Lenovo celebrates 15 years of Thinkpad, "uncorks" Reserve Edition

When Lenovo throws a party for the ThinkPad, does IBM get invited? We'd certainly hope so, considering it was the venerable US computing giant which first released the 700C back in 1992, and only gave up its claim to the name a mere two years ago with the completion of its PC division sale -- but don't worry Big Blue, even if the new guys forgot, we still sent you a card. For its part, Lenovo once again trotted out the limited-run Reserve Editions laptops -- those 5,000 French leather-clad X61s's -- and reiterated its commitment to post-sale doting over the select few folks willing to throw down five grand for the privilege. Well you won't find us standing in line to pick up such a luxury item, but we do have to give Lenovo credit for avoiding the obvious temptation to go with a traditional 15th anniversary theme, and unleashing a crystal-studded monstrosity that would make IBM execs cringe with horror and regret every time they saw one being flaunted by a colleague. Got any fond memories of your ThinkPads? Feel free to share 'em in the comments...

[Thanks Sourabh, headline wordplay courtesy of Lenovo PR]

[Donald @ Sep 5th 2007 11:02AM]

I had a Thinkpad for my junior year of university. It did everything I need - held some music, did my papers... but I was so cruel to it when I cracked the case halfway to hell.

Good night, sweet prince. :cry:

[randy @ Sep 5th 2007 11:07AM]

The thinkpad butterfly will forever be missed.

[TDG01 @ Sep 5th 2007 11:36AM]

loved the butterfly...sniff sniff

[jan @ Sep 5th 2007 11:15AM]

looks nice.....but is it only add a leather case and a label on it?

[bpc @ Sep 5th 2007 11:16AM]

It was on a ThinkPad at the IBM display at Epcot back in the early '90s that I first laid my fingers on a clit-mouse (TrackPoint??). Blew my damn mind.

For that, I thank you IBM.

[Maff @ Sep 5th 2007 11:18AM]

freud has a field day?!

[CongoZombie @ Sep 5th 2007 11:21AM]

I miss thinkpads (the IBM ones). Best non-apple laptops IMO. I had a T20- that thing was rock solid, and really nice to use.

[Will @ Sep 5th 2007 12:13PM]

I have been a loyal Thinkpad user since I first used one in 2002. I gave away my Dell Latitude and picked up a refurbished Thinkpad and never looked back.
I loved its elegant yet simple design, the way the solid construction felt in my hands, and the keyboard most of all.
When they came out with the 1400x1050 screen I fell in love with it again.

5 years, 4 thinkpads, 3 screens later I am still a thinkpad lover... but damn those are some expensive screens to fix/replace.

Sadly, I must admit that my next notebook purchase will be a macbook pro.

[ynoty3k @ Sep 5th 2007 11:33AM]

umm, yea. Too bad lenovo is going to hell, their quality is dropping like flies, and they cant save what IBM once had. Wrapping it in leather isnt going to solve anything, and will just make them even more prone to over heating

[TDG01 @ Sep 5th 2007 11:41AM]

The specs on the Lenovo ThinkPads are still very impressive, but IMO, there's a definate drop in quality since Lenovo took the reigns from IBM. The build quality is not the same, above all I miss the keyboards. The IBM ThinkPad keyboards had phenomenal tatical feel....the best, bar none....now, ehhh...

[Michael Geary @ Sep 5th 2007 12:37PM]

The keyboard issue has to do with the keyboard suppliers.

I have two T60p machines. The first one had a keyboard that was OK but not great. In particular, the TrackPoint buttons were unpleasantly mushy. The second one I got a year later has a great keyboard with nice clicky TrackPoint buttons.

So I went to the Lenovo/IBM support site and looked up the parts manifest for both machines. The first T60p had a Chicony keyboard, the second one an Alps.

I found a couple of new Alps T60 keyboards on eBay and installed one in the old machine. Much better now.

When I used to buy desktop keyboards, I avoided Chicony like the plague. Some things never change!

[CT @ Sep 5th 2007 11:34AM]

For $5,000 it should be wrapped in a BJ giving hooker, not just leather.

[Jens K. @ Sep 5th 2007 11:39AM]

Happily running a 4 year old T40p besides an 8 year old 600E and on the lookout for yet another Thinkpad if money is available.

[Steve @ Sep 5th 2007 12:31PM]

Whats the point of covering it in leather - it don't look good

[Francisco Saavedra @ Sep 5th 2007 12:05PM]

i had a 600E... i must have dropped it a dozen times and it got a single scratch on it... now that's quality

[dp @ Sep 5th 2007 12:18PM]

I still use my A30 Thinkpad. The thing is like a rock, wait... is BUILT like a rock. The trackpoint and the keyboard is the best. I have to use a D3ll laptop at work and there is just no comparison.

