Mixed feelings on the T41P and T42

[bigbillyt]

To try to make a long story as brief as possible I will explain my situation. I had ordered a T42 (2378FVU) but it was stuck in customs for several days. I got impatient and I ordered a refurb T41P (2373XQX which is actually a 2373GEU). The T41P shipped immediately and was here the next day. In the mean time, I griped at IBM and UPS and they somehoow got my unit released from it's status as an exception and I received it the next day. So now I have two Thinkpads to play with. I have already decided to send the T42 back for what I beleve are fairly obvious reasons. The T41P was only $200 more and has a bigger, faster hard drive, more video memory, a bigger battery, built in bluetooth and A/B/G wireless.

So anyway, on to my problem. I am actually now debating sending back the T41P as well. Here are my various arguments for and against the laptop:

Pros:

Fast performance overall.
The light above the keyboard is absolutely fabulous, I have a huge habit of typing in the dark and hauling around a seperate keyboard light is a pain.
The keyboard is the best I have used on a laptop for sure.
The IBM software is excellent, making it very easy to learn about the system's features and to download and update the drivers and utilities.
The screen is quite good. The backlight is fairly even and the SXGA resolution adds quite abit of sharpness to text and graphics.
Battery life on the 9 cell battery is quite good.
Integrated bluetooth is great for synching to my phone.
Secondary function keys are nicely thought out and implimented.
The weight in relationship to the features and performance I think is pretty good.

Cons:

The stupid creaking in the left palmrest is REALLY, REALLY annoying!! I know there are some different kluges to try to fix this but for two thousand plus dollars I would think IBM should be able to do better than this.
The material the case is made of is nice in that it is rubbery and has a nice gripability BUT it shows every little oilly fingerprint and smudge, and looks quite shabby very quickly due to this.
The chasis has a great deal of flex overall. I have the bad habit of picking up my laptops with one hand on the bottom corner of the base. This causes no concern for me with either my Dell D400 or D800 but with the T41P or T42 I feel as if this could seriously damage or break the laptop, VERY SCARY!
The weight seems a little heavy for what it is compared with the comparable offering from Fujitsu (S7010D). The Fujitsu has a 14" screen and similar features and is a good pound lighter. I know, it does not have a dedicated video adapter or SXGA but I am still not certain that the occasional gaming is worth the extra weigth.
The bottom center and front of the machine becomes very hot with any extended or heavy use. Almost unbearable on my lap after about an hour.
The lack of firewire is a pain since I do end up doing some video transfer work on my laptops at times for work, school and personal.
The lack of a serial port is a probelm since I also need to tap into routers etc. but that is not a huge deal since I have other ways to accomplish this, but it would be nice.

Okay, enough of my ranting. Now for the question.
Should I keep the T41P or continue on my quest for the perfect laptop?
The big potential deal breakers are the stupid creaking left palmrest and the flexing chasis. I guess I could learn to pick the thing up in a more reasonable fashion and jury rig the left palmrest to stop being so noisy.
My decision to get a thinkpad was based on many months of research and I guess my expectations were a bit too high after reading all of the tons of posts about the Thinkpads being the Mercedes of noteboks etc. etc.

Any and all opinions and insights are greatly appreciated.

[bigbillyt]

I forgot to mention that the 9 cell and the 6 cell battery either in the T41P or the T42 will not ever get to %100 charge! What is up with that? I don't see anything posted about this phenomenon. Is this uncommon? What would cause this? I have already power cycled the 9 cell several times and it still never gets to %100 charge, wierd.

[trodriguez]

Exchange the unit. If it still exhibits the same problems, I'd return it permanently.

[Biggie2]

Im pretty sure any comparable notebook (HP NC6000 or Tecra M2) will creak and flex just as the Thinkpad does (or more) while also being larger and without all the good engineering we find in Thinkpads like the trackpoint, keyboard, and thinklight.

[vrs626]

I forgot to mention that the 9 cell and the 6 cell battery either in the T41P or the T42 will not ever get to %100 charge! What is up with that? I don't see anything posted about this phenomenon. Is this uncommon? What would cause this? I have already power cycled the 9 cell several times and it still never gets to %100 charge, wierd.

