

ThinkPad Design: Spirit and Essence - Adrock
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/69081166#/69081166/1

======
JimmyL
In an office full of Retina MacBooks, I love my ThinkPad X220 (and this is my
fourth ThinkPad in a row, spanning both Lenovo and IBM eras). It's not a
flashy machine, but it's got a bunch of non-mainstream features that are
devoted to getting things done, at which they excel:

\- Nub pointer? I love it. Full mouse control without moving my hands
significantly away from where they were on the keyboard anyways. My X220 has a
trackpad, but I only use it by accident.

\- An LED that lives above the monitor and has a shield that points it down to
light up the keyboard. This is a lifesaver on long flights.

\- Docking stations. I've got two USB drives, a pair of headphones, a few USB-
powered accessories, two monitors, a mouse, and a keyboard plugged into my
computer when it's at the office. My MBP-toting coworkers have to connect and
disconnect all that when they pick up their computer; I press the big _undock_
button and it all stays where I left it, and reconnects when I put it back on
the desk.

\- Accessory comparability. I've still got the power adapters from the first
ThinkPad I had. They work fine on my current one, and mean that I have more of
these bricks than I could ever need - so I can keep one at work, in my go bag,
at my home office, in my living room, in my kitchen, and still have a few
backups around.

\- Repair manuals. Want to know how to do any type of repair on your ThinkPad?
The repair manual is freely available, and tells you exactly how to do
anything you'd like to. To swap out the network adapter, for example, involves
taking off the keyboard and going from the top.

Was ordering it in the first place a pleasant experience? No. The website
sucked, I had to call in to do half the customization I wanted, and it still
took two months to get here.

~~~
mdkess
I have a ThinkPad (T420) too, I love it. I agree with everything that you said
- nobody else comes close. Plus, their keyboards are by far the nicest laptop
keyboards out there. The X220 is in my mind the perfect portable laptop...
except, like every Lenovo laptop I've used, it has an absolutely terrible
screen. It drives me nuts, because they come so close, and yet still miss by
so much. I mean, I'm not expecting a Retina display here, but if Asus can put
a 1920x1080 display on their $1000 Zenbooks, would it be too much to ask for
Lenovo to put a 1600x900 panel on the X220?

My laptop - the T420 has a 1600x900 panel on it, but colors change at every
angle, and I find myself constantly having to adjust it to get the angle just
perfect. And even then, it's fuzzy.

~~~
Scene_Cast2
Try the X230 IPS screen or any of the 15" screens. Lenovo's T400 series
screens are truly notoriously bad.

------
linuxhansl
I have privately been using ThinkPads exclusively for many years now. These
are the best laptops I ever used (and I am being supplied with work laptops
that ranged from MacBook to Dells).

The part I relate the most with in the presentation is that ThinkPads are not
trendy or flashy. No they are not, they are not gadgets or things you show
off, they are functional tools that just work.

~~~
paulgb
The one thing I don't like about ThinkPad is that like pretty much every PC
maker they insist on bundling their own software (in their case,
ThinkVantage). I wish PC makers would start shipping PCs with Windows, any
necessary hardware drivers, and nothing else. This, more than anything, is
what makes me dread buying another PC.

~~~
linuxhansl
I agree. I tried to multiple times to purchase ThinkPads without the bundled
software (I use Linux). But it is not an option.

This in fact is the only reason why I look at other offers at all. Every time
I need a new laptop I re-check whether I get a ThinkPad without Windows, then
I look around for other offerings that do not bundle useless software; so far
the ThinkPads have just been better.

First thing I do is wiping the Windows and "factory" partitions and install
Linux.

