Nice information about IBM/Lenovo laptops, via The Register reporting on a recent reliability survey.
I’ve had a series of Thinkpads. I think the first was a 770 (prior to joining IBM)… then a T23 running Windows and Linux; a T30 which I handed in to go back to the T23 because the screen resolution of the LCD panel was better; a T40 which I used as a workhorse until recently; and now a T60p. Those were all work-supplied; at home we’ve got an R40, which has survived drops, tumbles off the sofa, etc..
Every one of the machines has been rock-solid. In fact I don’t remember any particular hardware-related problems, except for the Ethernet port on the T40 stopping working after about 3 years (and I was mostly using wireless by that point anyway). I can’t say I haven’t had occasional OS-related problems, but then I do some pretty unusual stuff with software on my laptop!
Although some other brands look fairly shiny – Sony, Samsung, HP are turning out some very nice glossy-looking machines at the moment – I have to say that I don’t think you can beat the Thinkpads, especially the T-series line which I’ve been able to use on a daily basis for the past 5 years.
What’s next? 🙂