Looking for a Solid Laptop.

ioky · 2008-09-19 20:02:33

I know this question have been Ask like over Million time. But as Time go by, thing change. (maybe just a little bit):D

I am looking for a Laptop that is Solid and Great Quality Built. It is okay that the laptop's ability is not bleeding edge. There are many Machine in the market with a lot of great looking feature, however, the quality of the machine are relatively bad. The Laptop that I am looking for doesn't have to be New Model or bleeding edge. All I really want is just a Solid Machine that can take heavy traveling, and reasonable battery Life. (3 to 4 hours) And possibly cheap (under 800$ would be ideal.)

I have a Toshiba Portege M100, It feature me well, but the laptop always seem dying and part about moving. Oh Well I like it though.

So what would your recommend? Thanks.

Last thing, of course, it has to be run well with Arch Linux.

whargoul · 2008-09-19 20:31:56

Well Lenovo's Thinkpads should be very solid, and the R and SL series are very cheap. I at least know that my old R51 can be stretched to 5 hours on one charge (7700 mAh).
Also you could look into the Ideapad series from Lenovo too. I have heard a lot good things about the Ideapad S10.

lucke · 2008-09-19 20:31:58

Thinkpads are well-known for their sturdiness.

kclive18 · 2008-09-20 00:41:00

Yes, I will agree, Thinkpads are the best built laptops (besides Macbook Pros). The one laptop that a lot of people have trouble with Arch on is the Thinkpad T60 or T61, but otherwise they work well. I had a friend last quarter in my engineering class who ran Arch 64 on his Thinkpad R61i and it was very nice.

ioky · 2008-09-22 22:05:23

I just get a Thinkpad R61 14.1"W model: 77331CU upgrade to 2GB for $700. The laptop itself is only $670 while the shipping cost like $30. (SO expensive) and here is so over view of it.

First of all, in term of specification. It is not a very exciting notebook. It is $645 without the official ram upgrade. It comes with a Core 2 Duo T7300 @ 2.0GHz. 1GB (now 2GB) of ram. Intel GMA X3100, 80GB HHD @5400rpm, 4 in 1 card reader, wireless, and CD/DVD combo. Since it is not exciting at all, I am not getting into too much details here. (you know the stuff.) I mean with the same amount of money this day, you can get a Acer, Toshiba, or EVEN Ideapad @ like Core 2 Duo @ 2.0GHz to 2.2GHz, 2 to 3 GB of RAMs and at least 160 to 250 GB @ 5400rpm, or something like that. However, the good thing is, by giving up some ability or power, you get a more stable and beat-up-able laptop. I like the over all design of the laptop too, actually the Rs from the IBM or Lenovo have the most interesting design. Like the screen is sided to the right, and some non-usually detail going on. The only thing that annoy me a little bit is the 6 Cell Battery that come with the 14.1" model. It stick out from the back, which make the laptop look not as good as it can be. The 15" model doesn't have that problem. But in the other hand, is impossible to found a deal that nearly close. I do check the Lenovo website, Their New R500 are actually pretty close, which I need to pay 100$ more at the cheapest without shipping. Well, you do get a better machine though, first is 15.4" and 2.6GHz, 2GB of DDR3 Ram, and Intel GMA 4500HD. So it will be like around $830 to get into your hand. I don't know is that worth it or not, but that is that.

The main reason, that I choose the R61 over the R500 is, however, the capability of the model, I don't know how well R00 work under Linux, but I am sure that R61 works Great under it. Well, at least it is one of the model that has official pre-install Linux OS on it. So I am sure it will work well. The thing I don't really get is that Lenovo actually drop the pre-install Linux OS idea. But it is great since IBM. Not much thing we can do about it anyway, but it is sad. I mean beside that, I hope they don't let their product quality goes down.

by the way, thanks for the recommendation.

timetrap · 2008-09-23 00:15:33

+1 for thinkpads. This is my fav.

