Which T42?

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I get Taurens · #1 Post by **I get Taurens** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 5:06 pm

Hi, everyone,
I am a college student, and I really liked the deal from IBM:
IBM ThinkPad T42 2373
- Pentium M 735 1.7 GHz
- RAM 512 MB
- HD 40 GB
- CD-RW / DVD
- Mdm
- LAN EN, Fast EN, Gigabit EN, 802.11b, 802.11g
- Win XP Pro
- 15" TFT
- ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600 - 64 MB
for $1840
except for the 40gb hard drive, I think I am going to use this lappy for quite some time(I guess 3 year+), so I'd really prefer a 60gb 7200rpm model, and there is no EDU models that come with a 60Gb drive, so looking at 2379DXU, a Think Express model, the only difference here is the 60Gb hard drive and Bluetooth, but 2379DXU is priced at $2279 after educational discount, I guess that the difference of the hardware only worths about $200, so if I choose the Express model, I will spend roughly $250 more for nothing. However, I remember the pain of a slow and small drive after 2 or 3 years. In addition, I did see people putting up posts talking about buying the 40gb EDU model and buy a new drive elsewhere, like eBay, but then, there is warrenty prob which I don't want to run into.
I am not sure if this 60gb model worths the extra money??
Thanks a lot

sktn77a · #2 Post by **sktn77a** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 6:10 pm

Sounds like you got the same computer I did (2373-3XU). I got a Hitachi 80Gb 5400RPM drive for $180 from ZipZoomFly (with 3 year warranty) but for the same price you can get the 60Gb 7200RPM drive. Get the recovery CDs for free from IBM and load them on your clean hard drive and you'll be set to go.

awolfe63 · #3 Post by **awolfe63** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 3:24 pm

Better yet - get the machine as is and see how much disk space you really need. The overall performance difference between the drives is quite small - they have similar data transfer rates due to the higher bit density on the 40GB (15% difference). The total seek latency differs by about 25%. 20% difference in disk performance is hard to detect in normal use.

By the time you run out of disk space (6-12 months - I'd guess) - you should be able to get a 100MB 7200 RPM drive for under $200. Buy an external USB box. Clone the first drive to the second - then switch them and use the external 40GB for data backups.

rocketman · #4 Post by **rocketman** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 3:40 pm

May I ask where you get the edu discount? Is it through your school or through IBM?

I get Taurens · #5 Post by **I get Taurens** » Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:22 pm

Thank you for your advce, guys! I got the price from IBM web.

Which T42?

Which T42?

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