I bit the bullet and ordered a T42 to replace my T43.

[hootpie]

First off, let me say what a pleasure it is to deal with IBM/Lenovo. The entire process of ordering a T42 with similar specs and getting an RMA # for my T43 took less than 5 minutes. Big thumbs up to their customer service.

I'm going to compare the two side-by-side, this includes: noise level, system temperature, build quality, and performance (i.e. 3dMark05). I'll post up the results in this thread.

The T43 I'm sending back is the 2668-75U 14.1" SXGA+, 2.0ghz, 512mb DDR2, 64mb x300, 80gb 5400rpm, 6 cell battery, fingerprint reader, bluetooth, Thinkpad a/b/g wifi, and 3 year warranty. With EPP it cost me $1686.

The T42 I'm ordering (it was in-stock, should be here in 5 business days [packing right now] vs. the 3 weeks it took for my T43) is the 2373M3U 14.1" SXGA+, 1.8ghz, 512mb DDR, 64mb 9600, 60gb 7200rpm, 6 cell battery, bluetooth, Intel B/G wifi, fingerprint reader, CD-RW and 3 year warranty. It will cost me $1546.

I'm losing a few mhz, some HD space, and DVD-writing capabilities, but I'd gladly give that up for a laptop that's built properly, is relatively silent, has a faster HD and is cheaper.

[mzd]

So the price is before tax or after tax?
I think T42 should be quiter than T43.

[hootpie]

So the price is before tax or after tax?
I think T42 should be quiter than T43.

All prices are after tax.

[kyrotech]

that 2373M3U is a very solid product. Quiet, Fast, reliable.

I think the T43 needs to mature to be as good as the T42 is

[ddutta]

My T43 is quieter than my T42 at full performance settings. And the exhaust is cooler on my T43. The T43 makes a whizzzzzzz noise on startup and calms down the moment it starts booting. Other than that I am happy with my T43. My T42 is the 1st batch of T42s to have a fingerprint reader.

The 2373M3U is a great machine but the T43 isnt bad either. Typically its better to buy a newer revision so that all the small bugs are weeded out.

[Greg Gebhardt]

My T43 is quieter than my T42 at full performance settings. And the exhaust is cooler on my T43. The T43 makes a whizzzzzzz noise on startup and calms down the moment it starts booting. Other than that I am happy with my T43. My T42 is the 1st batch of T42s to have a fingerprint reader.

The 2373M3U is a great machine but the T43 isnt bad either. Typically its better to buy a newer revision so that all the small bugs are weeded out.

I have to agree with you. I traded in My T42p KXU for my T43p and could not be more happy. Huge hard drive and more performance. Fan noise? Not.

[christopher_wolf]

Well, I must say that I feel I made the Better choice when deciding between a T43 and a T42 by picking the T43. Right now, the fan is silent once again, even though I have been working on it for almost an hour. It is an excellent choice if you want the ultimate performance in the sleekest Thinkpad available.

[vshin]

The T42 I'm ordering (it was in-stock, should be here in 5 business days [packing right now] vs. the 3 weeks it took for my T43) is the 2373M3U 14.1" SXGA+, 1.8ghz, 512mb DDR, 64mb 9600, 60gb 7200rpm, 6 cell battery, bluetooth, Intel B/G wifi, fingerprint reader, CD-RW and 3 year warranty. It will cost me $1546.

I would very much like to order the same exact spec that you did but I can't seem to build it on their website. Do I have to call to get that T42?

[hootpie]

The T42 I'm ordering (it was in-stock, should be here in 5 business days [packing right now] vs. the 3 weeks it took for my T43) is the 2373M3U 14.1" SXGA+, 1.8ghz, 512mb DDR, 64mb 9600, 60gb 7200rpm, 6 cell battery, bluetooth, Intel B/G wifi, fingerprint reader, CD-RW and 3 year warranty. It will cost me $1546.

I would very much like to order the same exact spec that you did but I can't seem to build it on their website. Do I have to call to get that T42?

You will need to call them and ask for model # 2373M3U. I couldn't find it anywhere on their website after I placed the order.

[Attka]

Hi All!

I'm from Hungary, and i'm very bad in English, therefore i'm sorry. I like to buy a T43 or T42 in Hungary, just i don't know which type is good. I have 2000EUR ($2300). Can anybody help me which choose is better? Last week i had a T43 2668-97G it was a good just a DVD recordable 2X not a 4X, therefore i shipped back. It must have a minimum 1.8Ghz/533FSB, 512 Mb DDR2, 60GB HDD minimum 5400, minimum 4X DVD-recordable,bluetooth,infra,wifi.......

Bye:Attka

[hootpie]

Hi All!

I'm from Hungary, and i'm very bad in English, therefore i'm sorry. I like to buy a T43 or T42 in Hungary, just i don't know which type is good. I have 2000EUR ($2300). Can anybody help me which choose is better? Last week i had a T43 2668-97G it was a good just a DVD recordable 2X not a 4X, therefore i shipped back. It must have a minimum 1.8Ghz/533FSB, 512 Mb DDR2, 60GB HDD minimum 5400, minimum 4X DVD-recordable,bluetooth,infra,wifi.......

Bye:Attka

The people over at IBM/Lenovo are very helpful in finding models that match your needs. Give them at a call @ 1.888.SHOP.IBM and tell them what you want and your price range. Oh and your English is just fine

[pae77]

Well, with respect to the FSB, if you want a 533 MHz FSB, it sounds like you have to go with a T43 because I believe the T42 series only has a 400 MHz FSB.