Last edited by timetrap (2008-09-23 00:21:50)

AD28 · 2008-09-23 00:50:38

I have a thinkpad t43 running xp+ubuntu, and the only gripe I have with it is the fan. Later models might have improved fans, but older thinkpads like my t43 have fan issues that are really annoying.

faw · 2008-09-23 13:58:48

If you are looking for great build quailty and longevity, Thinkpads are the go.

My first laptop was a second hand 390E, circa 1998/9 I think, one of those ones that some stores buy in bulk from large companies once they've finished with their lease. So it was probably battered around a bit before it got to me, but it's still running. My brother was using it until mid this year when he bought a new T61 (nice machine, but I haven't tried putting Linux on to it). I myself have a T43 which I bought in a run out in the first half of last year and it runs Linux happily. The T43s did have a fan problem as mentioned above, but I don't think it affected the ones before or after that model. But don't take my word for it. Some places for researching: www.thinkwiki.org and http://forum.thinkpads.com/

Cheers,

Last edited by faw (2008-09-23 20:04:30)

rockcrawler · 2008-09-23 19:18:38

I just received my brand new Lenovo Thinkpad T500 today. I will be sitting down and trying to install Arch in the morning. I know that there are some know issues that I will have to overcome and a few things that i will have to overcome, but it all seems doable in an afternoon. i will let you know how it goes. Here is my specs

THINKPAD T500
INTEGRATED CAMERA
160GB HDD,7200RPM
CD-RW/DVD-ROM ULTS.SATA
INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
INT.WIFILINK5100
6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
INT.CORE 2 DUO PROC T9400
15.4"WSXGA+,+BT,+CAM+WWAN
BLUETOOTH W/ANTENNA
EXPR.CARDSLOT+PC CARDSLOT
MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
INT.GRAPH.MEDIA ACC X4500
3GB PC3-8500 1067MHZ 2DIMM
ULTRA NAV(TR.POINT+TOUCHPAD

It ran me a little over $1100 Shipped.
I would not recommend the Ideapad series form Lenovo. As many of the reviews state, the screen is so glossy it is impossible to work on it in any sort of lighted environment. I had to beg and please with Lenovo to take mine back. They finally did with no restocking fee and even paid for the shipping. If anyone else has a T500 and has got everything working some tips and tricks would be great in a new post so as not to hijack this one.

So +1 for the Thinkpad T500. I would definitely recommend it. I think that they will be releasing with the LCD back lit screen in the next week or so too!!!

Last edited by rockcrawler (2008-09-24 02:01:57)

ioky · 2008-09-26 02:08:52

My R61 Just come, I install a 1GB of ram into the laptop, it is such plain. It is not easy to open the plan, took me a while. So as it come with vista business, and I know I would ever use if I don't even try it this time, I give it a try. Indeed, It is really really slow even with 2 GB of ram. I took like about 950MB of ram to just run the system, share graphic, and IE. I wonder how it would be like if I only have 1GB. And the worst come worst, I crash in the first boot, well is really a freeze. No key is active, Ctrl + Alt + Delete no feedback. However, the mouse are working, I move it around and look pretty, try to right click, something is roading, but nothing happen after. It is sure not the hardware's problem. So it must be the OS. Well that is not my frist time running Vista, but it is the first time I use it with my own computer. How nice. I will install Arch on it at the weekend, and I will let you know how's it go.

cjpembo · 2008-09-26 16:52:45

Lenovo batteries are crap. Just check out the Lenovo forums. Perhaps they put a better battery in the Thinkpads?

Good luck.

Chris

molom · 2008-09-27 14:22:25

I recommend the Lenovo T500. I have a T43 and it works very nicely, most robust brand I've ever tried, used and seen. I've had 2 bad experiences with 2 Toshiba Laptops, so I really don't recommend them. Dell are semi-good in my view, but pretty expensive if you look into it hard enough. Whether they all work with Linux nicely is something I can't answer.

