Re: Why no third party solutions?

[<DGJ@mfltd.co.uk>]

*** Reply to note of 10/19/94 23:41
===============================================================
From: D. Gwyn Jones      Fileshare 2 development, Products Grou
      DGJ at NWB, GBHFFWHF at IBMMAIL, e-mail: dgj@mfltd.co.uk
Subject: Re: Why no third party solutions?

>     What seems really strange to me is that the ThinkPad itself is
>impecably designed and built like a rock, but the Docking bay is garbage.
>If you open the cover and look at the ridiculously shaped speakers, you
>find a cheap half-dollar sized speaker like you'd buy at Radio Shack for
>$1.50.  I was also genuinely annoyed when I purchased a very expensive
>digital storage oscilliscope ISA card and found that the power supply in
>the Dock I was unable to power it.  Finally, the construction of the
>Dock I itself, as well as the locking mechanism belongs on an Acer laptop,
>not on an IBM ThinkPad.
>I guess they drew straws and the first-string engineers got to design the
>ThinkPad, and the summer co-ops designed the Dock I.

I'm surprised at many of the comments I've read on this forum about the build
quality of the Thinkpads. Sure, they have an intelligent modular design but
this very "pieced together" architecture runs the risk of lots of fiddly bits
breaking off. I know of many people who have had the little catches break on
the lid so that the LCD doesn't click shut and lets face it - those little
switches on the side are a pain the way they catch seperately on the LCD and
the keyboard. These are a very weak link and they have a nasty tendancy to
discard their springs. Surely they could have come up with more rugged
seperate catches. The Toshiba laptops for instance are very solidly built.

Mind you, I have to admit that despite the minor fiddly bits, I have actually
dropped my laptop out of the carry case twice, and while the casing suffered
some cracks and is decidedly less sturdy now, nothing has ceased to function
which says a lot for the components if not the case which should surely be
thicker considering the weight it contains.

Regards, Gwyn.                  Micro Focus Ltd       Tel. (44) (0)1635 565294
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