How low (old) can I go?

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stuartf · #1 Post by **stuartf** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:33 pm

My needs are minimal, WP, Mozilla, Quicken, some PaintShop. Battery life not usually important, but will be doing some transporting from home to classroom, commuting on foot or bicycle.

No games, like a decent screen (I am 58 yo and small type is getting hard to see).

I still use a P3 desktop so that will give you some idea as to how long I hold on to things.

I am comfortable swapping HD and RAM, CDRW/DVD is nice. It looks like I can get a T40 for aroung $600 and then as I go up to 41, 42, 43 they get about 150-200 more per step. AND, I have access to an EPP deal for a new one from Lenovo or a used one from IBM.

I would like this to be usable for 3 years or so, any recommendations about the "sweet spot".

christopher_wolf · #2 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:53 pm

Mmmm, not so much as low as you go...but how comfortable you are with the system. A T40 is indeed a good pick, I have seen many researchers around here carry them around in good condition and whatnot. So is the R Series...The important bits are the keyboard and screen, the User Interface part of the system for comfort. Check out an XGA vs an SXGA+ and see which one you would like. Also, it would be nice to have a Hi Capacity battery...not that it is all that important if you stay in one place alot, but 90% of all Thinkpads I have seen have them, including mine so it might be worth looking into. They also last a tad longer, lifetime-wise, than the 6-Cells. Upgradability is also an important factor to keep in mind.

stuartf · #3 Post by **stuartf** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:08 pm

Iwould really like to see the XGA vs. SXGA bake-off, but where? Office Depot seems to only have the XGA stocked.

Domain · #4 Post by **Domain** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:20 pm

I hear you, Stuart. I'm agonizing on wheather to go for the T43 with the nice video card or to go on the T42 for battery life and a lower operating temp.

It'll be mostly used for Office, Photoshop, and a little Counter-Strike source. If I go for the T42, I can probably say goodbye to Counter Strike Source.

I'm also in the same position wehre I can't find someone locally that has ThinkPads. I've had to rely on the kind reviews of the members here, especially christopher_wolf.

Good luck in your search, friend!

stuartf · #5 Post by **stuartf** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:37 pm

About thise video cards, I see that the 9600 in the 42 is superior to the x300 in the 43, saw this on thinpads.com

Ah decisions, decisions!

#6 Post by **ZaZ** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:20 pm

You might want to check out some college bookstores. Somtimes they carry models.

christopher_wolf · #7 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:30 pm

So, deciding on a T42 up from a T40?

More like...Temptation, instead of Decisions, don't you think?

Differences between the two? Can't say, haven't run any 3D bench marks on it vs. my friend's T42. We have both done some serious rendering (Protein Shaping in PyMol, MATLAB FFT Analysis, FEA work) and haven't noticed slowdowns on either one. For what I do, I really like my T43...The really important thing is the Memory. Get it from IBM/Lenovo and you can get a free stick of 512MB. 1GB is good enough for 98% of daily use; there might be a bug, I think, with more. More memory can do wonders

stangri · #8 Post by **stangri** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 7:03 am

Stuart,

I've been running my T40 for over 2 years now and I'm quite happy with it for the more or less same range of tasks. What's good about IBM is that not only it's like a LEGO -- you can upgrade pretty much everything, but the IBM also has a great number of video clips walking you thru the process.

I'd say if you're on a budget -- go with the T40 and spend the extra bucks on the memory or HDD or peripherial upgrades.

I recently switched from 756Mb to 1.5Gb of RAM and as it's been said -- it does wonders. The good kingston 1Gb stick will cost you around a hundred, maybe $115 if shipped overnight.

Another $200 will get you the 7200RPM Hitachi (my preference) or Seagate 80Gb drive. For half that much you can get the 5400rpm drive with about 120Gb if you need to store alot of large files.

I've also replaced my modem-only CDC card for the BT/modem combo, replaced the original 2100B wifi card with 2200BG and then 2915ABG cards -- there's a forum member wireless4laptop who I've bought the cards from before and it's a great source.

To sum it up -- I'd rather have T40 with more memory and faster HDD than any newer T-series but with less memory and slower HDD. According to the Notebook Hardware Control -- my CPU is on 600Mhz most of the time anyways, so I wouldn't concern myself too much with the CPU speed.

The video-card/gaming isn't that important to me, I'm quite happy with the system I got -- both Windows 2003 Server and Mac OS boot up very fast and work real nice. I can only see myself upgrading if/when there's a system with the OLED display, WiMax and Wireless USB built-in and it's gotta be 64bit, so yeah, in about 2 years I guess.

christopher_wolf · #9 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:06 pm

Well said Stangri; also, you said Mac OS boots up on your system?

That is pretty impressive; do you mean OS9 or OSX? I am guessing OSX

DIGITALgimpus · #10 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 4:57 pm

Nobody yet has booted Mac OS 9 on an Intel (I don't think even Apple has done so). It would require complete PPC emulation as none of that code is x86.

christopher_wolf · #11 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 5:01 pm

Yes, I know that quite well enough; but I was wondering if stangri was refering to OSX or OS 9. It would *indeed* be quite a feat to get OS 9 running on a Thinkpad.

Tan Mann · #12 Post by **Tan Mann** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 5:07 pm

stuartf wrote:My needs are minimal, WP, Mozilla, Quicken, some PaintShop. Battery life not usually important, but will be doing some transporting from home to classroom, commuting on foot or bicycle.

No games, like a decent screen (I am 58 yo and small type is getting hard to see).

I still use a P3 desktop so that will give you some idea as to how long I hold on to things.

I am comfortable swapping HD and RAM, CDRW/DVD is nice. It looks like I can get a T40 for aroung $600 and then as I go up to 41, 42, 43 they get about 150-200 more per step. AND, I have access to an EPP deal for a new one from Lenovo or a used one from IBM.

I would like this to be usable for 3 years or so, any recommendations about the "sweet spot".

Dude,
Do yerself a favour...get the 2373-L1U(2376-FU1) on EPP...It should be around $1275ish USD...It is a rocking unit for aging eyes(I'm not so far behind you!) Fully loaded, light, sub-6lbs, nice bright screen, fast and decent-sized HDD...cannot go wrong...) Feels real solid. Runs quiet. Makes the chicks swoon(well, not really...)

Specs:
Based on 2373-L1U: P M 735, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, 15(1024x768) TFT LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon 9600, 24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, Intel 802.11b/g wireless(MPCI), Bluetooth/Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint Reader, 6c Li-Ion , WinXP Pro

FWIW...

Tan

Esben · #13 Post by **Esben** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 7:23 pm

That sounds like a very nice machine you've found there. Is there really a combination of R9600 and 15" XGA?

In all honesty, I think a standard T40 14.1" XGA, with default harddrive and 512+ MB memory is all that Stuart needs.
He isn't going to run 3D-applications, and once the applications are loaded, they require minimal harddrive access.

Tan Mann · #14 Post by **Tan Mann** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 7:50 pm

Esben wrote:That sounds like a very nice machine you've found there. Is there really a combination of R9600 and 15" XGA?

In all honesty, I think a standard T40 14.1" XGA, with default harddrive and 512+ MB memory is all that Stuart needs.
He isn't going to run 3D-applications, and once the applications are loaded, they require minimal harddrive access.

Yah...Rad 9600 w/ XGA...
He prob need not much more than what you propose...but the price...you just can't touch the specs of the 2373FU1 for the money.

See info at:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

Tan

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