Advantages: a small laptop and cheap laptop
Disadvantages: For office (word processing etc)

...this computer only if you have a good deal and you would only use it for office use or for just typing upt the usual essay on the road. **************Easy Acess to Specs******************** Main Specs Product Description IBM ThinkPad A30 2652 - PIII-M 1.13 GHz - 15" TFT Recommended Use Small business, corporate business Dimensions (WxDxH) 32.9 cm x 27.3 cm x 4.5 cm Weight 3.4 kg Localisation French / France System Type Notebook Processor Intel Pentium III-M 1.13 GHz Cache Memory 512 KB - L2 Cache - Advanced Transfer Cache RAM 128 MB (installed) / 1 GB (max) - SDRAM - 133 MHz Hard Drive 1 x 30 GB Optical Storage DVD-ROM - plug-in module Display 15" TFT active matrix - 24-bit (16.7 million colours) Graphics Controller ATI MOBILITY RADEON - 16 MB Audio Output Sound card Telecom Fax / modem - CDC - 56 Kbps Networking... Read review

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Advantages: Lightweight, protable, good for all business type applications
Disadvantages: poor stock specification, gets a little warm on your legs!

..., 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... Read review

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Advantages: Silence, Sturdiness
Disadvantages: Swapable drives, all drivers needed

...The IBM T20 Thinkpad is the perfect choice for the non-gaming experience. I should say that you will find everything you need in this machine, unless you are in to firewire devices. As an example I should mention the Ultrabay to which you can even get a DVD-RAM drive (which by now is the newest technology). However. Never laptops are fitted with USB2 (faster version of USB) and some of them Pentium-M processors (longer battery life). The T20 runs perfectly with Windows XP, but you will have to install all drivers from IBM - especially the power management drivers, since you elseway will not be sure to return properly from stand-by mode. The rather old 440-chipset is running at it's best, and the speedstep is fully functional (that is: The PC uses the exact amount of CPU-power needed). Though the IBM TP X-series are way more... Read review

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Advantages: Lightweight, durable, great screen
Disadvantages: Quite slow compared to newer laptops

...I'm currently sitting here writing this review on my Thinkpad T21 laptop, which is great to use. I used to use desktops constantly and I only purchased a laptop about 8 months ago, I wasn't looking for anything lightning fast, just something for me to do work on (Microsoft Office, Browsing the Internet, etc). I decided to have a look for a low price laptop without a brilliant spec and I came across the T21. My T21 has an 800Mhz PIII processor, 384mb RAM and a 20gb hdd, nothing spectacular in todays high-speed world but it gets the job done without any problems, it doesn't struggle to run simple applications which don't require the fastest of all processors to do a simple task. The most outstanding feature of this laptop is definately the screen, it's the first screen I've seen on a laptop which can be viewed from most angles, it... Read review

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Advantages: Everything you would want is built in
Disadvantages: Large footprint, not light in weight

...IBM is to notebook computers what Volvo is to cars; well built, safe, surprisingly sporty, but rather expensive. As part of my new job, my trusty thinkpad 240x (see my other review) was replaced by an altogether more substantially built T20. There are two design concepts behind notebook computers; small and lightweight sub-A4 ultraportables, where the design is pared down to the absolute essentials, and ‘size of a cow’ desktop PC replacements. The T20 falls very definitely into the second category. Rather than list the manufacturer’s specifications (you can get those of the IBM site!) I’ll concentrate on the ‘usability’ of the machine. The first impressions is of a large format notebook (300mm by 250mm x 35mm) which is very, very black! – open it up, and you find a 360mm colour screen – this gives a sharp image, if a little... Read review

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Advantages: Swivel Hinge, Handwriting mode, Fingerprint Recognition, Awesome Features
Disadvantages: Expensive

...hundreds of passwords but instead you now have a fingerprint, which nobody can forge, copy, or use, unless someone somehow manages to chop your finger off. But I believe that's very unlikely! The colour is sleek and quite nice although it would be better if it was available in a silver colour. And weighing approximately 1.8 kilograms, which is less than 2 bags of sugar, you can easily say that this is extremely light and if you want to take your PC tablet away from home, you easily can with no difficulty at all. The dimensions are stated above but to get an idea, it is slightly larger than an A4 piece of paper which couldn't be more of a perfect size. *****Processor***** Processor ………………………………………………………….Intel Pentium M 758 1.5 GHz Core Voltage Technology ………………………………………………………….Low-Voltage (LV) Data Bus Speed... Read review

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Advantages: many unique features, robust, trustworthy
Disadvantages: more expensive than some brands

...of glass (or similar) across the front of their screens, which means almost anything is reflected in them, making viewing difficult, the ThinkPad's screen appears to be matt, in keeping with the design of the body. This means you virtually never have viewing problems. The viewing range is almost 180 degrees in the horizontal, and maybe 120 degrees in the vertical, meaning you can have several people around the screen and all be able to view it. The screen takes up almost all the available space on the lid, meaning it uses space very effectively, and has a viewable size of 15" diagonally (I just measured). MOUSE CONTROL The ThinkPad has an (sadly) almost unique mouse input. Instead of having a touchpad, where the mouse reacts to you dragging your finger across a sensitive pad, or a 'nipple', where the mouse reacts to you dragging your... Read review

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Advantages: Fast, sleek looking, DVD player (Win98), good driver support
Disadvantages: Unstable, feels delicate not robust

...Working in technical support for a major healthcare company, I get to see a lot of Armada M700s. Compaq have admitted that faulty batches were sent out but this machine seems to be very unstable. It looks very smart with its black case (has a PIII 650MHz processor and 64MB RAM), blue mouse pointer in the middle of the keyboard and the newer ones coming with a DVD/CD drive (but you must have Win98 to use DVDs). As this is a notebook, the floppy drive and CD drive are interchangeable. If you want to use them both at the same time a parallel cable is provided so you can run the floppy drive from the printer port. The screen is quite large for a notebook and the display is clear. Sound output is good and it comes with an internal 56K modem and ethernet network card which frees up your PC card slots for other things. Overall, a nice... Read review

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Advantages: speed, size, weight, features & support
Disadvantages: cost

...and options that the Laptop can be bought with, It travels well and is very robust. All standard features are excellent especially the 14.1” TFT screen. This series of laptops from IBM are easily expandable and can be done so for reasonable prices. One of the best features is the 3 year warranty so peace of mind for 3 years what more can you ask for. Have fun with your T20. Well done IBM 15.08.02 Keyboard / Mouse Supplied as standard is a trackpoint mouse with the left/right click + scroll button situated just below the bottom of the spacebar which I find to be fine although of users do not like having the little button in the middle of the keyboard. There is an option of having an external PS2 / USB mouse plugged into the back of the Laptop. The keyboard on the T20 is standard British QWERTY setup which is I find fine... Read review

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Advantages: Very economic, very smart, well built, very capable
Disadvantages: Ageing now, limited processing power, no USB2 or inbuilt wifi

...I picked up a T20 about three years ago now, used on ebay, when the model itself was three years old. At that point it was already behind the times when it came to processing power and graphics capabilities, but at the end of the day I didn't care - I wanted a well made laptop that was good for the internet and office tasks, and I hoped that the Thinkpad heritage would deliver that. Deliver it did, and in spades! Three years on, and of course it's even more behind the times in regard to the spec, but I couldn't care less - I've upgraded it from Win 98 to XP, and it's performing better than ever. As a notebook it's perfect - thin and light, comfortable to use, with more than enough computing power for everyday tasks and good battery life. Using the Mobile version of the Pentium III processor, it's very frugal on power and although... Read review

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