ThinkPad 600


The IBM ThinkPad 600 series was a series of notebook computers introduced in 1998 by IBM as a lighter and slimmer alternative to the 770 series. Three models were produced, the 600, 600E, and 600X; the series was succeeded in 2000 by the ThinkPad T20 series.

Design

The ThinkPad 600 won an International Design Excellent Award in 1999. It was the first ThinkPad to feature chamfered edges to give the illusion of a thinner laptop. This was done in response to testing conducted by the design team led by David Hill that thin devices were associated with advanced technology.

Features

The 600 series was designed to be a more portable version of the 770 series, featuring slimmer dimensions and a weight of around 5 pounds, by using lightweight but strong carbon fiber composite plastics. The 600 series also introduced the new UltraSlimBay, as well as easily interchangeable RAM and hard drives; all 600 series machines shipped with 32 or 64 MB of RAM integrated on the motherboard from the factory.
The 600 series originally shipped with either Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0, with later models shipping with Windows 98 or Windows 2000; all 600 models could also run Windows 3.x, OS/2 Warp 4, Windows Me, or Windows XP as well as various Linux distributions. None of the 600 series models included wireless adapters or Ethernet ports as an option, but these could be added through a third-party PCMCIA/CardBus card.
One common problem of the 600 series was a battery defect, where the battery would discharge rapidly or otherwise have a poor battery life; use of a third-party battery as well as a BIOS update can help alleviate this problem. Another problem were the speakers were placed where the hands would rest to type on the keyboard, blocking them while typing.

Models

  • ThinkPad 600 - First model shipped, featured either a Pentium MMX at 233 MHz or a Pentium II at 233, 266 or 300 MHz. This model had the option of either a 12.1" SVGA TFT display, a 13.0" XGA HPA display, or a 13.3" XGA TFT display, and shipped with an external floppy drive, a built-in CD-ROM drive, and a choice of a 3.2 GB, 4.0 GB, or a 5.1 GB hard drive. The 600 also had infrared, USB 1.0, and a modem as standard features, and shipped with either 32 MB or 64 MB of RAM
  • ThinkPad 600E - Featuring a Pentium II processor at either 300 MHz, 366 MHz, or 400 MHz, all models of the 600E featured at 13.3" XGA TFT display as standard. This model shipped with an external floppy drive, built-in CD-ROM, either a 4.0 GB, 6.4 GB or 10 GB hard drive, and 32 MB or 64 MB of RAM on the motherboard. The 600E also was the first of the 600 series to offer a DVD-ROM drive as an option, as well as a TV output port.
  • ThinkPad 600X - The final model of the 600 series, featuring a Pentium III at either 450 MHz, 500 MHz, or 650 MHz and a 13.3" XGA TFT display as standard. This model shipped with a 6 GB or 12 GB hard drive, a Mini-PCI Modem, either a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and 64 MB of RAM on the motherboard.

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