Bioyuki's Initial Review of his First Laptop

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bioyuki · #1 Post by **bioyuki** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:27 am

So I picked up a 2373-3VU today and have been using it for a few hours so here is my preliminary review. Lets start off with the good:

1. Bulid quality for the most part is excellent. A few spots bend and flex here and there but overall it blows my Dad's D600 away. Only better construction I've seen is on Powerbooks.

2. The screen is pretty much perfect. No Flexview but viewing angles isn't a big deal for me. 1400x1050 is perfect, I have no issues reading the text whatsoever and the additional desktop landscape is much appreciated. No dead pixels as well.

3. Size and weight. As advertised this thing is just the perfect size for my uses.

4. All the bundled goodies like Active Protection and stuff work just like the commercials.

The bad:

1. As stated before build quality is very good but by no means perfect. I think I have a bad touchpad. When I go to tap on it, its VERY loud. When I put pressure on it first then tap, its quiet like I should be. I'll be making a call to IBM tomorrow about it. While I'm at it I'll request a Thai keyboard as well

. BTW, anyone know the palmrest/touchpad FRU off the top of their head?

2. As an ancillary to the build quality issues in 1, there are a few weak spots, ie. the battery being a tad loose, the palm rest flexing a little, etc.

3. The computer comes kinda bloated. Converting to NTFS, registering, removing most of the bundled programs, removing the hidden partition, etc. was time consuming. Simpler is better.

4. Paper documentation is very skimpy.

Overall I'm very impressed with my first laptop and will probably never use a desktop again (until I have a permanent location at least). IBM has made a convert out of me

.

sugo · #2 Post by **sugo** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:01 am

Do you have samsung or IDTech screen? can you comment on the color and contrast? Thanks.

#3 Post by **BillMorrow** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:02 am

welcome to the thinkpad club..

if you had purchased your 3VU from my thinkpads.com you would have recieved your first feather...!

feather owners get free trackpint caps..

and a soon to be established "Feather Owner" rank..

bioyuki · #4 Post by **bioyuki** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:47 pm

sugo wrote:Do you have samsung or IDTech screen? can you comment on the color and contrast? Thanks.

My display FRU is 11P8348 which I think is the Samsung one

Anyways, color and contrast are very good. I'm coming off of a Dell 1800FP and a Dell 1703FP and so far, the laptop display is as good as the listed ones.

My only complaint is that the response time seems kinda slow, when I scroll down some pages there is a little ghosting, haven't tried watching a DVD or gaming just yet.

BTW, anyone know the full specs of the Samsung or IDTech LCDs?

sktn77a · #5 Post by **sktn77a** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:49 pm

Huh..... so what's the deal with these dead avian body parts ??????

#6 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:39 am

sktn77a wrote:Huh..... so what's the deal with these dead avian body parts ??????

ok, first, the avians are not dead..

second, a feather is not strictly a "body part"..

and

third, thanks for the terse reminder..

Hangfire · #7 Post by **Hangfire** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 7:11 am

Bill,

The feathers are a very cool idea, still can't figure how you get them IN the box?!?!?

Vasant56 · #8 Post by **Vasant56** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 10:42 am

I'm still confused about the feathers

Finally, is there any form of eyestrain on the 14.1 SXGA+? I'm SO worried since I can't really find a laptop to test anywhere.

Hangfire: You have the JXU? What's it like? That's one of my options

#9 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:09 am

IRT eyestrain..
it is WAAY too subjective.. an opinion by one will not match your perception..
that said, i need glasses and i use my 1200x1600 T42p display all the time..
have done since the A21p..

IRT feathers..
it is only a small personalization thing..
something i do "on the fly" so to speak..
something that says "here, a small token from bill and birds"..
an appreciation of the business of selling thinkpads to good people..

obviously, not all people are good and not all appreciate the tiny gesture..

IRT how i get'em in the box..
i slide them in the space left under the flaps..
simple really..

so when some fool says DEAD AVIAN BODY PARTS i DO get a bit [censored]..
and a bit hurt..

but such is life.. c'est laVie..

Oxleyrd · #10 Post by **Oxleyrd** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:09 am

bioyuki wrote:
My display FRU is 11P8348 which I think is the Samsung one

Hi bioyuki,

How do you check your LCD FRU number?

Thanks.

#11 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:11 am

Oxleyrd wrote:
bioyuki wrote:
My display FRU is 11P8348 which I think is the Samsung one
Hi bioyuki,

How do you check your LCD FRU number?

Thanks.

there is a place on the ibm web site to look up the parts used in YOUR particular thinkpad..

someone will know what the link is, i forgot and the server OS crash has that link hidden someplace..

Oxleyrd · #12 Post by **Oxleyrd** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:58 am

Thanks for your prompt reply

I think I tried the link before. I simply go to the link for my model http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... ry=2373KA4 and click "Warranty status", then click "View parts lookup results for this system". But my T42 is actually a modified version from 2373-8ZA, so the page doesn't return me any detail info and just shows me "No parts to list."

