Thinkpads Forum

Refund Time is upon us.Im thinking of replacing the 560E.Another TP is a no Brainer.I am thinking a T20-T23.I can guess how big a Hard Drive I want.I understand the need for RAM.But ,how fast a processor does a fellow really need.I want to use this as my primary pc,so i can stand back and laugh as wifey fusses at her Dell.
I will use it online,I rarely download anything though.run Cad,Maybe play a DVD ;never have though.I also want to be able to throw it in the truck and drag it around with me when I see fit.Therefore I want everything contained within the Unit ie cdrom,gps reciever .GPS software is a primary concern.
I was thinking about buying some surveilance cams and playing around with home security some too.I would also like the capability to run CAD/CAM software.Just wondering what these Multi Gig Processers are made for other than creating a lot of heat .
Will 700 - 900 mhz meet my needs satisfactorily.this would be the thing that is not so upgradeable after purchase.
I also am very big on "Low Maintenance"I like 98se because it is now virtually trouble free.
So how is the track record for this TP? ...........
Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated as this is a major part of my pre-buying research............thanks,Bob


I still like the 560E Its going on lite duty once its replaced

I just replaced my T20 (I think it was 750MHz) with a new T42p. The T20 had been upgraded to 384 MB of RAM and had an 80 GB 5400 RPM drive in it when I decided to retire it. I was running XP Pro and recommend it strongly over 98SE.

The T20 was still perfectly functional for most things, although you did have to wait a bit for certain stuuf - MS Money was especially slow, often taking many seconds to accept a downloaded transaction, and a minute or more to open the budget vs. expenses page for a full year.

I ran GPS software (Street Atlas) on it with no problems using a USB Earthmate receiver.

Email and web were fine, as were MS Office applications.

Never ran CAD on it - if you're doing heavy 3D modeling with thosands of polygons I would not recommend it. I did do a bit of amateur Photoshop work and it was passable with brief waits to apply filters, etc.

On the other hand the USB is 1.1 and you can't boot from USB if that's important to you. I think the T23 was the first Thinkpad to allow USB booting.

Ed Gibbs

Part of the reason that Win98SE is low maintenance is that most of the bugs are crushed. There will be no new features or service packs. Microsoft releases security updates when needed. Drivers are stable.

Keep in mind that support for Win98SE end-of-life is coming. March 2006 maybe? At that point any new security vulnerability will NOT be fixed.

For DVD playback, 300MHz is bare minimum, but 400MHz is better. Any T series will do fine. Any PIII should be fine for internet applications and GPS.

The kicker is CAD. You'll have to know your specific CAD package and how it performs on different hardware with the kind of drawings you'll be doing. It may turn out that memory size, memory speed and disk speed may be more important than CPU for your specific uses.