Cheers,
molom

rockcrawler · 2008-09-27 19:37:46

rockcrawler wrote:

I just received my brand new Lenovo Thinkpad T500 today. I will be sitting down and trying to install Arch in the morning. I know that there are some know issues that I will have to overcome and a few things that i will have to overcome, but it all seems doable in an afternoon. i will let you know how it goes. Here is my specs
THINKPAD T500
INTEGRATED CAMERA
160GB HDD,7200RPM
CD-RW/DVD-ROM ULTS.SATA
INTEGR.BLUETOOTH PAN
INT.WIFILINK5100
6 CELL LI-ION BATTERY
INT.CORE 2 DUO PROC T9400
15.4"WSXGA+,+BT,+CAM+WWAN
BLUETOOTH W/ANTENNA
EXPR.CARDSLOT+PC CARDSLOT
MS WIN VISTA HOME BASIC
15.4 WSXGA+ TFT
INT.GRAPH.MEDIA ACC X4500
3GB PC3-8500 1067MHZ 2DIMM
ULTRA NAV(TR.POINT+TOUCHPAD
It ran me a little over $1100 Shipped.
I would not recommend the Ideapad series form Lenovo. As many of the reviews state, the screen is so glossy it is impossible to work on it in any sort of lighted environment. I had to beg and please with Lenovo to take mine back. They finally did with no restocking fee and even paid for the shipping. If anyone else has a T500 and has got everything working some tips and tricks would be great in a new post so as not to hijack this one.
So +1 for the Thinkpad T500. I would definitely recommend it. I think that they will be releasing with the LCD back lit screen in the next week or so too!!!

Just a quick update, the Lenovo T500 works flawlessly with Ubuntu hardy 8.04 with the generic kernel. You will need to install and make the wireless driver that can be found with a quick google search, but everything else just works.

Thanks to cjpembo for the very informative and intelligent ,obvious opinion, on the Lenovo batteries. I am personally now on my fourth Thinkpad, second one manufactured under Lenovo, and have had nothing but good experiences with the batteries.

cjpembo · 2008-09-27 19:48:21

A little renewed faith in Lenovo today:

My lenovo battery failed yesterday (hence my post on lousy lenovo batteries). I suspected it was going to fail as battery life was dwindling down to less that one hour; then 35 minutes; then 5 minutes. Finally it wouldn't take a charge at all. I wouldn't expect this from a one-year-old machine that is running on adapter 99% of the time, never leaves my desk and is only used approx 4 hours a week.

The lenovo web page for my model laptop detailed two battery recals: neither covered my battery model - yet I was having the exact symptoms as those being recalled. When my battery finally failed, I googled for a while and found the lenovo forums. I guess enough people have complained and there is a "hidden" recal for more lenovo batteries; this time it included my part number. In essence; if you battery fails within 18 months of purchase, you get a new battery (standard warranty is 12 months). My battery failed yesterday exactly 18 months and one day (no joke) from the purchase date. I missed the recall period by a few hours. I called lenovo and pleaded my case: their lack of effort to inform me of my product being recalled delayed my attempt to file a warranty claim. I feel that registering my laptop with lenovo after purchase was a complete waste of time: they had 18 months to inform me of the problem and made no attempt to do so.

Fortunately for me, lenovo did finally offer to send me a replacement battery. Was this nobel of them? Perhaps; but it does not make up for hiding the recal from me to begin with. And I wasted a lot of time tweaking the machine trying to extend the battery life; without the knowledge that it was a futile attempt on my part all along.

So my point is this: if you're having trouble with your lenovo machine, don't expect lenovo to inform you of any recals, via email, snail mail, via their website or by any other means. Perhaps their customer support is better with their thinkpad line; I hope so. It seems most thinkpad owners have only rave reviews of their machines - but this could just be the "Apple effect" (if you pay a premium for a product, you tell everyone how happy you are - thereby making your decision feel justified).

