ThinkPad X21 - Best laptop I've ever had!
Written: Oct 31 '01
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Pros: This laptop weighs just 3.1 pounds.
Cons: The hard drive, etc. are all external to the machine.
The Bottom Line: If you need a laptop to run a few Windows apps that is easy to use and to carry around, then this is for you
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| caroleg's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad X21 2660 (266064U) PC Notebook |
As a high-tech marketing professional, I've probably had at least 10 laptops in the last 10 years. This summer, for the first time ever, I bought my own laptop. Because I run my own marketing consulting business, I wasn't locked in to any corporate guidelines. I got to buy exactly the machine that I wanted - and I've never been so happy with a laptop computer before. The ThinkPad X21 is everything that I wanted! Three months after buying it, I still love it.
Here are the features that I like/dislike and why:
Average Battery Run Time - the battery on this machine runs down very quickly. I don't really care, because where ever I am, I have it plugged in. There are plenty of ways to conserve battery life, such as: word processor/email mode and super power saver mode. An easy-to-use battery miser wizard takes you through many options to save battery power.
TrackPoint - I am one person who likes using the track point with its patented "cat's tongue technology". Even though I bought an external mouse which I leave plugged into the media slice (a docking station), I have no problems navigating around my screen with the track point. I even think it's cool.
Installed Software - The Windows 98 Operating System is installed with this machine. For my business, I need Microsoft Office, email and Quicken. Each of these programs runs fine on the installed operating system. I will say that there was a good bit of IBM software junk on this machine that had to be cleaned off. I still can't figure out how to get the MSN icon off of the desktop. When I ordered the machine, it said that it came with a Lotus SmartSuite license, but I never saw anything like this in the box.
Modem Speed (56 Kbps) - at home I have slow dial-up through this modem and AOL. It does what I need it to do, but it can be frustratingly slow. At my office, I have access to a high-speed network, so I don't let slow connections bother me as much as they might.
Speed - Processor Class Pentium 3; Processor Speed 700 MHz - this is fast enough to run any applications I need, including sound clips and movie clips.
Product Weight! Just 3.1 pounds! This is my favorite feature. As someone who easily gets lower back pain, I hate carrying heavy laptops around. This machine is so light, that I don't know I'm carrying it. I have books that weigh more than this. Several people who see me with this machine have already asked for the specs on it and at least one friend of mine has bought the ThinkPad X21 just for this feature.
One last thing - the screen size is 12.1" - this is perfectly fine for getting all of your work done. There's no reason to purchase an external monitor in order to be able to see your screen.
If you are considering a laptop, give this a serious look. It's a very practical machine for a good price. I was able to take advantage of an IBM "Back-to-School" catalog and get this machine fully loaded for a price that I couldn't have touched a year ago.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1700
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 12
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
caroleg
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Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 151
Trusted by: 185 members
About Me:
Live in Boston. Enjoy lots of home & garden things - especially epinions.
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