The IBM ThinkPad 380 was a notebook computer series released May 13, 1997 by IBM as part of their ThinkPad laptop series. Notable for incorporating a CD-ROM and a floppy drive, it was considered a mid-range laptop by IBM at the time, and sold well. The series was the successor to the IBM ThinkPad 365.

Features

The 380 shipped with Windows 95, but they were capable of running Windows 3.11, Windows NT, OS/2 Warp, Windows 98, Windows Me, Red Hat Linux, as well as various other Linux distributions. Originally, there were two models; the base ThinkPad 380 and the ThinkPad 380D, which was equipped with a CD-ROM drive. The 380 came with an Intel Pentium processor running at 150 MHz with or without the optional MMX feature. With only 16 MB of base RAM included and a base hard drive only 1.08 GB in size, Windows 3.11 was a better operating system choice for the base model; however, with 32 MB installed it could run Windows 95 properly.

Models and features

All the models—apart from the base 380—could run versions of Windows up to and including Windows XP. For Windows XP to run smoothly, however, they would need to be configured with at least 64 MB of RAM and a 2.0 GB hard drive or larger.

Reception

Clint Basinger from Lazy Game Reviews has published an unboxing and review of the ThinkPad 380ED in 2021.