IBM Thinkpad R50e laptop - £399

andreboyle

I understand what a lot of people are saying about the nipple on the keyoard but once you get used to the sensitive touch needed they're a joy to use.

Also, beware nipple 'float' where the cursor seems to magentise to one side of the screen and 'float' there where it has a chance. If this is happening just remove the nipple cover, blow hard over it and replace with the old cover or one of the 5 that IBM usually ship with the laptop. Do NOT lose your extra bag of nipples.

Also, in my humble opinion, the fuzzy nipple type is the best. Every bag of nipples should have at least one fuzzy nipple. They're an odd thing to look at and a weird texture, but they respond to touch better than a smooth or 'bumpy' nipple.

And that closes by commentary on the wide variety of nipples in the laptop world.

Finally, for my money I love my Toshiba laptop which I got on honeymoon last year. The dells we use at work have all now failed in some way or another as have the Dell desktops (Servers are superb and very reliable.). Compaq has been good in the past as have IBM. The IBM style is designed, in my opinion, not to follow design trends and allow them to stay 'current' for longer as one looks much like another.

Personal experience of the Indian support desk at Dell has been a real pain due to the language barrier in recent times. The people are friendly but the barrier is often too great to achieve a real degree of success in resolving an issue. USR have done something similar which has me nearly ripping my hair out last month and I believe I'm a patient person. However, their Irish support os great. I believe there is a number to call which routes you to Ireland instead during working hours. Please don't take the above comments as racially orientated as they're not, they're simply a comment on language and communication barriers.

talksalot81

fbrj wrote:

what about this dell?? - £399 incl vat and del.

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?cs=ukdhs1&kc=305&oc=n11225&x=9&y=10

Go to link then change to 90 day collect and return service - reduces initial price from£493 to £399.

Thank you for that. I had seen that on rpoints and was interested, however the machine is for family of my girlfriend and I am very wary getting them to buy something with only a 90 day warranty (especially since it will be a christmas gift thus a good deal of the 90 days is gone). A couple of months ago, I wouldnt have worried, but my sony just had to go in for a warranty repair (undefined hardware failure), so I am aware that a problem occuring is really not beyond the realms of reality.

rogerramjet

Hey peeps,

I don't think this thread was meant to be a "who makes the best laptop" but more on here is a deal for £399.00

If I was looking for a laptop £399 is a good price especially for a named make...and on that point I wouldn't care if it was Dell, Toshiba or IBM.

In relation to the 90 day warranty, if I'm not mistaken thats thier call to you home to repair it bit, after that its still in waranty but you will have to get it to them.

talksalot81

Yeah I realised that about the warranty but goodness knows the cost to get it to them! My Sony for instance went to France, when you count in the need for insurance, that would have cost me a small fortune to ship (thankfully the warranty meant it was free).

It is just me being paranoid I realise, but I have learnt the hard way that you have to consider things like this when recommending to other people.

dc2447

rogerramjet wrote:

Hey peeps,

I don't think this thread was meant to be a "who makes the best laptop" but more on here is a deal for £399.00

No this is entirely the point. You ca buy a Dell laptop 7 days a week for 399 but you won't get a thinkpad for that price unless there is a special deal. The latter is a much better product

goose

Currygirl wrote:

Both now made in China.

Just to add, the 'IBM' Thinkpad brand is now owned and made by a Chinese company called Lenovo. They acquired the IBM Personal Computing Division earlier this year.

skylight

Question - exactly how is a laptop made wireless.

I've noticed some (on PC world) that are marked asYES wireless enabled, but those that are marked NO wireless enabled have celeron processors and I though that made the wirelessness possible.

So what have I missed and what don't I know??? (please don't answer the latter as everything!!)

vithya

Some laptops have a Wireless Card (MiniPCI Card) inbuilt and they can receive wireless signals..
Without any additional receiver (PCMCIA card or USB adapter).

The latest Centrino laptops have wireless card inbuilt so do most Intel Celeron M laptops the R50E have inbuilt and with good antennas built in the LCD screen frame
which makes it does have excellent signal compare to other laptops.

Even if some laptops not wireless ready you can buy a PCMCIA card or USB adapter
And make it wireless ready you possibly need £20-£40.

If you dont want a card sticking out you can buy a MiniPCI card and open up the laptop and install but for that you need to know what you doing .
PCMCIA card and USB Adapters have better signal range than inbuilt ones.

rogerramjet

Got them still in Staples Cardiff Bay...or they did earlier today

horsenailbucket

There was a delivery to the Chester Staples yesterday so I nabbed one. It's a great machine with a solid feel to it. The inbuild wireless is great.

Some of this delivery was already reserved (there was 1 remaining after my purchase) so if you want one go to Staples and reserve one for yourself.