Last ThinkPad made in the US?

[sysiphus]

I just received a shockingly new-looking R51 in the mail (aside from scratches on outer upper lid, this thing looks all but new; brand new keyboard, perfect Flexview 15" screen, no shine on touchpad, etc etc...)

Anwyays, I'm thrilled about the machine, but my question was really this--I noticed that it says it was assembled in the USA with US and foreign parts--I hadn't realized there were models this new still made here. Did the last of the US production end with the T4x/R5x series?

[ajkula66]

That R51 is more of an exception than a rule...

I've owned an U.S. built T60p and that's the only one I've ever seen or heard of. I have seen a couple of R60s which had the same tag.

The vast majority of ThinkPads was built in Mexico from around 1999-2003, when the production was moved to China. This holds true for U.S. market only, other markets had different - although similar - timings and production schedules.

BTW, the T43p in my signature has the same tag as your R51.

Most of these U.S. assembled machines have a government or telco origin. Government ones usually don't have a wireless card installed.

My experiences only.

[sysiphus]

Thanks for the info, George! Given that my US-built R51 has B/G wireless, I'm guessing it's not a government machine, then. Interestingly enough, the build quality is fantastic on this machine--far better than the T60p.

[ajkula66]

You may want to run its serial against Lenovo's website.

If it comes back as "Lenovo's internal asset" or with no information at all, the machine likely belonged to IBM/Lenovo themselves, they had a ton of U.S. built units, some of them extremely interesting...

Should it come back with a more "standard" warranty info, it's likely an ex-telco ThinkPad...

[sysiphus]

The warranty site has no info; perhaps it was indeed an internal-use machine. Regardless, I'm greatly enjoying it!

[rleo25]

T60 made in the USA? I doubt it, T60 were manufactured for Lenovo and probably they were made in some China´s factory, could you post a picture of the base plate? Very strange indeed.

[ajkula66]

rleo wrote:

T60 made in the USA? I doubt it, T60 were manufactured for Lenovo and probably they were made in some China´s factory, could you post a picture of the base plate? Very strange indeed.

The machine I was referring to was sold to a forum member in Europe. If he's still around he might chime in. It was a testbed unit used in NC.

My FS post should still be in there somewhere, but I really have no urge to look for it. It's from about two years ago.

BTW, I own two T43p units dated more than a year after Lenovo had bought the brand, both built in the U.S. Both of them originally had Lenovo logo on front clear plate as well.

I've also owned both T42 and T43 series machines with ThinkPad logos instead of more common IBM one. Some of them were sold on this very forum.

Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Some of us get to see more machines than the rest of the folks, just like many people have owned more cars/guitars/radio stations than either of us.

[ThinkRob]

I can confirm what George is saying, at least to some extent. While I haven't seen the machine to which he's referring, I do know (through various local connections) that there were engineering sample/pre-production demo units produced in North Carolina *well* after the transition took place. There weren't (to my knowledge) any large production runs or proper assembly lines, but there were machines produced here all the same. This may still be the case, but since I don't really know any current Lenovo employees I can't comment.

The same goes for some of IBM's more unique x86 hardware, BTW. Even after the PC division was sold and transitioned, some government contracts for what were basically mildly-specialized x86 boxes were filled with US-produced units. I don't believe that's the case any more (I'm not sure whether System x and IBM POS systems are assembled in the US), but I've been told it was c. 2005.

[Puppy]

My R51 (1829-L7G) is made in China.