[Tfug] Laptop choices (IBM/Lenovo)

[JD Rogers]

> You realize you can't buy IBM laptops any more, right?  They're now Lenovo, and
> we can only hope that Lenovo continues the IBM tradition of endless online
> support.

Well, you can still buy IBM laptops from lenovo (a t43 is still a very
good machine). You can also buy lenovo laptops from lenovo (the new z
series thinkpads and cheap 3000 series non-thinkpads were introduced
after the business was taken over by lenovo).

A few months ago, I would have said that I thought the change to
lenovo was insignificant with regard to quality, and just a way for
IBM to enter the enormous Chinese market. The lenovo headquarters was
moved to NY and the lenovo/thinkpad website is still hosted on IBM
servers, so there is a pretty tight relationship. However, it seems
that lenovo is laying people off and moving the headquarters to
Raleigh, NC now. I don't know if that's significant, but the lenovo
thinkpads website is still hosted on an ibm server. Just go to
lenovo.com and click on thinkpads.

The only new T series thinkpad under lenovo is the t60 which looks to
be a t43 with an intel duo CPU. In any case, I think the quality
design and construction of thinkpads is still there for now. Wether
service and support remain what they were is more questionable, but
the warranties offered still look the same.
JDR