Got my second Thinkpad (T41p). And it Rawks!

[Thinkpaddict]

Hi,

I recently got a new (factory sealed) T41p (2373GGU) with a 3 Year EasyServe warranty for $1400. I basically need this to run CAD applications and 3DS Max 5.

The specs (from IBM's website) are:

P M 1.7GHz, 512MB RAM, 60GB 7200rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 128MB FireGL T2, 16x10x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD(slim), 802.11b Wireless(MPCI), Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1GB Ethernet(LOM), Secure Chip, UltraNav, 9 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

Do you think I got a nice deal?

I have read in the forum that I can update this T41p with a Dothan. Is the motherboard (chipset, FSB) the same as in a T42p? How about the RAM?

I am glad I am finally replacing my ancient Thinkpad T21!

Ruben

[Thinkpaddict]

I should be getting this on Monday. Will let you guys know my thoughts.
I hope this is a big upgrade from my T21. Funny thing is I paid considerably more money for my T21 back in the day. Gotta love technology.

[TimWang]

Yea, that's how things go. I remembered my first computer that my mom bought me was almost $3000!!

[Thinkpaddict]

Yea, that's how things go. I remembered my first computer that my mom bought me was almost $3000!!

My first computer had a 2 MHz processor, and it cost my dad $1500.
Luckily, it didn't need a hand crank to get started

[jdhurst]

Geez, I cannot stop laughing. My first computer was an IBM 8088 PC1 desktop. With all the additions to it, I paid over $5,000 for it and it didn't even have a hard drive. Still, I have been hooked up and telecommuting for longer than some of you dudes have been alive. ... JD Hurst

[Thinkpaddict]

Geez, I cannot stop laughing. My first computer was an IBM 8088 PC1 desktop. [...] Still, I have been hooked up and telecommuting for longer than some of you dudes have been alive. ... JD Hurst

How do you telecommute with an IBM 8088 PC1 desktop? Wheelbarrow?
HAHAHAHA

Also, did you have the Media Center version of the IBM 8088? Is it true it came with a gramophone?

I'm having too much fun

[milesrbruce]

Where did you purchase this unit? I am looking for this same unti. Where can I buy this unit for $1,400.00?

Please let me know where I can purchase this same unit.

[Thinkpaddict]

Hi,

I got this on eBay. The seller just sold the last unit (5 or 6 in total) yesterday. I know it was the last because I asked him if he had any left, after figuring out how much this model sold for originally, and how T41p models are basically T42p models with Banias instead of Dothan.

I can dig up the listing if you want, and you can contact the seller yourself.

[luckymouse]

The computer you picked is very good. In fact, I have the same one and upgraded the CUP to PM765(2.0/2M).

[cruzlite]

I paid $1350 30 days ago...

Wish I had the GL...
Is it true that it takes an act of God to change the video card?

[j-g]

...still in my basement (after 20+ years!) is an Atari 800. Star Raiders and Atari Basketball...
_|
./|\
ah, the 80's... helped get me thru senior year o' college after the Apple "Lisa" came out...
And now for something completely more on-topic ...
Amazing that the newer "Centrino" cpu's (on T42, T43?) are actually slower than many P4 mobiles, such as my T30 (1.8 GHz), 3-years-old this Xmas, per the warranty lookup.
-------------------

[Trip]

j-g, Pentium M processors use a much different architecture than P4 and P4-M processors that is considerably more efficient, but does not clock as high. Therefore, a 1.8GHz P-M will outperform your 1.8GHz P4-M by a wide margin.

It's not actually 'slower.'

[j-g]

So the names you-all are throwing around are CPU nicknames, and not just pet Star trek-like names for your ThinkPads?

Now I've got it break it my little Geordi ...

[DaveO]

I have a pair of R50p which use the exact same mobo as T41p,
but with flexview 15" UXGA screen from ebay for AU$1400 and AU$1600 (equivalent to around US$1100)
I have since upgraded one of the cpus to a Dothan 755 2.0Ghz/2mb.
Definately worth the effort.

