What are the differences in the types of Lenovo Thinkpads?

> bestbuy has a lot of thinkpads

ThinkPad is a registered laptop trademark. IBM used to make those a while ago, and sold the brand and manufacturing plant to Chineese computer maker Levono.

What you mean is a LAPTOP.


> I'm not seeing any consumer reviews at bestbuy on some of
> these thinkpads either, although I have no problem searching
> them out.

Google for 'laptop buying guide'.

http://www.geek.com/laptop-buyers-guide/ is nice.

CNET is also a good reference on electronic gadgets www.cnet.com, reviews, specs, comparison charts, etc.


> I've always had problems with games messing things up

Set up a different Windows account if you want to separate work from everything else. It's a bad idea to have everything under an all-encompassing 'Administrator' account anyway. You can also tag this account with stricter access (removing system privileges, for example) so that it becomes far more difficult to screw up the laptop when put into younger hands.

Hope this helps.

-cb

> I'm using a very old work one right now that has held up
> well considering it's running windows 2000

I can relate. I had a company-issued T42 for a good three years. It travelled to Japan, Korea, the EU, Canada and almost every state in the US. Still working like brand new when I upgraded.

-cb

Go to the side by side comparison at the Lenovo website, that'll list the differences.

Some things to note: you need 64 bit windows (7) for more than 4gb of ram. Nvidia is the graphics card and while you might not be playing games, web design (flash, graphic design for web), and map making take up a lot of video memory, movies will also run better with a better graphics card so don't skimp out for that kind of work.

The Thinkpad Edges are like Lenovo's attempt to pull customers who like the looks of Dells and HPs. They have the flat keyboards (that I HATE) and cost less than other Thinkpads I've seen.

Look at this page for a breakdown of each series: http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/thinkpad/?menu-id=learn&ref-id=learn

T Series: most popular classic designs. Remember Thinkpads have always been designed to be somewhat squarish while other laptop makers aim for curves.

Edge: "Daring new style"

X Series: Thinnest and lightest

L Series: "Green" laptops = lower power use.

W series: Portable workstations = Big, beefy desktop replacements.

X Series Tablets: Tablet laptops.

I have a T520. I absolutely love it. I got mine during a big sale for $730 after taxes. Now they're about $900 or more. Maybe watch their website for future deals.

Also, computers normally dip after Christmas when it comes to prices, but this year is expected to be different. Because of the flooding in Thailand, lots of hard drive factories got shut down. Computer makers don't want to risk losing sales before Christmas, I've read in a few industry publications, so they're holding off on price hikes until January.

I'm not saying you should buy your computer this instant. Just, if you see a good deal now, take it.

It might be an idea to have a dedicated graphics card on top of your normal video card... That's what I've got in my new laptop (it's an Asus though) and honestly, I've not once had a problem with video files (except when youtube has lag, but that's the site and not on my end - although if I had the best internet connection available it might help). I've had this laptop for about a month now, if that helps, and I watch DVDs every day, use youtube, watch various media files that I had backed up on my desktop... Loads of visuals done on this laptop so far, just no games.

(If you were wondering, having an extra dedicated graphics card allows your computer to perform visually without any major hiccups in most circumstances. Like, the standard video card will do the bulk of the work, but when that starts to feel the pressure, your dedicated graphics will ensure smooth sailing. I think. I'm not an expert on this stuff and I'm trying to remember exactly how the expert I spoke to explained things... Edited to Add: Actually, it might be that the dedicated graphics card is used when you're doing pointedly graphical things, whereas the standard card is just keeping the main "code to picture" thing happening. Honestly, I can't remember. I'm presuming someone will come along presently and tell you how it really works, which is probably nothing like what I've just said anyway... But dedicated graphics helps, I know that much!)

Oh, and I'd recommend 64bit Windows 7, and as much RAM as you can shove inside. It won't particularly change internet performance, but it'll help most other functions you use your laptop for.

But I think you already knew that...

One thing to keep in mind is that if you have a habit of using multiple programs at once, 4GB of RAM will not be a waste at all. 2GB of RAM is fine - but if you're on AW, got a notepad file open, Word open, a media program for music, and then try to load something else? 4GB will really be worth it, IMO.

At least, that's what I've been told. And I tend to believe the tech person I know, as he spends 90% of his waking hours dealing with computers...

Cliff Face said:

It might be an idea to have a dedicated graphics card on top of your normal video card... That's what I've got in my new laptop (it's an Asus though) and honestly, I've not once had a problem with video files (except when youtube has lag, but that's the site and not on my end - although if I had the best internet connection available it might help). I've had this laptop for about a month now, if that helps, and I watch DVDs every day, use youtube, watch various media files that I had backed up on my desktop... Loads of visuals done on this laptop so far, just no games.

Click to expand...

A dedicated video card only really helps for intensive graphics work or gaming or if you need to drive a lot of pixels (multiple monitors). If it's just watching movies, integrated graphics are usually fine these days, and a lot of third-party movie players don't take full advantage of GPU decoding anyway (which would tend to be implemented on the integrated graphics anyway, to save power consumption). If it's for editing movies, then a dedicated video card is definitely a good thing.

(If you were wondering, having an extra dedicated graphics card allows your computer to perform visually without any major hiccups in most circumstances. Like, the standard video card will do the bulk of the work, but when that starts to feel the pressure, your dedicated graphics will ensure smooth sailing. I think. I'm not an expert on this stuff and I'm trying to remember exactly how the expert I spoke to explained things... Edited to Add: Actually, it might be that the dedicated graphics card is used when you're doing pointedly graphical things, whereas the standard card is just keeping the main "code to picture" thing happening. Honestly, I can't remember. I'm presuming someone will come along presently and tell you how it really works, which is probably nothing like what I've just said anyway... But dedicated graphics helps, I know that much!)

Click to expand...

It'll switch between them depending on what APIs are being called. They aren't both used at once.

> It'll switch between them depending on what
> APIs are being called.

There used to be a time when the drivers were switched to integrated when the laptop ran on batteries and on the dedicated graphics when the laptop ran on AC power. A bit like configuration changes depending if the laptop run from the docking port or not.

Is that still the case?

-cb

cbenoi1 said:

> It'll switch between them depending on what
> APIs are being called.

There used to be a time when the drivers were switched to integrated when the laptop ran on batteries and on the dedicated graphics when the laptop ran on AC power. A bit like configuration changes depending if the laptop run from the docking port or not.

Is that still the case?

-cb

Click to expand...

It probably can be. I believe Thinkpads implement dynamic switching, but I don't know how configurable it is; I'm sure if Lenovo doesn't provide a utility for it, there are likely third-party utilities that would allow for this.

Macs use dynamic switching by default, but I use a third-party utility that switches depending on whether there's a power source or not, like you say.