IBM:s ThinkPads seems really sturdy. But has the quality been maintained since Lenovo bought the ThinkPad brand?

yes it has

Yes, and it didn’t pass the creak test.

Yeah, but it does pass the "accidentally spilled coffee on my keyboard test".

Mine passed the "getting dropped from 3-5 feet on about 700 different occasions" test.

Mine passed the got-run-over-by-an-SUV test, modulo a new external keyboard and monitor.

Mine had a cracked motherboard because I was apparently picking it up off the table wrong, by the corner vs gently holding it on both sides, as designed. IBM initially claimed that it was water damage (6 months prior), searching online revealed a small army with the same problem as I.

I still use that ThinkPad (well minus the new motherboard) on my electronics bench, but to say that its on par with the iPhone or Mac Pro in terms of quality is laughable. The whole thing looks and feels like its made out of recycled plastic. Its so ugly it looks rugged.

And I still love the damn thing... go figure.

> Mine had a cracked motherboard because I was apparently picking it up off the table wrong, by the corner vs gently holding it on both sides

Same as mine. Replaced with MacBook Air, without regrets.

>The whole thing looks and feels like its made out of recycled plastic.

Wait, I thought that Apple was the eco-conscious company.

What vintage? I remember seeing that Lenovo added a "roll cage" to the Thinkpad line that supposedly allows it to be run over by a car.

I found a 1990s Thinkpad in my desk at work. It's makes for an excellent step ladder.

My sister's didn't. More RAM for me (and my next laptop will also be a thinkpad)!

No, but I have coworkers that do. They're nice machines, but they're still a collection of plastic components, and don't have the tight tolerances and clever case design that one sees in recent MacBooks.

I can't get past the blue "ThinkVantage" key. It's like a big pimple that says "a douchebag designed this." It also has no purpose once you install a real operating system, since the software that it invokes only runs on that crummy OS they ship it with.

You need to get over yourselves then. Thinkpads are really well made because they are not made to please some designers - they are made to be used.

Ok that came of way too snarky. What I was attempting to say was that Thinkpads were (I haven't used any that were made by the Chinese manufacture so I can't answer for them) made to be used and were designed to handle the hits and spills that would happen naturally over the course of such work (the keyboard had drainage, the hinges were extra enforced and it could take quite a few drops).

On the other hand my iPod has already got three scratches in it. One was because my keys were in my pocket (which I do all the time with my cell, without any issues) the other when when I dropped it two feet (of my bed, and not on purpose).

Sure the iPod stuff is nice, but I wouldn't rely on it for actual work.

I agree. I actually prefer Toughbooks for that reason. The biggest thing I dislike about Apple's hardware is that you have to treat it like a family heirloom.

It is more durable than cheap PC hardware though, which is why I called it middle-of-the-road in terms of durability.

But I still massively prefer the aesthetics and designs of Apple's hardware. I do not see why you couldn't design a Toughbook-type machine with sparse Apple-like aesthetics. In fact, it almost seems like it would make it easier... fewer connectors and buttons means less points for liquid entry, eliminating extra drives means fewer moving parts, etc.

If I ditched Apple for Linux, I'd probably take a look at the Sony Vaios... they're pretty sparse and seem well made.

My friend's IBM Thinkpad went through 3 video cards and a motherboard before she replaced it with a MacBook Pro.