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| IBM ThinkPad i Series 1200 700 |
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Hardware Reviews July 2001 • Vol.12 Issue 7 Page(s) 17 in print issue |
IBM ThinkPad i Series 1200 700 Think Notebook? Think IBM | ||
 IBM's i Series ThinkPads are an interesting blend of economy and traditional ThinkPad luxury. They feature processors that are usually just a tad behind the curve to keep prices low, but you still get a great keyboard, solid construction, and in this case, very nice multimedia components. The 1161-62U also comes with a DVD-ROM drive and DVD movie software, all for $1,696 ($1,548 plus a 64MB RAM upgrade and an optional diskette drive). The i Series 1200 is fairly thin at 1.4 inches high (when closed) but is wide and deep at 12.3 inches x 9.9 inches. It weighs 6.02 pounds, so you shouldn't have too much trouble taking it with you. Ours marched to the beat of a 700MHz Intel mobile Pentium III and 128MB of PC100 SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), although in its standard configuration it only came with 64MB. Trust us on this one; the $49 memory upgrade to 128MB will probably be the best fifty bucks you'll ever spend. Our 1200 also came with a 10GB hard drive, a modular 8X Toshiba DVD-ROM drive, and an (optional) external floppy diskette drive that connects to the unit using its USB (Universal Serial Bus) port. Getting DVD in such an affordable unit is a nice surprise, but don't expect the 1200 to play movies quite the way the A21p or T21 do. It does a decent job, but occasionally you'll be able to tell that its Silicon Motion Lynx EM+ video chipset has only 4MB of video memory. Movies hesitate now and then on its 12.1-inch TFT (thin film transistor) screen, especially when you manipulate the DVD software's control panel, but otherwise picture quality is good. This affordable ThinkPad also offers a 14.4-volt Li-Ion (lithium-ion) battery and an internal 56Kbps (kilobits per second) modem, and comes with Windows Me preinstalled. If you've seen any i Series ThinkPad, you know what to expect from the 1200. It has the familiar black outer shell and keyboard (with a red TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle) and includes a ThinkPad button and three other quick launch buttons you can set to open your favorite applications. The ThinkPad button launches the notebook's Access ThinkPad application, which in turn offers on-system and online help with common questions and configuration options. The 1200's case is tough and should travel well, and the 12.1-inch display this particular unit comes with is quite good compared to those in similarly priced notebooks. The speakers located in the lid panel beneath the display are also pretty decent. We've sometimes found that lid-mounted speakers are a little weak, but the 1200's provide clear sound without distortion, even when you turn them up all the way. The keyboard and TrackPoint get straight A's for comfort and functionality, which in most cases goes without saying where ThinkPads are concerned. All in all, we'd be hard pressed to name a notebook that is as comfortable and easy to use at this price point, and what's more, it is a solid performer. The 700MHz 1200 we reviewed produced SYSmark2000 performance scores of 135 in Internet Content Creation, 115 in Office Productivity, and 123 overall. These scores put it in the middle of the 700MHz Pentium III notebooks we've tested, and considering the next-cheapest such unit we've looked at costs more than $600 more, that's saying quite a bit. Its Silicon Motion video chipset isn't compatible with our Video2000 video benchmark software, so we were unable to precisely gauge its video performance. IBM lists its battery life at 3.7 hours on a single charge. We like the 1161-62U very much. It is extremely affordable but doesn't ask you to compromise in the areas of features or performance. It produced benchmark scores that are considerably better than others we've tested in its price category, offers quite a bit in the areas of audio and video equipment, and has fantastic input devices (its big, springy keyboard is on par with those you'll find on notebooks costing $4,000 and up). Its one minor weakness is its video chipset, which won't compete with more popular ATI chipsets or NVIDIA's new mobile chipsets. But considering this is about the only concession you'll have to make to get this notebook this cheap, we think it's a very acceptable tradeoff.  by Chris Trumble ThinkPad i Series 1200 700 $1,696 IBM (888) 746-7426 (914) 499-1900 http://www.ibm.com
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