IBM T42 on sale direct from IBM..$1099 (14.1" SXGA+, 1.

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Esteban · #31 Post by **Esteban** » Thu May 11, 2006 7:38 pm

I have a T42 with a 14" 1400x1050 screen. It is a little hard to read with my middle aged plus eyes. Yesterday I used my older Dell with 14" XGA screen and reading it was much easier. All in all I prefer the SXGA+ because I can see more screen real estate. Best of both worlds would be a way to toggle between the two and have a clear screen either way...but it doesn't work.

brentpresley · #32 Post by **brentpresley** » Thu May 11, 2006 8:38 pm

Esteban wrote:I have a T42 with a 14" 1400x1050 screen. It is a little hard to read with my middle aged plus eyes. Yesterday I used my older Dell with 14" XGA screen and reading it was much easier. All in all I prefer the SXGA+ because I can see more screen real estate. Best of both worlds would be a way to toggle between the two and have a clear screen either way...but it doesn't work.

Go under display properties - - > settings - - > advanced - - > general - -> DPI setting

Up the DPI from the default 96 to 120 or a custom setting. Makes a world of difference AND you get super sharp large text.

ipark · #33 Post by **ipark** » Fri May 12, 2006 2:09 am

I received my T42 today and I loooooooove it! My gig of crucial memory should arrive tomorrow.

peaceeeeeee

digwarrior · #34 Post by **digwarrior** » Fri May 12, 2006 10:53 pm

I ordered a T42 with SXGA from the anniversary sale, too

and as per the tracking number it was shipped on 5/11 from Hong Kong - I wonder when will I receive it?

danieldavid · #35 Post by **danieldavid** » Sat May 13, 2006 6:51 am

Is the T42 with SXGA+ display (model #2379R5U) 0.2" thicker than the standard T42 (model #2378R4U) with the XGA display?

Is it a typo, or does the bigger battery or different LCD contirbute to its thickness?

Perhaps someone who has already received one can help out on this.

Thanks,
Daniel

#36 Post by **underclocker** » Sat May 13, 2006 7:20 am

The 9 cell battery (vs. 6 cell) will make the machine about 1/2" deeper, but the thinkness (thinnness) is the same with either 14" screen.

Insanely good deal.

dreamYu · #37 Post by **dreamYu** » Sat May 13, 2006 7:26 am

Ervin wrote:Not for me. I am afraid I won't be able to read the fonts at 1400x1050 on a 14" screen, and I really dislike the way Windows XP looks with disproportionate fonts.

I also felt a bit uncomfortable with the normal font size on this screen, so I resized it from 96 dpi to 110 dpi. Together with my custom theme, everything works out very nice. Here's a screenie: http://www.intothespirit.com/?q=image/v ... /_original

danieldavid · #38 Post by **danieldavid** » Sat May 13, 2006 8:31 am

I use my notebook for about 2 hours a day searching eBay for certain collectibles.

My one concern with the SXGA+ T42 is if the thumbnails that are part of the eBay listings would be too small to be usable at the native 1400x1050 resolution. Otherwise I'm worried about sites that won't let you adjust font size.

Would like to hear about the experience of other users.

Thanks,
Daniel

Edward Mendelson · #39 Post by **Edward Mendelson** » Sat May 13, 2006 10:04 am

Amazing deal on an SXGA+. Just ordered one. Anyone know EXACTLY what 1 GB RAM part number to order from Newegg.com?

(And depending on when this arrives, I'll fairly soon have an XGA TP42 (lovingly maintained) available for sale to anyone who might want one. I've been hoping to replace it with an SXGA+ model for quite a while.)

Ervin · #40 Post by **Ervin** » Sat May 13, 2006 1:16 pm

dreamYu wrote:I also felt a bit uncomfortable with the normal font size on this screen, so I resized it from 96 dpi to 110 dpi. Together with my custom theme, everything works out very nice. Here's a screenie: http://www.intothespirit.com/?q=image/v ... /_original

Thank you, dreamYu and everybody! I finally decided to bite the bullet, and ordered the 2379R5U.

dreamYu · #41 Post by **dreamYu** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:26 pm

You're welcome, Ervin. You will see that the pros outweight the cons by far - and I have to say that the bigger font is just perfect: everything is perfectly readable and the additional space because of the resolution and small and neat borders is very welcome

Ervin · #42 Post by **Ervin** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:31 pm

I have perfect vision, but I am not used to more than XGA, so it will take some effort. I am already "training", by keeping the desktop's display at 1280x960.

