Thinkpads Forum

I drive a truck for a living and need some help picking a new Thinkpad, my current laptop is a 380ED. I will be using this laptop for running MS Office 2000, Adode Acrobat 7, Wi-Fi web surfing & e-mail, scanning and printing non-photo stuff, mapping software, GPS tracking, and watching DVD's on the screen. I would like a min Pent III 900, 512MG, greater than 14" screen, greater than 20GB HD, USB2, and a CDRW/DVD combo drive. I have about $1200 to spend, new or used. Which ever laptop I get it need to be able to take a hard ride in a truck.

My father-in-law is trying to talk me into an emachine M6810, I would much rather a thinkpad. Which model thinkpad would work for me? I've been looking on e-bay and there are just so many models.

Thanks,
Mark

If you're willing to accept a 14" display, a T40 or T41 can be had for that price or less and would do all you want and more.

Conversely, a T21, T22 or T23 with a 14" display would meet your needs just as well and cost around half your budget, even with an SXGA+ display! But, you'd need to use a PC card solution for USB2.0, cost you a whopping $20 to $30.

If you've got your heart set on a 15" display, start looking at one of the "p" models, beginning with the A30p. There are also non-p models in the T4X series with 15" XGA and SXGA+ displays.

I often play DVDs on my venerable A30p with 15" UXGA Flexview display and the image is simply stunning.

Regards,

James

I'd go with a T2x model. Those things are a bit more rugged than the 14" T4x, although they are heavier and lack USB2.

A T23 is probably your best bet... they had up to a 1.2 GHz Pentium III, 512MB RAM, and 802.11b wireless.

If you have the cash to burn, a 15" T42p would be a great machine... very sturdy and has all the memory and wireless options you could want.

T23 or T30 would be very sturdy models for you. You can pick them up used for pretty cheap, get the 12V power adapter for the truck, a USB 2.0 adapter, and have a bunch of cash left over!

mattfromomaha wrote:T23 or T30 would be very sturdy models for you.

Yes, but T30s are still selling for as much as some T40s!

Regards,

James