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Robster1958 · Jun 23, 2003, 09:24 PM

In case anyone is interested...or if you need a diversion by the LACK!! of PB news from WWDC.....I have a few quick comparisons between these two laptops.

Last week I reverse switched from my TiBook to a ThinkPad. My reasons were posted in a prior thread, so I would just like to give my impressions of the 2 machines back to back.

First of all, with respect to form factor, cool factor, elegance, etc, of course there is no comparison..ThinkPad rules. NOT!!

Actually though, the ThinkPad is quite compact for a 14" screen and cd-r/dvd drive machine: about an inch longer than PB and 2" narrower, and only about 1/2 thicker. it weighs 4.9 lbs. not bad.

The keyboard is quite good...springy keys, but good. and the pointer device is no longer an eraser tip, but a much better rubber, grippy cap. And there is a (forward) "delete" key. And also a right click button for the trackpad. The screen is kinda recessed with a small "hood" on top. This hood has a tiny bright LED for illuminating the keyboard in the dark.

The unit runs very quiet and cool...surprising so. Battery life is excellent with the standard battery getting about 2.5 hours and the extended life (potrudes a little) over 4 hours. Warranty is 3 years parts and labor. Not cheap however (for my company!) at $3200.

Performance: I got the model with the 1.6 Mhz Pentium M and Centrino wireless chipset. I also got the 1400 x 1050 screen with the 64 MB video card (ATI 9000?) and 512 MB of RAM. Video quality is excellent..equal to the PB. Unfortuanately though without the wider screen, the black bars on movies are pretty large.

One surprise is that the ThinkPad loads web pages quicker than the PB. I did a Toast.net speed test..sitting in the exact same location....with my linksys wireless LAN, and the ThinkPad beat the PB by 200-300 kb/sec. Subjectively, just surfing the internet using IE, the experience is zippier that with Safari and OS X on the PB. And I was already very happy with that.

I should mention that this is my first usage of Win XP (professional)and i'm pretty impressed. i used XP home once and didn't like it. With Office2000, excel and word are both faster than with Office X on my PB.

I am not the graphics professional using Quark or even PhotoShop, but i thought these comments might be useful to switchers/potential switchers.

Also, I have not even attempted to use the ThinkPad for entertainment (aside from dvd's). My iBook (and soon to be purchased 12" PB)are reserved for iPod, iPhoto, etc. Although I will try out a game or two on this.

Furthermore, I can't say that i "like" the ThinkPad, whereas I really love the iBook!

schmoe · Jun 23, 2003, 10:28 PM

I too switched back from a TiG4, a rev. b 667 in my case. I got a T40p with the same specs, but a FireGL card. The ThinkPad is tiny and lightweight yet superbly well built. It doesn't get more than slightly warm, and has excellent 802.11b reception. The high rez screen makes text look amazing, I don't even turn on subpixel rendering. DivX movies play flawlessly with little CPU use, and in general everything is much snappier than the TiG4. Office X was, to put it simply, unusably slow and unstable whereas Office XP is very fast and nice. Oh and 3 year next-day onsite repair is very nice.

Unfortunately I really miss OS X. Even though Apple is slowly ruining it with brushed metal it is a much nicer OS to work with I went to the Apple store today hoping to find an updated 15" PowerBook, even only a G4 at 1.2ghz+ I would have sold my T40p at a loss to pick up one of those. Perhaps it is better they didn't release that though as it would probably be too hot to use on your lap.

With the massive cooling system of the G5, I don't see a G5 PowerBook coming out soon. I don't know what the hold up is for the new 15"... too many still in stock, or perhaps manufacturing delays. Guess I'll have to wait a year or two and see if Apple comes back around.

juanpacolopez · Jun 24, 2003, 12:27 PM

Originally posted by Robster1958:
Actually though, the ThinkPad is quite compact for a 14" screen and cd-r/dvd drive machine: about an inch longer than PB and 2" narrower, and only about 1/2 thicker. it weighs 4.9 lbs. not bad.

I like how you say "only" about 1/2 (I'm assuming inch) thicker. The 15" PB is only 1" thick to begin with... 1.5 inches is thicker than an iBook!

I never understood why PC laptops were so thick. Have you ever opened one up? For the most part, there is COPIOUS free space inside... at least on the 1 thinkpad and couple of Toshibas I've cracked. Perhaps bad design, who knows.

Michel_80 · Jun 24, 2003, 03:46 PM

The T40 is the same thickness as an 15 or an 17inch PB. Nuff said!

schmoe · Jun 24, 2003, 03:56 PM

Oops, thanks for pointing that out!

The ThinkPad is not thicker. It is the same at 1" thick. It obviously isn't longer either; since it is not a widescreen it is shorter but wider.

Robster1958 · Jun 24, 2003, 04:26 PM

you are right! only 1" think. seems thicker than TiBook.
otherwise it measures 9.75" x 12" whatever you want to call those dimensions.

still too "tall" to fit my Racer X TiBook case....oh well!

juanpacolopez · Jun 24, 2003, 10:08 PM

Originally posted by schmoe:
Oops, thanks for pointing that out!

The ThinkPad is not thicker. It is the same at 1" thick. It obviously isn't longer either; since it is not a widescreen it is shorter but wider.

Ahhh... I've never used a T40 personally, only a few older ThinkPads.

As much as I loathe PC laptops, it's nice to see that someone besides Apple is giving a damn about asthetics on their high end machines these days. Ever seen a high-end Inspiron? It's like a brick. I think they do run about 1.5-1.7 inches, and the screen actually hangs over the edges of the base slightly (VERY annoying personally).

Robster1958 · Jun 24, 2003, 10:35 PM

woouldn't quite give IBM kudos for aethestics...form factor yes, but all plugs, jacks, connections are exposed and ugly. As is the inbelievable amount of stickers and text on the bottom.

Why do I really need an Intel inside and XP sticker on the palm rests...especially when removing them leave a gummy residue?

On the plus side, the Thinkpad logo is tasteful, imo. I also like the "rubberized" casing. durable, grippy, and stays cool.

a couple more days usage, i have to admit that tiny text looks much clearer on this unit than my TiBook.

juanpacolopez · Jun 24, 2003, 10:43 PM

Originally posted by Robster1958:
woouldn't quite give IBM kudos for aethestics...form factor yes, but all plugs, jacks, connections are exposed and ugly. As is the inbelievable amount of stickers and text on the bottom.

Why do I really need an Intel inside and XP sticker on the palm rests...especially when removing them leave a gummy residue?

On the plus side, the Thinkpad logo is tasteful, imo. I also like the "rubberized" casing. durable, grippy, and stays cool.

a couple more days usage, i have to admit that tiny text looks much clearer on this unit than my TiBook.

No WAY on the text. What options for font smoothing do you have set on the Ti? ALL text looks 10x better on my machine than the windows ones at work...

Unless there's something super special about the LCD, which I can't imagine there is.

Burke · Jun 24, 2003, 10:49 PM

I just looked through IBM's line of laptops...and people say PowerBooks are overpriced!

Robster1958 · Jun 24, 2003, 10:59 PM

truth is..not any more.

my pick for top price/value is the 15" TiBook combo drive at a buck less than two grand.

get free ram/airport on a deal..it trounces all else.

IBM is definitely a corporate buy...the 3yr warranty is of value...and I guess "total cost of ownership" claims could be made...but...