I’ve put all kinds of laptops through tough use for many many years, and the T series from IBM are some of the best out there. I personally wouldn’t buy any another machine. They’re that good. Relatively pricey, but well worth it in my opinion.
A little background about the T series - The T series line of laptops is IBM’s top of the line machines, full featured and travel light. The T series descends from IBM’s earlier 600 series laptops and my comments apply to 600 series laptops and all T series, including the T21, T22, T23, T30. The difference between the different series are just that the later ones are more powerful/featured than the earlier series.
The current generation of the T series is the just announced T30 which feature the new Intel Pentium4 mobile processor.
Why I personally love the T series
1) Full featured, Light and good form factor - let me say that again Light. They have a travel weight between 5 - 5.6 pounds. Compare that to full featured laptops from other manufacturers which come in at no less than 6.2 pounds. to me, weight and features is a huge factor, and for most people once they get used to the lower weight youd never want a heavier machine.
The form factor of the machine is excellent too, just 1.3 inches thin and compact. Combine this with the weight and its a great portable machine.
By full featured I mean machines that have a screen size of atleast 13.3 inches, the current standard being 14.1 inches, having a powerful processor like a P3 or P4, can accommodate RAM at least 512MB, hard disk sizes from 12GB etc.
These machines are fast, light and excellent !
2)Quality of the screen and keyboard : The T series thinkpads have some of the best screens and keyboards of notebook laptops out there. The screen has superb contrast, the keyboard is excellent. If you are considering another laptop, compare them side-by-side, try each keyboard and compare the screen quality -- youd be surprised at how superior the IBM is. (The screen and keyboard quality is a common feature of all IBM laptops not just the T series)
3) Build quality : Build quality is excellent on the T series. This is one of the distinguishing factors between the T series and cheaper IBM thinkpads. Again compare the T series thinkpad build quality with other laptops - To compare knock each machine with your knuckles and hear how solid they feel, place each one of them hard down on a table and listen to the feel -- visually inspect the quality of the materials - Try all this and youd find that other machines dont measure up to the T series.
4) Warranty Service: The T series come with a 3 year warranty, and IBMs warranty service is excellent. (A word of advice for notebook buyers: ensure that you have a long warranty with any notebook, most often than not you will need warranty service on a notebook.)