[beckzig]

Hootpie,

I have pretty much decided to order the 2373M3U as well. I just tried calling and they quoted me over $1700 for it. Can you advise me how you got that laptop for the price you did? Did you use an employee discount or some other discount? If you want you can email me at beckzig@yahoo.com.

Thanks,
Rebecca

[hootpie]

Hootpie,

I have pretty much decided to order the 2373M3U as well. I just tried calling and they quoted me over $1700 for it. Can you advise me how you got that laptop for the price you did? Did you use an employee discount or some other discount? If you want you can email me at beckzig@yahoo.com.

Thanks,
Rebecca

One of my friends works for IBM, so I purchased it through the employee purchase program (EPP). $1700 actually isn't a bad price for that config..I'm guessing they are blowing them out because of the T43.

[hootpie]

My T42 was delivered today. First thing I did was check for the build quality problems and found only one that my old T43 had: loose CD drive with a gap. I'll take pictures and post them up later, but I've seen other pictures of T4X's and none of them seem to have that problem.

Initial impressions:

The fan on this thing doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned. I've been doing a lot of installing on this thing and the laptop's fan hasn't turned on once. The only thing I hear is the HD, but I expected that seeing as how its a 7200rpm. The HD isn't terribly loud, but it's quite noticable in a quiet room. I'm willing to deal with a louder, faster HD moreso than I am willing to deal with a louder fan.

Everything else seems to be identical on the T43 and T42 (screen, keyboard, etc). The one thing that is different is the software. The battery guage in the taskbar has an older version of the IBM software, so it doesn't have all the features I want.

The battery life on this laptop is better as well. That's probably because it runs 200mhz slower, but I'm guessing it has to do with the slower FSB as well. At 94% charge with max battery life settings in play, this laptop had ~4:15 of battery time to 0. Conversely, my old T43 would have 4:15 with 100% charge, but it was UNDERVOLTED as well.

I'm assuming I can get over ~4:30 of battery life out of this T42 with a full charge and some gentle undervolting.

Right now I'm going to create recovery discs so I can install XP from scratch (something I didn't do on my T43 because I wasn't keeping it). I'll do a little more in-depth review later on.

[jeffcrilly]

Hmph. That was quick.

How'd you score a T42 so fast?

I've been waiting 2+ weeks for mine.

[christopher_wolf]

I didn't have to undervolt anything to get 4:30 Hours Battery Life out of my T43

Here, it usually displays around 4:15 to 4:30 for my Battery Life, all settings at minimal but no undervolting and using PowerPLay for the ATI x300

[Jmmmmm]

My T42 was delivered today. First thing I did was check for the build quality problems and found only one that my old T43 had: loose CD drive with a gap. I'll take pictures and post them up later, but I've seen other pictures of T4X's and none of them seem to have that problem.

Initial impressions:

The fan on this thing doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned. I've been doing a lot of installing on this thing and the laptop's fan hasn't turned on once. The only thing I hear is the HD, but I expected that seeing as how its a 7200rpm. The HD isn't terribly loud, but it's quite noticable in a quiet room. I'm willing to deal with a louder, faster HD moreso than I am willing to deal with a louder fan.

Everything else seems to be identical on the T43 and T42 (screen, keyboard, etc). The one thing that is different is the software. The battery guage in the taskbar has an older version of the IBM software, so it doesn't have all the features I want.

The battery life on this laptop is better as well. That's probably because it runs 200mhz slower, but I'm guessing it has to do with the slower FSB as well. At 94% charge with max battery life settings in play, this laptop had ~4:15 of battery time to 0. Conversely, my old T43 would have 4:15 with 100% charge, but it was UNDERVOLTED as well.

I'm assuming I can get over ~4:30 of battery life out of this T42 with a full charge and some gentle undervolting.

Right now I'm going to create recovery discs so I can install XP from scratch (something I didn't do on my T43 because I wasn't keeping it). I'll do a little more in-depth review later on.

Can you guarantee that the fan is quieter? In an absolutely silent room, how noticeable is it? Does it actually turn off at times? Also, what are the average temperatures the comp runs at (and what ambient temp those are at) at normal operating and full throttle. I am thinking about doing the same as you, but I want some hard evidence before I seriously consider it.

[hootpie]

Can you guarantee that the fan is quieter? In an absolutely silent room, how noticeable is it? Does it actually turn off at times? Also, what are the average temperatures the comp runs at (and what ambient temp those are at) at normal operating and full throttle. I am thinking about doing the same as you, but I want some hard evidence before I seriously consider it.

I can guarantee the fan on this T42 is MUCH quieter than the fan on my T43. The fan on the T43 was always on and was fairly loud (not at max or min speed, but right inbetween). The fan on this T42 pre-undervolt was on, but so quiet that I actually thought it was off in a room with any ambient noise. Last night after I undervolted it, I went into a silent room with it and actually heard the fan turn off and STAY off while at max battery life settings + wifi + web browsing.

System temp before undervolt: 43-45C (fan on at lowest speed)
System temp AFTER: 39-40C (fan stays off below 42C)

Battery life before undervolt: 4:20 (max battery life setting, screen level @ 0, bluetooth off, wifi on, CPU @ 600mhz).
Battery life AFTER: ~5:05 with same settings as above.