2378R4U on sale again...worth it?

[raisindot]

Through my EPP program, I can pick up 2378R4U for $1169, with a free upgrade to 512mb RAM.

Last year I bought a barely used T40 that I'm quite okay with, but gear acquisition syndrome is making me consider this model. My needs are very basic; word processing, occasional wireless Internet use, PowerPoint. I don't need the larger screen (I use it on the commuter train, which space is at a premium and portabilithy is more important) or higher quality graphics.

I do, however, love the T40 keyboard and have heard that some T42s have faulty keyboards. I also want to avoid the "jiggly battery" thing people write about.

Considering my needs, woud you recommend that I keep the T40 (1.5MHz, 30gig hard drive, upgraded to 512MB RAM, wireless cards included)? If I did get the T42, how much would it cost to upgrade to the 3-year warranty?

Any help is appreciated.

Jeff in Boston

[wolfman]

2378-R4U is a 1.6 gigahertz dothan processor w/2 meg L2 cache vs 1.5 banias w/1 meg L2 cache in the T40; ATI radeon 7500 graphics which is probably close to par with what your T40 has; 40 gig 5400 RPM disk vs 30 gig (is this a 4200 rpm model?); dvd/cdrw combo; 802.11b/g wireless; no finger print reader; PC2700 ram versus PC2100 ram, which is a couple percent in performance tops in most of the benchmarks I've seen for general business use; 1 year warranty....would cost $132 (a little less if you have access to EPP) or there abouts for the warranty upgrade.

In my opinion (sans the remainder of the specs of your current T40) I'd probably stick with what you have and maybe swap the 30 gig HDD for a 7200 rpm HDD. This would, in my opinion, probably give you a more noticable speed improvement than going from a banias 1.5 gigahertz to a dothan 1.6 gigahertz....Can swap in the 7200 rpm hitachi 40 gig for about $140 or so and the 60 for around $200...

Good luck either way...