Which T42 to buy

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kuma · #1 Post by **kuma** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:31 pm

I'm looking to buy a new T42 for med school, something that I can hall around in my back pack, and hopefully not have to worry about bringing the charger with me. I'd only use it to listen to watch lectures that have been recorded. So most likely my normal use would be 5-6 a day. These are the three systems I've been looking at:
2373M2U-adding the dock battery to extend battery life and another 512 of ram

2373GVU-the 128 video ram seems nice if I ever want to play games, but the 60HD, is probably big enough for my music, since I only have 15 gigs now...and another 512 of ram

2373GRU-Not sure the difference between this and the GVU, besides the money....and another 512 of ram

Is the 7200rpm HD going to be a lot faster than the 5400rpm? And is it worth it to get the 128 video ram?

I'm intending to have this computer last me until I am finished with med school in 2009, and not be slow and obsolete by then.

Should I buy the Ram from IBM or from another website?

I'm looking to spend around $2k.
Thanks.

dc81 · #2 Post by **dc81** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:50 pm

The IBM Website is having some September Specials right now.

Check out this link:

http://www-131.ibm.com/content/home/sto ... oduct.html

The link has both a T42 and a T42p, customize them to the price you feel comfortable with. You can get the T42p with 128mb video and a 15" High dens display with flexview for $1999. From doing my research these are really good prices.

As for the memory, check out newegg.com it is at least 50% cheaper than the IBM website.

#3 Post by **daeojkim** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:09 pm

Hi kuma,

I am in the same boat as you are.

I woul stay away from the 15" flexview if you plan to carry around daily and use only batteries to power. THe 15" UXGA is absolutely beautiful display, but it drains battery a lot too and weighs about a pound more.

If you get one with 14" SXGA+ and a 9 cell battery you should be able to use it for 6 hours. This is the same features that I am looking into, perhaps a T41p.

Oh, by the way in case you did not know, use adobe acrobat full version to conver all the power point slides into pdf and take notes for medical classes. It just very convinient.

About the 7200 rpm drives, I hear the boot times are quicker, but during normal usage, it is barely noticeable.

JK

kuma · #4 Post by **kuma** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:15 pm

Thanks for the quick response.

I get a discount since I am buying at as a U of Minnesota student. So the M2U would only be $1800. And the other two about the same $1900. I know that I want the 14.1 SGXA screen.
I don't know how long the battery life would be with a 6 cell and the dock battery.

Do I want to have a 80 gig HD at 5400rpm or a 60 gig at 7200rpm? And is the difference in 64mb and 128mb of video ram going to make a difference to me, in say two years?

I don't really think I'll every play games on it. Though I might use if for software for med school.

I'm thinking about the M2U.
Anyother thoughts.

#5 Post by **daeojkim** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:29 pm

kuma,

I think the ultrabay batteries are 4 cell, so if you have normal and the extended battery in total of 10 cells you could use it for 6-7 hours.

About the drives, it would end up being a personal preference and how much much data will you be having? I tend to download few websites for anatomy and such so I do require a lot of space. Also music, etc. The HD is something that you will be able to upgrade anytime.

The video card however, is not upgradable. And I am not sure if you would plan to upgrade to Longhorn later on, but I hear that it will require quite a chunk of video ram.

I am leaning toward T41p for my purposes, which has 128 MB video and 60GB 7200 rpm drive, and bluetooth. The only down side (if it really is), is that it has banias core instead of Dothan.

I hope this helps

JK

P.S. I should be studying for embryo exam that is coming up. LOL

mysbca · #6 Post by **mysbca** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 12:49 am

kuma wrote:I get a discount since I am buying at as a U of Minnesota student. So the M2U would only be $1800.

You can save over a couple of hundred dollars with the September specials. You can configure 2373H6U to be similar to M2U for a little over $1500. You might want to keep the RAM at 256MB and buy more elsewhere for a lot cheaper. You can get 1GB of Crucial RAM at newegg for around $118.

http://www-131.ibm.com/content/home/sto ... oduct.html

kuma · #7 Post by **kuma** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 7:11 am

Thanks for the help.
What is the video ram size of the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600?
That seems to be a better deal, I can't seem to find out if it has the finger scanner.

