I bought a Thinkpad not too long ago. Thinkpads have a good reputation, their new cheap(-ish) "SL" models are very affordable, and their website makes sense (just select a few things you want and they'll present you with a sensible list of options).
Of course, every country seems to have their own range of models, so Lenovo is not free of suck either.
I think the SL models are dangerously diluting the brand - the standard Thinkpad keyboard and touchpoint is a powerful selling point.
Plus I can't readily get my hands on a Thinkpad (even an SL) to try it out. I want to upgrade my laptops at the moment and would dearly love to walk into the equivalent of the Apple store, sit down, and try out each of the models that I'm interested in - but in London there are only a handful of retailers that stock Thinkpads, fewer that are up-to-date with the models that they sell, and none that I know of that have demo machines in store for any significant fraction of the range.
So if I want to buy one I essentially have to be willing to accept delivery (a pain when I can't predict where I'll be on any given day), and willing to risk buying a machine that I've never touched. If I decide to accept a Mac I can check out all of the options at the store over on Regent St any time until the late-ish evening.
Lenovo are just not geared up to retail customers - that might not be an issue at the moment, but I can't help but think that today's retail customers are tomorrows corporate buyers.
I've found the same thing in California. The only place I've seen a Thinkpad in the wild is at Fry's or (once) at the Microsoft store. Certainly never at Best Buy. But I suspect that the real customers for Thinkpads are corporate IT purchase managers as probably most Thinkpad users have their machines bought for them by their employers.
I've seen SLs at Best Buy, but I have to agree on the brand dilution thing. They feel like other laptops; they don't actually have the full keyboard, nor do they have the metal frame or matte finish that other Thinkpads do.
If you pretend that Lenovo makes nothing other than the T, W, and X series (and really only the X2xx models), then they are indeed the only other good option. I've used quite a number of their other machines, though, and have been thoroughly unimpressed, especially with the SL models.
But the T, W, and X are easy to understand (mainstream, heavy duty, small size) and are damn good quality.
I'll admit to being biased since I'm waiting for my new Thinkpad T410 to arrive, but I think the Thinkpad line is pretty logically segmented and named. The current convention is that each segment has a common prefix ("T" for their standard workhorse line, "X" for the ultra-portable line, "SL" for the more affordable small-business line etc.) w/ the suffix indicating the screen size, e.g., T410 for the 14", X201 for the 12". Of course there are exceptions such as the Thinkpad Edge, but generally it's pretty easy to compare the various models.
While Apple's practice of not publicizing their model names in their advertising might superficially make things simpler, it means you have to explicitly list the model year w/ specs to do a meaningful comparison between current and older models.
I have a T60 and love it. It's built like a tank. Has a good keyboard and the "stick" mouse pointer (which I really like). It is a bit heavy to lug around, but it is my only machine and it is a good compromise between portable and usable.
Lenovo (IBM) has the best naming convention of the ones I've dealt with. Dell's site is so confusing and abyssmal that I simply could not help a friend buy a PC - had to go with HP.
This will be the last Windows PC I help somebody buy.
I've got a X100e. The hardware's alright, but the linux compatibility is awful. Ubuntu 9.10 worked well enough, except it wanted its wireless drivers to be manually installed, and it crashed every time it autoslept.
10.04, wireless worked out of the box, but crashed when you adjusted the brightness, or did anything with ACPI. Installing the proprietary drivers let me adjust brightness, but it still doesn't like sleeping. And now the headphone jack doesn't work.
...it means you have to explicitly list the model year w/ specs to do a meaningful comparison between current and older models.
Which makes sense since when I'm looking for a new laptop (as I am now) I don't care about old models. And when I do care to discuss the relative merits of old vs. new models, the year is the natural way to differentiate them, rather than some opaque arbitrary naming convention.
> I bought a Thinkpad not too long ago. Thinkpads have a good reputation, their new cheap(-ish) "SL" models are very affordable, and their website makes sense
I did, too! Only I didn't realize that the SL models are basically plain black ideapads. It is a good laptop, but it is not a thinkpad. :/
Lenovo/Thinkpad are usually more expensive than the others. However, I bought the cheap version of Lenovo ($350 after rebates) last xmas as a replacement laptop. It's one of the best laptops I got over the year. The specs can't be beaten, and screen and build quality are superb.
Of course, every country seems to have their own range of models, so Lenovo is not free of suck either.