Now, don't get me started on the under-powered AC adapter lenovo had been shipping (at max CPU load adapter is inadequate to handle load and unit is powered by AC + battery, therefore battery is cycled more than ususal therefore causing premature battery failure). Insist on the 90 Watt AC adapter only.

As for recommending a machine: just get all Intel parts (graphics, wireless, cpu ..) and you'll be fine. Intel writes excellent Linux drivers.

Chris

cjpembo · 2008-09-27 19:52:57

Rockcrawler,

Which adapter did Lenovo ship with your machine? Is it 90W?

Chris

cjpembo · 2008-09-27 20:02:58

I forget to include a link to the Lenovo site detailing the recall:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. … MIGR-69671

Looks like it does not affect thinkpads; they probably have better batteries.

And a link to the Lenovo forums (good resource, although Windows-centric only):

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/

Chris

AD28 · 2008-09-27 20:57:53

molom wrote:

I've had 2 bad experiences with 2 Toshiba Laptops, so I really don't recommend them.

Same here.. my first laptop was a Toshiba. The monitor lid warped badly, the palm rest was too hot to lay on my hands on while typing, and the cdrom vibrated pretty violently for some reason.

I sent it in a couple times to get checked during school project downtimes, but they always sent it back untouched saying everything was working as intended. Eventually the usb stopped working and then the whole laptop died.. that's when I got my thinkpad that I'm still using 3+ years later.

rockcrawler · 2008-09-27 23:15:47

cjpembo wrote:

I forget to include a link to the Lenovo site detailing the recall:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. … MIGR-69671
Looks like it does not affect thinkpads; they probably have better batteries.
And a link to the Lenovo forums (good resource, although Windows-centric only):
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/
Chris

I was given the 65w adapter with my new T500. I have not used it however as both y old T61 and my Wife's T61 both came with the 90W adapter, and we have a total of 5 between the two of us. It remains in the box that it came in. I also found it odd that they downsized the adapters yet still ship the new t series with he exact same battery that the T60 series had.

I also don't think that Thinkpad owners make their claims like apple customers do. i know that this is the most that I have ever spent on a Thinkpad personally. The last two that i bought were less than $1100. If you are patient you can usually find one at least 30% off of whatever they are usually selling for. Apple customers by Apples because they are pretty and you can be in the "cool" club. Well I know that is a stereotype and I don't truly believe that. But there is nothing "pretty" about a Thinkpad, other than its elegant simplicity, and I guarantee you no one other that your fellow geek will think you are cool for having one. Yes I am lumping myself into that geek category

By the way, which Lenovo Laptop are you having the batteries issues with? It is so funny the way that companies deal with the Consumer Customer vs the Business Customer. Or al least what they consider the two. The Thinkpads have an entirely different customer service dept and you can pretty much get anything taken care of in a single phone call. i tried calling customer service for the Ideapad that i decided to buy and it was like pulling teeth to get anyone on the phone who could actually do something about my issue.

Next time go Thinkpad, you will never go back!!!

molom · 2008-09-27 23:48:43

Great to hear about the T500 working very nicely! Have you tried Arch on it yet?
What I don't like about these laptops that you buy online is how they only offer 1 year warranty and then they charge you $200 for just another year.

'Apple customers by Apples because they are pretty and you can be in the "cool" club.'
Depends who. I've met people that say they would spend $2000 more for a Mac Pro instead of getting a better/equivalent PC.

Cheers,
molom

rockcrawler · 2008-09-28 00:00:16

molom wrote:

Great to hear about the T500 working very nicely! Have you tried Arch on it yet?
What I don't like about these laptops that you buy online is how they only offer 1 year warranty and then they charge you $200 for just another year.
'Apple customers by Apples because they are pretty and you can be in the "cool" club.'
Depends who. I've met people that say they would spend $2000 more for a Mac Pro instead of getting a better/equivalent PC.
Cheers,
molom

I was just being sarcastic with the apple remark. I realize that there are those that find them to be irreplaceable. I have a cousin who is a documentary make who is one of them. I was just trying to make the point that the typical Thinkpad user buys his machine for the functionality and reliablility not for astetics or to make friends. Not saying that that is why people ALL people buy mac's. I just happen know quite a few people who's motivations were exactly that when they bought theirs.

