Still great
Written: Jan 03 '04
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Pros: A true convertable, desktop replacement AND ultraportable
Cons: Big and heavy when docked
The Bottom Line: Still the ultimate in versatility. Carry it alone and enjoy the lightness, or dock it for a full desktop replacement.
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| lawman67's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad 570 (26443AU) PC Notebook |
This is my second review of an IBM ThinkPad 570. The first review was for a Celeron 400-equipped machine I bought in South Korea, complete with Korean keyboard. This review is of an American model with a Pentium II 366MHz. Of course there are a few other differences that two years can make, as the old one ran Windows 2000 on its 128MB of ram and 20GB, 4200 rpm hard drive while this one is packed with 192MB of ram and a fast 40GB 5400 rpm hard drive.
Now for a little background on why I’m reviewing yet another 5-year-old laptop. Last summer I got hit hard with the digital photography bug (see my reviews of the Canon G3 and S50), and to fund that hobby, I started playing a game of “How low can you go?” with my laptop. My reasoning was that I had a fast desktop at home, so I could pare my laptop down to the bare minimum of a word processing and email machine.
My reasoning was slightly wrong. I sold my 1.2GHz ThinkPad T23, which I was disappointed with anyway, and bought a 300MHz ThinkPad 600E which was terrific. Running Windows XP Professional it wasn’t fast, but wasn’t slow either so long as I disabled all of the eye-candy. It even played DVD movies about as well as the T23 did, better with a hardware accelerator plugged into its PC card slot. There were other benefits besides the almost $1000 I made in trading down, such as better build-quality and a MUCH better keyboard (T23 was still better than any keyboard from any other manufacturer).
Then a coworker wanted me to buy him a used laptop (with his money, of course) so I ordered another ThinkPad 600, this one a Pentium II 233MHz. I made another $200 by keeping the 233 for myself and giving him the 300. The 233 was still fine for running XP, though it was a bit sluggish opening 5 megapixel photos. Even DVDs played beautifully with the hardware card, though they were unwatchable without it.
Well, it happened again. A friend wanted a laptop for his son to take to college. Nothing fancy, just Windows 2000, Office 2000 and nothing else. Well, he got the ThinkPad 600 233MHz and I bought myself a new/old ThinkPad 570, with a whopping 366MHz Pentium II.
This computer is noticeably faster than the 300MHz 600 was (this is the “PE” version of the PII with faster cache), playing DVDs well WITHOUT the accelerator card. Of course, with the ultrabase attached, as is required to watch ANY movies at all, the 570 is big and heavy, at 2” thick and roughly 7 lbs.
That is what I really like about the 570 though, it really is two computers in one. With the ultrabase attached, it is a complete multimedia laptop. I usually keep a second battery installed instead of the floppy drive, and my DVD/CDRW combo drive in the optical drive bay. That 7 lb package has over a 3 hour battery life which isn’t great by modern Centrino standards, but was amazing back in 1999. The machine really looks integrated in this configuration, blending perfectly with the base.
Push the little button on the front and pull the release handles and the ThinkPad 570 is transformed into something quite unique. At 1” thick and 4 lbs, the 570 cannot rival laptops like the Sony VIAO Superslim or the Toshiba Portege, but it is far slimmer and lighter than machines like the T-series or Toshiba Tecra. It is an ideal compromise between ultralight portability and use all day comfort that few other machines save the old 7000-series Toshiba Portege can match.
Ultralight laptops are limited to 12” screens and crowded keyboards. 12” is fine for most use, but the 13.3” of the 570 is a noticeable improvement, just as the larger 14.1” is over this. Still, 13.3” is a good compromise, and what I consider the smallest screen that feels “full-sized”. More important than the extra screen size is the keyboard. The ThinkPad 570 has a true, full size keyboard with a generous palm rest and wonderful keyboard feel. This computer is even more comfortable to type on than larger machines like Apple’s massive 17” PowerBook, which strangely has the same keyboard size as this ThinkPad.
At 1” thick, the computer is also low to the table, which makes it very comfortable to use. It also has wonderful build-quality. While made of plastic to keep the weight down, it is high-carbon content for an expensive feel, and the screen is backed with a magnesium backplate for strength and light weight. That screen, by the way, has a proper hardware slider for brightness instead of clunky function key combinations, which alas, it uses for audio volume.
Running XP Professional, the 570 performs very well indeed. While I doubt it will return even mediocre frame rates in the latest games, it is fast enough at day-to-day working tasks and offers good enough movie playback that it really does replace the T23. The T23 was noticeably faster, but the utility of its modular nature actually makes the 570 a more useful laptop, at least for my mobile lifestyle.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 200
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium II
Processor speed: 301-400
Screen Size: 13 inches
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
lawman67
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 in Computer Hardware |
 - Top 200 |
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Member: Andrew F
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 208
Trusted by: 63 members
About Me:
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say.
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