To those who now have a Thinkpad: What do you love about yours most?

I've been spending quite a few hours over at the IBM training website and read about my Thinkpad features.

Two things I love most are the rapid restore ultra and pre boot enviroment.

I love how durable my T40 is compared to other laptops... also, gotta give IBM's tech support guys credit as they're some of the best people I've dealt with!

Talking about Tech support of IBM: I ordered my recovery CDs on last thursday. On Friday, I recieved a voice mail on my phone saying that the CDs are back ordered. However, today (Tuesday), the CDs arrived at my door!!

I was like... WTF? CDs arriving on the 3rd busniness day from the day of order...and you call that back order??

Those IBM people must be pefectionists of some kind.

Oh, by the way, IBM has some web training about their ThinkVantage technologies for those who might be interested. http://www.pc.ibm.com/training/index-customer.html

I'll tell ya when my X31 arrives!

Having dealt with IBM Thinkpads before, I'm most impressed by their build quality, especially the display construction.

So in order to get the recovery CD, you'd have to go through tech support and not just their CSR line?

Is it possible to purchase the Thinkpads without an operating system?

I love the fact that when my Visa bill comes in at the end of the month, I would have known that I spent almost two times more than other people for essentially the same notebook...

Just joking.

I'm sure IBMs are nice. But I can't justify the prices they are selling at.

Speaking of customer service. We had some Dells in the office, battery went dead, called, spoke to some pleasant reps, had a new battery overnight next morning. So IBM is not the only one who has had moments of brilliance!

Originally Posted by klam

I love the fact that when my Visa bill comes in at the end of the month, I would have known that I spent almost two times more than other people for essentially the same notebook...

Just joking.

I'm sure IBMs are nice. But I can't justify the prices they are selling at.

Speaking of customer service. We had some Dells in the office, battery went dead, called, spoke to some pleasant reps, had a new battery overnight next morning. So IBM is not the only one who has had moments of brilliance!

In a couple of years try seeing what your dell laptop can be sold for for then ask what the same high priced thinkpad would sell for.

Thinkpads got alot better resale value.

Dell notebooks better have a good warranty policy since many of them are built with lower quality parts.

Originally Posted by Montague

In a couple of years try seeing what your dell laptop can be sold for for then ask what the same high priced thinkpad would sell for.

Thinkpads got alot better resale value.

Dell notebooks better have a good warranty policy since many of them are built with lower quality parts.

I like IBMs and their product and service are very hard to beat, however, the regular cost of one IBM TP could cover the cost of a decent Dell now and a much better one "in a couple of years". Having said that, if I could afford the IBM it would be the one I choose - especially because of their keyboards.

Originally Posted by klam

Speaking of customer service. We had some Dells in the office, battery went dead, called, spoke to some pleasant reps, had a new battery overnight next morning. So IBM is not the only one who has had moments of brilliance!

Oh the tech support at Dell isn't bad at all either... it's just that they outsource their tech support to India and, when you call them up, you often get these people with a heavy accent; they can be difficult to understand at times...

I ordered my recovery CDs from IBM and they arrived 2 days later via Purolator... man talk about speedy deliveries!!!

I love the build quality of it. I love my stinkpad it makes me happy.

Here is a comparison:

IBM ThinkPad X40 - $3099
12.1" LCD, 3.2 lbs
Pentium-M 1.2
512Mb RAM, 40Gb, 802.11a/b/g
3 year parts & labour (return to depot)

Dell Latitude X300 - $2781
12.1" LCD, 2.9 lbs
Pentium-M 1.2
640Mb RAM, 40Gb, 802.11b/g
3 year parts & labour (on-site)

Asus M5N - $1684
12.1" LCD, 3 lbs
Pentium-M 1.5
512Mb RAM, 40Gb, 802.11b
Internal CDRW/DVD
1 year parts & labour (return to depot)

Oh the tech support at Dell isn't bad at all either... it's just that they outsource their tech support to India and, when you call them up, you often get these people with a heavy accent; they can be difficult to understand at times...

As far as I know, Dell found that outsourcing thing to be a failure and is reverting back to domestic CSRs. Last few times I've called its been some guy in Mississauga or somewhere in GTA.

Originally Posted by klam

As far as I know, Dell found that outsourcing thing to be a failure and is reverting back to domestic CSRs. Last few times I've called its been some guy in Mississauga or somewhere in GTA.

I thought they just changed their outsourcing for their corporate customers.

For Joe shmoe or you and I we still get transferd to some foreign country.

No wonder, I deal with Dell for my office and have always had pleasant experiences...

The key point is to get extended warranty no matter what laptop brand you get.

These suckers are damn near impossible to fix yourself if something goes wrong with it.

what do I love about my thinkpads? EVERYTHING!