Thinkpads Forum

Need advice for a replacement for my T40 to use in my workshop
for iTunes and recording streaming audio with Audacity.
I'm confused -I see T400i, T400, X201,
T61,R61, X120 etc etc all in that range.
I have a sata hard drive, and could install an OS on a more recent unit
that has been stripped.
Looking mainly for reliability. Cool running is I suppose a fantasy with TP's ?

Thanks lots !

Looking mainly for reliability.

I would say the X200. Fast, durable, light, and runs cool. If you don't mind a tad bit more heat, the X201 is significantly faster. The T400 is solid, but the usb tabs break off easily.

Cool running is I suppose a fantasy with TP's ?

Generally, most Thinkpads with Core 2 Duo Penryn cpus and newer run pretty cool if you have integrated graphics (except for the first gen Arrandale core-i cpus).

Just looked at a few :

Is that swivel screen mechanically sound ?

Why are wifi cards removed/missing from some laptops?
There is extractable personal info on them ?

What does " Software: Windows 7 Pro (media not included)" mean ? ( it has a hdd )
That there is a product key that can be used legitimately with my W7 CD from another laptop ?

parangles2 wrote:Is that swivel screen mechanically sound ?

Only the tablet models have a swivel screen. I've never owned a ThinkPad tablet long enough to be a judge of their mechanical longevigty.

parangles2 wrote:Why are wifi cards removed/missing from some laptops?

Some models were sold without wifi (usually referred to as wifi-upgradable), others may have been removed for one reason or another.

parangles2 wrote:There is extractable personal info on them?

On the wifi cards? No.

parangles2 wrote:What does " Software: Windows 7 Pro (media not included)" mean ?

The seller has likely installed Win 7, either without activating, or it's not genuine. And they are not providing installation media.

parangles2 wrote:That there is a product key that can be used legitimately with my W7 CD from another laptop ?

Maybe. On models that shipped with Win7 from the factory there should be a COA, but on models that shipped with XP or Vista, the COA would be for those systems only.

(usually referred to as wifi-upgradable)

How much could a card possibly cost? What a world.

Thanks for the help- I'll get back soon.

parangles2 wrote:
How much could a card possibly cost?

$10 or thereabouts.

Anything with a Penryn C2D T8100 or better will do you fine.

parangles2 wrote:
Is that swivel screen mechanically sound ?

While my answer to your question would be "yes" - presuming that the machine wasn't severely abused - my advice would be to stay away from the tablet models unless you need the tablet functionality itself. They are bulkier, heavier and return less battery life when compared with their "standard" counterparts.

Having said that, the X200T in my signature is a great little system, but my purposes for owning it are vastly different from what yours appear to be.

Dekks wrote:Anything with a Penryn C2D T8100 or better will do you fine.

I agree.

I would say an X201. You can get wifi cards for $3-$5. I am behind on my thinkpad collection. I still have a X200s fan to replace. If you get an X200 make sure to get a 2.4Ghz processor or faster CPU.

You could get a R500 for cheap. Also refurbished or custom built TPs may be cheaper, but they may have weird problems like my friend has a custom-built T520 and the keyboard has a defect of reversed fn and control key and then for no reason the thermal compound died out within 5 years like completely left the i7 throttling even right after startup of Windows 7. However, it is not too possible for you to get a TP with decent LCD for that price because even a T41 with SXGA+ would be $150 if it is working. You've got to stick with the budget non-ips 720p, SXGA+ or HD (1366x768) depending on the model. Most likely for machines like R500 the machine itself don't cost much but the upgrade prices goes up. I would say for you to get a decent but need not to be really new machines like R/T500 or T510 for core i series with a top specs so that you can use the machine for another 5-6 years.

Be aware that Thinkpads newer than T60/Z61 generation, specifically T61 and newer Thinkpads lose "Stereo Mix" for recording. However Audacity comes with a "Windows WASAPI" setting which does about the same thing!

I'm very happy with my T500 and it does run very cool in integrated graphics mode with the 25 Watt CPU. I think the 35 watt CPUs are more volatile, and combined with dedicated graphics you can get a LOT of heat. My T500 has switchable graphics and the 25w CPU never gets hotter than 80 degrees C, but the Radeon 3650 does get hotter than 80C. It's better than say stock T60p cooling but that heat does worry me, since "ATI death" might be a thing on these....

I can vouch that an integrated model (or switchable set to integrated mode) T500 (or R500, or other similar Thinkpad) with a 25 watt CPU will be very cool running.

