IBM Thinkpad R30

WHAT'S HOT: Consider IBM's ThinkPad R30 to be a ThinkPad T23 you can afford. At 5.9 pounds (not including the AC adapter), the R30 weighs only one-third pound more than the notebooks in IBM's T23 line--and it offers the same roomy, high-resolution 14.1-inch screen. The R30 has a single modular bay on the right side to accommodate any one of a wide range of extra-cost devices, including a second hard drive, a Zip 250 drive, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination drive, and the 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive our test unit came with. IBM recently added wireless readiness as an option across all of its notebook lines. Our R30 came with antennas and a built-in mini-PCI adapter card for Web surfing and checking e-mail wirelessly when an 802.11b Internet access point is nearby. The total tab--including our unit's CD-RW drive, a 1-GHz/700-MHz Pentium III processor, and Lotus SmartSuite application software--is a reasonable $1699.

WHAT'S NOT: The R30 lasted just 2 hours, 22 minutes on one charge of its full-size lithium ion battery. Unfortunately, the modular bay does not accept a supplementary battery, as those in other ThinkPads do. It will accept a floppy drive, but that option costs an extra $79. The R30 line currently uses only the older Pentium III processor with 256KB of L2 cache. Our test unit turned in a lackluster score of 88, putting it more than 12 percent behind Dell's Inspiron 8100 and WinBook's Z1, each of which scored 100 or better. IBM's printed documentation for this line is limited to one slim troubleshooting manual (most of the documentation comes in electronic format).

WHAT ELSE: The R30 offers many features that ThinkPad owners will be familiar with. You get the same steady typing action and fire-engine-red eraserhead pointing device. IBM has made two modifications to the keyboard: The Enter key is now a startling bright blue--the better to quickly locate it--and the Internet scroll key is smaller and sits between the mouse buttons instead of below them. This arrangement makes it easier for you to scroll while keeping a finger on the eraserhead.

Like its siblings, the R30 offers dedicated buttons for controlling the volume of the fairly strong stereo speakers. Situated next to the volume buttons, the familiar ThinkPad shortcut button launches the on-board manual and help system. The electronic manual hasn't been completely updated for the R30--it still shows a large scroll button--but it remains the best we've seen accompanying a notebook, thanks to its helpful animations. For instance, by clicking a play button, you can see each step required to upgrade the hard drive, beginning with an animated screwdriver removing the screw, then the drive sliding out, the brackets falling away, the new drive sliding in, and the screwdriver finally replacing the screw. IBM has added more animations and reorganized the interface into three easy-to-scan sections: notebook features, tips, and online support links.

The R30 retains IBM's ThinkLight keyboard light at the top of the screen, as well as an upgrade-friendly design with easy-to-reach memory slots, battery, and hard drive. IBM does make one slight change for the worse here, however: Instead of a large screw that you could remove with the edge of a coin, a regular screw now holds in the hard drive. The R30 lacks IBM's UltraPort, a modified USB connection on the top edge of the screen for attaching one of the company's small extra-cost proprietary devices, such as a small video camera. Serial and PS/2 ports are gone, too, as is the extra audio line-in. IBM replaced them with a standard USB port moved from the back.

One change you'll see migrate to other ThinkPad lines: The sides are less steeply beveled, giving the notebook a boxier look. But the R30 fits better in corporate environments than IBM's other inexpensive line, the ThinkPad I, because it can use the same port replicator and bay devices as the A and T lines.

UPSHOT: Aside from its subpar--but bearable--battery life and performance, this less-expensive version of IBM's ThinkPad T23 is a winner. Its backward compatibility makes it a better choice than the low-cost ThinkPad I series for companies looking to add inexpensive laptops to a ThinkPad-equipped workforce.

SUMMARY

IBM ThinkPad R30 PC WorldBench 4 score of 88, 1-GHz/700-MHz Pentium III CPU, 256MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000, 14.1-inch active-matrix screen, Trident CyberBlade Ai1 graphics with 8MB of UMA, 30GB hard drive, 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive, built-in V.90 modem and network adapter, 802.11b wireless, eraserhead pointing device, 6.7 pounds (including AC adapter and phone cord); Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition. One-year parts and labor warranty, free 24-hour toll-free technical support during warranty period ($35 per incident thereafter). $1699 888/746-7426 www.ibm.com/thinkpad