Among our series of classic Gikendo laptops, the Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad series of laptops can be regarded as the ones that have survived relatively long among the 1990s predecessors. Of course, some hardcore readers may feel like the author that the ThinkPad spirit belonging to Yamato Labs has gradually died since the X61, and believe that the current Lenovo ThinkPad is no longer the IBM ThinkPad that I once loved.

Get to know other classic laptops that are not to be missed: The first small laptop in the history of accidental collision: Asus EPC 701, a civilian near-military specification laptop, from Yamato Laboratory with the spirit of Japanese craftsmanship

IBM launched the original ThinkPad 700C in 1992. The design work at that time was completed by Tom Hardy of IBM, Kazuhiko Yamazaki of Yamato Laboratories, and industrial designer Richard Sapper. Among them, Yamato Labs took the lead in designing the mechanism, while Richard designed its boxy shell with reference to traditional Japanese lacquer lunch boxes.

▲Richard Sapper designed the ThinkPad boxy casing with reference to the traditional Japanese lacquer lunch box.

It can be said that the group of Japanese people with "craftsmanship spirit" in Yamato Laboratories made the subsequent foundries miserable. These specific requirements include: the laptop must be able to withstand 25,000 times of opening and closing the lid, being dropped from a height of 70cm, and ? Machine and so on. Readers who have made laptops should know that this level of difficulty is basically close to military regulations. As long as the material strength of the chassis is improved, such as changing to composite fiber or Kevlar coating, and then the motherboard is coated with a waterproof coating to meet the waterproof and dustproof requirements, it can almost meet the military regulations of most troops. The U.S. Army has been a fan of ThinkPads for some time.

The seven-column butterfly keyboard and the little red dot are collected into the permanent collection of MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)

If we want to choose one among the various ThinkPads with a history of nearly 30 years The most classic laptop is also very difficult. Fortunately, only one is the most classic: IBM ThinkPad 701C!

Although the ThinkPad 701C launched in 1995 lacks many classic elements of modern ThinkPads, such as the ThinkVantage blue button, the expansion base Ultrabase, and the greatest invention in my mind, the ThinkLight. But the main elements that make it called a butterfly machine, TrackWrite? The uncompromising seven-column small red dot keyboard, and its traditional Songhua box lacquer lunch box appearance make ThinkPad fans think of it first.

Because the designer at the time, John Karidis, did not want to sacrifice the feel of the keyboard, but also wanted to stuff it into a 10.4-inch screen casing. It was proposed to divide the keyboard into two pieces, folding when closing and unfolding when opening. Like a three-dimensional storybook. It sounds so simple. Back then, the design of this organization was extremely difficult! To solve the problem, the team used Dassault Systèmes' CATIA software for design. This software can create "virtual prototypes" within the same year, greatly speeding up the design process. If readers don’t understand how powerful this software is, let’s just say it is a product of the same group that manufactured the Mirage Fighter in France. Even the design of the Phantom fighter was completed using CATIA.

The final output of the design team is the very powerful detached butterfly keyboard TrackWrite, which can pass the rigorous test of 25,000 switches and only increases the thickness of the body by 2mm. It can be said to be a great achievement in notebook design.

▲701C The legendary TrackWrite? keyboard is an uncompromising seven-row little red dot keyboard.

What is very interesting is that the leader of this design team is Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple! What makes this ThinkPad even more classic is that it is listed as a permanent collection by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York.

The modularization is quite thorough, the machine can be easily modified, and the mysterious Xizhi Farglory Building 4F

A real black player must have experience in upgrading and changing the BIOS of a white card, right? Putting aside the 701C for the moment, let’s talk about another important feature of Xiaohei: low-key modification!

Thinking back then, the X60/X61 series and X200/X201 series could be said to be the golden period of modification. This starts with Xiaohei’s high degree of modularity.

