Older IBM Thinkpad

B

BinaryCleric

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
193
I may be picking up a laptop for school work/programming/Linux Development. I was wondering if any of the refurb IBM Thinkpad laptops from Tigerdirect would be alright. Has IBM always had such high quality laptops even in their older Pentium 4 M models?
 
The T30 P4M I have is great, just like a R40 series and it has a built in keyboard light... I wish I could keep it its awsome.
 
I'd stay away from the A series machines. In general, the T and R series are nice machines.
 
My T23 has been through hell, and withstood everything i have thrown at it.

i would recomend a T23 over a T30. better battery life with very similar performance for the win!
 
I have used a R40 and a T30 I would like to try a T23 but I will steer clear of a A series for now lol
 
Cross said:
I have used a R40 and a T30 I would like to try a T23 but I will steer clear of a A series for now lol
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i looked at your sale, my 23 also looks a bit slimmer, but that could be because mine is a 14" model instead of a 15"
 
do u have pics of ur t23 lol I wanna see it and the specs to lol, completely off topic but I wanna see ^-^
 
yeah sure, lemmie whip out the camera right quick. specs are as follows:

1.2ghz p3-m
1gb PC133
60GB 7k2
14.1" XGA (thinking about putting an SXGA+ in)
S3 supersavage (discrete 16mb)
DVD-ROM \ Ultrabay2000 Battery \ Floppy drive
Modem/Intel 10/100
Internal WIFI (did that one meself :p)

5.5hr battery life :D ill get pics up in a sec

edit: pics!
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to the OP: this is seriously a great notebook. i use it for taking notes in class and pretty much doing all my homework. i would highly suggest looking into one if youre on the market for an older thinkpad.
 
Whats your budget? I'm the laptop tech for a refurbishing company and just finished testing a bunch of nice A, T, and R series P3 and P4 mobile Thinkpads and might be able to hook you up with a good deal.
 
ack lack of track pad blah hate eraser. But is that a keyboard lighti see in the top left like my T30 has?

Def thinner though
 
T23's and T30's are BOTH great laptops. I have one of each. The T23 is my carry around workhorse that I drag with me every to sites, and the T-30 is my wife's everyday pc, with a dock.

The T30 is noticeably faster than the T23, and the graphics card is a Radeon 7500, which is a big inprovement over the T23, which I think is S3 based. It really shows up editing photos, etc. But for general use, either one is a great machine.

I pretty much only recommend IBM laptops to my clients, and the T series when they'll spend the extra $$ over an R series. I've found them to much more reliable than other brands.

Cross said:
lack lack of track pad blah hate eraser.
Click to expand...

I used to think that too. Had 3 Dells with touchpads, and thought they were the greatest things since chopped nuts. But IBM was pretty smart when they designed these. Once you get used to a Trackpoint, you'll never want a touchpad again. The biggest advantage is your hands never leave the keyboard. If you type and maneuver around while doing it a lot, you'll appreciate it. On the newer units with both, I never use the touchpad anymore, and wonder how I ever tolerated them.
 
twwabw said:
I used to think that too. Had 3 Dells with touchpads, and thought they were the greatest things since chopped nuts. But IBM was pretty smart when they designed these. Once you get used to a Trackpoint, you'll never want a touchpad again. The biggest advantage is your hands never leave the keyboard. If you type and maneuver around while doing it a lot, you'll appreciate it. On the newer units with both, I never use the touchpad anymore, and wonder how I ever tolerated them.
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yup.

the graphics card is a Radeon 7500, which is a big inprovement over the T23, which I think is S3 based. It really shows up editing photos, etc. But for general use, either one is a great machine.
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i do agree with this. one of the main reasons im getting a new laptop in a few months is cuase the T23 will chug when there is lots of images/animations on the screen.
ack lack of track pad blah hate eraser. But is that a keyboard lighti see in the top left like my T30 has?
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yes. it has the thinklight :)
 
I tried making my self us the track pad on many of the laptops I have had and the way i type it just does not work for me, lol.

My left hands pinky holds the edge of the computer as I type for some reason... I have always been that way and since I do not type properly I guess would be the best wording I never noticed working with the eraser in that light.

That and my first laptops were PowerBooks (5300CS and then a 5300C then up to a Wallstreet G3 and so on) I never had the choice to get used to them until well after I was used to the track pad.
 
Thanks guys, this really helps. How is there Linux Compatability? Also I am really liking the T30 model, is there any way I can get internal Wi-Fi with this?
 
BinaryCleric said:
Thanks guys, this really helps. How is there Linux Compatability? Also I am really liking the T30 model, is there any way I can get internal Wi-Fi with this?
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for the money of a T30 on ebay, you could get a T40... and i would higly recomend that...
 
tdg said:
Whats your budget? I'm the laptop tech for a refurbishing company and just finished testing a bunch of nice A, T, and R series P3 and P4 mobile Thinkpads and might be able to hook you up with a good deal.
Click to expand...

Is this an open offer? :p :D
 
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