Well machines newer than T60 most likely won't have IBM logo on them

kfzhu1229 wrote:Well machines newer than T60 most likely won't have IBM logo on them

A lot of the *61 systems will. It all depends on whether they were initially sold to corporations or individuals.

Having said that, swapping the stickers takes all of 20 seconds...

But still any machine newer than T43 is designed by lenovo and have worse speakers than T4x. Starting with T60 you have a lenovo logo stuck on the front panel no matter if the tp logo has IBM on it or not. I remembered Lenovo created this day in 2007 or 2008 when all employees peel off the IBM logo and replace it with lenovo. T43 don't get bothered because lenovo almost stopped manufacturing it by then if not completely.

kfzhu1229 wrote:But still any machine newer than T43 is designed by lenovo and have worse speakers than T4x. Starting with T60 you have a lenovo logo stuck on the front panel no matter if the tp logo has IBM on it or not. I remembered Lenovo created this day in 2007 or 2008 when all employees peel off the IBM logo and replace it with lenovo. T43 don't get bothered because lenovo almost stopped manufacturing it by then if not completely.

Actually...the design team stayed the same as did the production facilities, with R52/T43/X41 being the "transitional" models. I've owned T42/p systems that were U.S. built with Lenovo clear plates and ThinkPad logo on the lid/palmrest. This is even more common with T43/p units. Almost all late-model, U.S. built T43p units have Lenovo logo on the clear plate, while the palmrest/lid decals vary.

But all of the above is beside the point of the thread, since OP is clearly looking for a newer system to replace his old-school, fully-IBM-designed T40...

Do you think R500 would be any good for his needs? I saw them for cheap prices online
I had thought of buying some of them for overnight downloading purposes before I got myself a Pentium 4 OptiPlex GX520

kfzhu1229 wrote:Do you think R500 would be any good for his needs? I saw them for cheap prices online

If OP doesn't mind the bulkiness of a 15.4" unit, there's nothing inherently wrong with R500 and they are very upgradeable....

There is an R500 next to me right now and it makes the R50p look lean.

Well I have a T530i (the model is i but it does have nvidia nvs) right to a 100% upgraded T43 frankenpad and the T530i feels bulkier and is indeed thicker. The T530i is infinitely quieter even on full load because I have to use fan64 on my T43 to cool Pentium M 780 down in full load even under undervolting, brand new old stock fan and replaced compound of Arctic silver 5. But then it is such a shame for T530 to have a low resolution screen comparing to T43's UXGA. R500 vs R50p is the exact same feeling. Considering a single UXGA Flexview panel would cost you more than 100 dollars for used working condition, a R500 is what you can get for $100. R series are bulkier but lower spec models are cheaper than T500. R500 is the last R series laptop. I don't like edge and sl series because the premium feel is gone. If the premium feel is gone it is not a classic thinkpad. I personally prefer the bigger LCD for bigger resolution upgrability. Is there any more difference between R500 and R400 other than the size

Thanks very much to all posters . Much good info and advice that I'll go through slowly.
I'm out of the USA for a few months so will have to wait and purchase
when I get back. In love with these TP's since 600X.
Thanks again !

brchan wrote:

Looking mainly for reliability.

I would say the X200. Fast, durable, light, and runs cool. If you don't mind a tad bit more heat, the X201 is significantly faster. The T400 is solid, but the usb tabs break off easily.

There are 3 USB ports..not all 3 break off.

The x200 only has one speaker, and it's mounted on the bottom of the machine. But, if space and weight are important the x200 is a good choice, granted you're paying a premium for the small size format.

parangles2 wrote:Need advice for a replacement for my T40 to use in my workshop
for iTunes and recording streaming audio with Audacity.

T400 with one of the following processors: P8600, P8700, P8800, P9400, P9600.
The P9400 or P9600 are preferred. (You do NOT want any processor which starts with the letter T, i.e. T9400).

A bare machine with 4-6gb of ram will cost $40-$50. Get an original 90W adapter and replace the thermal paste on the cpu. After shipping you're still well within budget.

I'd have to recommend the T500. You can often find decent machines at this price point with 4GB RAM and 160 GB HD's.

All easily upgradable at your convenience.

Mine has 8GB RAM and a 320 spinner. Hinges have a bit of play, but I don't worry about it.

MikalE wrote:I'd have to recommend the T500. You can often find decent machines at this price point with 4GB RAM and 160 GB HD's.

All easily upgradable at your convenience.

Mine has 8GB RAM and a 320 spinner. Hinges have a bit of play, but I don't worry about it.

