Alright I was browsing around looking for other opinions on the iSeries, here's one that I found:
Acer made the horrible iSeries Laptops for IBM in the 90s
I can't possibly imagine what's so
horrible about them. I found the one I got to be quite unique and sturdy. It's certainly not cheap if it's still running 10 years later with the battery being able to hold a few hours of charge...
The CMOS battery is dead, but, an ex-IBM employee told me that dead CMOS batteries are a common malady with IBM computers because they last so long. Although I could argue that my 300PL still has a good CMOS battery and it being older.
Whatever. I still think this little humble iSeries thinkpad has some life in it. The keyboard feels nice (the switches actually look superior to my T60p and feel more crisp -- not to mention the layout is way better), it's super-quiet (modern acer laptops are some of the noisiest), there's a few unique doodads, and one of the most interesting feature is that it supports AUDIO-IN not just AUDIO-OUT. I've never seen that in a laptop before.
So, here's a little pros and cons if some so desire:
Pros:
*Great keyboard with very high switches and crisp response
*The layout is superb!
One windows key and
one context menu key, exactly what I wanted in a keyboard as to save space.
*Cool integrated CD-player
*runs very quiet (does it run cool? I don't know yet)
*Supports Audio-in, as well as audio-out and a microphone
*has many ports including one USB port (wow!)
Cons:
*The buttons for the trackpoint aren't as crisp as the ones on my T60p (never got to try out the trackpoint, but it's very stiff, I might like that better since I hate the wobbly-ness of the Lenovo ones)
*CMOS battery is dead after 10 years (is that bad?).
*Some of the power adapters (made by delta electronics) had failures. Mine is at risk for being an affected part number, but so far it's running fine.
*No lavender enter key :tongue1:
*There are a few cracks in the plastic at a few spots, one being near the PCMCIA card due to lots of flex. The other is a tiny "shatter" near the hinge, doesn't affect the hinge in any way though. I'm going to epoxy it down.
*The built-in speakers aren't that great, and it's surprising since they are integrated into the screen (at least they're not BELOW THE PALM REST like in the T60p).