[Novalug] Re: ThinkPads for Dummies

rogerb@bronord.com rogerb@bronord.com
Thu Nov 15 09:33:10 EST 2007


Ted, you asked about how to discriminate between models of Thinkpads.

It's best to go to Lenovo's page and look at the various series of notebooks.
Basically, their relative sizes are, in decreasing order: R / T / X. Prices
are, of course, inversely proportional to size with X's being highest priced.
I believe the Z series is a wide-screen variant of the Ts and came along after
the basic T series. Beyond that, you can do a compare of models on their
pages. I've bought both a T-4x and Zx and had to look very closely to
determine what was in the box in terms of video adapters, HD size and speed,
etc. If you add memory when buying on-line, buy the memory separately and put
it in yourself. Watch for "deals" like free shipping, free carrying case, free
memory upgrade, etc.

Testimony: I went with a Thinkpad because they are highly rated for toughness
and better reliability (the latter by Consumer Reports). I once tripped over
the power cord and jerked my T onto the floor. It made a two point landing on
the front of the lid/display and front corner of the base (the hinge side did
not hit). I almost cried BUT, it didn't even burp. Thinkpad HDs have shock
protection. After Thinkpads were picked-up by Lenovo, IBM continued to provide
support. Thinkpad manuals are also very detailed, in contrast to some manuals
that are lacking in content and written in imported English.

/Roger

>    7. ThinkPads for Dummies (Theodore Ruegsegger)

> Message: 7
> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:44:29 -0500
> From: Theodore Ruegsegger <truegsegger@csc.com>
> Subject: [Novalug] ThinkPads for Dummies
> To: novalug@calypso.tux.org
> Message-ID:
> 	<OF35E3C2EE.06A098E2-ON85257392.0076D2EF-85257392.00776EC9@csc.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
> While we're on the subject, can someone point me to a guide so I can
> tell the various series and models of ThinkPad apart? When I look them
> up on NewEgg or Ubid, I see machines with the same identifier (e.g.,
> T43 or T61) and comparable specs (at least RAM, HD, CPU speed) but
> with widely-varying prices. Presumably there are differences that
> everyone but me knows about.
>
> What distinguishes the series (R, T, Z, ...)?
> Is a higher number always better (like T61 vs T60)?
> What else makes some far more costly?
>
> Come to think of it, what's the difference between a ThinkPad and the
> other Lenovo notebooks/laptops?
>
> Ted
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:13:53 -0500
> From: Miguel Gonzalez Casta?os <miguel_3_gonzalez@yahoo.es>
> Subject: [Novalug] ranting about HP support
> To: novalug@calypso.tux.org
> Message-ID: <473A21A1.2030007@yahoo.es>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> <completely ranting mode>
>
> I have a HP All-in-One 600 StorageWork. The machine started to be
> unstable after a software upgrade. Troubleshooting with HP they decided
> that I had to replace the cache board. I got that replacement and then
> two data partitions disappeared showing as unallocated.
>
> HP just left us alone suggesting a data recovery third-party. They just
> said that they couldn't do anything. After ranting with CDW (the
> reseller) tech support, they got as again in the loop and tried
> replacing the system board. Since they send third parties, they didn't
> have a clue on the OS level so nothing was fixed.
>
> I've been three weeks ranting on the phone with HP engineers going from
> Costa Rica to somewhere in Asia (India or Pakistan). They are finally
> sending us a HP engineer and try to fix the machine but actually they
> say upfront that will not be any way to get those partitions back (great).
>
> So they screw up with the cache board replacement and now how can we
> trust this machine?
>
> We were much better using Linux and Samba with an old server. All this
> fancy things about Microsoft targeting Storage servers for SMB is really
> a...well you know what I mean :)
>
> </completely ranting mode>
>
>
> Sorry for the rant, but I am so happy with HP support and Microsoft tools...
>
> Do you know any good hardware vendor for servers with good support?
>
> Any good storage linux solution compatible with Active Directory? We had
> lot of issues with Samba, the configuration of the permissions is not
> very user friendly and not very small-grained
>
> Miguel
>
>
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> End of Novalug Digest, Vol 13, Issue 36
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