Lenovo's 3000 C100 reviewed

So PC Mag took a long look at Lenovo's first line of non-ThinkPad branded laptops carrying their bespoke name, and decided that while apparently it bears some similarity (like the keyboard for example, or as one can easily tell, the hinge design), it's "decidedly not a ThinkPad." But hey, it's not supposed to be, right? If you're looking at a Lenovo, you're probably looking to go a little cheaper at the expense of some durability and size, which is exactly how the 3000 C100 works it. Still, for a laptop under $900 it boasts some goodies, like a 4-in-1 card reader, Media Center, FireWire, and dual-layer DVD burner -- not bad for a 15-incher, even if it is only XGA resolution.

[Derrick @ Mar 21st 2006 11:50AM]

Good lord, look at all the system tray icons loaded on that picture above! Going to need a fibre channel drive just to boot windows in less than 5 minutes.

[gnome @ Mar 21st 2006 11:54AM]

Of course it's not a Thinpad. IBM hasn't produced this laptop.

[Dustin @ Mar 21st 2006 12:21PM]

Lenovo has been making the IBM branded Thinkpads for a long time now gnome. They are expanding their laptop lineup.

[Flav @ Mar 21st 2006 12:35PM]

Front loading optical drive - yuck.

Just when you need to load a DVD/CD you have to pull the laptop away from you - a good chance for this baby to drop to the ground. Well, at least when it happens you won't be $2k short.. just $900 short.

What happened to good-designed laptops with top-loading or side-loading optical drives?

[Steve @ Mar 21st 2006 12:47PM]

At least it now has a Windows key on the keyboard--yippie! (it's about time)

[cuby @ Mar 21st 2006 1:18PM]

you wouldn't consider a side-loading drive to be more inconvenient than a front-loading drive?

on a plane, side-loading drives can knock over your neighbor's sprite, spilling it all over his salty peanuts. and that would be the worst disaster since katrina.

[Marcus @ Mar 21st 2006 1:33PM]

Might as well slap a freakin DELL logo on it from the looks of it! Methinks I'll stick with my TPad.

[James Rice @ Mar 21st 2006 2:11PM]

they better not mess with my thinkpads... that all I have to say. :)

[travis @ Mar 21st 2006 2:28PM]

lmao...worst disaster since katrina...

and gnome are you really a gnome? i think youve been living in a cave or something too long. the ibm thinkpad selloff happened a looooong time ago

[MacroEQ @ Mar 21st 2006 3:08PM]

This one is just as ugly as the Dell D620.

I don't know where Lenovo are going strategy-wise (post IBM), but I am not impressed with the design of their initial offerings and with consumers being increasingly image concious, they wont be winning many supporters with this I feel.

[Jeff @ Mar 21st 2006 3:11PM]

So how long until Lenovo just kills the ThinkPad line outright in favor of producing this cheap junk?

The ThinkPad deal was a trojan horse; it was just to get their foot in the door here. ThinkPads have been losing money for years, and what's Lenovo going to do about it? Nothing. All they can do is either make the things as cheap as every other laptop, in which case there's no longer any reason to buy them, or kill the line.

They seem to be putting a lot more of their recent marketing behind this line than the ThinkPads. And no doubt these machines are more profitable, being basically no different than your standard run-of-the-mill Dell machine. But would we have been talking about them if this was not the company also now making ThinkPads? Would Lenovo even *be* in the United States? No.

Once we all know Lenovo, bye bye ThinkPad. That's my prediction.

[Steve @ Mar 21st 2006 3:41PM]

RE front-loading disc...

It's on the left-side front.
Need space?

Rotate the unit clockwise in-place on your lap... voila! left-side front becomes available. And/or slide it a tiny bit to the left (if feasible).

Sometimes, a technical problem is just a drink-holder in disguise... ;-)

[Khaytsus @ Mar 21st 2006 4:05PM]

#4, I want to see a top-loading optical drive in a laptop.

Although some of the 17" laptops probably could pull it off.

[p quan @ Mar 21st 2006 6:38PM]

The main difference between this and a Dell e1505 is a
core duo processor, a 7200 rpm hard-drive, and WXGAWSXGA+ resolution.

I would like the people who own thinkpads to tell me
in what way thinkpads are superior. I know they have
good build quality/magnesium/titanium cases and good
hinges...but what else? What about the insides? Are
you just paying for thinkvantage and a fingerprint reader?
An extended warranty? What is the big draw?

[Eric @ Mar 22nd 2006 6:29AM]

Its a pimped up version of my currently being used Acer Travelmate 290 series laptop. Everything is in the same places including the keyboard, just that they played with the insides,mouse buttons and funny orange button on the DVD/CD.

Not worth buying, move on, shows over!

[Most beautiful @ Mar 30th 2006 6:53PM]

>I would like the people who own thinkpads to tell me
>in what way thinkpads are superior.

Just from reading the spec a Thinkpad doesn't set itself apart, you have to use it to understand its beauty. The trackpoint is lovely, far superior to a touchpad. It's also better than the trackpoints Dell and Toshiba is offering. The keyboard is amazing as well. Considering how much time we spend using it it really should be a top priority for every maker. But tactile feeling is hard to sell from a pure spec point of view. The general quality is second to none. It's also easy to replace parts should something break. Battery quality is very high. They also often feel faster than the spec should suggest as well.

You have to use one to understand the beauty of the design. As an striking exampel - I have a new Sony Vaio Pentium M 1.6GHz but still prefer to use a five year old Thinkpad T21 for daily tasks.

It's true as they say, Quality never goes out of style.

[Marin @ Apr 11th 2006 3:36AM]

I also have a T23 w/ pIII 1133 and I realize its getting old, but when I shop laptops for my friends (mostly Acers , Toshibas and Asus) every single time I drop the idea for changing it...
As I can't afford t43/60 or something similar, I'll stick with this one.
And about the C100 - I played a bit with one, and I'd never change mine for that low quality brick, regardless what specs...

[Vitali @ Jul 15th 2006 10:54PM]

From someone who actually OWNs Lenovo C100

First of all, I bought it for 540 bucks, and it is worth every penny. Though not exactly thinkpad, it does have their keyboard (not the nipple though), the built is quite well (except for the tin-covered screen part - I really don't like it), it does have thinkvantage and Lenovo care which is good, service is the same as IBM, parts are well-quality, and it is 80 gig HD and DVDRW for the price, and the overall feel is great -somewhere between Thinkpad and the Mac. It looks to be REALLY good laptop. I would say, step back from thinkpads (which is OK, considering the price difference), but still way better than any crap you buy at electronic supermarket that won't live a year of hard use. My advice: if you want a thinkpad but sort of short of cash to buy a new model - buy Lenovo.