------
stan_rogers
Well, that was a horrible experience. Sure, my connection is unforgivably
slow, but a long player download (in my case, about four minutes) followed by
a long per-page content download (with no apparent prefetch) means that I
didn't get very far before bailing. Oh, and none of the usual keyboard
navigation (arrows) work. There are a lot of ways to present something like
this that _work_ ; this doesn't, particularly.

~~~
epaik
On the other end of the spectrum, I thought the presentation was impressive. I
have a typical broadband connection, and I thought it worked just fine. The
loading time seemed instantaneous.

I actually appreciate that modern websites are increasingly being designed for
higher standards of internet bandwidth/connectivity. It's not that I think
bandwidth isn't precious, but when websites can deliver beautiful content at
the cost of an extra 10th of a second of loading time on a modern connection,
I think it's worth it.

A four minute download time on your part implies you have some kind of dial-up
connection, is there a reason why you haven't upgraded to a faster service?

~~~
stan_rogers
Actually, that's what was passing for 3G at the time (it's not always rock-
solid, and one doesn't have private towers). It doesn't take a lot of
stuttering to make a site like that fail. Beauty and responsiveness are not
mutually exclusive, and none of the content I saw warranted a player --
garden-variety HTML and CSS would have done as well.

------
lysol
Thinkpads are the only other computers I'll willingly use besides a Mac. I
think they're the only other computer that actually feels like it's
purposefully designed instead of just being a forgettable, reactionary me-too
from terrible OEMs that offer zero real innovation.

------
BinRoo
I have two ThinkPads: X201 Tablet running Windows 8, and a T530 running
Ubuntu. The craftsmanship of the keyboard and ThinkPoint nub is unmatched. As
a hacker, I cannot find any sufficient replacement.

~~~
wyclif
For many years, ThinkPads had the best quality keyboards on any laptop. At
least that was true of the IBM models I've had. I can't speak to the quality
of the Lenovo-era models.

~~~
pearle
The non chiclet ones are still great. Perhaps not as good as the IBM ThinkPads
but I think they're still better than anything the competition offers.

------
mkhattab
Last year I bought a Thinkpad E420s based on the praise I had read from
multiple review sites and more importantly, the laptop is listed as Ubuntu
certified. The first thing I did when I got it was install Ubuntu, of course.
I'm not sure what "certified" means to Canonical but I assumed that every
component would work flawlessly, such as the microphone, no sound output
artifacts, smooth webcam, power & thermal management (although I understand
Linux sucks in this regard), etc.

A few months ago, I bought a Macbook Air and as expected, there was a world of
difference in seamless integration between OS and hardware.

If a vendor such as Lenovo built a Linux-based Thinkpad with something
approaching the seamless integration and quality of OSX and Macbook hardware,
I would gladly pay a premium over an Apple notebook.

~~~
hackoder
The e420 is of the 'Edge' series. What you want to get is a T, X, or W series
thinkpad. The E series is just thinkpad in name, so its no wonder that you had
a bad experience.

Ofcourse, you are not to blame since Lenovo still markets it as a ThinkPad..

------
Zak
I'm typing this on a T400 because my usual T61/T60 hybrid has a cracked GPU
BGA and I don't have a torch or a heat gun.

Comparing and contrasting the two machines, it's shocking what a step
backwards in design the T400 is.

I think everyone knows about the terrible screen already, and I'd cut Lenovo
some slack but for the fact that when IBM needed better screens, they _founded
IDTech_ as a joint venture with Chi Mei. Lenovo could at least push its
suppliers around a bit; I think they have the volume for it.

The audio ports of the T400 are on the front, rather than the side. This isn't
much of a problem at a desk, but using it as a _lap_ top, it means headphone
plugs often interfere with the user's body or clothing. It's especially bad
using the machine in a reclined position. I'd look for a pcmcia sound card or
bluetooth headphones if I had to use this machine for long.

The machine is bulky for the screen size. There's nearly an inch of bezel
around the left, top and bottom of the screen. The bottom seems a bit
reasonable; the inverter for the backlight has to go somewhere, and placing
the screen too low puts the user's hands in front of the screen in some
working positions. I see no excuse for the rest of it; the 14" 4:3 T61 had the
same keyboard and much less wasted space.

The USB ports are vertical. I currently have a USB 3G stick inserted, and I
can't set the machine on a flat surface without risking damage because it
protrudes below the base of the laptop. It's not an unusually large 3G stick;
even some flash drives have this problem.

I haven't spent any time with the newest Thinkpads, but models from a couple
generations ago are shockingly worse than their immediate predecessors.
Incidentally, it seems to have happened about the time they dropped the IBM
branding, though Lenovo owned the Thinkpad division for several generations
prior to that.

------
jtreminio
The font on that page is making my head hurt. I can't even read it.