Sadly, I will be upgrading soon. The only problem with using Thinkpads is that once you use it, the only brand you'll ever consider is a Thinkpad or a MacBook. All others are just posers. While I love thinkpad, I'll be going to the Mac platform and will know at least that when using PC's, I've used the best.

[paul-engadget @ Sep 5th 2007 12:19PM]

the modern lenovo machines are more Stinkpad than Thinkpad - I don't know many which get daily use which aren't despised for their problems.

[J @ Sep 5th 2007 12:12PM]

I had a T42, ran like a charm. The mouse busted, but got it fixed and the keyboard was very responsive.

I've had a T60P now for 6 months and I have had a slew of problems (blue screens related to bogus RAM, latches not closing properly, keyboard busted, trackpoint roams). As far as I can tell, the change happened when Lenovo took over. For shame.

Honestly though, unless I hear something great about another laptop, I'll probably go with the T8x when it comes out in 3 years and this one no longer can handle the day to day stuff.

[David @ Sep 5th 2007 12:24PM]

Ah, the Butterfly. There was an innovative design. We got about half a dozen of them when they first came out and my colleagues and I spent a good thirty minutes just opening and closing one or the other of them.

I first started using the Thinkpad when I went to work for Lotus. For three months, I refused to use the Trackpoint on the Thinkpad I was given on day 1 -- I was simply accustomed to a mouse. After then, I decided that I'm going to be stuck with this thing, I might as well get used to it, and the more I used it, the more I liked it. It is to the point that I have an old IBM keyboard (the big one with the incredibly solid thunk) with an embedded Tracpoint on my Mac at home!

The Thinkpad, even the Lenovo-built Thinkpads, are head and shoulders above the pack, save the Macbooks. I finally "retired" my venerable A20 this year for a new Z61p. It is a sweet box.

[Kurt Klotz @ Sep 5th 2007 2:12PM]

Some years ago, our company hired a new VP of Engineering and I was showing him my "Company Standard" T21 Thinkpad. Just as I was handing it to him, I accidently dropeed it (running), picked it up and showed him that everything was just fine. Even today, the Thinkpads are strong and I am setting up a new X61s as we speak (type). The "Butterfly" was the coolest of the batch and I still have one...can't run to much on it but it's cool!...kind of like peeping inside the refridgerator door to see if the light actually goes out.

[SuperQ @ Sep 5th 2007 2:32PM]

I had a Thinkpad 500 back when I started college.. it was a great laptop. It was also the first laptop I had that ran linux.. I ran slackware on it, it really didn't support X very well because it only had 4MB of ram. This didn't bother me so much because I mostly used it to connect out to my desktop PC over the dorm net, or the sun machines to check my mail.

[Terence @ Sep 5th 2007 2:34PM]

I would have looked a lot better in black leather..

[tekdroid @ Sep 5th 2007 7:53PM]

http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/22/users-complaining-of-bezel-separation-on-lenovo-x60-x61-tablet/

Gee, I hope they have fixed this...
Their Australian site, http://www.lenovo.com.au has promotions on these very models. I wonder why.

That said I do own a cheap low-end celeron Lenovo (C200 3000) which certainly has a better keyboard feel than the bulk of the competition I tried.

[Floydhoo @ Sep 5th 2007 9:44PM]

We have used Toshibas, Dells and Thinkpads. The old 600X finally gave up the ghost after nine years. My wife appropriated the T21 , then the T40. We have a T60 and a T42. We hope that we can keep these going for nine more years. once you use them, you do not want to use anything else.

[ramian @ Sep 6th 2007 11:41AM]

I'm a thinkpad junkie... although not for as long as some people here (couldn't afford Thinkpads back then). Have got a T30, T42, 2 T60s and now a X61. Once you go Thinkpad, you can never go back. Even though quality does seem to have dropped (like in the T/X61 series), it still is worlds apart in terms of build quality compared to almost every other brand of laptop available. Long live Thinkpads!!

[Tony Le @ Sep 8th 2007 12:12AM]

I've never had qualms about my ThinkPads, all the way from the 600E going forward (I have a T60 now). There is a lot to be said about what's NOT included on a laptop (junk, useless features (Sony Vaios) and bloatware). It always had superior build quality and warranty services. While it was never the fastest laptop, it was the best productive laptop I have.