Standard T43 with FIRE GL V3200???

[csw05]

Hi All. I have come across something interesting. Currently here in Australia Lenovo is having a clear out sale of T43's.

Link: http://www-604.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... =home_B_au

First off the model numbers of the two T43's listed do not exist in the support area of Lenovo. The numbers are 2686A46 and 2668CZ8.

Secondly it states that they have 128mb graphics chips. According to T43 documentation the only chip to have 128mb VRAM is the ATI Mobility FIRE GL V3200.

I thought only T43p models were fitted with the V3200 or were standard T43's fitted with it as well as an upgrade option? Is it also possible that Lenovo may still be producing new T43's due to the missing model numbers?

Any Help on this matter would be much appreciated!!

Cheers

[Ken Fox]

Hi All. I have come across something interesting. Currently here in Australia Lenovo is having a clear out sale of T43's.

Link: http://www-604.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... =home_B_au

First off the model numbers of the two T43's listed do not exist in the support area of Lenovo. The numbers are 2686A46 and 2668CZ8.

Secondly it states that they have 128mb graphics chips. According to T43 documentation the only chip to have 128mb VRAM is the ATI Mobility FIRE GL V3200.

I thought only T43p models were fitted with the V3200 or were standard T43's fitted with it as well as an upgrade option? Is it also possible that Lenovo may still be producing new T43's due to the missing model numbers?

Any Help on this matter would be much appreciated!!

Cheers

I don't know, but since they are getting rid of remaining T43 inventory, they might have various parts remaining in the Chinese factories that they are putting together in a way to get rid of their parts that can't be used on current systems. I wouldn't worry about the model numbers but rather would compare the specs of what they are offering to other options you may have, such as standard T43 models (to the extent that you can find them) and their T60 brethren. I own a T42 not a "P," yet I have a high resolution screen and (what was impressive then) a 64mb ATI video card. I believe there were machines not too dissimilar to mine that were sold with the "p" moniker. This sort of stuff, model designations, is as much marketing as it is anything else.

If these models are a good deal compared to your other choices then I'd judge them on their own merits.

ken

[Rose]

According to product info, those specs seem to be wrong.


Product: ThinkPad T43 2668-CZ8 [change]


Operating system: All [change]

Original description: Based on 2668-R1M: P M 750(1.86GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Pro

Info of 2686A46 cant be found.

[rssb]

The 2668CZ8 lists

Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG

There is something fishy about it, the intel 3945abg's are the mini pci-express. But the T43's released had just the mini pci 2915abg's.

Unless they have a new motherboard design released.

[TonyJZX]

Info of 2686A46 cant be found.

Product: ThinkPad T43 2686-A46 [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: Based on 2668-R1M: P M 740(1.73GHz), 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HD, 14.1in 1400x1050 LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 6c Li-Ion batt, WinXP Home

maybe they just added it

I'm about to order some of these in the new year.

I'm much liking the screen over the XGA model.

I am wondering how much memory is actually on the x300 controller.

Not that the extra memory will do much given the x300 can't exactly play anything modern.

[spikex34]

Not that the extra memory will do much given the x300 can't exactly play anything modern.

I'm sure it's still 64MB. The card isn't horrible: I can play UT2k4 on it pretty well at 1280x1024, and if you want to talk modern, you can play Q4 on it, albeit with settings way down. If you're looking to game, you probably shouldn't be blowing money on an older generation laptop though.

[Troels]

IMO you should't spend ANY cash on any laptop for graphics with DX10 around the corner. It'll be completely useless with DX10 enabled games, if it was bought for gaming in mind. Buy a desktop.

I'm playing Flatout 2 everything at max details at 1024x768 on a mobility radeon 9600 with no hickups and it's very fluid. Doom 3 at 1024x768 runs fine too at mid-settings

It ought to be the same with the x300, sometimes a little slower it seems from quites a few benchmarks.

ATI is horrible compared to nvidia when it comes to laptop gaming performance anyways, so it's always horses for courses

[Lazarus]

I'm sure it's still 64MB. The card isn't horrible: I can play UT2k4 on it pretty well at 1280x1024, and if you want to talk modern, you can play Q4 on it, albeit with settings way down. If you're looking to game, you probably shouldn't be blowing money on an older generation laptop though.

The important question here is whether its a dedicated or an integrated graphics card.
You'll need a dedicated one for true graphics performance.
And the claim that a T43p with a 128MB dedicated graphics card is no longer modern or a $ "blow off" is just silly.

There are hardly a few PC systems out there as of now which support all the "bling bling" of Windows Vista, an operating system that hasn't even hit the market yet.

And none of that "bling bling" is required for normal work OR standard gaming.
Its the difference between 256 shades of grey and 65k in a split second gaming sequence.

For most parts, the Thinkpad LCD would give out before your graphics card would do or your eye had the chance to catch up to it all.

I own a T60p and I can vouch that it doesn't start up any faster than its T43p counterpart.

Matter of factly, since my T43p runs at a higher GHz speed, I have (Windoze) software which runs faster an the T43p than it does on the T60p - which is not that unusual for programs which were not optimized for Dual-CPU usage.

I challenge you to produce benchmarks for run of the mill SW (gaming or otherwise) that shows the T43p being a "blow of" for money.

If you always want the latest flick, state of the ueber-art gaming super station, then you're not just wrong with Thinkpads anyway (as with 99% of laptops out there), but you also end up having to buy a new system every 2-3 month!

I'm all for new tech and new gizmos. But there is a difference between useful stuff and simple bragging rights.
And my T43p still runs a Database Server, 4 Operating Systems, 2 MPEG Players and a DVD ripper side by side just fine.

Don't blame the HW for your lack of optimization skills.

[TonyJZX]

The t43s I want will be used in a pure business environment. The hardest task they will face is running Powerpoint presentations.

The big call for me is the price - they are about half a comparable T60.

I'm just thinking these are slap together laptops with whatever parts are left over... which is good!

The other laptop I'm after is a Compal GL30 which has a Geforce 7600 256Mb...

[Lazarus]

The t43s I want will be used in a pure business environment. The hardest task they will face is running Powerpoint presentations.

The big call for me is the price - they are about half a comparable T60.

I'm just thinking these are slap together laptops with whatever parts are left over... which is good!

The other laptop I'm after is a Compal GL30 which has a Geforce 7600 256Mb...

For pure powerpoint applications forget about grahpics performance.
You can do that one even with a 64MB integrated card.
A T60p would be way to much $ for that kind of usage.