Old Reliable
Written: Nov 07 '07
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Pros: Best keyboard ever, small and light, durable
Cons: Screen technology has improved since these were new, getting slow
The Bottom Line: One of the best laptops ever made remains a capable performer ever after 8 years.
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| lawman67's Full Review: Lenovo ThinkPad 600E 2645 (26455JU) PC Notebook |
I've reviewed many older laptops here on Epinions, and many modern ones as well. For my personal use, I usually have at least two, one modern and fast, the other older and easily replaceable (meaning cheap). I also always try to make one of my machines extremely small and light (usually the cheap one).
Currently I use a 1-year-old ThinkPad T60p as my primary computer. It is extremely fast, has a terrific screen and good battery life. My other computer is a 2-year-old ThinkPad X41, which is much slower, but weighs next to nothing.
Which brings me to the ThinkPad 600E from around 1999 that I am reviewing now. I found this in my storage room a few weeks ago and started prepping it for eBay, but I may just end up keeping it as a spare for the office on account of how useful this old workhorse still is today.
My 600E is a 400 MHz Pentium II model with 416MB of RAM (128 and 256MB modules and 32MB on the system board), an upgraded 30GB hard drive, a new (off-brand) battery and PCMCIA USB 2,network and wireless cards (can use any 2 at a time). So configured, the 600E runs Windows 2000 and mix of Office 2000 and 2003 quite well, lasts for almost 2 hours on a battery charge and can connect to both wireless and wired networks. Next addition is a DVD/CDRW combo drive which willbring this machine up to fully modern versatility levels.
Set next to my T60p, the 600E clearly shows its family resemblance. The modern computer is quite a bit thinner, though its also wider and deeper, giving the two about the same total volume. Strangely, they also weigh within an ounce or two or one another, making for almost no difference when carrying. Where the user experience is much difference is in screen and speed, which are both to be expected given the 8 years separating the two.
Where the 600E is more impressive is when compared with the 2-year-old X41. The X41 is an ultraportable that is further restricted by an extremely slow hard drive that is not upgradable to a faster model (different physical size). While the X41's processor is many times faster than that the of the 600E, in low-end applications such as word processing and web browsing the two machines perform similarly on account of the much faster (still only 4200 RPM) full-sized laptop drive in the 600E. The 600E also has the same XGA resolution as the X41 (the T60p is SXGA+) and while not as bright as the more modern 12" screen on the X41, the 600E's older 13.3" screen is still very pleasant to use.
There is one area where neither of the two modern laptops hold a candle to the older 600E, and that is the keyboard. ThinkPad keyboards have been legendary since the very first models, but the 600 series are widely regarded by ThinkPad aficionados as having the best of the best. Five minutes of typing on the 600E (I'm using it to write this review) has shown how much more comfortable and responsive this keyboard is than either of my newer models, or most desktop keyboards for that matter. For serious writing projects, this would be my machine of choice.
Some of the special ThinkPad features that have become trademarks of the brand were not yet present when the 600 series were sold, such as the special help button that also serves as a BIOS shortcut, or the famous "Think Light" that gently illuminates the keyboard in a dark room. Other features are present, but in an older form. The TrackPoint (eraserhead) mouse is an older version, though still far superior to the pointing sticks on any non-ThinkPad laptop and, in my humble opinion, to any touchpad past, present or future.
With 416MB of RAM and a 400 MHz Pentium II processor this machine will not set any speed records, but used with older software versions it is downright fast. I use Windows 2000 for the speed under the amount of memory available, though Windows XP is also adequately fast on this computer. Office 2000 is lightning quick and with Microsoft's patch, can read all of the latest Office 2007 files. I use Outlook 2003 for better Exchange compatibility and spam filtering, and it too works quickly and smoothly on the old laptop.
Even the power management features are about the same as on a modern laptop. Hibernate and suspend are both reliable and fast, and there are no issues when resuming with driver stability or other problems that lesser laptops often face.
In short, you can buy one of these today for under $100 in good condition. They are easy to upgrade, durable, powerful enough and small and light enough for semi-mobile use. At that price you will get a laptop capable of doing real work, and with the best keyboard ever installed on a laptop computer you will enjoy writing far more than you would on just about anything else ever made. Not bad for 8-year-old and $100.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 100
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium II
Processor speed: 301-400
Screen Size: 13 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30
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Epinions.com ID:
lawman67
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 in Computer Hardware |
 - Top 200 |
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Member: Andrew F
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 196
Trusted by: 64 members
About Me:
Her Majesty's a pretty nice girl but she doesn't have a lot to say.
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