Got my T43p 2668 H8U a few days ago... first impressions

[Peter_13]

I received my T43p 2668H8U a few days ago (after only two weeks of waiting time!). Here are my first impressions:

Body: I like it, it is light, feels strong, looks good.

Screen: I have the flexview 15” UXGA screen. I love it. Actually, this was the main reason to order a thinkpad. I like the high resolution of the UXGA screen and I cannot stand the new glossy LCDs. The only other option would be the Latitude 810 with a WUXGA 15.4” screen but the fonts are too small. I borrowed the 810 for a day and I did not like the colors (blown up highlights, washed out). So I did not really have the choice. The LCD of the T43p is everything I hoped for: bright enough but not irritating, not glossy, very good contrast. The black is really black, I do not see light leakage. I keep my desktop black so any leakage would be apparent. The Dell's screen (that is actually IBM made, 2000/01) has very noticeable leakage. Surprisingly, the screen turned out to be very good for Photoshop work after some calibration, I did not expect that. I will gladly get rid of the CRT monitor that I was using so far for Photoshop work.

Touchpad: Very accurate (unlike that of the Latitude 810). It gets a bit worm, however, but not much.

Cooling: I cannot understand the complaint of some other people here. The bottom stays relatively cool and only the left hand side gets warm but not much. My old Dell Inspiron 8000 was getting much warmer. Some of the fans turn on at low speed even when I only browse the WEB, indeed, as other people observed, but the noise is barely noticeable, at least to me. I did not have the chance yet to run the CPU at 100% for a long time to see what will happen. So I can say that this is a very quiet machine. The 7200 rpm hard drive is quiet, too, (and fast!).

Keyboard: Perhaps the weakest part of the system. I have the Thai one. It is worse than that of my old Inspiron but similar to that of my wife’s HP, and other laptops I tried in Best Buy. Not springy enough, kind of soft and mushy. Again, the only reason I am complaining is because my old Dell has a better keyboard. Any other laptop I have tried recently is more or less similar.

DVD drive: it is DVD-RAM. I did not have the opportunity to test it with all kind of media so far. I noticed that the tray does not close easily, you have to push harder and keep pushing for a second or so, otherwise it opens again. I will get used to that.

Wireless card/antenna: Excellent. 90-100% signal strength around the house, even in places where my old laptop showed 50-60%.

I am using the mini-docking station, works very well for me. The T43p does not have a DVI out, the docking station has. Also, the T43p has only two USB ports. So the docking station was a must for me.

Overall, I am very satisfied . It is a very expensive machine but it is worth it. The selling point for me, besides the latest chipset/CPU, was the screen. It is amazing.

[jeffman12]

Looks like another example of the 15" T43(p)'s being quieter than the 14.1" versions. I guess that is to be expected though.

I’m still trying to decide between a T42p or a T43p with a 14.1” screen.