The IBM thinkpad had its share of terrible designs.. the i series was absolutely terrible..

I think Lenovo are primed to dominate the computer and maybe even the handheld market. I only deal with Lenovo as much as the workstation at my job as Lenovo is the contracted supplier, and it has a design that is comparable to the old IBM workstations.. From what I've encountered I don't think they've abandoned the quality of their preceding brand. They continue to use the same facility here in North Carolina to design and produce much of their lines. I guess I'll find out how the new thinkpads are as soon as I can afford to upgrade however ;-)

I just bought an X230 12" laptop as a Windows XP upgrade to my S10 netbooks. Upgraded it with an mSATA 256GB SSD and it is really very slick. The T530 I bought to replace my 6 year-old core-2-duo computer has worked flawlessly. Its case never opens, it has monitors and keyboards and all sorts of USB3 things hanging off it to make it function as a "desktop"

Why did I choose Lenovo? I really can't justify discarding 15 years of computing, when what I have works very well. Yes, I do occasionally use those old 1997 utilities... Lenovo Thinkpad is the only design which sticks to compatible BIOSes, and gives drivers for Win XP. I actually like the new keyboard. Not as nice as the 1993-vintage IBM 'Selectric' I am typing this msg on, but plenty good enough for travel.

I am now starting to use Linux more than just for my servers. Unless PRISM disappears, I would expect, at some point in the near future, to never connect Windoze to the Internet again...

With Linux, it is easier to ensure that the TCP/IP one is broadcasting bears little relationship to the computer or its connection...

It is the same old biz strategy of never ending cost reduction that has put many companies on a slippery road and subsequent death beds.

Ye, but problem here lies in economics. As if you account proper inflation and all you could see it in full size.

One problem is that people actually buy these laptops. The customer is part of the problem, perhaps? Last time I was in China I saw a lot of these flashy laptops in the markets, and no traditional Thinkpads... And every phone looked awfully like an iPhone or Galaxy Note (even though they were all knock-offs, of course).

This one is easy. Times of dominating mass media, big cities and large companies you just can't use untrendy things. It is quite hard. Try to drive on 20 year old car. Or bring old Thinkpad.

How rich you are is determined by how much money you have, not by what you own.

What you own is how much money you've given away to others! Once you've bought this junk, you no longer have your money.

Ken Rockwell. :-) Good words.

I would expect, at some point in the near future, to never connect Windoze to the Internet again...

@trevmar

Ditto

Lenovo IdeaPad i7 here, bought it, voided my warranty on day one, blew away Windows 8 from the hard drive and used it on my TV, shoved an SSD & max RAM into the Lenovo, installed Ubuntu Studio, encryption, FFMBC. Goes like the clappers. Bullet-proof reliable, good sound from speakers.

All I don't like at present is I haven't got around to to clocking-down power settings so as to heat-up the room less and power-down its noisy fan on hot days.

Yup. I have started to scan Ebay for closeouts of last year's model(s). I guess we don't need touchpoint buttons because we are using touch-screen now LOLOL. I also noted that last year Lenovo were promoting Win 7 pro, this year their press release shows Win 8 photos. Sigh....

Haswell is only a minor increment in performance, and a huge hassle with the USB3 bug. Plus the surveillance features in "trusted computing" have still to be properly enumerated.

Funny comments at their latest post in design blog (I am reading it for long long time witnessing "creative" idiots destroying all logic) - http://blog.lenovo.com/design/richard-sapper-the-origins-of-the-thinkpad-keyboard

I kinda miss my old IBM ThinkPads :-/ The TrackPoint in particular was one of their best features.

We have some Lenovo E530's at work and I can not stand the touchpad. It feels terrible compared to my older T series.

Actually they are e531 and don't have the trackpad buttons. The previous systems administrator bought the. I used the trackpad(isometric joystick) on my old think pad and all of the dells that I had before that. It works great when there are some buttons for my thumb to press.