What is the best wireless router to pair with this notebook? I know that people have all kinds of problems with the Intel 2200BG card, and I would like to avoid them.

ipark · #43 Post by **ipark** » Sun May 14, 2006 1:56 am

Edward Mendelson wrote:Amazing deal on an SXGA+. Just ordered one. Anyone know EXACTLY what 1 GB RAM part number to order from Newegg.com?

(And depending on when this arrives, I'll fairly soon have an XGA TP42 (lovingly maintained) available for sale to anyone who might want one. I've been hoping to replace it with an SXGA+ model for quite a while.)

This is the one I ordered and installed in my T42 yesterday. Works greattttt. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145068

#44 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:04 am

My wife just ordered her first laptop from Lenovo yesterday.

That would be the 14.1", T42 with XGA for $999. It's almost exactly what I have. The only difference is that I have the ATI Radeon 9000 with 64 MB, and she will have the ATI Radeon 7500 with 32 MB. She also ordered an additional 512 MB RAM; same as me.

For me, XGA is just fine. I steered her to the XGA b/c I couldn't have her getting a sharper lappy than me.

I know, I'm a stinker.

danieldavid · #45 Post by **danieldavid** » Sun May 14, 2006 6:26 am

Hi ipark (and others who are already using the T42 with the 14" SXGA+),

I've already ordered mine but started having second thoughts, being worried that thumbnails and other photos or graphics on some web siltes (especially eBay) might be too small to use comfortably.

What's your experience so far?

Thanks,
Daniel

ipark · #46 Post by **ipark** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:30 am

Hi Daniel, I'll be honest. Thumbnails and other photos on some websites, especially ebay, is a little small but it doesn't seem to bother me to much. Sorry if this is of no help. I don't know what an XGA screen would look like.

Also, I noticed that my LCD is brighter and whiter than two of my other friend's T42s. I was wondering if my LCD will lose the quality after a few months and start looking a littler less brighter and whiter like theirs.

danieldavid · #47 Post by **danieldavid** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:42 am

Hi ipark,

Thanks for your reply.

I'll try to visit a friend this afternoon who has a similar display on a T3X series.

As to diminishing brightness with time, I think that it may be related to aging of the lamps used for the LCD backlight.

- Daniel

ipark · #48 Post by **ipark** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:52 am

icic. thanks.

pae77 · #49 Post by **pae77** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:07 pm

ipark wrote:Hi Daniel, I'll be honest. Thumbnails and other photos on some websites, especially ebay, is a little small but it doesn't seem to bother me to much. Sorry if this is of no help. I don't know what an XGA screen would look like.

Also, I noticed that my LCD is brighter and whiter than two of my other friend's T42s. I was wondering if my LCD will lose the quality after a few months and start looking a littler less brighter and whiter like theirs.

I have a t42 14.1 with SXGA+ and although I find some things a little small, I couldn't imagine going back to XGA. You just get so much more screen real estate out of the 14.1 inch with SXGA+. Most of the "too small" problems can be solved using, among other things, Firefox, which allows you to easily adjust the text size. For things like thumbnails and pictures, there is an extension for FF called "Image Zoom" that allows you to enlarge any image by right clicking on the image rotating the scroll wheel on your mouse. Works great when you want to see an particular image on a site a little bigger.

Ervin · #50 Post by **Ervin** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:11 pm

Ervin wrote:I have perfect vision, but I am not used to more than XGA, so it will take some effort. I am already "training", by keeping the desktop's display at 1280x960.

I might have noticed some eye strain today, although I am not sure. Also, some web sites use the absolute size for fonts, which cannot be corrected in IE. So I am having some second thoughts, regarding the SXGA+ T42 I ordered.

In practice, how blurry would the display be if I used it a lower resolution? (I know the theory.)

