Recommendations on T42 vs T43...

[malachont]

hi all,


I am trying to decide on which Thinkpad to buy (possibly two of them).
My priorities are: 3 year warranty, weight/portability and price (budget is $1300 and southwards). Need a CDRW built in so it rather boils down to a 14" T42 or T43. Have looked up the new Z model but feel rather iffy about it, always tended to prefer the "second newest" bit of technolgy type of person. Don't know, perhaps the keyboard isn't the legendary one or something?

Cutting edge CPU performance is less of an issue as the machine is to be used for Office and music applications mainly.
Since I have seen some rumblings in the forum against the T43 (noise/heat issues) I am in favour of the T42, but I have noticed that internet specs on this line show different dimensions on some models, could that be true? for example thr 2373H6U is listed on http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... p/_2373H6U as 1.2" thick, the 2379RFU as 1.4" thick.

Also, is it much of an advantage having a dedicated 32MB Radeon 7500 on a T42 vs. a T43's shared RAM and Intel 900 Video accelerator, (since its main RAM and bus are faster).

In general, how important would you consider it to insist
on getting one of the later T42's (Radeon 9000/9600 etc) than the earlier ones? this assumes that for me, a CPU speed of 1.6GHZ/512MB RAM is enough.

Secondly, is there some way of identifying from the model number whether it has a 3 year warranty or not?

My position is somewhat complicated by the fact that I am in Israel, (where Thinkpad prices are +50% than in the states)
my uncle is visiting LA and I thought I might order it and have it sent to his hotel within the next few days (he's leaving soon).
Is it worth it to try and find an LA retailer (the cheapest ones I found on froogle were in NY) so as to get the package delivered quicker and cheaper, or can I trust the "overnight" delivery to really be overnight?

Thank you for your comments.

[christopher_wolf]

Hello there,

Form factors for both the T43 and T42 are the same as long as you have the same screen size (i.e. either 14.1" or 15") and either a 6-cell or 9-cell battery. I can't say why that difference exists, but it shouldn't and it could be a typo. The same chassis is used for the entire T4X Series. As to the CDRW drive, well, same there. Since it is an Ultrabay Slim you can put the latest and greatest Slimline Ultrabay device IBM/Lenovo put out. There is really not much of a difference between the CDRW in the T43 vs the T42. They can be swapped and supported perfectly. The Heat issue is less to me than any fan problem (no, it is very rare that you get to hear the fan in a lecture); you would have to be *really* sensitive to notice a fan problem plus it is a mattter of perception, personal taste, and even if the Thinkpad exhibits the problem. In addition, the T43 isn't the only Thinkpad that has been reported as having a"Fan-always-on Problem." So I would take most further comments on it with a grain of salt and see for yourself as to what you prefer. Even though you will be doing office apps, I would not snub off the video card; if it was me, I would get the ATI. It never hurts to have a bit more oompa when you need it and, if Office 12 is anything like Vista, you will need it. Some internet 3D apps and others somewhat rely on you having a fair performing video card; in my opinion, the ATI does this job very well. Another really important thing to go for is the Memory and the HDD Capacity. Tweak them to your needs. I recommend around 1GB of memory, and since IBM has an offer on free sticks of 512MB; it should be a good deal. You will really notice the difference between two Thinkpads, one having 512MB, and one having 1GB or more. More so than a 1.86GHz-2.13GHz difference. I don't know if you can determine by the model number if the Thinkpad has a 3-Year Warranty, but I would suggest checking out a 3 year warranty for peace of mind. Besides EPP and Educational Discounts, I can't see anything else besides looking at the Express models that IBM has which are slightly less expensive than similar, non-expess, models. HTH

[ddutta]

If you get a EPP or EDU discount, the non express models are cheaper. Its better to get a custom machine from IBM (CTO) though it might take a few weeks to ship. With a CTO model, you buy what you need. Eg you can buy only 256MB from Lenovo and get the rest from newegg (1GB for $60-70!). Also its better to spend 40 bucks more and get the 9 cell. If you have access to a Windows license or use Linux, you can order it with XP Home and save $70.

Check:

https://www-03.ibm.com/lenovo/shop/pers ... t_list.cfm

[malachont]

I can't imagine I can get the EPP or Educational discounts, not being an IBM employee, Educated person (jk..), or American citizen even...
I have family members who are students but I think all those discounts you are referring to are for USA residents only. How much are those discounts, just for general knowledge? I always like to know what I am missing..

I just saw the free RAM offer on the lenovo web site, looks good but can they ship a machine in 24 hours?

regarding the warranty, I know that the IBM service depot in Israel faithfully serves any valid warranty Thinkpad bought anywhere in the world - only requiring to see its serial number. Which is rather a novelty in terms of service experience in Israel. The situation with so called "international" warranty here is bad, most notebook manufacturer's reps here (I think except IBM and Toshiba) don't honor them for free, they want to see a locally bought PC and sales recipt, and I hope Lenovo won't change anything about that, or at least not retroactively. If the base warranty was 1 year and I added 2 years in the Lenovo web site upon purchase, the serial number may not show up in the Israeli IBM depot as 3 years- I don't know, what do you think?