I've noticed this on my t41p also...is this a common porblem or no big deal?

[eriqesque]

I think in the battery maxmiser program there is a place to set the battery charging threshold.

[Biggie2]

I dunno, mine charges to 100%

[Daniel]

I forgot to mention that the 9 cell and the 6 cell battery either in the T41P or the T42 will not ever get to %100 charge! What is up with that? I don't see anything posted about this phenomenon. Is this uncommon? What would cause this? I have already power cycled the 9 cell several times and it still never gets to %100 charge, wierd.

eriqesque is correct. Check the setting by left clicking the battery maximizer gauge and going into "Improve Battery Health". Uncheck the automatically determine charging thresholds and also raise the charging settings to 100%/100%.

[bigbillyt]

The closest thing I see is if I choose "Battery information" from that popup menu and then click on the "Battery Health" button and it will show me the Full charge vs. Design capacity numerical values. Or, I can click the Status Detail tab in the Battery Information window and it will show me the capacity, time, cycle count and battery properties values. But I do not see a way to manipulate the charging settings or threshold values.

[teknerd122]

Please, don't compare IBM to Mercedes, as that would be a disservice. If you want a computer that doesn't creak...you'll have to go with a Powerbook. In particular, the 12" model does not flex. I REALLY want a Thinkpad, but if these computers creak and flex, that would be a deal-breaker.

[stgreek]

Please, don't compare IBM to Mercedes, as that would be a disservice. If you want a computer that doesn't creak...you'll have to go with a Powerbook. In particular, the 12" model does not flex. I REALLY want a Thinkpad, but if these computers creak and flex, that would be a deal-breaker.

The 12" Thinkpad (X31) is MILES better than the 12"" powerbook, simply no comparison. T series models are 14-15" models and should be compared as such.

[bigbillyt]

If I adjust the angle of the screen by pulling (gently) just on the upper left corner of the lid the whole screen flexes slightly and you can see rippling distortion across the entire screen. Neither of my Dells, nor my old Compaq Armada, nor my wife's Fujitsu do this.

Again, I am curious how IBM got such a reputation for quality when the flagship series in their lineup does not even have a reasonably rigid chasis or screen backing? Or, am I over thinking things that really have no significant implication regarding the long term usability / durability of the machine? Perhaps they simply did this to save weight and size and put the money in other components (trying to see both sides of the situation).

Another problem has turned up. For all of their fancy utilities and applications their software has turned out to be mostly just confusing bloatware that makes thing ultimately more difficult, not easier. Case in point; when I first booted her up I went to the Access IBM utilites suite right away and ran what apeared to be a diagnostic that told me that certain drivers and utilities were not as up to date as they could be. So I let it download and install a bunch of stuff to install and install it (the process of which was a bit confusing to begin with). Well to make another long story short, as I am wandering through the confusing maze of drivers and updates on their web site it turns out that most of my drivers and utilities are not up to date at all. Between their screwy "automated" apletts to tell you which versions you have and what you need it is enough to make me want to nuke the whole thing and start over just loading the bare minimum to take advantage of the hardware without all of their crap. A lot of these utilties and driver combos are interdependent, and the best order of installation, or uninstallation and then installation is not clear at all. There is a very long tale about my battle with the power management, battery utility and configuration utility that I won't bore you with and which I am still working on, that goes along with this rant.

Well, I am going to spec out a Fujitsu again before I go to the extent of reloading everything.

[Biggie2]

"If I adjust the angle of the screen by pulling (gently) just on the upper left corner of the lid the whole screen flexes slightly and you can see rippling distortion across the entire screen. Neither of my Dells, nor my old Compaq Armada, nor my wife's Fujitsu do this."

I have absolutely no flex on the screen no matter where i try to open/close. In fact the screen, how it hinges and its lateral support, is worlds above any notebook ive personally laid my hands on... And i generally check to see how sturdy the screen support is just as my own check for how its made. If your screen really flexez as you say it does, then i promise you your Thinkpad is not up to standard with what it should be and a simple RMA should fix the problem. I literally have no flex whatsoever when i try to open and close the monitor.