Bgradid · #51 Post by **Bgradid** » Sun May 14, 2006 10:26 pm

It's still easily readable, but, very blury (I just tried it right now with my t42)

dreamYu · #52 Post by **dreamYu** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:34 am

Ervin wrote:
Ervin wrote:I have perfect vision, but I am not used to more than XGA, so it will take some effort. I am already "training", by keeping the desktop's display at 1280x960.
I might have noticed some eye strain today, although I am not sure. Also, some web sites use the absolute size for fonts, which cannot be corrected in IE. So I am having some second thoughts, regarding the SXGA+ T42 I ordered.

In practice, how blurry would the display be if I used it a lower resolution? (I know the theory.)

Every resolution other than the designed one will lead to a blurry and inferior screen quality - you wouldn't want to use that for a longer time. As others (and me) have already pointed out, increasing the font size is the best way to go

---

Little tip for everyone: For perfectly readable fonts on websites, (in Firefox) go to Tools > Options... > General: Fonts & Colors
There you'll find an option to increase the font size and also the useful "minimum font size" parameter.

Ervin · #53 Post by **Ervin** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:25 am

I have just sent a cancellation notice for my T42 2329R5U.

I don't know what I was thinking when I ordered it. I use XGA all the time, so the difference would be too big. The $999 XGA T42 does not seem such a great deal. I would rather pay $1200-$1400 for a great notebook than $1000 for a good enough one. I'll be waiting for another sale or... Dell and HP, here I come!

davidspalding · #54 Post by **davidspalding** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:28 am

Also, CTRL + + and CTRL + - will size fonts in Firefox, as well as CTRL + SCROLLWHEEL UP/DOWN. The scroll wheel version works in a wide variety of programs.

jaybert · #55 Post by **jaybert** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:33 am

davidspalding wrote:Also, CTRL + + and CTRL + - will size fonts in Firefox, as well as CTRL + SCROLLWHEEL UP/DOWN. The scroll wheel version works in a wide variety of programs.

alot of websites set the font size in the code, so those pages will still show the same sized fonts regardless of how large you set the font in firefox/IE/etc.

Ervin · #56 Post by **Ervin** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:40 am

Like this forum, for example. While I was at 1280x960, I remember setting the font to Larger, in IE, with no change on this site.

Take a look at the HTML source; it's full of "px".

#57 Post by **underclocker** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:41 am

From the specials page "Save on these featured ThinkPad T Series notebooks through May 15, 2006"

Today is the last day! If I didn't already have ThinkPads all over the house, I'd buy one NOW!

Ervin · #58 Post by **Ervin** » Mon May 15, 2006 4:55 pm

Thought I'd share my experience with Lenovo post-sales:

Called in to cancel T42 order. Waited about 5 minutes. The CS Rep was professional and cancelled my order without any hassle. He had an Indian accent, but easy to understand. Our whole discussion took less than a minute. He explained to me that he put in a cancellation order, but if the notebook is shipped before the cancellation is processed, I'll just have to call and they will pick it up free of charge. Overall, I am impressed.

Phantom Gremlin · #59 Post by **Phantom Gremlin** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:09 pm

Ervin wrote:Like this forum, for example. While I was at 1280x960, I remember setting the font to Larger, in IE, with no change on this site.

Take a look at the HTML source; it's full of "px".

That's why you want to use Firefox. No problem resizing the fonts on *this* site, px or no px.

Ervin · #60 Post by **Ervin** » Mon May 15, 2006 10:15 pm

I am an IE user not because I don't know better, but because my favorite browser (Avant) uses IE.

I tried switching to Firefox, and it was like switching to SXGA+: you change something here, tune up something there, increase dpi, bla-bla, but, in the end, you go back to your trusted XGA, and you feel like home.

So, yes, I am double retarded: not only an XGA fan, but also an IE one.

IBM T42 on sale direct from IBM..$1099 (14.1" SXGA+, 1.

Thickness of anniversary T42 with SXGA+ listed as 1.2"

Browsing eBay with SXGA+ - Are the Thumbnails Too Small?

What's it like surfing the Web with a 14" SXGA+ display

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