From: William Armstrong (warmstrong_at_waldinc.com)
Date: Fri Jul 27 2001 - 00:56:57 EDT
Andrew,
FWIW, Windows XP RC1, which I am using on my A21p comes with the option of
selecting Microsoft's ClearType for font display. It's a bit weird looking
on the A21p with some color aberrations around each letter, but the
legibility is great!
Also, FWIW, I have gone out and gotten a completely up to date eyesight
examination by a good ophthalmologist and wear reading glsses precisely
matching his prescription. I find the 1600x1200 resolution with my reading
glasses to be OK. Personally, I enjoy the convenience of getting more stuff
on the screen that I can move around, resize, manipulate however I want,
when I want. Then again, I do a lot of graphics as well as text work.
I cannot help but say to those people who complain about the high resolution
of the 1600x1200 screens: maybe you need a good pair of glasses.
On the casing for the A21p, the upper casing around the display has the same
finish as all high end TP's have always had. The finish of the keyboard
bezel is now plastic instead of this same finish, probably because there
were so many problems with peeling paint of this silky feeling rubbery
coating. I note that the X20 that I have just gotten has the original rubber
paint, not the plastic used on the A21p. Interesting!
Bill Armstrong
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Wells [mailto:ajwells_at_ix.netcom.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 7:14 PM
To: thinkpad
Subject: A/T series quality
Boy I'm really striking out recently with these new Thinkpads... after years
of just relying upon the 600 series, I've gone down in size to the X20 (too
small, but good keyboard considering its reduced size), which wasnt quite
right... and I was thrilled last week to get one of the A21P's that IBM was
dumping on Ebay for 1499... which just came yesterday...
I have to say that I cant believe that this is an IBM product... the
keyboard is absolutely horrible... it flexes and sinks and has no feel
whatsoever... I would say its as bad or worse than the most generic HP or
Compaq... the casing is plasticky feeling although quite heavy and
unwieldy... the covers on the bottom panels are loose and warping some... I
mean you put this side by side with the 600x or 700 series and no one would
believe that its made by the same designers or the same manufacturers...
The 15inch screen is probably great for graphics, but anyone wanting to work
with text for any amount of time is in for some fried eyeballs... there is
just no happy medium between screen resolution and font size.. its either
too small or it gets too big and your programs are displayed strangely...
Luckily I bought this from IBM and its going right back... but I'm still
left not knowing what to buy... I've heard the T series keyboards are as bad
or worse... although I did hear that the T22 series is somewhat better
(supposedly more like the X20 in firmness and lack of flex)... its so
frustrating not to be able to actually touch these machines before buying
them, particularly with how personal laptops are... they are right in our
faces all the time and they have to be right... any ideas? I'm about to try
and hunt down a 650mhz 600x and just quit my complaining
Andrew
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