best used Thinkpad to purchase

[lemmerdeur]

What would the best used TP to purchase if not used for gaming, just regular web access and microsoft office use. Fast and no major problem with long battery live.
Also which are the model to avoid.

[j-dawg]

Is portability a concern? If yes, I'd go for an X-series. If not, a T- or R-series would fit the bill.

How old the machine is mostly relates to how much you're willing to spend. If you're not looking to drop more than $300, you can get pretty much any of the older PIII-based TPs. Spend a little more and you could have yourself an X40 or a T40-series for relatively good power at a good price.

[Harryc]

I'd go for an R60 or T60 with as much factory warranty left as you can find. If size is not important go for a 15" T60 with an SXGA+ or UXGA Flexview LCD. Muy bueno eye candy .

[lemmerdeur]

Is a t42 or 43 14 or 15 lcd a good unit?

[hart22]

What's nice about the T4x series are all the various legacy ports that you wouldn't find on newer models. I think I might be in the market for a T42 soon... inexpensive, and it has a S-video port that a relative really likes.

It seems from browsing the forums that out of the T4x series many people prefer the T42, because the T43 has slightly (and I stress slightly) more stability issues.

[Johan]

It seems from browsing the forums that out of the T4x series many people prefer the T42, because the T43 has slightly (and I stress slightly) more stability issues.

With respect to that some (or many?) users prefer T42's over T43's, this may perhaps be the case, but I believe we lack a bit of statistical evidence to fully support this belief. The reason why - again, as per my my impression - "many users" prefer T42's over T43's is that the T43's uses a newer chipset than T42' which has the effect that T43's runs a bit hotter than T42's which means that the Fan is "on" more of the time in T43's. However, there exist several utilities that can be used to reduce power consumption in T4x laptops (e.g. Notobook Hardware Control and Shimidax' Fan Control software, and also the ATITool), by aid of which the fan in T43's can be "throttled down" to be "on" for less of the time.

A serious reason for considering T43's over T42's is that the T40/T41/T42's all suffer from the "loose GPU" problem, which the T43's does not seem to (as far as I have understood from many posts here). There are a number of very experienced users on this forum (especially George/ajkula6 comes to mind) who because of this very issue tend to recommend T43's over T40/T41 and T42's.

So, I honestly believe that the above statement by hart22 should be altered to: "... the T43 has slightly less stability issues [than T42's]." Search the T4x forum for more information about this topic.

Best regards,

Johan