On Thu, Feb 10, 2011 at 10:42 AM, Wolodja Wentland
<babilen@gmail.com> wrote:
On Tue, Feb 08, 2011 at 15:23 -0500, Celejar wrote:
> I'm curious - everyone has always seemed to love ThinkPads, but I've
> never understood what exactly makes them so popular. I'm not
> disagreeing or challenging - I've never used one, and I just want to
> understand why everyone swears by them.
A lot of important aspects have already been noted in this thread, but
apart from superb Linux support, wonderful keyboards, durable hardware
and the good looks (sic!) another *very* important aspect is the
hardware maintenance support from IBM/Lenovo.
if you're going to go with pc hardware sturdiness / design, i'd go lenovo (or mac). if you're going to go with support (in the us at least) i'd go with dell and pay for the gold support. i haven't found better for desktops or servers.
per replacement parts - i can open up most laptops (the cheaper ones i won't because they're a pita to deal with). however, on my own stuff, i get the warranty and after the warranty is up, i know that i will need to buy a new computer when something goes wrong. if the computer is for business, i buy a new machine at the end of the warranty (without a second thought).
so, i suppose with support, it just depends on how much time you like to spend on the phone with people and whether you like to get work done or wait for rma's. either way, i think it's pretty universal that linux will support most of the hardware you'll find in a laptop. past this, just figure out what you want as far as cost, hardware, manufacturer, and support.