Its cheaper sibling R500 would be better for low budget. R500 is thicker, and has a higher chance of Intel GPU. The processor flexibility is identical.

kfzhu1229 wrote: Its cheaper sibling R500 would be better for low budget. R500 is thicker, and has a higher chance of Intel GPU. The processor flexibility is identical.

If you want multi digital monitor support, the intel R500 does not offer DVI passthrough, only the ATI versions do, so you can only use the one built in displayport connector for digital connections.

brchan wrote:

kfzhu1229 wrote: Its cheaper sibling R500 would be better for low budget. R500 is thicker, and has a higher chance of Intel GPU. The processor flexibility is identical.

If you want multi digital monitor support, the intel R500 does not offer DVI passthrough, only the ATI versions do, so you can only use the one built in displayport connector for digital connections.

That is a general trend started from 2001. Only things like A/T3x, T4x except for T43 type 18xx, etc. have ATI graphics so only these things work with DVI without a secondary PCI video card back in the days. Any kinds of productive businessman won't actually care about VGA, DVI, displayport or HDMI. You don't even need that for Audacity. If the case goes extreme, you can still use 2 monitors by enabling both the internal and the external VGA.

Also if you're going with a T61, beware of the Nvidia bug, because the T61/p are known to have defective Nvidia chipsets which will eventually render the motherboard unbootable/unusable (unlike the T4x/R5x ATI desoldering, this cannot be fixed with a heatgun/hair dryer/etc. and the only solution is to replace the motherboard)

The T61 also has a bonus of being the last 4:3 machine produced by IBM/Lenovo before that form factor was discontinued, if you want almost the same form factor as your T40

danikayser84 wrote:Also if you're going with a T61, beware of the Nvidia bug, because the T61/p are known to have defective Nvidia chipsets which will eventually render the motherboard unbootable/unusable (unlike the T4x/R5x ATI desoldering, this cannot be fixed with a heatgun/hair dryer/etc. and the only solution is to replace the motherboard)

The T61 also has a bonus of being the last 4:3 machine produced by IBM/Lenovo before that form factor was discontinued, if you want almost the same form factor as your T40

I come from the school of thought that if a T61 with Nvidia graphics works today, it will probably work indefinitely. My thinking is if the graphics card were to fail it would have failed years ago.

Hans Gruber wrote:
I come from the school of thought that if a T61 with Nvidia graphics works today, it will probably work indefinitely. My thinking is if the graphics card were to fail it would have failed years ago.

There's definitely some truth to this statement. Having said that, certain precautionary measures are still advised...

If one wants to stay within 4:3 realm there's nothing out there - especially in the $100 range - apart from T61/p, and chances are that things will stay that way, unfortunately...

ajkula66 wrote:

Hans Gruber wrote:
I come from the school of thought that if a T61 with Nvidia graphics works today, it will probably work indefinitely. My thinking is if the graphics card were to fail it would have failed years ago.

There's definitely some truth to this statement. Having said that, certain precautionary measures are still advised...

If one wants to stay within 4:3 realm there's nothing out there - especially in the $100 range - apart from T61/p, and chances are that things will stay that way, unfortunately...

Hi George,
I have been away from the forum for awhile. I really would recommend the T500/W500 because of the 16:10 ratio and the DD3 memory. I think I have half a dozen T61's with nvidia graphics in most of them. With regards to the T61, I suggest taking the Nvidia risk because the graphics card really does significant outperform the integrated graphics version. I don't know if the T61 is really that good or if it's the Core2Duo CPU. When intel released the Core2Duo they took the lead over AMD and never looked back since.

Hans Gruber wrote: Hi George,
I have been away from the forum for awhile.

So I've noticed. Hope all is well.

I really would recommend the T500/W500 because of the 16:10 ratio and the DD3 memory. I think I have half a dozen T61's with nvidia graphics in most of them. With regards to the T61, I suggest taking the Nvidia risk because the graphics card really does significant outperform the integrated graphics version. I don't know if the T61 is really that good or if it's the Core2Duo CPU. When intel released the Core2Duo they took the lead over AMD and never looked back since.

It's tough to fault a *00 series system at today's prices, no questions asked.

My point regarding the T61/p was that it's the newest 4:3 ThinkPad anyone will ever own...and for <$100 it's well worth the nVidia gamble, although I suspect that OP could get away with an Intel unit given what he described as his needs.

I still regularly maintain an nVidia-based 15.4" R61 and it's an excellent system in all respects...