I tried to install Arch but to be perfectly honest I am a total Linux noob. I have been on Ubuntu for 6 months now and tried to install arch for a few hours before going back to Ubuntu. I had a really hard time getting the wired ethernet to work and could not figure out what I had done wrong. i followed the newby guise that is liked in the wiki but honestly just did not have the time, and probably patience to get it going. If you have any other additional resources that you could recommend for an arch newb that would be great. I really love Ubuntu, but it is just so bloated and I find myself spending days stripping it down after ever install. the simplify of Arch is really appealing to me and I would love to take some time this weekend and get arch running. I just really needed this machine for work last week and fell back to Ubuntu in a pinch. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cjpembo · 2008-09-28 01:55:53

My machine is what I would consider a "consumer level" machine: Lenovo 3000 N100, purchased 18 months ago. 1.6 GHz, dual core (not core2), 2GB RAM, wide screen, Intel wireless and video. It cost $599 if I remember correctly. Other than the dead battery, one stuck pixel, and two usb ports that failed after the warranty, it has been a great machine.

The issue regarding the 90W AC power supplies is (in a nutshell): Some users were concerned that the 75W AC adapter was insufficient to run their machines at full load; and in fact the battery was being utilized to supplement the power requirements under heavy load. (They removed their batteries completely, booted into Windows on AC power alone, pegged the machine at max CPU to require as much power as possible; and their CPUs would throttle down due to lack of power.)

Lenovo eventually explained this away as a "design feature".

See the following thread:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess … ing&page=1

At the same time, some users were experiencing premature battery failure. Couple this with the AC adapter issue, and users thought they were getting hosed: "the under-performing AC adapter is shortening the life of my battery..."

Personally, my only beef with Lenovo is that they failed to notify me of a recall with my machine for 5 months. This, in my opinion, was just their way of getting out of a warraty claim. That said, once I discovered the battery recal on my own, they promptly agreed to replace it.

Chris

molom · 2008-09-28 03:06:16

rockcrawler wrote:

I was just being sarcastic with the apple remark. I realize that there are those that find them to be irreplaceable. I have a cousin who is a documentary make who is one of them. I was just trying to make the point that the typical Thinkpad user buys his machine for the functionality and reliablility not for astetics or to make friends. Not saying that that is why people ALL people buy mac's. I just happen know quite a few people who's motivations were exactly that when they bought theirs.

I know, I know
Just sharing my experiences

ioky · 2008-09-28 06:50:17

I just start working with my Thinkpad R61, I get it simply because it is cheap, and it is good enough for me. Also I hear that it work great with Linux. But my problem is my machine kind of making a weird high pitch noise, it is not a lord noise, buy you can hear it clearly, and it is totally noticeable. And it always freeze in Vista. I don' t know much about vista, because I never get deep into it. However, if it freeze by just kicking a start button, then what can I say? Luckily the ebay dealer say he will swap another one for me. I don't know I still didn't get a chance to test Linux on it sense I don't even think the hardware is working.

By the way, what kind of noise you guy hear from the thinkpad?

molom · 2008-09-28 08:32:14

I sometimes get loud fan noises on my T43 when using Parsix. Never get any other problems with my T43 using Parsix.

Rule one: Don't use Vista

AD28 · 2008-09-28 18:43:10

ioky wrote:

By the way, what kind of noise you guy hear from the thinkpad?

This wiki lists the common fan problems and has a link to audio clips.

Aside from the pulsing acceleration problem, mine also has a repeated soft clicking noise.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-09-19 20:02:33

Looking for a Solid Laptop.

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Re: Looking for a Solid Laptop.

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