The modular design of these two models, as well as the previous generations of models, has reached the extreme. The casing of the entire machine has "only one kind of screw!" Friends who have done laptop mechanism design should know how difficult this is. In addition, from the lowest-end combat models to the highest-end "lightweight" models with aluminum-magnesium alloy mid-frames, "performance models" using desktop CPUs and ultra-high-resolution IPS screens, and built-in electromagnetic pen touch Among the "touch models" of the screen, there are a lot of models with different configurations. Some have built-in 3G Modem cards for Internet access, some are equipped with 802.11ac MIMO ultra-high-speed WIFI network cards, and some have built-in mini-PCIe interface SSDs to support ReadyBoost, etc. In short, the clan is too rich to be prepared.

The biggest good news for players is that almost all of these equipment are interchangeable!

As a result, some people use super power-saving ULV motherboards, equipped with ultra-high-resolution IPS screens and 3G network cards, and some people use desktop CPU boards equipped with electromagnetic pen handwriting The touch screen body and other radical modifications. You can’t tell it from the appearance at all!

Not to mention the Ultrabase expansion base, there are many things that can be modified. For example, you can add a second battery (using the optical disk drive slot), modify the portable base to carry the expansion base with you, or modify a second hard drive, and other modifications.

Even if the BIOS detects a non-original component, although the computer can be turned on, the component will be powered off and become ineffective. So there are people on the Internet who hard modify the BIOS to make this detection invalid. And there are ways to modify almost every model.

In addition, true hardcore gamers must know that there was an "Employee Purchase Service Center" open only to Acer/Wistron Group employees on the 4F of the Farglory Building where Acer's office was once located. As long as people from the outside can get in, for example, a friend who works for Acer/Wistron can take you, or hide by the door, and rush in as soon as someone comes in or out. Ordinary people can also buy the complete machine or parts with cash, although the price is very high. Fierce, but no longer available for sale.

It can be said that there are all kinds of fantasy items inside. A general Ultrabase expansion base can be bought at a 30% discount off the market price. If you have the materials, you can also directly buy valuable parts such as a high-resolution IPS screen or a high-speed WIFI network card that can only be installed on high-end models, or even Occasionally, you can buy a 3G network card from Sierra Wireless that can be installed without modifying the machine! Various user-friendly features

Let’s temporarily let go of 701C and talk about other little black features:

TrackPoint - also commonly known as "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Little Red Dot" " or "Zhongyuan a little red", which has been adopted in ThinkPad 700 model. This technology was invented by MIT scientist Ted Selker. The backside is actually a ceramic film, which can later be seen on mid-to-high-end products from HP, Dell and Fujitsu.

Thinklight - A night light that is placed above the screen and shines downward, allowing users to see the keyboard clearly in low light or complete darkness. This was first installed on the ThinkPad T series in 1998, and later became standard on almost all series. The author thinks it is the greatest invention in the history of laptops besides Sony VAIO JogDial.

Removable optical drive - first used on the ThinkPad 600 in 1998, the optical drive can be pulled out and replaced with a second battery.

Ultrabase docking station - first appeared in 1999 on the ThinkPad 570 model, which was known as the world's thinnest and lightest model at that time

Hard drive protection technology APS - "Active Protection System" system It has a built-in motion sensor. When it detects a sudden large vibration, it will actively issue a Park command to the hard drive to avoid hard drive damage. It first appeared on the ThinkPad T41 and R50 in 2003.

As for the Spill resistant Keyboard, metal hinges, ThinkVantage one-button butler, etc., maybe ThinkPad is not the first to adopt them, but these very practical designs have become one of the features of ThinkPad.

▲ ThinkLight night light and true splash-proof keyboard are thoughtful designs that ThinkPad players talk about.

ThinkPad players are very loyal to ThinkPad players because everything is for user convenience. . Once a black man, always a black man. Even though today’s laptops come in a lot of colorful colors, the little black gamers just remain unmoved.

(This article was completed on ThinkPad L380 Yoga)

Think back in 1988, did you arrogantly buy an IBM Thinkpad 701C? Where is it now? Do you want to share your little story with us in the comments?