IBM Thinkpad R50 laptop review

During the fall of 2003, IBM released its new ThinkPad R50 series. The ThinkPad R Series of notebooks from IBM used to parade as a budget class, that’s no longer the case, the R Series is in fact quite close to the high-end T Series in performance and specs. IBM's new drive-protection technology senses rough handling and parks the hard drive heads. Should the notebook hit the deck, the drive and its data are likely to remain intact, even if the computer itself is damaged and becomes unusable.

IBM Thinkpad R50
• Centrino 1.4 GHz Processor
• 512 MB DDR333 RAM (CL2.5 according to IBM, no data on memory timings)
• Radeon 7500 Mobility w/32MB Ram
• 5400 rpm 30 GB Hard Drive

• AC Power

• Rechargeable Thinkpad R50 battery


AthlonXP Powered Desktop Computer
• AthlonXP @ 2.26 GHz Processor
• 1 GB DDR424 RAM (2-2-3-5)
• ABit NF-7 nForce2 mobo
• ATI RAdeon 9700Pro w/128 MB Ram
• 7200 rpm 120 GB WD Hard Drive w/8MB cache

The R50 is based on the Intel Centrino standard, so inside you've got a Pentium M processor running at 1.5GHz. The memory complement is a fairly standard 512MB with one SODIM slot left empty for future upgrades, while the 40GB hard disk is smaller than some, but still more than enough for most notebook users. If you do want to free up some hard disk space, IBM has been thoughtful enough to include a DVD/CD-RW combo drive, so you can burn important data off to CD.

The R actually has some advantages over its top-of-the-line sibling: The R50 comes with either a 14- or 15-inch display; the T offers just the 14-inch screen. And because the R50 uses the industry-standard 12.7-mm removable-device bay, you can swap in a rewritable DVD drive (for $400 more). All you can get with the T is a CD-RW/DVD ROM because of the 9.5-mm bay that IBM hopes will be a standard eventually.

The Thinkpad R50 of course features IBM’s easy to distinguish classic black case and with a 13” x 10.4” x 17” (W x D x H) dimension specs we see that it has grown slightly from the previous generation. With a 15-inch XGA screen (14.1" also available) and weighing a modest 6.6lbs, or 7.1lbs when combined with the AC adapter for travel weight, the ThinkPad R50 can serve as a good desktop replacement or as a reasonably mobile laptop if you’re on the go. The ThinkPad R50 is a diverse laptop, so let’s dig into the details and see if it’s worth your consideration for purchasing.

Like most ThinkPad notebooks, the R50 is not a music machine, despite its smoothly designed, press-and-hold volume controls. Sound quality is fine, with no distortion or extreme tinniness, but ultimately the audio emitted is too low for more than occasional listening.

The R50 ships with Windows XP Professional pre-installed, while IBM has thoughtfully also included a copy of Norton Anti Virus 2003. I use Norton myself and I find it alarming how many email viruses it spots on a daily basis, so it's good to see it included with a new machine. ThinkPads also ship with a few special features like the hard disk Active Protection System. This basically stops the hard disk from damaging itself if the notebook is bumped or moved during operation.

Performance is fairly close to the Dell Inspiron 510m that we looked at last week, although the 3D performance is far superior on the R50. Mobile Mark reported a battery life of three hours 42 minutes, which is good, but not spectacular. At least you'll be able to squeeze half a day's work out of the battery.

In conclusion, IMO the Thinkpad R50 is a very good laptop select as its price $1,769. It is so thin and light that you can easy to take it to anywhere. If you buy a laptop for General office work and study, the thinkpad t50 is your best choice.