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4.0 stars
"I've had it for 2 years & it's good"
Pros: IBM features -security, thinklight, 6 hrs of max battery life
Cons: it's not as cool (heat) as A31p, T seris & your hands sweat
Summary: I've had it for 2 years now and it is completely satisfactory.
It has the durable steel hinges to hold the LCD. But the joints are so strong that the iron hinge itself is beginning to tweak a bit.
It has the ultranav in the center -I couldn't live without it b/c I've gotten used to it & other laptops don't have it---> I'm stuck with IBM ThinkPads forever.
It has the scroll button & 2 sets of mouse buttons -1 for ultranav & 1 for the touchpad. The touchpad is amazing. Absolutely. But ultranav is god.
The keyboard is the most amazing of all. Simply you are god in heaven when you type on this keyboard. It's really good feeling. On almost all reviews of IBM ThinkPads, nearly everybody will mention the good keyboard. The keys thicker than others ==> there's no chance that your finger nails will get stuck into those keys and pop them out -like those cheap Dell's. Your fingers are as if they are being supported by something. I mean, as your finger pushes into those keys, they are pushed out into the air with this tremendous force -enough that your finger is high enough to strike down on the next key. You can type so fast on this keyboard. Seriuosly. And it's slightly wider than other keyboards as well.
The magnesium-plastic composite is absolutely amazing. You might think that just because the laptop is nudging in a bit it is weak? No. That's the characteristic of the plastic. If it was totally magnesium, it would be so brittle & heavy. The cover itself is textured & black--> scratches won't show. Also, the texture itself is effective in hiding all the oily marks that our fingers make. Seriously, a Dell Latitude or Apple PowerBook will look old as a grandmother after about 2 years -with all those scratches, those "Shiny silver" covers that get black and dusty, and those oily shiny fingermarks that make the computer look nasty. This looks as if it were about 3 months old even though it is 2 years old. This magnesium cover is also useful when you want to rub off marks. My little brother drew with a highlighter on the cover & I thought I was going to die & rubbed desperately, and in a few swipes, it was off completely. Even pencil marks -rub it off. If it were on another laptop, it would still leave that gray mark. Finally, the magnesium composite is heat resistant. It is colder than room temperature when the computer is off.
The screen is okay, but I'm fine with that because brighter the screen, more battery life you waste. Who needs a super duper bright screen anyway? It hurts your eyes. But the viewing angle is limited.
As for battery life, at first, it had about 6 hours of maximum battery life -that is 5 hours with normal applications. Now it's something like 4.5 hours of max battery life. Battery is a consumable product -that is, its performance decreases over time. It's amazing.
It has really strong wireless -thanks to dual wireless antennae on the sides of the screen.
The audio is okay. It has a microphone, though. Not that good. But, the audio is placed in the front & the bottom is slanted so that liquid won't get in those holes. Dell's have the front slanted upward--> liquid can get in those audio holes & mess up the computer. Also, the slant makes the computer look thinner.
The thing is that, although it's that amazing, it's not amazing as the T & A series. Those series are as cool as cucumber even though they've been on all day long. Yet, this laptop has been satisfactory for me.
Also, I dropped it once accidentaly & it was sitting up with the body & LCD. It didn't break although the steel hinges tweaked. ALthough it's a discontinued product now, I definitely recommend R50, R51, and R52.
