We have been doing a ton of usability testing at Habañero lately using Morae. Our lab has a dedicated machine for the participants and I haul my PC out of the closet and set it up in the boardroom to observe the tests. This has become a pain as we conduct more frequent tests. Our clients have also asked us to start conducting tests on-site, at trade shows, etc. As such I have decided to get a new PC laptop for usability testing.
I am looking for the PC equivalent of the 15-inch PowerBook. For the record the specs on the PowerBook are:
- 15.2-inch TFT Display at1280x854 resolution
- 1.67GHz PowerPC G4
- 512MB RAM
- 80GB Hard Drive
- ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (64 MB DDR)
- Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire 400 & 800
- 8x SuperDrive (DVD±RW/CD-RW)
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0
The price for the above configuration is $2,899 (before tax) and I can upgrade the HD to 100GB and the Video RAM to 128MB making the total cost of the notebook $3,159.
IBM / Lenovo (T43)
I always believed that if I was going to buy a PC notebook I would get a ThinkPad T series. They are nicely designed, have great keyboards and are nice and light. The problem with IBM / Lenovo is that they allow no customization of their systems. They have five configurations of the T43 in Canada -- that's it!
The configurations IBM / Lenovo offers that are closest to the PowerBook are:
266895U - $3,189
- 15.0 TFT FlexView display 1400x1050
- 2GHz Pentium M Processor
- 512 MB RAM
- 80 GB HD
- ATI Mobility RADEON x300 (64MB RAM)
- Gigabit Ethernet
- CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
- Bluetooth
For $30 more then the PowerBook I get a computer with no DVD burner, a 20GB smaller HD, a 64MB graphics card (instead of 128MB) and no Wi-Fi. I can't believe that any executive in any company would ship a computer without Wi-Fi.
266872U - $3,339
- 14.0 TFT display 1400x1050
- 2GHz Pentium M Processor
- 512 MB RAM
- 80 GB HD
- ATI Mobility RADEON x300 (64MB RAM)
- Gigabit Ethernet
- CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive
- Bluetooth
For $180 more then the PowerBook I get a computer with a 14-inch screen (instead of 15-inch), a 20GB smaller HD, a 64MB graphics card (instead of 128MB) and no Wi-Fi.
2668H2U - $5,999.00
- 15.0 TFT FlexView display 1600x1200
- 2.13GHz Pentium M Processor
- 1024 MB RAM
- 60 GB HD
- ATI Mobility FireGL V3200 (128MB RAM)
- Gigabit Ethernet
- DVD Recordable 4x Max
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Now for $2,840 more then the PowerBook I get a computer with a 15-inch screen that runs at a better resolution than the PowerBook, a 40GB smaller HD but has a better graphics card. This is the computer that is the closest to the PowerBook (and even surpasses it in some areas). The problem here is that this computer is almost 85% more expensive then the Mac.
It looks like I won't be getting a ThinkPad... Next up - I will look at HP. In the meantime I have sent this post to Lenovo's PR group to make sure that I am understanding their website correctly. I called their sales group on the phone, but the person I talked to wasn't very helpful or friendly.
I have dealt with IBM for a long time in Britain and in Canada. The IBM people in Britain are brilliant and in Canada they are okay (in terms of helpfulness, friendliness, and knowledge of product). However, my experience with the people at Lenovo leave me cold. They seem to lack knowledge of the product and they are unfriendly. Getting simple information or help in learning about a product is like pulling teeth. I do not wish to part with my hard earned money to someone I have no faith in. So, I guess no thinkpad for me.
Posted by: Mark | Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 05:24 PM