T42 2373-8ZU Memory upgrade, keyboard marking screen advice

[wumd2b]

Hi,

I would appreciate advice about three very different topics.

My machine: 14.1 SXGA+, Dothan 1.7, 512MB, 40GB 5400RPM, DVD-CDRW

1) 1gb memory upgrade (to 1.5 Gb). Do I need it? At any one time I run the following programs simultaneously,
- BitComet
- Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
- Media Player Classic
- Pymol
- Matlab
- WinAmp

While I'm downloading torrents in bitcomet, I like to simultaneously code, watch movies, render acetylcholine proteins in Pymol, run simulations in matlab, and listen to MP3s. I haven't noticed any real slow downs except with rendering in Pymol and I'm not sure that more memory would solve that issue. I have all the listed programs run in my startup so I don't have to double-click and manually start them all.

2) When the screen is closed, the keyboard leaves marks on the screen. It's really irritating to see marks on the screen all the time. What can I do about this? Do I stick a sheet between the keyboard and the screen?

3) In my tight fitting Sumdex 14.1 Impactguard sleeve case, the metal bottom of the zipper keeps rubbing against the laptop, leaving marks on the edge of the T42. Do all zippered sleeves do this? How can I stop this?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

[christopher_wolf]

Well, I can say that extra memory wouldn't really help PyMol since, from what I have noticed, it is primarily hungry for CPU Speed. I have done Hemoglobin interactions and trans-membrane protein dimerizations with Beta-2 Adrenergic Receptors as well as acetylcholine protein rendering, and haven't noticed any problems, even when running BOINC in the background. 800MHz vs 2.0 *makes a BIG difference*. Extra memory might help MATLAB though. I use them at the same...no slowdowns whatsoever. I find that 1 GB is good enough for what I do; namely PyMol, MATLAB, Simulink, Visual C++/C and Visual Fortran; plus Firefox, Thunderbird, and WinAmp all at the same time...no problems here.

Even at loads that I have made *kill* other laptops, my Thinkpad runs just fine

You can put a really thin sheet in between your keyboard and screen when you close the laptop, that pretty much gets rid of the grease marks.

As to the sleeve issue, no...not all sleeves do that; I am not familiar with that brand...but I do know it isn't a problem on other sleeves I have seen. You can use a soft cloth at pack it in there to help protect that Thinkpad from the Zipper.