Would You Recommend a Thinkpad?

[BigMisterM]

Hi,


I am in the market for a new laptop (thinking of the Thinkpad T520).


I bought my current Thinkpad R61i 4 years ago and other than changing the fan I never experienced any problems with with it. I even dropped it twice - didn't break a thing but crack the a small area of the cover.


I am kind of out of the loop in terms of what is the best machine out there (excluding Apple laptops) at the moment.


So, here is my question: over the last two or so years, is there any laptop you'd say is head and shoulders above a Thinkpad?


Thanks.
BMM

[kamikazi]

Lenovo makes pretty solid notebooks and they are pretty tough and durable. I have a Thinkpad W520 and whilst it is a great machine, mine unfortunately suffers from the infamous sudden shutdown syndrome, where the notebook would just die without any warning or BSOD. There is 120+ page thread at the Lenovo forums about this issue.
I don't think this problem afflicts the T520 models, but it has kind of damaged my perception of the Thinkpad, especially since Lenovo haven't managed to come up with a fix in more than a years time which is pretty odd if you ask me for their flagship workstation notebook which means they don't have a clue what is wrong.

We also have plenty of HP workstation notebooks at work and this year and last year's models appear to have problems with overheating. I would suggest looking at Dell and their next business day support is pretty good.

[MadMailMan]

I've owned and sold HP, Toshiba, Sony, Dell, Gigabyte, Samsung and Apple notebooks and without a doubt or hesitation I would recommend the Thinkpads. They have never been leading edge but they have always been reliable. They are workhorses and can take some real abuse. Worth the extra cost in my eyes.

[rpm]

Definitely. I am currently using a Thinkpad T510, and have been very happy with it. Well built, great keyboard and fair performance.

[Aharon]

Yip had one at my previous job - decent if not old fashioned in appearance.
Dell are great too - give them a look-see