IBM ThinkPad R30 TR017UK

IBM is famous for its solidly constructed notebooks. It's consistently walked away from our annual awards with top position for reliability, and matches this with an excellent record for service and support. This skill isn't necessarily mirrored in the design stakes, but despite the ageing angular design the R30 emanates quality and scored well with our panel of judges. This is partially thanks to the brand recognition acquired by the ThinkPad range.

IBM also invests in two of the most important aspects of any notebook; namely, the screen and the keyboard. Our judges gave IBM runners-up position for this bright, evenly lit TFT panel. It may only boast a 13.3in screen diagonal, but the excellent contrast means that whites are truly white, rather than the off-grey we sometimes see.

The ThinkPad went one better in the keyboard rating battle, winning top position by a clear margin. The R30 is a joy to type on, with an exemplary layout closely matching that of a 'proper' keyboard. Our only criticism is the lack of a Windows key. The ThinkPad again took top position for build quality, with the whole unit boasting a rugged feel.

But, sadly for IBM, that's where the good news ends. The first disappointment was the processor: Intel's Celeron/900. Coupled with a lowly 64Mb of RAM and Trident's CyberBlade Ai1 graphics chipset (which contributed to Toshiba's relatively poor score), the ThinkPad came last in our benchmarks. The R30 doesn't feel slow in general use, but you'll regret trying to do any demanding graphical work on it.

This lack of speed is mirrored by a lack of features. The 10Gb hard disk is no match for the 30Gb drives we see elsewhere, and a CD-ROM - as opposed to DVD-ROM - is again disappointing. What's more, you'll need to spend another £46 if you want to use a floppy drive as there isn't one included as standard.

IBM doesn't even make any attempt to give added value to this notebook. There's just a single year's return-to-base warranty, and the bundled software is limited to Lotus SmartSuite Millennium. We'd also prefer to see Windows XP Home rather than Windows 98 SE.

We don't dispute that this is a well-made laptop, and IBM has won a plethora of awards for its notebook reliability. But at this price, we can't recommend the ThinkPad.