Were my checking steps correct?
Seems the IBM web site failed detecting my machine, is it because it can't detect the modified models? In such case, how can I check????

Humpa · #13 Post by **Humpa** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:00 pm

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

... try that link. Use IE too (in case your using firefox or something).

I wish I had a feather.

Vasant56 · #14 Post by **Vasant56** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:07 pm

Bill, I assume you do a lot of typing and whatnot on the 14.1 SXGA+, so I guess with no eyestrain it should be fine (I'm a programmer, albeit with very bad eyes).

Anyways, is it possible for me to call you and to purchase today? I think I've made up my mind.

mrbjr · #15 Post by **mrbjr** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:27 pm

Vasant56, you can call Bill between noon and 7 PM eastern time @ 772-781-0039. You'll never be sorry you did.

Vasant56 · #16 Post by **Vasant56** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:40 pm

Ok, thanks.

One last thing: Would you take a 15" SXGA+ over a 14.1" in one? Would the display be better?

Oxleyrd · #17 Post by **Oxleyrd** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 12:53 pm

Humpa wrote:http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

... try that link. Use IE too (in case your using firefox or something).

I wish I had a feather.

Thanks for your reply.

I tried, but no luck. It still shows me "No parts to list." As I mentioned, my machine was a modified verison, could it be the problem?

Humpa · #18 Post by **Humpa** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 1:10 pm

Just to be clear, when you put your thinkpad Type and Serial number in the boxes on this page, it still says "no parts to list"?
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

RaysMD · #19 Post by **RaysMD** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 1:52 pm

Give it time for the manufacturing facility to enter it into the database. Since yours is a modified configuration, you'll have to wait a little longer.

#20 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:08 pm

Vasant56 wrote:Bill, I assume you do a lot of typing and whatnot on the 14.1 SXGA+, so I guess with no eyestrain it should be fine (I'm a programmer, albeit with very bad eyes).

Anyways, is it possible for me to call you and to purchase today? I think I've made up my mind.

i use now, since the OS crash of my server, my T42p with 1200x1600 display..

but of your eyes are bad, the 15 inch 1050x1400 display might be better..

#21 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Aug 21, 2004 11:30 pm

RaysMD wrote:Give it time for the manufacturing facility to enter it into the database. Since yours is a modified configuration, you'll have to wait a little longer.

ok, so i just looked up this T42p..
results below..
please note the highlighted item, below..

Mfg part # FRU part # Description IBM Serviceable?
08K8196 08K8198 BATTERY-HIGH CAP 9-CELL YES
08K8208 08K8209 AC ADAPTER - 72W 2-PIN YES
13N6799 13N6807 60GB HARD DRIVE TRAY ASSEMBLY FRU YES
13R1300 93P4159 PLANAR FRU YES
13R2686 93P4159 PLANAR FRU YES
13R3249 0000000 LEVEL 1 GROUP BM:BOMS, NOT SHIPPABLE ACR NO
32P4414 NOTAFRU COA LABEL, WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL EDITI NO
38L4904 31P9835 1GB PC 2100 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM FR YES
38L5344 93P4225 MICROASSEMBLY FRU, DOTHAN 2.0GHZ YES
91P7318 91P7319 MODEM DAUGHTER CARD FRU YES
91P7426 91P7427 INTERPOSER CARD FRU YES
92P6109 92P6110 CD-RW/DVD-RAM DRIVE FRU YES
92P6672 92P6683 15 INCH LCD DISPLAY FRU YES
93P3478 91P7301 WIRELESS 11A/B/G MINI-PCI YES
93P4810 93P4840 KEYBOARDS US ENGLISH ALPS YES

now, what the hell (or WTF

as another member so artfully put it) is PC2100 memory shown as standard when it should be PC2700..?!

yet FRU# 31P9835 yeilds THIS info:
1GB PC2700 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM 31P9834 31P9835
(see this link: http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... MIGR-53097)
which shows PC2700 memory..!

SO, are we to draw from all this that there are errors creeping into the parts database..?

Humpa · #22 Post by **Humpa** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 12:00 am

Bill, mine says that too:
38L4903 31P9833 512MB PC2100 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM F YES

I remember reading other posts about that. Here's one:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=2804

IBM should come to thinkpads.com more ofter. All their errors are documented here.

#23 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:08 am

this just shows that i can't read every thread..!

sktn77a · #24 Post by **sktn77a** » Sun Aug 22, 2004 10:01 am

Bill:

Lighten up........ I think the feathers are a great idea. I guess humor doesn't translate well in forum postings

#25 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:21 am

you gotta understand that these birds are my children..

lovable scamps..

eternal two year olds with wings..

the good thing is they will never ask for the car keys or which ivy league college i want to pay for..

so i am a bit edgy on that subject.. besides i'm also tired with all the paperwork..

please accept my apology for exploding like that..

Bioyuki's Initial Review of his First Laptop

Bioyuki's Initial Review of his First Laptop

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