[ltp] Thinkpad names

[Norman Levin]

Douglas Bridges wrote:
>> A bit of history on Thinkpad Names:
>> 
>> The first IBM thinkpads that used a 486 class processor was the 700
>> line. The 700 line was an MCA based thinkpad meant for business
>> users. The 720 was a follow-on to that machine with faster processor
>> and larger hard drive. IBM also released the Thinkpad 350 line.  The
>> 350 was the beginning of the low-end business/home office line of
>> thinkpads. After those thinkpads, IBM came out with a new line of
>> thinkpads that were designed by engineers in their Japanese research
>> division.  This was the beginning of the ascendance of IBM
>> Thinkpads.  Two lines were introduced: a Thinkpad 360 line for
>> home/small business, and the Thinkpad 750 for large business. Both
>> of these lines of thinkpads were normal sized laptops.  Smaller
>> notebooks (sub-notebooks) were becoming popular in some areas, so
>> IBM released the Thinkpad 500, a very small and light thinkpad. IBM
>> followed the 500 with the 550, which was had a faster processor. 
>> The 750 line was enhanced with the 755C/CS line. 
>> 
>> The next big breakthrough was the 755CD/CX/CV line of thinkpads
>> because of their inclusion of the MWave processor.  The laptops were
>> still targeted toward the high-end business users. IBM introduced
>> the 365 line of thinkpads as a newer version of the home/home-office
>> line.  The 500 line of thinkpads had been criticized for having far
>> too small of keyboards, so IBM came out with the 701 "butterfly"
>> line.  This was the first annoying break from the naming conventions
>> between 3xx/5xx/7xx.  The 701 was a subnotebook, but IBM was trying
>> to push it as a full business class thinkpad.  The 701 was hampered
>> by its slower processor (486/100 max) even though it was a really
>> cool machine. 
>> 
>> IBM continued to run this separation between home-machines being 3xx,
>> subnotebooks 5xx, and large business being 7xx.  Some of the 7xx
>> machines were stripped down in features and marketed towards home
>> users as a "business class machine" good for home users. Nothing
>> like IBM marketing. IBM introduced the 560 line of Thinkpads as a
>> subnotebook, but as opposed to being a smaller screen and keyboard,
>> the 560 started the line of "thin" Thinkpads. The 600 series
>> followed the 560 line of "thin" laptops. 
>> 
>> IBM introduced the "i" line of thinkpads as a replacement to the 3xx
>> line. The "i" line of Thinkpads were meant for home users, and were
>> significantly cheaper than many of the other lines. Unfortunately,
>> at this point, the IBM numbering scheme was very confusing, so IBM
>> wisely instituted a clean-up of their numbering that makes much more
>> sense. This leads to our current generation of machines.
>> 
>> First, let me describe what spindles are.  Laptop can be
>> characterized by how many  "spindles" they have.  This is a
>> description of the number of rotating components they have. A laptop
>> that has a hard-drive, a floppy-drive, and cd-rom all internal is a
>> three spindle laptop.  If it only has a hard-drive and (floppy or cd-
>> rom) internal, it is two-spindle. If it can only have the hard-drive
>> interal, it is a one-spindle machine. Obviously, the less spindles
>> that a laptop has, the lighter and small the thinkpad can be.
>> 
>> Txx - Pushed as the replacement of the 7xx (and to some degree the
>> 6xx), the T series is the highest end laptops IBM makes. They are
>> two-spindle laptops that generally use the configuration of
>> harddrive+cdrom. These thinkpads are very-fast, and moderately
>> light, but also can be expensive. 
>> 
>> Axx - Pushed as the replacement of the 3xx series, and initially the
>> iSeries, the Axx series are three spindle laptops.  Because they have
>> everything internal, the A series are the heaviest thinkpads that
>> IBM makes. The A series are less expensive than the T series, and
>> they lack some of the features that the T series has, but they are
>> very solid laptops that I find to be a good compromise on price and
>> features. (I have a A20m). 
>> 
>> Xxx (heh) - The X series laptops were introduced as a replacement
>> for the 5xx and 6xx series with an emphasis on being small and
>> light.  These thinkpads are one-spindle machine, having only an
>> internal hard-drive. These laptops are less expensive than the T
>> series, and are very small and light. For students and people who
>> travel, these laptops are quite good. 
>> 
>> Rxx - IBM realized there was a need for a good educational/home-use
>> laptop to replace the iSeries.  The R Series are two spindle
>> machines that do not have the extra features that the T Series uses.
>> So the R series machine are least expensive machines, and they have
>> a good compromise on features and size.  They are slightly heavier
>> than the T series, but lighter than the A. 
>> 
>> I did almost all of this off the top of my head, so please correct
>> the mistakes that I know are in there. I did leave out the
>> international laptops that never really showed up in the US (240)
>> and the Power series (the first laptop I ever saw with an attached
>> webcam). 
>> 
>> Doug
>> 
** of the top of your head? damn I'm impressed
norm


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