. I have seen them mentioned quite a lot though with plenty of problems attached to them. On the other hand, I'd rather have a Thinkpad with problems than any other laptop/notebook. Considering the amount of support that exists for these notebooks.

Just hoping that Lenovo will not change the webpages the support and and downlaods with drivers etc. It has been one of the outstanding successes of IBM that you can get your hardware recognised online, and thus get the appropriate drivers and BIOS updates.

Thanks for the info. It isn't easst to tell which is a real IBM Thinkpad and which is a Lenovo hybrid.

rlkleijn · #6 Post by **rlkleijn** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:56 am

Okay, I will look into that.

I have seen them mentioned quite a lot though with plenty of problems attached to them. On the other hand, I'd rather have a Thinkpad with problems than any other laptop/notebook. Considering the amount of support that exists for these notebooks.

Just hoping that Lenovo will not change the webpages the support and and downlaods with drivers etc. It has been one of the outstanding successes of IBM that you can get your hardware recognised online, and thus get the appropriate drivers and BIOS updates.

Thanks for the info. It isn't easst to tell which is a real IBM Thinkpad and which is a Lenovo hybrid.

pianowizard · #7 Post by **pianowizard** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:02 am

rlkleijn wrote:the R31 isn't mentioned much as having major problems.

rlkleijn wrote:I have seen them [R5*] mentioned quite a lot though with plenty of problems attached to them.

That's because far more people own or have owned the R5* than the R31.

BTW, Thinkpad quality improved, not declined, after Lenovo took over. A friend of mine just bought an R61 (Lenovo) and its build quality is miles better than both of my R50p's (IBM). The same is true for the T series: the last few T-series models made by IBM, namely the T4*, had many serious problems. I often wonder whether these problems contributed to IBM's selling their PC division to Lenovo. For the X series, the IBM-made ones were already very good so the difference isn't as obvious.

ajkula66 · #8 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 1:30 pm

If you want a real ThinkPad, you don't want R30/31/32/40/40e since these were contracted out and not made by IBM.

Build quality is way inferior when compared to other ThinkPads of the same era. Take it from someone who has owned more ThinkPads than 90% people on this forum, and never owned anything but a ThinkPad.

Good luck.

rlkleijn · #9 Post by **rlkleijn** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:21 pm

This made me think now, which Thinkpads are IBM Thinkpads then?
IBM always stood for quality, hence I prefer not to have some outsourced model, but one 100% IBM.

In the distant past I owned a notebook by a small company, time computers. Though not IBM, it was quite good, despite having an AMD K6 it could happily run windows XP as it had a fair sized HD (40MByte and 128 MByte RAM).

The one I've got now is a second had fujitsu made for the Japanese market only, hence I cannot find a manual, and no idea where the RAM sits. It has only got 64MByte of RAM and a 20 gig HD.

Okay it is working, however, I like the support system IBM has got to get the appropriate drivers for the specific system you've got. That is why I would like to get an IBM Thinkpad this time.
The one I spotted was only $251.16 US $ that is. Another, a T41, was $476.86 quite a lot more.

goofyGAguy · #10 Post by **goofyGAguy** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:52 pm

Wow, that's way overpriced for a T41 IMO.

ajkula66 · #11 Post by **ajkula66** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 9:01 pm

Look at OP's location...what does any of us know about prices in Thailand?????

The contracted out models were I series and R series prior to R5x. The last "real" IBM models are T42 and T43.

Are there any other models being offered where you are?

pianowizard · #12 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:48 am

rlkleijn wrote:The one I spotted was only $251.16 US $ that is. Another, a T41, was $476.86 quite a lot more.

If these are the only models this local store has, you should try getting something nicer online. Like George said, the R31 wasn't even made by IBM. The T41 was IBM-made, but it's one of their most problemmatic Thinkpads; they had a high failure rate even when they were new, and now, at 4 to 5 years of age, they are dropping like flies. Find a good Thinkpad either on eBay or the Marketplace of this forum.

sjthinkpader · #13 Post by **sjthinkpader** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:52 am

ajkula66 wrote:...

The contracted out models were I series and R series prior to R5x. The last "real" IBM models are T42 and T43.
...

G Series and X20-23 too.

ajkula66 · #14 Post by **ajkula66** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:30 pm

Absolutely...I just mean chronologically...great machines, one and all...