[Thinkpaddict]

The computer you picked is very good. In fact, I have the same one and upgraded the CUP to PM765(2.0/2M).

That sounds great. What is your WinXP startup time? Mine is around 45 seconds, and I thought it would be a little faster. However, the computer itself flies and it is a beautiful, sturdy machine.

[Thinkpaddict]

I paid $1350 30 days ago...

Wish I had the GL...
Is it true that it takes an act of God to change the video card?

The video card is unfortunately soldered to the motherboard.

[Thinkpaddict]

Amazing that the newer "Centrino" cpu's (on T42, T43?) are actually slower than many P4 mobiles, such as my T30 (1.8 GHz), 3-years-old this Xmas, per the warranty lookup.

Actually, Trip is right. The architecture is different (basically, a Pentium M does more work per clock cycle, so even though the CPU frequency is lower, it performs faster).
Actually, my new T41p (with Pentium M 1.7 Ghz) performs similarly to a Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz. Integer arithmetic kicks [censored] on the Pentium M vs Pentium 4, whereas floating point arithmetic is still faster on a Pentium 4

[Thinkpaddict]

I have a pair of R50p which use the exact same mobo as T41p,
but with flexview 15" UXGA screen from ebay for AU$1400 and AU$1600 (equivalent to around US$1100)
I have since upgraded one of the cpus to a Dothan 755 2.0Ghz/2mb.
Definately worth the effort.

It sounds you also got a sweet deal. Like I said before, my new T41p takes around 45 seconds to boot up (factory configuration). How long does it take for your R50p to start up? Did you optimize it?

[Thinkpaddict]

So I finally got my T41p yesterday, and all I can say is that I am very impressed. I had only seen T4x laptops briefly (never handled one), and I wasn't ready to feel how slim, light (even with the 9 cell battery) and classy this computer is.

My first impressions regarding the buid quality are that the laptop is very well built and solid. I also have a T21, and while the T21 feels subjectively sturdier, I think the T41p is not far behind, specially considering how much thinner the T41p's chassis is. The T41p also seems to have a better finish (better design and materials) than the T21.

For example, the T41p has a single latch release mechanism which seems to work better than the T21's double latch releases. The hinges on the T41p seem also better built (more industrial grade), although time will tell if they will hold as well as the hinges on my T21 have held up.

The SXGA+ screen is gorgeous (I found out that it is brighter than the screen in my T21, and I only need to keep it at brightness level 3 when on AC power). Also, it is very evenly lit, and doesn't have any bad pixels.
The housing of the screen is certainly thinner than the one on the T21, but it seems just as well built. I was pressing on the LCD cover, and I couldn't get it to deform (and affect the LCD picture) under moderate pressure.

The keyboard feels better than the one on my T21, but a couple of keys are acting funny (some times, when pressed, it feels as if a piece in the keyboard under the key itself is clicking, as if it weren't set up right). I'm not concerned though, because I can get a keyboard replacement from IBM (Lenovo) if needed. Did I mention I have a Thai keyboard?

Although I haven't run any benchmarks, I ran Photoshop on it yesterday, and it definitely shows a marked performance improvement over my old T21. I would say the T41p feels about 3 times faster than the T21 (for example, when applying filters on big images). I must say the T41p has only 512 Mb of RAM now, so when I put another 1Gb that I am getting from Crucial I expect it to be even better.

As far as fan noise, the fan doesn't come on very often, and when it does it is quite tolerable. The laptop base also doesn't feel too hot to the touch, even after having been on for a few hours. I suppose swapping the Banias CPU for a Dothan would even improve things further, so I can imagine T42 units must be just as well behaved in this department.

I got the extended battery, and I got more than 6 hours on my first charge. Pretty impressive. It also doesn't rattle, and fits tightly. However, I don't like the way the extended battery sticks out in the back of the laptop. Since I am going to be using this mainly as a desktop unit I am not concerned, but I do see it being a nuisance if I had to use it as a mobile workstation. However as a tradeoff you get a lot of battery life.

