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

...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... 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: Solid Build Quality, IBM Warranty
Disadvantages: Price, Lack of additional software

...I have had my IBM T23 for just over 2 years now. Since I have owned the system I have only ever had one fault with it, this was partly my fault. To start with the Design is the typical IBM Black, however the T series much like the X series is finished with a layer of Titanium to give it extra strength. It comes with 2 USB ports, Ethernet, Modem 1 PS/2 Port, S-Video for linking up to projector or TV, 1 Serial, 1 Parallel and 2 PC Card Slots. Opwn the laptop up and you have the usual IBM scroll point, extra volume buttons and an extra Thinkpad button which when you click gives you the option to update the drivers on the PC providing you are connected to the Internet. The only drawbackin the layout is the lack of a windows key (which is usually located next to the ALT & CTRL keys). IBM Preload the operating system wich means you... Read review

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Advantages: Sturdy, made by IBM
Disadvantages: Doesnt look all that good next to the likes of Sony

...In November last year, I bought an IBM ThinkPad 600 Laptop computer. It is second hand, but only just over a year old. It cost £500 incl VAT and this is what I got for my money? PII 300 Processor 64 MB Ram 5 Gig HDD 24x CD-Rom 13.3? screen 56K modem I needed a laptop for work, so was looking for something that isn't afraid of getting carted around. Now, I know that's the general idea of laptops, but these days they seem to be built to look good and not to be durable when carrying them around. That's fine if you leave your laptop on your desk all the time, but this needs to be carried around a lot, and in any case, I've got the desktop PC which sits on my desk! First of all, fashion conscious people will not like the IBM series of laptops. They are built to be durable and tough, not in the slightest to look good... Read review

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

...washed out (that could just be down to adjusting it correctly!) there are no obviously ‘dead’ pixels – which can’t be bad. The lower half of the system has an almost full sized keyboard, the action is a little spongey, but reasonably useable. IBM persists with it’s ‘trackpoint’ mouse control – this is a rubberised button sitting between the ‘G’ ‘H’ and ‘B’ keys, as well as having three large buttons for ‘left’ ‘right’ and ‘centre’ mouse buttons. If you’re used to the more common graphics tablet from other manufacturers, this may appear a little strange at first, but soon becomes second nature. The particular model I use is getting a little long in the tooth, a PIII chip, running at around 750MHz (remember this was the standard clock speed for a desktop machine only a few years ago) and 128Mb of memory. Whilst this is a somewhat modest... Read review

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Advantages: Light-weight, Robust, Fast by P3 standards, slim look, soft touch keyboard
Disadvantages: External Floppy Drive, Poor Speakers, PS2 port on Docking Bay only

...screen space (if not slightly larger) than the normal 14 inch desktop monitors. I run mine at 1024 x 768 pixels and the graphics are crisp and colourful. This is a very well thought out and beautifully designed notebook and definately gives the Vaio a run for it's money. It's great value for money and if you are constantly on the move and have to be booting and shutting down constantly then you will appreciate the light weight and fast response that this machine will give you. My System Specs PIII - 800Mhz Mobile Processor 256 Mb RAM 20Gb Hard Drive Choice of Windows 2000 or Win NT External Floppy Disk Drive Small lightweight Docking Bay Onboard Sound 13.3" TFT Screen ATI Rage Graphics Card 56k Onboard Modem Onbaord Lan Infra Red 1 PCMCIA Slot DVD/CD ROM Drive Recovery and Driver Disks Modem attachments for different... Read review

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

...the HDD. A little lamp has been build in, enabling you to see the keyboard when you are in dark surroundings. The sturdiness of this PC is amazing. I have one sent from USA to Denmark, and the package arrived bruiced. The only damage the PC had had was a faulty DVD-drive :( and a small bruice on the lid. Another portable would probably have come with a broken screen, but the titanium frame saved it! General: The PC is running well (PIII700/128/12 +DVD-RAM), and I use it for DVD player (through TV-out) and DivX as well. It will hold charge for 3 hours when writing and about 1 hour when stressed (HDD running often). The whole PC smells of quality and you shouldn't hessitate to buy it second handed - this baby is built to last. I could have needed a better graphic adaptor, but in overall the PC performs well...... 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

...'re talking about ports, check out the full set the T20 does enjoy, such as parallel printer, monitor, S-Video, and even an old-school serial port (more useful than you might think). The T20 was one of the most expensive notebooks you could possibly buy in 2000, and I paid £500 for mine three years ago, but now you can easily pick one up for less than £150 - that's fantastic value in my opinion. Although it's old, the build and component quality is such that you can be reasonably assured a used machine in decent condition will last you many more years - it might even outlast many of the flimsier models on the market today. If you decide to buy, look for one with the top spec - 750mhz processor, 512mb memory (very important), 20gb HDD. It's possible that the hard disk drive might be bigger than that, but only if it's had an aftermarket... Read review

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Advantages: Reliable, preforms well about what you expect! Modular drives
Disadvantages: Specs apear to be "Defunct"

...are typing, and also the trackball is not as likely to be damaged. The screen is bright, and at 13.3", its not small for laptops of this age either more than enough screen to use for word processing and internet browing without the constant scrolling required for smaller screens. Strangely, I have not managed to ever own a laptop with built in ethernet, (despite most people agreeing that this is "standard" for laptops now,) all comunication is handeled by the IBM soft-modem built into the machine, however if truth be told, I have never used the modem, optng for Wireless browsing with my PCMCIA wireless card, (with a ThinkPad solid click,) the card is quick recognized and I'm away. The infa-red port, (I know the usefullness of this is getting more and more questioned,) is usefull for syncing my mobile phoe with, and an external... Read review

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Advantages: Reliable and robust
Disadvantages: A bit heavy to carry around

...My husband decided to buy himself a laptop because I kept taking over his computer to surf the net and complete on-line surveys. But now I have taken over the laptop and he can keep his computer. We bought a secondhand IBM Thinkpad T22 on Ebay for about £250. It is a Pentium III 900mhz with 256mb RAM and a 20gb hard drive, it also came with a swappable DVD-ROM and a floppy disk drive which share the same slot. It has two PCMCIA slots. I have never used the floppy disk, as I use a USB pen drive for backing up files instead, but it is good to know that we have one should we need it, because we do not have one in our main PC. We bought a PCMCIA network card so that I can connect to the internet wherever I am in the house (or garden). The keyboard is very comfortable to use, I have it on a stand so that it is at an angle, rather than... Read review

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