Should I get this Thinkpad T42?

[cheystar]

Had a similar thread in the T30 forum. I really am in love with my T30 and want to get another thinkpad. I found an ad for a thinkpad t42 type 2376-BY6. For $40cdn. The pictures look like the unit is in good condition and it powers on. Is this a good buy?

This is the description
No battery, No CD/DVD Drive (removed).
Requires external usb wifi adapter for wireless connection
Windows XP installed, works.
Comes with power cord/adapter.
Processor
Processor Intel Pentium M 735 (1.7 GHz)
Memory 1GB DDR
Hard Drive Capacity 40 GB 5400 RPM HDD (Hard Disc Drive)
Hard Drive Type HDD (Hard Disc Drive)
Disk Drive: None
Display
Display Size 14.1"
Video Card ATI MOBILITY RADEON 7500

[Johan]

In order for other people to be able to comment (intelligently) on your question, shouldn't you tell us a bit about what you would need this T42 for? What OS do wish to use, what applications will it need to run, is it for stationary or for portable use etc. etc?? In an ancient thread Advice please - $700-$800 TP for college student I recall that I listed several questions which I suggest a laptop-buyer should consider before making his/her decision - I suggest you have a look at those questions, if you are a more serious buyer.

If you intend to run XP on e.g. this T42, then notice that the Microsoft Extended Life Support on XP w/SP3 will end in April 2014... so after that date you'll have to either go to Linux or to Windows 7... and a PM735 T42 with a 5400 rpm HDD and with only 1 GB of RAM will not be very fun to work with on a daily basis, if using Windows 7.

If I was after another T-series (4:3 LCD) ThinkPad, which should be possible to last for several years, then I'd certainly consider this one VERY seriously: Lenovo Thinkpad T60 w/15" Flexview IPS screen (Large Photos) (especially since you're both in Canada). Upgrade this T60 to a SSD some time in the future, and you will be very, very, very happy for YEARS to come!

My suggestion: Save up a bit more money, and try buy your next ThinkPad via The Marketplace on this forum, where you will deal with VERY knowledgable and honest people - in contrary to what is often the case on e.g. eBay!

So, bottom line: Should you get the cheapo T42 that you're mentioning? Personally, I surely wouldn't, first of all because there is simply by far too little information about its condition, and also because it is missing several components (e.g. the CD/DVD drive), and because it is ambiguously listed ("Hard Drive Capacity 40 GB 5400 RPM HDD" and at the same time also saying "Disk Drive: None"), and also because it apparently doesn't have biilt-in WiFi. Again, I'd go for a buying fully functional ThinkPad sold by one of our enthusiast-members via The Marketplace.

Johan

[DaKKS]

Agreed.

We have some darn skilled people here. I can guarantee that you will be far more satisfied with a Thinkpad from the marketplace. You'll get far more for you money here, than on ebay. I don't trust those ebay seller as far as I can throw 'em.

And avoid the R7500, based TP's. While they're decent at the moment, that take some effort to work reliably with Windows 7. And with XP having one foot in the grave, that's your only shot. And i wont even go into how slow they'll feel in a year or two.

[cadillacmike68]

Agreed.

We have some darn skilled people here. I can guarantee that you will be far more satisfied with a Thinkpad from the marketplace. You'll get far more for you money here, than on ebay. I don't trust those ebay seller as far as I can throw 'em.

And avoid the R7500, based TP's. While they're decent at the moment, that take some effort to work reliably with Windows 7. And with XP having one foot in the grave, that's your only shot. And i wont even go into how slow they'll feel in a year or two.

In all fairness, some ebay sellers are very forthright, but those are mostly ones selling parts. For whole systems, Its a real pain trying to get any useful information about the machine, especially a T40 series or a T61 that has the nvidia GPU.

[oeuvre]

If you can wait a month or so, my friend is borrowing my T42. You might be interested in it.

1.7GHz
2GB RAM
ATI RADEON 7500
14.1" 1024x768
160GB HD
Excellent condition except for 2 things...

left hinge is damaged but screen works fine, still shuts and opens fine.
battery doesn't last at all... so it's gotta be plugged in all the time.

[systemBuilder]

The last three thinkpads I have bought on EBay, they were as follows :

T42, 1 GB RAM, ATI 9600 (3-D) graphics, SXGA+ (1400x1050), 60 GB 7200rpm disk, wall adapter/battery, Windows XP, Office Pro, $125
T42, 1 GB RAM, ATI 9600 (enhanced) graphics, SXGA+ (1400x1050), NO DISK DRIVE, wall adapter/battery, $75
T42p, 1.5 GB RAM, ATI FireGL, SXGA+ (1400x1050), NO DISK DRIVE, reddish/goes-off screen, wall adapter/battery, $75

All but the 3rd were in "like new" condition with no burnishing of the keyboards and no marks on the case (3rd had 3 nicks on the case). The best deals are a "corporate off-lease liquidation" laptop - when the warranties expire, many companies will liquidate all their laptops, and this leads to big sales of 10-100 laptops at once on EBay through a liquidator as "off-lease". No companies use T4x's any more, but it's something to think about when you purchase future laptops, as those types of laptops often come with MS-Office and are in PRIME condition.

The 3rd one I bought as a challenge because I wanted to fix a backlight or inverter board.
The 2nd one was to do a swap with a disk from another broken laptop of ours.
The 1st one, as you can see, was a copy of MS-Office Professional that happens to come with a free computer.

I personally enjoyed my ATI 7500 T41's when my employer used to give them to me. And I prefer the size of the 14" laptops and the T42, T41, and T40 laptops run cooler. than T43's It's good for you to get a 1.7 Ghz machine or faster because these machines have a 2 MB L2 cache which gives a huge boost in performance v.s. the 1.6 Ghz CPUs (maybe all T42's had 2 MB caches, I don't remember but not all the Banias CPUs).

Frankly, I think your machine is not a very good deal because it's missing too many crucial accessories and components. With laptops the makers often sell the laptop at a tiny markup and then EAT YOU ALIVE with the cost of accessories. In general the T4x machines now have affordable NEW accessories manufactured in china by the old laptop parts suppliers, but who knows how much longer that will last ?? Anyway, you should count on another $30 for a 9-cell battery, another $10 for a DVD rewriter, $10 for an 802.11 card - DID YOU CHECK THE BIOS TO MAKE SURE ITS UNLOCKED? - and I hope your laptop is in "like new condition" with no burnishing of the keys because $80 for an ATI 7500 machine is just not a good deal compared all the SXGA+ T42's I see shipped on ebay (which run nearly all the 3D games with Shader-Model 2 or earlier) for $100/ea.

So, spent a little more money and get some corporate laptop that sat little-used in some executive's office for many years ...