IBM Thinkpad T30 P4M-1.8G 40GB 256MB

Rating:
Summary: Nice little computer
Review: This computer is quite functional and relatively reliable. I've been giving my T30 heavy use for 3 months, and have had very few problems. I have yet to see the blue screen of death, although once or twice the power has blinked off unexpectedly while I was typing. On average, I keep about 8-10 windows open at once- -sometimes as many as 16, including Flash, Photoshop, several browser windows, and a few MS Office windows all running under Win2000, and I haven't run into any memory problems or conflicts. I usually hibernate instead of shutting down, and I only have to restart due to crashes or instability about once a week, which is a lot better than my record with other laptops. The screen is bright and clear, without any dead pixels. The battery hasn't shown any significant decrease in length of time between charges during the 3 months that I have used the machine.

In general, I find this computer quite comparable in speed and performance to the Dell Latitude that I used last year. However, I really appreciate the extra memory on this machine since I often exceeded the capacity of the memory on the Dell, and the Dell frequently crashed (3 or more times an hour) when I tried to run Flash and Photoshop simultaneously while writing a 10 Mg file in Word. Both this computer and the Dell offer both a touch pad and a track point. With the Dell, I had to disable the touch pad because I kept hitting it while I typed. However, I haven't had any problems with the touch pad on the T30- -I don't use it, but it doesn't get in the way, so I haven't had to disable it. The Dell lacked a built in microphone, while the T30 has one.

Before trying the T30, I used an IBM ThinkPad 600 for 3 years. One of the problems with the 600 was that the paint on the metal bezel where your palms rest peeled off within 6 months. I had to get my bezel replaced several times under warranty, and so did most of the other people that I know who used the machine. On the T30, the painted metal bezel has been replaced with solid plastic, so there's no peeling problem. One feature that I miss from the 600 was the ability to plug in the floppy as an external drive- -with the T30 you can only use one drive at a time, either the DVD drive or the floppy, since they can only be installed internally. Another step backwards is the location of the modem and network connectors. On the 600, the modem connector was on the side, and a network card could be inserted in the PC slot on the other side. On the T30, both of these connectors are on the back of the computer, which is a real pain, since you are likely to have to plug and unplug these wires while you work, and that requires either shutting the lid or standing up in order to find the ports. The position of the built in microphone, on the other hand, is better on the T30, since it is on the bezel just below the keyboard instead of in the hinges- -no more having to shout at the hinges when trying to talk on the Internet! Conveniently, the battery charger on the T30 and 600 seem to be interchangeable.

Rating:
Summary: Nice little computer
Review: This computer is quite functional and relatively reliable. I've been giving my T30 heavy use for 3 months, and have had very few problems. I have yet to see the blue screen of death, although once or twice the power has blinked off unexpectedly while I was typing. On average, I keep about 8-10 windows open at once- -sometimes as many as 16, including Flash, Photoshop, several browser windows, and a few MS Office windows all running under Win2000, and I haven't run into any memory problems or conflicts. I usually hibernate instead of shutting down, and I only have to restart due to crashes or instability about once a week, which is a lot better than my record with other laptops. The screen is bright and clear, without any dead pixels. The battery hasn't shown any significant decrease in length of time between charges during the 3 months that I have used the machine.

In general, I find this computer quite comparable in speed and performance to the Dell Latitude that I used last year. However, I really appreciate the extra memory on this machine since I often exceeded the capacity of the memory on the Dell, and the Dell frequently crashed (3 or more times an hour) when I tried to run Flash and Photoshop simultaneously while writing a 10 Mg file in Word. Both this computer and the Dell offer both a touch pad and a track point. With the Dell, I had to disable the touch pad because I kept hitting it while I typed. However, I haven't had any problems with the touch pad on the T30- -I don't use it, but it doesn't get in the way, so I haven't had to disable it. The Dell lacked a built in microphone, while the T30 has one.

Before trying the T30, I used an IBM ThinkPad 600 for 3 years. One of the problems with the 600 was that the paint on the metal bezel where your palms rest peeled off within 6 months. I had to get my bezel replaced several times under warranty, and so did most of the other people that I know who used the machine. On the T30, the painted metal bezel has been replaced with solid plastic, so there's no peeling problem. One feature that I miss from the 600 was the ability to plug in the floppy as an external drive- -with the T30 you can only use one drive at a time, either the DVD drive or the floppy, since they can only be installed internally. Another step backwards is the location of the modem and network connectors. On the 600, the modem connector was on the side, and a network card could be inserted in the PC slot on the other side. On the T30, both of these connectors are on the back of the computer, which is a real pain, since you are likely to have to plug and unplug these wires while you work, and that requires either shutting the lid or standing up in order to find the ports. The position of the built in microphone, on the other hand, is better on the T30, since it is on the bezel just below the keyboard instead of in the hinges- -no more having to shout at the hinges when trying to talk on the Internet! Conveniently, the battery charger on the T30 and 600 seem to be interchangeable.