Those who own the 15" T4xp laptops, how useful are they in 2017?

[ajkula66]

I've just returned from a trip overseas where my old T43p kept me company and was actually pleasantly surprised with the experience of using it as the only PC for the duration of the trip...

Yes, one must choose their browsers carefully - Pale Moon worked well for the most part, supplemented with Firefox for more *modern* sites - but for my modest needs this oldie performed remarkably well. The fact that it's running a stripped-down version of W7 with no AV installed definitely helped its performance quite a bit.

How long can this state of affairs go on is a whole different question. My best guess would be that by the end of the decade these systems will be completely obsolete, although I admit that I'd love to be proven wrong on that one...

[kfzhu1229]

How long can this state of affairs go on is a whole different question. My best guess would be that by the end of the decade these systems will be completely obsolete, although I admit that I'd love to be proven wrong on that one...

Well I feel like that these systems go obsolete after a few years of OS/apps no longer supporting 32 bit, or requiring SSE3 or DX10.
In its current state, newest version of casual apps like Spotify work just fine, though not the smoothest experience, while other apps such as Word 2016 runs pretty laggy because its hardware acceleration requires either DX9c or DX10.

[dr_st]

in the user case of using my t43 for doc editing standard ops there isn't that much perceptible difference in comparison to a t470 doing the same work load bar the superior i/o of modern SSD loading large files. For the t43 that what the cup of coffee is for.

I agree. If you do not care about productivity, then there is no harm in using these old laptops with a cup of coffee and working leisurely on your hobbies. I myself have a T42, and a few machines of comparable age, and enjoy using them "recreationally" from time to time. However, I would not be able to use them for any kind of serious work, even if all I did was editing documents and writing email. There would be just too much time wasted waiting for the computer's slow response when working with large documents, or multiple applications, time that I don't want to waste when I am working and want to be as productive as possible per unit of time spent.