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01-Jan-2002
Pros: Fast, lightweight, the screen is sharp and clear.
Cons: None with this laptop.
The Bottom Line: This is a terrific computer with a terrific price. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it and wish it were all mine.
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RATING DETAILS
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Full Review
I am reviewing the IBM ThinkPad A22M PIII/20GB/Win2K/Notebook. The only difference is that ours has an upgrade to 256MB. This is a new addition to our house but our second laptop. The first was a Digital. Although it sits on my husbands desk and in fact is his through his employer and a desktop sits on mine, I get to use it quite often. I get to use it when we travel and especially at night when I want to watch TV with a computer on my lap!
~I know this isnt a review of laptops versus desktops but as an aside as much as I love the portability of laptops I dont find them as user friendly as I do desktops. I am going to ignore that though during this review except to say that I really do like this laptop. It is exceptional; however, I have never really gotten used to using it. My typing is slower on it and I cant cut and paste easily. This is true, for me, on the ThinkPad but it has nothing to do with the system. This is because of my own inadequacies with laptops.
~This would probably be a good time to say that the website is www.ibm.com. That is where you will get complete information on every series of computers made. I am reviewing the A22M and can say I know a bit more about computers now than I did 2 weeks ago. It isnt because of this review, however. My daughter will be graduating from college and has asked for a laptop as her gift. She is partial to the Dell brand so I have been investigating there. I could not find a comparable page on www.ibm.com as I did at www.dell.com. There I found everything I needed to understand about how to buy a computer, what the options actually mean and the fact that it can be built as a car can, with options, features and upgrades. I learned about speed, memory; sound cards and built in speakers. If you are a novice like I am I would urge you to go to that site to figure out what this all means. But back to the ThinkPad:
About this Notebook:
This model came with the following:
~ 256 MB RAM (Random Access Memory) - that is a lot of memory.
~ 20 GB hard drive (This is the storage space.)
~ CD-ROM
~ 800-mHzPentium III processor
~ Floppy Drive-3.5" Diskette Drive
~ 15-inch screen
~ Built-in speakers
~ Integrated Network, Modem and Sound
~ Keyboard: Full-Size 86-key Keyboard
~ Mouse
Specification: The following is from paperwork which came with the computer.
PC Card Slots (Type I, Type II, or Type III PC Card)
External-Monitor Connector
External-Imput Device Connector
Parallel Connector(IEEE 1284A)
Serial Connector (EIA-RS 232 D)
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Connector
Infrared Port
UltraBayTM 2000
Expansion Connector
Battery: Lithium-Ion Battery Pack; nominal voltage; 10.8 V dc; capacity: 3.6 AH
Height: 38.1 mm (1.5 in.) to 44.7 mm (1.8 in)
Width 329 mm (13.0 in.)
Depth 267.5 mm (10.5 in.)
Weight 6.3 lbs. (This will vary depending on the configuration you come up with.)
The battery life is 3 1/2 hours.
What is it like?
This IBM is fast, it has a separate floppy and separate CD. Our old Digital had an interchangeable floppy and CD drive so one drive accommodated either a floppy or CD, not both at the same time. This is much more convenient.
The screen is excellent. It is sharp and clear. I am typing on my desktop right now and the screen is clear but not as sharp as the ThinkPad.
The connections in the back are easy so when I take it back and forth from the living room to the office I can easily pull out the plugs and then put them back in when the laptop goes back on my husbands desk.
Although some people may want 30 GB of memory, 20 is fine for our use. Perhaps if we had games or software that require a lot of memory or we saved huge documents then 30 GB of memory would be necessary. That will be your choice.
We have Windows 2000 installed and everything is working perfectly.
It is used to hook up to our cable modem at home and my husbands network at work.
Service:
Tech service is also at my husbands place of employment, but there have been no problems at all with this Think Pad. For service, though, the contacts are:
www.IBM.com\PC\support
1800 772 2227
Fax 1800 426 3395
My final thoughts
Although this isnt technically mine, I wish it were all mine so I wouldnt have to ask if I could use it. I really like this laptop and because I have had IBM computers for as long as I remember I am partial to that brand. If I were able to put it together I would have (and will for my daughter) upgraded to the DVD option for entertainment purposes.
The old computer, a Digital, was horrible if the computer crashed. Literally the battery would have to be pulled out or the keyboard lifted and a reset button would then be pressed. With the ThinkPad, if it crashes, all we have to do is hold down the start button for about 10 seconds and it restarts.
At a cost of approximately, and I am stressing approximately because some of the options can add up which you will see if you go to the site and start playing with what you want, $1560 this is a great computer. Please remember that price is with 64MB and is just a ballpark price as I found out while doing my research.
If you have any questions or if this computer review, which is out of my safety zone, needs help, please let me know. I have been studying computer reviews for weeks now in order to get up the courage to write this one!
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