Full Review

I purchased this laptop (2722 GAU) from the IBM Certified Used Equipment program in 2005 (I think these laptops are leased by companies then sold to the general public). I decided to order extra RAM because it only came with 512MB. It came fully loaded with Windows XP Professional.

Compared to another laptop I own (a Gateway M305) the IBM laptop has a higher quality feel and has ended up being much more reliable. Considering what I paid for the laptop, I consider it a good value.

The extra features of this laptop (e.g. the keyboard light, WiFi, Bluetooth) all work well and seem to be well designed. Getting Bluetooth to work required that I download extra software from the IBM (Lenovo) update site. The hinge that connects the screen to base has gotten wobbly, but I attribute that to me carrying the laptop (which is not a very light laptop) by the top of the screen. I don't recommend you carry it that way.

Like most IBM laptops I've seen, there's no Windows key. However, the built-in IBM software allows you to map one of the CTRL or ALT keys to that function (e.g. I press right-alt + L to switch users in windows). I don't know many people that use the windows key anyways.

Another slight gripe is the placement of the function (Fn)key (e.g. press function + F7 to switch the display to a projector, etc). It is located on the bottom left corner of the keyboard where I'm used to finding the Control key. The Control key is to the right of the function key so you have to get used to the different feel (e.g. when you do CTRL-c to copy or CTRL-v to paste).