Product Finder v.s. Let me build it yields diff model #s.

[collector_edi]

After a record level of indecisiveness I am going with the T42 over the T43 because of criticism targeting less battery life and fan noise. Here is my second quandry:

I am using product finder and I get a machine spec'd with model number 2379RKU. If I choose let me build it I get a machine model number 2378RVU.

I am looking for the following min requirements:

-1600x1200 resolution.
-2 gb of ram
-7200 rpm HDD. I guess I have to settle for the 60gb and not get the 80-100 gb.

Also since I am getting the t42 and not the t43 how much of a disadvantage will I be in without the PCI express port? Will I be sorry in a year or two?

[christopher_wolf]

You might be sorry a year later on without the PCI Express Port; but it depends on what you use it for. Well, I can say my system lasts as long as the T42 on battery; The only increase in battery life you get is from the change between 800MHz and 600MHz that the Processor clocks down to. Nothing else I can see has changed that much as to warrant a significant decrease in battery life; 5 hours for me no problem. As to the Fan Noise? Well...It has been present, more or less, on quite a few Thinkpads

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_fan_noise

I, myself, have heard two T40s, one T41, and a T42p that could very have the "Fan-always-on" problem; I have heard and used a good number of Thinkpads and I haven't noticed any noise increase in with the Fan of my T43 over any of the others. You might also like to go to Office Depot and check out the T43s they have there and listen to the fan noise. There are all sorts of problems you *might* get on a new system, regardless of the model; fan noise reported with some T43s, sudden-system-board-death syndrome reported with some T42s, batches of bad pixels, etc. I checked out my T43, decided I liked it, and got it and I haven't had any problems with it at all. You shouldn't worry too much over the choice of the system before looking through the tabook.pdf and seeing which one you would like; it is, after, a case of "You get what you pay for." First, decide what model you would like, then ask more questions, then decide. Don't fret overly about potential problems and let that put you into a state of indecision; if you don't like a system, there is a 30-Day period in which you can send it back and request another should any problems arise.

Have you checked out the tabook.pdf?

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitu ... tabook.pdf

Look through that and see what model number you would like; then check it out on the website.

I do not think you can get 2GB standard, last I checked. You will have to upgrade it from 1GB as that is the highest I have seen them ship with.

[collector_edi]

Any reason why Lenovo is giving me two different product numbers for machines identically spec'd?

Thank you for your insight as well. You are a well traveled man when it comes to these models.

[christopher_wolf]

Well; th 2379RKU seems to be a T42p Express Model. The 2378-RVU may have a slightly different feature set...I am pretty sure that is the only difference since I searched through the tabook.pdf. You can get higher capacity HDDs with 7200RPM. The difference between 7200RPM and 5400RPM manifests itself only if you are doing a lrage amount of number crunching or similar data read/write high-throughput processes. I have the 5400RPM drive as well as a 7200RPM; I can't see much of a difference when I run my programs on them or compile alot. So, in that case, which is more important? On board storage or HDD speed?

[collector_edi]

Thanks for the pdf link. I read passed that and replied without looking at the link. . This looks extremely informative.

[JaneL]

Thanks for the pdf link. I read passed that and replied without looking at the link. . This looks extremely informative.

That's why it's Item #1 in the FAQ for this forum...

[safelder]

Any reason why Lenovo is giving me two different product numbers for machines identically spec'd?

Thank you for your insight as well. You are a well traveled man when it comes to these models.

The product finder corresponds (generally speaking) to the tabook. In other words, to the pre-configured machines, be they Express or Standard models.

On the other hand, the "let me build it" option corresponds to the open bay (that is, bare bones) models. Even if you end up configuring an open bay chassis into exactly the same thing as a pre-configured model, you'll keep the open bay model number. And the open bay price as well (go figure that you can sometimes find the exact same machine three ways (standard, express, and CTO) at three wildly different prices).