The Ultrabay Slim drive doesn't fit as tightly as the one in my T21's Ultrabay 2000. There's a slight gap between the top of the drive and the casing of the computer. However, it doesn't seem to be as pronounced as the gap I have seen in some pictures from T42 owners. I don't think it is nothing to worry about though (about 2 mm).

I don't know what else to say, but that I am really digging this laptop.
The only negative is that the laptop has actually 1 1/2 years of remaining warranty (I did a warranty lookup). It seems to have come from a company that bought a bunch of them, and kept a few unopened in their stock room, so that's why there's only 1 1/2 years left in the warranty.
In the positive side, my computer was manufactured on March 2004. So I have a true IBM laptop, manufactured over 1 year before IBM sold the division to Lenovo (I don't think this really matters though, I just think it is cool )

[Kyocera]

I have to say it is hard not to dig these laptops, I truly am a thinkpad addict, been laid up for a few days now with a back injury and just switch back and forth from t30 to t42 just tweaking and posting way to much on forums. Did you consider getting the 15"? I like the feel of the 14" t30 I got, the 15" t42 seems large compared to it. I used to have a toshiba satelllite I used for work and it was quite a noticeable size difference to the T42 15", now I notice the big difference between the T30 14" and T42 15". Thinking about an X series next for a real size shocker. Those things look pretty cool.

[Thinkpaddict]

I hear you. An X series would be nice indeed. Put a 7k60 in one of those puppies and plenty of RAM, and you would have a nice machine to take anywhere. I actually might look into getting one of the older ones (X21 or X22), since they seem to go for around $400.00 in eBay.

Regarding the 15'' vs 14'', I was originally thinking about getting a 15'' T42, but I don't think I would tolerate the UXGA resolution (SXGA+ is perfect for a 14'' screen). However, when I came across this deal for the T41p I couldn't pass it up.

Good luck with your back injury. I hurt my back a few years back, and kept having intermitent problems until I lost 35 lbs and starting sleeping on my back instead of on my stomach. Those kind of injuries can be very debilitating (I was unable to even walk or stand straight when I got a bad pain). However, I am sure it is much more bearable with the company of your Thinkpads

Stephen

[Kyocera]

Thanks for the kind words. Been dealing with this for a while, prednisone usually gets me back to work after a couple of days.

Think I'm going to hold off on another Thinkpad till Vista is out and tested in the real world. Who knows what they will have by then. Or what Lenovo will have, that is so hard to put my brain around, that whole Lenovo deal, oh well, I hope they will keep up to the high standard we've been used to all these years.

[Thinkpaddict]

Prednisone is pretty heavy duty. My father in law used to get some type of steroid shots straight into the spine, and like you say, it helped him for a few days. Then things got to be too much, and he decided to have an operation.
Luckily things went well, and he is doing much better. I hope you end up recuperating fully whatever course of action you decide to take.

About Windows Vista: I understand your point of view. I don't think I will be upgrading to the new Windows soon, unless it has some spectacular features and performance to offer. It will be interesting to see what the new OS does though. The whole 64 bit architecture is interesting also. What is the addressable RAM limit? 128 Gb? Then there is the new double core Intel architecture...Too many things happening at once!

[Kyocera]

Yeah I agree, I'm thinking maybe two years down the road will be a good time to have the bugs worked out of vista and get a good 64 bit X series or who knows what, I know a guy who bought a 64 bit dell or gateway laptop and I use the word loosely because to me it is a desktop replacement 11lbs or something, and really can't get the full use out of it right now.

Prednisone pretty much gets rid of the excruciating pain, I can only take it for a few days becuse of the side effects, but it will give you time to get up and start moving around because most doctors today are of the belief that it is not real good to be immobile for rehab, and I tend to beleive them.

[Thinkpaddict]

Edited by Moderator: I've already moved this conversation to Off-Topic. Continue it there.

Thanks moderator.