[aklug] Re: Mac laptops and reliability

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 05:02:58PM -0800, Tim Gibney wrote:
> Are the new thinkpads are as reliable as when they were owned by IBM? How
> are the screens in the newer models compared to the old ones. Only IBM and
> Apple had bright screens you could read in sunlight. This is the one reason
> I am considering an Apple. There is no reason 99% of all notebooks have the
> cheapest possible screens.

When were IBM ThinkPads NOT made by Lenovo? (think OEM)

It's not a cheap screen that causes the problem, it's the configuration.
My several hundred dollar LCD monitor on my workstation is not very
readable when the afternoon sun shines over the mountain onto it, either.

But no, it's not easy to read the screen in direct sunlight; then again,
my laptop is not used outside or in direct sunlight that I know of. And
for the record, mine is a T61-7665FD1 ... iirc there are over 100 models
of the T61 alone. Like all laptops, they change a video chip or add memory
and give it a new model number.

ThinkPads are the most reliable, best priced for the hardware, notebooks
on the market. They're well supported in Linux, also. The ibm-acpi-devel
mailing list is active, and people are actively working on kernel support
for everything ThinkPad. Can that be said for ANY other laptop?

There is ##ibmthinkpad on FreeNode where you can get great support if you
are there when those guys are active. The channel does not have a lot of
people, but most of those there know their stuff, and are willing to offer
support without the usual RTFM mentality.

Everything works on this laptop. My only complaint is the onboard
speakers, which are not loud enough in Linux (or Windows). Using external
speakers or headphones work great, it's just the built in speakers that
are not loud enough. Just started hacking that in Slackware from the ALSA
wiki.

Bruce Hill

-- 
May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering!
"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the
lesson afterward. But properly learned, the lesson forever changes
the man."
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