[ltp] Searching for an old IBM warhorse

[FeRD]

Torsten Wagner wrote:
> Could you tell me which IBM notebook is in your opinion the warhorse 
> until know. I do not mean which one is the fastest or newest.
> I'm searching for the one which seems to be the most stable and 
> reliable one. Which model still works after years of extensive use for 
> example by your sales representatives (In my opinion the worst 
> scenario for a notebook ;) )?
That's actually a great question, unfortunately also a tricky one to 
answer. A lot of the response is subjective in nature... and I'll come 
out and admit for the group that not all of our feelings on the subject 
are completely rational. Unfortunately, you're asking a group of "fans" 
of the ThinkPad line in general, and we may not be the best to answer.

Case in point? You mentioned the T23's hinge-torque frame problems -- 
the whole T20 series suffers from the same problem. My T22's 
right-corner frame has spread so much that the keyboard has started to 
pop up through the space created by the cracking and erosion of the 
plastic outer shell. In addition, I'm currently preparing to order a 
replacement power supply from Targus, because the IBM original that's 
currently powering it is so "touchy" I can't actually move the computer 
anywhere for fear it'll never power up again. Finally, "something" is 
going on with the RAM slots on the underside of the laptop, to the point 
where the system doesn't detect the 128MB module I have in the second 
slot reliably. Every time I cold-boot the machine, during POST I have to 
press my fingers VERY firmly against the metal cover right over (under?) 
the plastic casing for the RAM slots' pins, or it only detects 256MB of 
RAM instead of my full 384MB. (After POST, the machine is fine, so 
apparently it's just a detection pin that's flaky.)

Why do I mention all this? Because, despite all those problems, I 
absolutely love the little thing. Buying it used a year and a half ago 
was the best laptop purchase I could possibly have made with the limited 
funds available to me. To be honest I fell in lust with the 1400x1050 
screen as soon as I saw it, and the lack of 3D support and the 
crappiness of the S3 video chipset in general have done nothing to deter 
me. I'm just not a "3D guy". The keyboard is comfortable (I've found 
ThinkPad keyboards to be about the only laptop keyboards I can stand to 
use), I've eliminated virtually all hangs, freezes, or crashes running 
Fedora Core 4 (with the help of a very large community of online 
enthusiasts; special nod as always to Matthias Hensler for his 
rock-solid kernel builds), and the machine is just plain GOOD despite 
the quirks I've mentioned. Once I learned my way around those quirks the 
basic _reliability_ of the box has always wowed me. Sure, the memory 
slot is flaky, but it's flaky the same way every time! I know that 
sounds insane, because it is. Lock me up, I still think the thing's great.

So, basically, you're asking for a sermon /from/ the converted. :)  Hope 
you get some good answers, because I know I'm not qualified to answer 
your question. I'm in love, and love is definitely blind. ;)

-FeRD