Back in March 2006 when I was looking for a laptop my requirements were not so high. I was just looking for a system which will be durable, have good processor and processing speed, decent memory size (which can be extended in future), reliable battery backup (about 4 to 4.30 hrs), wireless network mobility, a CD-RW/DVD ROM (at that time going for a DVD writer was a costly deal), and other basic features such as Dialup modem, Ethernet card, USB ports, good amount of secondary storage, PC card slot etc. Considering all these and the price for various brands, I zeroed at IBM R51 NQ 2887 ThinkPad.
IBM R51 NQ 2887 detailed specification
Ø Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.70 GHz,
Ø 256 MB DDR RAM (extended up to 2GB) with a memory speed of 594 MHz
Ø 2.5 inch 40 GB hard disk drive
Ø CD-RW/DVD ROM
Ø Display : 14.1 inch TFT color display with resolution of 1024X768 and brightness control
Ø 87 key keyboard
Ø Track point and touch pad
Ø Parallel connector
Ø PC card slot
Ø Stereo headphone jack
Ø Microphone jack
Ø Video-out connector
Ø 2 Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector
Ø Infrared port
Ø RJ11 telephone connector (for dialup modem)
Ø RJ45 Ethernet connector (for LAN)
Ø Integrated wireless LAN feature
Ø Lithium-ion battery pack( Nominal Voltage :10.8V, Capacity:4.4 AH)
Ø Heat output : 72 W (maximum)
For last three years I am using it and I am satisfied with it. There are several good parts of having an IBM R51. First is the brand, “International Business Machine”, the quality and the services which come with it.
One can easily get all the support drivers and utilities software on the internet which helps user to keep the laptop up-to-date (This service is still there after the products of IBM ThinkPad came under Lenovo).A special service key on top of keyboard “Access IBM” is really helpful in recovering and restoring the system. The laptop comes with one year replacement warranty and lifetime technical support warranty.
With these IBM support, the R51 notebook has various special functionalities. Active Protection System, which is a famous IBM feature. It shuts down the hard disk drive when there, is risk for damage from mechanical shock. This keeps one’s data and laptop always safe.
With this there is a street light (night light) on the top of the notebook’s screen which is vary helpful for riding in dark, on the road of keys :). The night light illuminates the whole keyboard so nicely that all keys are visible in dark, and hence it gets easy to type.
On the issue of heating of machine, one would hardly complain. With other brands (Compaq, HCL, Dell etc.) of same range in the market at that time, R51 might be the coolest. The body is hard Z-Black in color with a macho look, which rarely gets heated up as the problem persists with the other brands. And if it gets bit hot the fan get the temperature down.
The size and shape of the ThinkPad is perfect for using it in any posture. It can be used while you are sitting and taking it in your lap or while lying on the bed. The screen of the notebook can be easily tilted up to an angle of 180 degree which makes it so comfortable to use. The keyboard is water resistant and if the water falls, it gets drained out. Addition of touchpad with the track point scores good for R51.
The display is good and the in built video card let one play some low end graphics game such as NFS HP2, Counter Strike, EA Cricket 2005 and many more.
But with all these merits there are few things if would have been taken care, the product would have got 10 out of 10. The failures are on the end of sound and weight of the ThinkPad. The soundcard is good for listening to music but only with a headphone, because the inbuilt speakers are located in such an awkward position and with a limited capacity that the quality of sound gets degraded. On the issue of weight I already told that it’s a macho, so definitely it must be bit bulky. It is around 3 Kg, so carrying it is quite a hefty job :).
At the time of using it I realized the importance of USB ports which, only 2 in number and quite close to each other. IBM would have put few more or just have placed them apart. The few add-ons would be Bluetooth, Memory card port, and a window key on keyboard (there is no window key on the keyboard).
While using it for so many days I can say performance wise IBM R51 is awesome. I installed much heavy software and it doesn’t take any pressure. The problem was just with the memory. So in the mean time I had done few up-gradations according to my requirements. I put a 1GB Transcend DDR RAM and now my system is at par with the latest products of today. Now I can easily work with software like MS Visual Studio, and can install two databases at a time (Once I installed both Oracle 9i and MySQL). Few days back I was getting short of the storage, so I checked into the market for a replacement. But replacing hard-disk was not a good idea. Better I went for a portable hard-drive. It was a better deal. Now as the time is going the battery life has come down. So now my next alteration would be to get a new battery. And with that my ThinkPad will get a good booster.
Now with everything I am really happy with my IBM R51 NQ2887. After 3 years it is still working perfectly with various add-ons and without any hardware failure. It is just as wonderful as it was 3 years back. And I hope it will be with me another few years :)
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