[jrockway]

Yeah, but the Thinkpads are even stronger. You can dump a glass of water on the keyboard and it keeps working, because all the liquid is routed through special drainage holes. You can drive a car over the screen because they put reinforcements (magnesium, I believe) in just the right places. 100% Al is limiting -- you can't use a stronger-but-heavier material anywhere.

They're also hard to take apart. Changing a dead hard drive is a 1 minute operation with a Thinkpad. With a Macbook... well, you can't even change the battery anymore...

[DougBTX]

A bunch of screws, but not overly difficult: http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook-Pro-17-Inch-Unibody-T...

[danilocampos]

Yeah, I've been in and out of the modern MBP for RAM and HDD upgrades inside of three minutes. Very thoughtful design, especially for a notebook.

[Groxx]

The newer laptops are a lot easier, and they reflect it by labeling the HD as user-serviceable without voiding the warranty.

Meanwhile, I have this: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-MacBook-Pro-15...

Which definitely qualifies as a PITA. Easy enough for me, though, as I've had far nastier, also from Apple (12" Powerbook): http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Repair/Installing-PowerBook-G4-A... (they don't have a HD guide, but that's all the screws). And all those screws are different sizes (or close enough).

[robin_reala]

Old Thinkpads used to be awful as well though. Changing the keyboard on a 380D required burrowing in from the back :(

[Locke1689]

Very cool. I wish their touchpads didn't suck so much, though.

[rkowalick]

Embrace the trackpoint!