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General discussion

Thoughts on IBM R51 System - Good Buy?

Dec 6, 2004 10:29AM PST

Through the IBM Employee Purchase Plan, I am currently looking at the following system:

IBM R51 (1836H9U)

1.6 GHz (Pentium M 725) 400 MHz 2MB
512K RAM
60 GB HD (4200 RPM)
CD-RW/DVD-ROM
15" SXGA (1400 x 1050)
32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000
MS Windows XP
Intel/PRO Wireless

The price for this is $1439.

This will be my only computer, and will be using it mostly for work, though having it for entertainment is a close 2nd.

I am a fan of the IBM build and engineering of Thinkpads, and have used one before. But it's hard to make a decision when I can see other decent laptop models for around the same price (and with more features).

Comments? Suggestions?

Discussion is locked

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Re: Thoughts on IBM R51 System - Good Buy?
Dec 6, 2004 12:32PM PST

Read the flood of articles on or after Friday 12/3/04 regarding the fact IBM is close to selling off its personal computer business (to a Chinese company or perhaps Toshiba).

That would take the air out of the #2 notebook service IBM provides.

At this point, you may be better off getting an HP/Compaq, Dell, or Toshiba if you want a PC notebook or an Apple if you want to go that way (Sony is last in notebook service).

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Re: Thoughts on IBM R51 System - Good Buy?
Dec 6, 2004 10:34PM PST

Ken - thanks for your reply. 2 follow-up questions for you (or anybody else who can answer):

1) Generally speaking, is the system a decent configuration for the price?

2) Wouldn't IBM be held to whatever warranty I would get with the Thinkpad if the group is sold off to another manufacturer? And since 3rd parties are already making the equipment, would there really be major problems with their future service?

I have been following the stories closely, as I used to work at IBM in that area, and still have many friends involved in the PC Business. These rumors were unofficially floating around since the summer months. Now it's just time to see if they go through.

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MY Thoughts.
Dec 6, 2004 10:45PM PST

Having suffered and watched others suffer with changeovers on such companies, the existing LIABILITY of prior owners and such are often under pressure from the new regime to keep such costs in check since such sales did not generate any revenue for the new company. You will read and they will say that you are covered, but the brutal reality is that past performances do tend to be repeated.

While the Gateway acquisition of Emachines is a good example, the warranty issue there is not perfect but since (for N.A. at least) the company that acuired it was at least in the same country. This is not true for the IBM PC division.

---....

The machine as presented would be "nice to have".

Bob

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Re: MY Thoughts.
Dec 7, 2004 10:14AM PST

The new company, if applicable, would honor the warranty but it is unlikely they would maintain the #2 service level of IBM (2nd to Apple only in service quality) later. Also, the availability of parts, etc down the road could change.

However, the durability of the cases, the keyboards, and the self-parking hard drives will not change at least in the short-run so they are great models to consider for those features.

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IBM THINKPAD R51 1836 H9U
Jan 9, 2005 5:02PM PST

I HAVE SEARCHED THE SYSTEM AND I BELIEVE THE
MODEL DESCRIBED IS OUTSTANDING.

THE PRICE IS WHAT GETS ME.

I WAS ABOUT TO BUY THE 1836 H8U FOR $1500.

WHERE CAN I FIND THE 1836 H9U FOR THE PRICE YOU MENTION.

I WOULD APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH IF YOU COULD SO DIRECT ME TO YOUR SOURCE.

ONE OTHER THING.

IF YOU WANT TO UPGRADE THE RAM I CAN GIVE YOU SOME GOOD PRICE LOCATIONS ON ONE GIG FOR ABOUT $233.00

THANKS AND GOD BLESS.

JOHNBBBBB

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Decent build but some adjustments if possible
Jan 10, 2005 5:01AM PST

You are getting the full Dothan Penitium M (2mb L2 system cache) with the 725 1.6.

You are getting a 15" square LCD which most businesses prefer but many consumers and some spreadsheet or code writing people prefer the 15.4" widescreen LCD on other Pentium M's (which is also much better for watching widescreen DVD's).

It would be better if you could get a 5400rpm hard drive which is up to 50% faster in seek time than a 4200rpm hard drive.

Try to see if you can get the RAM in 1 stick only as you could add 512mb RAM yourself for under $100 later but not if both RAM slots are full (256x2).

Finally you have dedicated video memory 32mb which is better than shared/integrated video but if you can get it with 64mb (usually costs only $25-$50 more if available) you will be much better off -- some games won't even play on less than 64mb dedicated video.

IBMm's have the best keyboards and have a very solid case and the self-parking hard drive so you are paying more for that relative to other companies.

You should be aware of course IBM sold its computer business to the chinese company actually making the notebooks but IBM has committed to continuing the US service and warranty support and they were ranked #2 behind only Apple in service.

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R51 - Price / Other Comments
Jan 10, 2005 9:43AM PST

The price that I paid for the unit was from the Employee Purchase Plan. I believe that saved me about $250 from the list price of the system.

I am not 100% sure of the following:

1) I don't think there was an option for a 5200rpm drive for the R51. It may be best to just get a base drive with the system, and plan to replace it with a faster one later.

2) The base RAM with these systems are only 256mb - they don't do the 512mb in 1 stick. But the 256mb stick it comes with is replaceable (as opposed to some other systems where the initial memory cannot be touched).

3) In order to get a 64K video card, you really had to spend hundreds of more to configure a system. While I would of liked 64K instead, I figured I would do OK with 32K (not a big gamer).

To confirm my points above, your best bet would be to call IBM customer service, as they can tell you for sure.

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Details, Details
Jan 10, 2005 11:38AM PST

Note that you can go from 256mb RAM from IBM to 768mb RAM yourself by getting a 512mb notebook 200pin RAM yourself. I just posted the Kingston RAM in three speeds (PC3200, PC2700, PC2100) on sale for 79.99 after rebates at Circuit City through this Saturday (and Kingston website can confirm model compatibility and RAM type used).

Yes, you can order a smaller 4200rpm hard drive and upgrade it later yourself.

32mb dedicated is fine for overall notebook video performance versus shared video (at least until the Intel upgrade in Sonoma coming soon) but 64mb dedicated is important for gamers (or 128mb).