Thank you again for all the help.[quote][/quote]

dc81 · #8 Post by **dc81** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:14 am

ATI Raedon 9600 comes with 64mb, which in my opinion is plenty, if you are not gaming, or doing high-end CAD design or rendering.

It just comes down to how much you feel comfortable spending.

kuma · #9 Post by **kuma** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:22 am

But in say three years am I going to wish I had the 128mb Vram?
I know I had a iBook with 32vram and Tiger ran ok but not as nice as say with 64.
Is 128vram just for gaming of high res games? I will never do any 3D modeling.

Thanks again for all the help.

keku · #10 Post by **keku** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:40 am

well since you said you are a med student ... I'll suggest also look at X series tablet .... those are nice too.

#11 Post by **daeojkim** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:29 pm

I saw abot 2 students using the tablet in my class. They looked "cool". As far as convinience in the lectures, I am not sure how much convinient it would be. I tend to type much faster than writing on a tablet.

The advantage of a tablet or X series would be it's size and portability. I find my X24 plenty of my classes purposes. Except when it comes to having to look at some of those slides with a lot of details.

If you hva friends who have X series or a T series (or other equivalent) laptop and see which you would prefer to have.

The FireGl in the T41p is same core as the Radeon 9600 but with 128MB video ram. Supposedly there is not much advantage over the 9600, unless you are going to do some series CAD work.

JK

Vic · #12 Post by **Vic** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 8:04 pm

If you will be reading any xrays...you will want to consider the 15" flexview...

kuma · #13 Post by **kuma** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:38 pm

mysbca wrote:
kuma wrote:I get a discount since I am buying at as a U of Minnesota student. So the M2U would only be $1800.
You can save over a couple of hundred dollars with the September specials. You can configure 2373H6U to be similar to M2U for a little over $1500. You might want to keep the RAM at 256MB and buy more elsewhere for a lot cheaper. You can get 1GB of Crucial RAM at newegg for around $118.

http://www-131.ibm.com/content/home/sto ... oduct.html

What am I giving up with 2373H6U over the M2U? Besides the ram that I'll buy after? This Seems like a much better deal. Does it have the finger reader?

Thanks a lot.

kuma · #14 Post by **kuma** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 10:46 pm

kuma wrote:
mysbca wrote: You can save over a couple of hundred dollars with the September specials. You can configure 2373H6U to be similar to M2U for a little over $1500. You might want to keep the RAM at 256MB and buy more elsewhere for a lot cheaper. You can get 1GB of Crucial RAM at newegg for around $118.

http://www-131.ibm.com/content/home/sto ... oduct.html
What am I giving up with 2373H6U over the M2U? Besides the ram that I'll buy after? This Seems like a much better deal. Does it have the finger reader?
Thanks a lot.

How is the 2373M1U different from the 2373M2U?
Sorry this is a huge amount of money for me, and it is my first Thinkpad. I've had an iBook for the last few years.

mysbca · #15 Post by **mysbca** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 1:09 am

kuma wrote:What am I giving up with 2373H6U over the M2U? Besides the ram that I'll buy after? This Seems like a much better deal. Does it have the finger reader?

As far as I can tell, you are giving up nothing. You can configure to exactly how you want it, even exactly like the M2U.

Yes, it has the fingerprint reader:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

Difference between M1U (IBM/atheros) and M2U (Intel) is the wireless card.

kuma · #16 Post by **kuma** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 7:01 am

mysbca wrote:
kuma wrote:What am I giving up with 2373H6U over the M2U? Besides the ram that I'll buy after? This Seems like a much better deal. Does it have the finger reader?
As far as I can tell, you are giving up nothing. You can configure to exactly how you want it, even exactly like the M2U.

Yes, it has the fingerprint reader:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

Difference between M1U (IBM/atheros) and M2U (Intel) is the wireless card.

Well it seems like the 6U would be the best deal, I'm glad that everyone on this board has been so helpful. I was thinking of getting a X41 but I don't know if I would really use the tablet feature, as I type faster than I can write. And I don't want to give anything up in terms of speed and HD space. So I think I'll order the 6U with the 80gig HD, and then buy extra Ram.
Last Question, should I get the 9cell battery, and the dock battery also? Or just the 6cell and the dock battery? Is the 9 cell hanging of the back a pain to deal with? I don't want to have to worry about it banged around in back pack with my books.

Thanks.

Which T42 to buy

Which T42 to buy

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