Another Thinkpad gem from IBM
Written: Sep 17 '02
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Pros: Loaded with features, speedy performance
Cons: Keyboard light is fairly useless, no IEEE 1394 (firewire) port, config software could use work
The Bottom Line: Best laptop on the market! Has everything but the kitchen sink (and IEEE 1394). A bit on the pricey side, but well worth it!
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| barkmanb's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad T30 2366 (2366G1U) PC Notebook |
This is my fourth IBM Thinkpad! I've gone from my first Pentium laptop (760 series) to a PentiumII 600X series, next to a PentiumIII T20, and now finally to a Pentium4M T30. All of the T30's predecessors that I've owned have been excellent machines and have been continually improving, so I have some high expectations for this new laptop.
Here's the particular configuration I ordered:
IBM Thinkpad T30
Pentium4M 1.8GHz
1GB RAM (max is 1GB)
40GB ATA100 hard drive
DVD/CD-RW drive
Embedded 802.11b wireless networking
Embedded bluetooth wireless
Let's start with the exterior, since that's the first thing everyone is going to be envious of when they see your shiny new laptop... The T30 follows in the same tradition as the previous Thinkpads. It has a black matte finish case which is simply stylish and business-like. It's not as flashy as some of those metal finish cases, but I prefer the formal "tuxedo" appearance of the Thinkpads. It's shows that it is in a class all its own.
The top cover has two front clasps (as have the previous Thinkpads). Good thing IBM isn't like Microsoft and change where everything is located every time they have a new release. (Since this is a Thinkpad review I won't even get started on all of the "improvements" Microsoft makes by moving everything around on their interface.)
Opening the lid reveals a familiar face, but this time with a minor facelift. The keyboard now has a few more color-coded keys (including a blue enter key), but the biggest change is in the pointer device. The traditional Thinkpad "red joystick" is still there (and definitely my preferred pointing device), but IBM has also included a touchpad for those touchpad lovers out there! (more on this in a minute). The rest of the layout is pretty standard Thinkpad. The power button and status icons are located at the top edge of the keyboard, along with volume control buttons as well (very handy when you want to mute the speakers quickly).
On the right hand side is removable drive bay. My particular model has the DVD/CD-RW drive, but could have a floppy or any of the other devices IBM offers. I found that I never use a floppy on the laptop, so luckily I didn't get another one. (In fact the one for my T20 is still in the protective wrapping.)
On the left hand side of the unit are the PC Card expansion slots (2 Type II or 1 Type III PC Card), headphone and mic connectors, and the fan outlet. The back of the unit has almost every connector available (except IEEE 1394): video out, serial, parallel, 2 USB, RJ11, RJ45, and S-Video.
Now time to fire this thing up...My T30 has WinXP Pro installed. It boots up very quickly. MUCH faster than my T20. I used to turn the T20 on and go grab a cup of coffee. Now I can turn it on and don't have time to get that coffee (which may be a bad thing). :) As in my previous Thinkpads, the screen is very bright and crisp. One new feature I like very much with this laptop is the ability to do a dual-monitor setup. All you need is a monitor plugged into the display output (and changing a few settings in the display setup)! It's great because I can have my email on one screen and my work on another. I personally find it to be one of best features of the laptop.
The new keyboard on the T30 has a "clickier" (more tactile) feel to it than my T20 did. I actually like this one better as the T20 felt a little on the mushy side. Now I get good tactile feedback when I hit a key.
Now for the Touchpad...This laptop has both the joystick and touchpad for pointing devices. You can use one, the other, or both. Since I greatly prefer the joystick for pointing, I set the touchpad up to be a "scroll wheel". I can use my finger to move the cursor with the joystick and my thumb to scroll on the touchpad. Pretty useful feature! Those of you that prefer the touchpad will laud IBM for including it on the Thinkpads finally.
As far as performance, this system simply screams in comparison to my T20. Everything I've thrown at it has performed very well. It's never felt sluggish, nor has it bogged down like the T20 would. Anything that decreases the amount of time I have to stare at that hourglass is always welcome! The hard drive is also a definite improvement. It is quite a bit faster than my previous devices and is almost certainly one of the reasons the performance of this machine is excellent.
The DVD/CD-RW combo drive works very well and I haven't any problems with it. The 8X write speed is a bit on the slow side (at least compared with my 32X unit on my desktop system), but entirely adequate for my usage.
Probably my biggest complaint is the IBM Thinkpad software configuration interface. This is the IBM specific interface to control some of the configuration options of the laptop. Most of the general Thinkpad configuration is pretty straightforward. (It should be considering it's been tweaked over the years.) However, some of the new functions are a little tricky to find. For instance, if you set your desktop display to a low resolution (like 1024x768), your display won't fill the LCD display. There is an option to turn this on, but it takes a couple of menus to find and then it's not entirely obvious what it does. A savvy user will figure it out, but novice users may have some trouble finding some of the advanced features. Other than that I have no real complaints about the Thinkpad T30.
Oh, one nit-picky thing I almost forgot...there's one feature missing that used to be on my T20. On my T20 there was a little hole on the bottom side near the front of the unit. It was just the right size to fit my finger in to lift the whole laptop out of my carrying case. In fact, you could carry the laptop with just that little finger grip (though I certainly wouldn't recommend it). The T30 doesn't have a whole in that same location (or anywhere else convenient) to perform the same function. It's a small gripe, but I really got used to lifting/carrying my T20 that way, so I do miss that. I will, however, forgive IBM considering the vastly improved performance of the T30 vs. my old T20.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3000
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
barkmanb
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Location: South Carolina
Reviews written: 3
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