Lightweight, protable, good for all business type applications
Disadvantages:
poor stock specification, gets a little warm on your legs !
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I purchased my Thinkpad T20 second hand for around £300. For this money, I got the original specification machine fitted with a CDRW/DVD drive, which is an optional extra for the later models.
With the ultrabay 2000, it is possible to use a range of hardware, without having to re-boot the system. Optical drives, hard disk drives and batteries are some of the possibilities to name a few. These all work at lightning speed and are so simple to change between. The lightweight design, topped good performance are impressive. The screen is 13.3 inches and is a good size and resolution for a small laptop. It comes with all the ports for network, modem, parallel and com ports, 2 PCMCIA slots and a singe USB slot. It also has a mouse and external monitor port, Infra-red port, built in speakers of a good quality for a laptop and line in, headphone and external microphone socket.
The computer is loaded with cool design features, such as a built in microphone, small LED light for typing in dark areas and a 'ThinkPad' button for instant access to IBM support. The pointmouse is easy to use once you get used to it, and everything is well ergonomically designed and spaced. The front incorporates a scroll button for web page and document scrolling by holding a the button down. A battery monitor LED is clearly visible which changes colour dependant on battery life state.
It is easy to change the specification of the computer, as the motherboard will accept upto a 1000MHz processor and 512MB of RAM. This offers a good all-round performance machine, ideal for small businesses or students. To change the parts in mine was easy, I downloaded the service manual directly from the IBM website. Then I changed the modem card to a network and modem combined card, added another 128MB RAM, changed the stock hard drive to a 40GB model and installed a 900MHz processor. This was all done in under 2 hours, from stripping down to rebooting the system. An amature could do this with a simple screwdriver set and the service manual to hand.
My system now benchmarks better on text and graphics handling than a 1.8GB Athlon with 256MB RAM. This is a considerable feat, as it is cheaper and less powerful by far. The system is compact and good for playing DVDs and listening to MP3s as well as web browsing and using office applications.I currently have Windows XP installed and it runs very smoothly. Unfortunatly the graphics card is not very powerful, and would lack on 3D gaming. However the computer is almost silent when running, with the fan only being used intermitently to save battery and make using it a pleasure. It does get rather hot at the back on the left hand side, as this is where the processor is.
I would reccomend this system to anybody, as it is cheap, easy to upgrade and very versitile. Transportation is easy because of its size and light weight materials, and it is strong, made from titanium composites. When closed, the IBM ThinkPad systems are one of the best computers for shock resistancy. Great for students and parts are readily available.
More details
Memory / capacity
Good
Ease of use
Very easy
Range of Extra Features
Excellent
Instruction manual
Good
Manufacturer Support
Excellent
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