Thanks again for your help.

[malachont]

Didn't realize what was going on.. perhaps next time.

[monkey243]

you make one thing sure before you order the T42.T42 may have a southbrigde problem.The result of that problem is that sometimes you can not use USB2.0 ports at highspeed.The USB2.0 ports maybe just work in USB1.1 mode.

[christopher_wolf]

Does the T42 have a Southbridge problem? I know there have been reports of the USB Ports going on the blink with USB charged devices and such; but it seems to me that this is rather isolated.

[rleo25]

I prefer the T42, remember it has a dothan technology, which generates less heath, battery life is better, take in count that the overall perfomance of the T43 is in no high way superior to that of the T42, and last but not least, I suspect that the T42 are the lattest real IBM produced laptops. Don't know how well is Lenovo managing the issue quality vs. price, have you seen that preces are dropping? how are they making it? Do you think Chinese want to earn less money in their business?

[christopher_wolf]

Ummmmm.....What point, if any, are you trying to get at rleo25? I don't see how you can say the performance of the T43 is "in no way higher" thatn the performance of the T42 since the specs show that it clearly *NOT* the case on a model per model comparision. It just depends on what model of T43 or T42 you pick. And, for goodness sake everybody, please let's try to stop it with the Lenovo bells of doom, Hmmm? The T43 was made by IBM. In fact, even at the beginning of 2000, alot of the Engineering was done in China; the management, though, was IBM and not Lenovo. It makes little difference who actually manages it so long as the engineering R&D Teams get what they need. The Z60 is the first "Lenovo" Laptop, *NOT* the T43

So....point being?

This should not turn into potential flamethread material; it depends on the user preferences. It is what the person feels comfotable with buying, not what is generally considered "better than that." I can bet, 95% sure, that the team that designed the T42 also designed the T43 and a good deal of that team is in China, Japan, and the US. I can ask a family relative of mine who was a senior engineer and procuement manager at IBM for many years all through the Thinkpad line.

[pipspeak]

I prefer the T42, remember it has a dothan technology, which generates less heath, battery life is better, take in count that the overall perfomance of the T43 is in no high way superior to that of the T42, and last but not least, I suspect that the T42 are the lattest real IBM produced laptops. Don't know how well is Lenovo managing the issue quality vs. price, have you seen that preces are dropping? how are they making it? Do you think Chinese want to earn less money in their business?

Well, the processors and RAM are faster in the T43s for a start... in general the jump from T42 to T43 is about the same as it has been for all other incremental changes in Txx series machines IMO, whether T22 to T23 or T40 to T41.

As for the Lenovo vs. IBM issue, comments like that are just so baseless. Unless you have specific information about how the computers are engineered any worse by Lenovo than IBM, it's probably wise to avoid such vague generalizations.

I see lower prices as a perfectly understandable move by Lenovo to take advantage of (probably) lower overheads and to lift market share from the depths to which that IBM had let it sink.

[rleo25]

Well guys, my pont is that there is no so huge difference between T42 and T43, sonoma tech hasn't been well applied as a whole and the real quality jump is about to come with 64 bit processors and SOC's.

So let's no be so sensible with my regards. As to the Lenovo's issue you are damm right!!! it is time to relax, we the people who love Thinkpad must believe the mark is in good hands and will keep its progresive trend... so in a few years ahead we may get our ideal dream Thinkpad.

(I figure there is no a cultural lag, or it is been handled, between the IBM's engineering and management people transfered to Lenovo and the Chinese officials and all of them are working in the same direction). Period, and Merry Christmas to all of you...

[christopher_wolf]

Merry Christmas!

Well, true..we are about to get dual cores by next year in Thinkpads; that is something to be very thankful for. IMO, the Sonoma has been applied well, but is more of a lead up to the Thinkpads of next year seeing as how intel will put the Centrino configuration of the Yonah and call it the Napa which will come in single and dual core. So, essentially, the Sonoma is a prototyping set so Intel can get everything straight before the final release. At least that is how I see it. If Lenovo wasn't up to it, I don't think that IBM would hand over the PCD. A good thing, though, is that Lenovo has the backing of the China Academy of Sciences...Which is good since there are quite a few Academic Institutions that use Thinkpads; so it could end up being a very good deal for most universities, even better than it is now.

[rleo25]

Good point! The Science Academy, not only backup, heard somewhere they are shareholders of Lenovo...

so save some extra bucks for the inprovements to come, and lets's get the most of our today machines, they will work for us for a century...

Only that sometime we will have to put 'em in the closet, bacause the new developments as an outcome of the greatest hardware potential... processor speed, memory capacity and speed, video enhancements, hard disk storage capacity (terabytes) and speed +10.000rpm. organic displays... new construction materials (nanotechnology)

Well I am not dreaming today.... It's reality.