~~~
protomyth
Given the content is not dynamic, they could have posted a webpage or a pdf
and made it easier on everyone. There is some irony here.

------
jeffchuber
I know David Hill. He is a great designer and knows his clients intimately.
His clients are the heads of IT for large organizations that want reliable
solid unbreakable working machines. And that is exactly what Lenovo builds.
They aren't sexy. They aren't meant to be sexy. Functionality comes first.
Form gets a say if it's lucky. This is also how large organizations function
and what they are most comfortable with. For this reason it's no surprise that
Lenovo will likely become the largest PC manufacturer by volume this year.

------
kabdib
Thinkpads /were/ great. They took a serious quality dive several years ago,
and I've had a number of bad problems with customer service (e.g., orders
"stuck" for months, miscommunicaton of warranty issues), and now I won't
recommend them.

My guess is that when things go great, you'll be fine, but the moment you need
something out of the ordinary then Lenovo will be just as bad as Dell.

~~~
dfc
How many thinkpads have you purchased recently? Multiple orders stuck for
months? Granted I have only had 3 thinkpads in 8 years but I have never had
any problems.

~~~
silentOpen
Just got my T430s 6 weeks after ordering. Lenovo charged and uncharged my
debit card and revised their shipping estimate 5+ times. 5 days before
receiving the machine, I received an email telling me that federal regulations
did not permit them to continue to keep the order 'pending' and that if I did
not respond and waive my rights under these regulations, they would cancel my
order for me. I did not respond.

They have serious fulfillment issues.

~~~
kabdib
T61: Died one week out of warranty. Lenovo later did a recall and out-of-
warranty repair of a design flaw, but forgot to tell us before the recall
window closed.

T420: Weeks on order, canceled, resurrected, re-canceled, repeat. Took about
three months for delivery.

T420: Overheated and died. Fixed under warranty.

X100e: Runs very, very hot. Expecting this to die soon.

Lesson: Get the warranty or you'll be sorry.

Another lesson: Given the cost of the warranty, there are better machines out
there.

------
dfc
Does anyone know what the paulultra font is? pdffonts lists the following
fonts in use:

    
    
        HTFDidot-B11Bold
        HTFDidot-M16Medium
        PaulultraPlain
    

PDF:
[http://viewer.zmags.com/services/DownloadPDF?publicationID=6...](http://viewer.zmags.com/services/DownloadPDF?publicationID=69081166&selectedPages=all)

------
leeoniya
i had to add some ram to my t400, it wasnt difficult but i was surprised that
it lives under the touchpad and requires more disassembly than say, just
popping off a panel on the bottom side. it's been my workhorse with an x-25m
ssd for over 4 years. only complaint is with extended 9-cell battery it's def
a bulky thing. i've also had some issues using the reduced-size awkwardly-
offset up/down/left/right keys - at least 3 times a day i will hit page-left
or page-right by accident, causing tab switching.
<http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/pics/e82f8ee408.jpg>

a huge win in all situations is having the cooling vents on the sides rather
than bottom and keyboard drain/spill tray.

~~~
miahi
What I find great is that, at least for the business models, they offer
service manuals that describe everything you have to do to change any part
(from RAM to CPU).

~~~
leeoniya
I used to do routers/networking for a shop that was an Apple certified service
center. The amount of teeny screws the techs had standing up on the magnetic
bases was simply dumbfounding. With just the cases off, there was already a
forest of these things similar to this:
[http://img.alibaba.com/img/pb/469/933/263/1282659625153_hz-c...](http://img.alibaba.com/img/pb/469/933/263/1282659625153_hz-
cnmyalibaba-web2_3860.jpg)

A couple of times someone knocked over one of those things and it was a
disaster of crawling around on the floor for 60 minutes.

I can probably service my whole ThinkPad notebook with < 30 screws and 30% of
the time.

------
TorbjornLunde
Very interesting, but the Flash-based player of this is not very readable. Is
it available as a PDF?

