[ltp] T61, Lenovo quality, Linux pre-installed, alternatives

[Pablo Vera]

I have a T61 (for two months now) with Ubuntu Gutsy 64 bits and 
everything works fine.  I've done some interesting things like connect a 
Motorola S9 bluetooth headset and hear music or watch videos without 
cables.  Also, I've connected an external monitor and work in a 
dual-screen configuration with a HUGE 3080 x 1050 screen (the first 1400 
pixels wide in the laptop's LCD screen and the remaining 1680 in the 
external monitor).  I am really happy with it. 

Pablo
_____________________________________________________________________



Ben Pearre wrote:
> I'm torn.  I need a new laptop.  Thinkpads have served me well, but is
> it time to move on?  To what?
>
> I loved my R40, and I love the T41 I'm borrowing since my R40 died of
> a cracked motherboard.
>
> I love the Trackpoint, I love the keyboard (far better on the T41 than
> on the R40), the screen is good, and everything works under Linux.
>
> But it's time for a new laptop.  I've been lurking here for a while,
> and reading countless horror stories of Thinkpads dying, being too hot
> to touch, sucking power as if it were beer, buttons randomly not
> working, of Lenovo failing to be at all useful and even being
> downright hostile, of general incompetence throughout the company.  So
> I wonder what many of you are wondering: is it worth it?
>
> Does anyone know of real failure rates for recent Thinkpads?  This
> list will of course provide a gloom-and-doom perspective as people
> rush here for help, but the community is as strong as ever, you guys
> are awesome, and the computers are still, on paper, just what I want.
> I can't for the life of me decide what to do.
>
> Also---does anyone have experience with Lenovo's Linux-preloaded
> systems?  I'm not a SuSE fan so I'd probably wipe the machine and
> install Debian anyway (no flamewar intended---I know Debian's quirks
> and I don't know SuSE's) but buying a box with Linux preloaded means
> they can't claim "we don't support Linux", and it means I'm voting
> with my wallet.  Assuming they have the machine I want (do they?  It
> would be the T61 with the 15.4" widescreen WSXGA+, I think).  A bad
> choice?  I don't need a gaming machine.  The most demanding software I
> care about is Matlab, which anything with lots of RAM can do.
>
> What alternatives to Lenovo are there?  I've heard a couple of
> isolated reports of Toshiba and Fujitsu being worthwhile, but I can't
> quantify that, and they are far less popular than Lenovo.  People
> complain constantly about Dell, but people constantly buy Dell, so
> perhaps the complaints are only a side-effect of that popularity?  At
> least Dell actually seems responsive to Linux...
>
> If you have compared Lenovo to another brand, please share: why did
> you make the decision you made?  I realise that people on this list by
> and large ended up deciding to go Lenovo... please tell us why!
>
> Many thanks for further discussion.
>
> Cheers,
> -Ben
>
> --
> Ben Pearre     http://ml.cs.colorado.edu/~ben      PGP: CFDA6CDA
> Don't let Bush read your email!             http://www.gnupg.org
>