[ltp] Z Series

[Honey]

On Thu, 22 Sep 2005, Josh Battles wrote:

> Bram van Leur said:
>>
>> I know it comes with a hardened Titanium cover as an option, which gives
>> rise to some discussion [1].
>> Furthermore I'm surprised that a *new* series still is branded IBM
>> instead of Lenovo. I guess Lenovo will come with some big-bang
>> rebranding, although they already inserted their name in some of the
>> software.
>>
>> - Bram!
>>
>> [1]
>> http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/05/09/21/125210.shtml?tid=136&tid=184
>
> I agree with the FT article linked by slashdot.  Thinkpads are supposed to be
> all black, not fancy colors.  That (and the durability) was actually a large
> part of my decision to buy an IBM over something else.

"If it's not black it's going back"? :)

I must say, *I* like black too, but the titanium may look nice,
depending on the quality of finish.  I specifically like the T*
series tops (the lovely matt effect, one distinguishing feature from
the R* series I think), and it would be a shame if that disappeared.

But, you know, I used to talk a lot about the durability of
thinkpads: before my thinkpad, I owned quite a few Dells, and bits of
the casing always broke.  But I'm disappointed to report that the
same's happening on my T40, and I'd be very interested if any others
have the same problem.  Specifically:

* The slight "lip" of the palm rest on the right hand side, bottom
right of the arrow keys, where it joins the line of plastic coming
down along the side of the keyboard.  The corner of plastic here
broke off once, after a tussle with IBM ("you dropped it" "no I
didn't!") they replaced the palmrest, and now that corner of
plastic's broken off again.  I haven't a clue why this specific
corner breaks off - it just came off in my hand while using an arrow
key.

* The divider between the two USB2 ports top left - the metal
underneath looks like it's bent out a bit and the black line of
plastic broken.

* The spring on the PC Card door broke twice.

* Also, my keyboard is pretty bad (worse than Dells) - after 3-6
legends start to wear off and I have to ask for a new one.  No, not
nail polish remover, excessive pressure etc.  I'm sitting here now
with blank A, S, M, <, >, L, ? keys and many others partially
obscured.

I like to maintain the idea the "thinkpads are made better", and they
certainly don't squeak when I poke them like other cases do, but is
my experience so unusual?  I don't even carry my laptop around: it
lives at home.

My USB2 ports have also gone, taking bluetooth with them, as is known
as a problem here, and one of the arrows keys come off, and won't go
back on (it disintegrated).  I don't think I treat my T40 badly, but
I dread the call to IBM: every single time I call they say "you
dropped it", I have to complain and say "is this guilty until proven
innocent, I *didn't*!", they say I'll have to pay, and I have to
speak to a manager before they relent.  *This* didn't happen with
other companies.

I hate to sow seeds of discontent as I love my thinkpad: but do
others find the casing to not be quite as perfect as claimed?  And do
others have the problem of IBM service constantly claiming it's your
fault?  I don't drop laptops.

Honey