~~~
tnhh
This URL was hiding in the source:
[http://viewer.zmags.com/services/DownloadPDF?publicationID=6...](http://viewer.zmags.com/services/DownloadPDF?publicationID=69081166&selectedPages=all)

------
acabal
I can't believe I'm reading an article touting the design smarts of the
Thinkpad designers... honestly I've always thought that the standard black
Thinkpads were unspeakably ugly. And I'm not even a design snob. Usable yes,
but aesthetic? No way.

~~~
sedachv
You're confusing design with visual appeal. Steve Jobs loved to rant about
design and longetivity, but Apple laptops only seem to excel on visual appeal
(and this is a recent phenomenon - just look at the first PowerBook G4s).
Design has to be functional, and this is where Apple always makes sacrifices.

Bringing chiclet-style keyboards back into vogue (to the point where even
Lenovo now puts them on Thinkpads) shows a complete disregard for the
functionality of the laptop as a computer. Try comparing the new apple-style
chiclet keys, to "skateboard-ramp" shaped keys (an "innovation" introduced by
IBM to save costs), to the spherical shaped keys
(<http://www.daskeyboard.com/blog/?page_id=1458#shapes>) of high-end keyboards
from the 1980s and you will see how far computer keyboards have actually
degenerated. This isn't just my opinion - Kathleen Potosnak's review of
literature (appears as chapter 21 in Helander's Handbook of Human-Computer
Interaction) shows that shaped keys are better for typing.

There's a lot to be said about 3-button mice as well. One thing I do like
about Macs is the touchpad on the newest ones (it took Apple a long time to
make them really useful, though). Again, this is a sacrifice in terms of
functionality. You can do things like <https://github.com/vsedach/mouse-copy>
with the Thinkpad touchpoint and even the trackpad, but it's not convenient
with most other trackpads (especially ones like the Mac's that don't have
separate keys).

In terms of longetivity and visual design, I'm typing this on a 2004 Thinkpad
T43. Nothing on this machine is broken, and despite 8 years of almost
continuous use, even the keyboard labels only have a few nicks. This laptop
looks as new or as old as the early 90s 386 Thinkpad we have at the
hackerspace or the X230 my friend bought a few months ago. It wasn't until the
PowerBook that Apple hit on a design with any sort of longetivity. Besides
Apple and IBM/Lenovo, there's no one making laptops with a lasting design
across many product generations.

~~~
cpeterso
I've always thought the ThinkPad's keyboard is one of its worst attributes.
The keyboard's layout is very cramped. The keys feel flimsy and loose. Their
edges are sharp and exposed when you type.

~~~
jlgreco
For the life of me I cannot find a single sharp edge on this keyboard, as I
type on it right now.

~~~
cpeterso
Perhaps "sharp" is not the right description. <:) I meant that when you press
a key down, it is possible to feel the edges of the neighboring keys. Your
finger can catch on a key's lip (if you try) and flex it up. To me, it
(literally) feels cheap and flimsy. I've only had two (Lenovo) ThinkPads, so I
don't know if different models or IBM's models had better build quality.

~~~
sedachv
That sounds strange. They keys on most Thinkpads can't depress far enough that
you'd catch the edge of the key in the upper neighboring row. I just tried,
and I can catch the edge of the key in the next row below, although I'd have
to have my fingers pulling down on the keys to do that. That's part of what
the key shape does - it's supposed to guide your finger to the center of the
key and keep it from sliding off.

As far as the actual mechanism of the keyboards, almost all laptops (including
Macbooks and Thinkpads) have used the same scissor-switch mechanisms for about
the last decade.

------
runemadsen
Someone has looked at their Paul Rand history when designing this booklet.

------
lallysingh
Funny how they talk about how classic the machine is after completely botching
up the keyboard. They even mentioned the keyboard in the PDF!

~~~
Inufu
I for one like the new keyboard and think it's great. (I used both old and new
keyboard on two Thinkpads simultaneously for 2 months)

