Hey hey, it's time for another laptop review!
This time around it's the Lenovo Thinkpad R61e, the Chevrolet Cavalier of Thinkpads.
Actually, it's not a terrible piece of equipment. In fact, the case is fantastic and the keyboard has excellent tactility. The rest of the componentry (and design) borders somewhere between "adequate" and "weak."
In particular, the 15.4" screen is nice and big, but is only 1280x800 pixels. Yow. And it's only equipped with 1GB of memory (although that's upgradeable). Even though this laptop is on the lower end of the performance spectrum, it's also a fairly chunky beast, weighing in at 5.2 lbs and sporting enough palm space to swallow the widescreen when closed. Lastly, this accursed contraption is fitted exclusively with one of those Trackpoint eraser-head pointing devices which rank above trackballs but definitely below trackpads in my hierarchy of pointy implements.
The thing is that for the price point, this laptop is difficult to match. Screen and input device aside, this sucker comes in base-line for under $700, which is pretty astounding given the build quality and absolutely reasonable performance.
For the difference in spendiness, the higher-end Thinkpads (e.g., the X61) are well worth it. But if cash is tight, the R61 is a capable laptop with all of the expected Thinkpad build qualities—as long as you can see past the accursed thumb pointer.
It seems like most of the laptops you have reviewed in the past have been on the high end of spectrum. Why are you lugging this thing around?
So, it varies.
The Alienware m9700 was near the top of the performance chart but was just too big to be useful. And the Fujitsu T4010D was an entry-level machine, just like the R61e. The HP tc4200 was sortof in the middle, but definitely not high-end.
The exception here is the Motion LE1600, which was a rocket of a machine.
All of these machines have come my way because they're evaluation machines (in one sense or another). So I'm getting whatever is handy—and for now, that means the R61e.
Oh and to be clear, the upside of getting loaner laptops like this is that I'm not stuck with a single model for more than a few months. No matter how low-end any of these are, they're better than a mid-range machine from two years ago.
I know quite a few people that FAR prefer the clit-mouse over a trackpad or trackball. I personally hate them, but some people love them.
Gross. I think you were just looking for an excuse to be verbally controversial.
I used the term I used since that's what I hear most often. I don't think I had ever heard the term "trackpoint" until about a year ago, but I had heard the other term for years. I actually do know a bunch of people that prefer the trackpoint over the other options.
"Eraser pointer" and "Trackpoint" are the only two I've ever heard—until today.
I used to get really excited about the Trackpoint but I find that its dynamic range is really limited. Yeah, it's convenient to have it in the middle of the keyboard, but it's also painful to use to scroll across screens with huge numbers of pixels.
Not that I have that problem with this laptop.
oh I see