Bit the Bullet: T42 14.1" SXGA+

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mr_mbuna · #1 Post by **mr_mbuna** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 8:38 pm

So, after several months of searching, I just bit the bullet on a laptop purchase. Today I ordered an IBM ThinkPad T42 2373-3VU.

14.1" SXGA+ 1400x1050 Screen
1.7GHz Pentium M (Dothan)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 64MB
80GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
1GB PC2700 RAM
2x DVD-RW Multi-Burner
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200BG (802.11b/g)
Additional 9-cell High Capacity Battery
Kensington Slim Microsaver Lock
3-year Depot Service w/ ThinkPad (Accidental Damage) Protection Plan
Windows XP Pro
5.0 Pounds

Ended up at $2,493 shipped purchased from IBM's Higher Education department.

Skywing · #2 Post by **Skywing** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 11:05 pm

good choice, i <3 mine

heavybyte · #3 Post by **heavybyte** » Wed Sep 22, 2004 11:41 pm

Hey, congratz to your Thinkpad mr_mbuna and Hi everybody, I'm new to this board

I actually ordered a Thinkpad myself, a T42 2378FVU. I'm international student (so feel free to correct my spelling if appropriate

) and I hope I can make use of it.
I'd love to have those specs on my laptop you mentioned above, but I think I'll have to deal with the manufacturer settings because I'm running a little bit low on money over here (hmm, probably this 512MB Crucial stick

).
I'm happy I found you guys here so if I encounter problems with the Thinkpad, I'll let you know.

Ohh, I ordered from SpaceCenterSystems.com in Texas.
Greetings
Lars

Plinkerton · #4 Post by **Plinkerton** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 1:23 am

Sweet. I just got the 2378 FVU also. It's awesome. I put the 512 stick from crucial in without a hitch. Took 5 minutes.

I love this thing!

pete0r · #5 Post by **pete0r** » Sun Sep 26, 2004 12:50 pm

Skywing wrote:good choice, i <3 mine

mr_mbuna · #6 Post by **mr_mbuna** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 2:46 am

Message has been edited by Moderator

Well, after a few days of having the unit, I have some comments...

Should I start with the good or the bad? Well, I paid a lot of money so I’ll start by getting the bad off my chest. Then I can wrap up with the good so I don’t send you guys away with too bad of an impression. You can see in my first post the specs…

There’s been more downs that I would’ve liked… the screen, a Chinese keyboard, excessive bloatware, the Multiburner lacks +RW compatibility, and two days out of the box the computer needed a slew of driver updates. To start off, the screen seems to have a bluish tint to it. I was really concerned about this issue because the screen seemed very blue and quite dim… but, I just noticed, when the unit is plugged into a power adapter the screen powers up to a unique level of brightness. That doesn’t help me when I’m using the computer on the run though. You can see a comparison between my two-day-old ThinkPad 14.1” SXGA+ and my two-week-old Dell 1901FP 19” LCD monitor in the pictures below. Two more complaints about the screen – there’s one stuck pixel (permanently green) in the upper right-hand quadrant of the screen and the vertical viewing angle is really poor. The stuck pixel isn’t too noticeable in everyday use except when watching movies or viewing monotone screen colors. The horizontal viewing angle is ok but the vertical could definitely use improvement.

The unit came equipped with a Chinese keyboard which is supposedly a downside. There’s just too much IBM-branded junk bloatware on the machine. Once I figure out which of these enterprise-oriented programs would actually be helpful to me as an individual student user, I’ll probably wipe the hard drive. Another problem I ran into is that the Multiburner drive doesn’t support DVD+R(W) media; it does support DVD-RAM, though, which is a surprise. Most desktop burners support + and – so I’m a little bewildered at the limited compatibility of this drive. The final thing I want to mention is the slew of driver and software updates I had to install as soon as I got the unit. Seems like, with the reputation for quality that they have, IBM should send out units that… actually work. My 2200/BG wireless Ethernet didn’t work until I updated its driver and also the IBM Access Connections software. Judging by the fact that there are 47 updates available for my system two days after I took it out of the box – including hard drive / DVD drive updates that require floppy drives which don’t come with the system – it seems like IBM was in a rush to get these systems in a box and out the door. One more thing I need to mention – check out my laptop lock below. I ordered the $40 Kensington MicroSaver by IBM lock… and they sent me this generic POS. Looks like they picked it up from a bargain electronics street vendor in Hong Kong on the way to the UPS depot. What the hell?

A lot of negatives! Now for some positives…even though I have a Chinese keyboard it seems solid and quiet. There’s little to no flex and no clicking from the keys. People say it’s a night and day difference between the Chinese and the Thai keyboard… I don’t know, maybe I’ll get a Thai ‘board eventually. I’m pleased with the Chinese board at the moment though. The screen zoom function (fn-space bar) is an excellent feature. At SXGA+ resolution the display can be a bit hard on the eyes so its nice to be able to zoom in on small text for a while. The size, weight, and battery life are as good as expected. The TrackPoint is something I’ve never liked on Dells in the past but I’m getting fond of very quickly on this machine; the touchpad is good too but it’s a bit too sensitive at sensing tapping or pressure as a double-click. The final “up” that I want to mention was the quick ship time. I needed the unit ASAP. The website said there was a 25-day wait on the system; my order representative said that they would go out in few days. He said there was a 200-unit backlog right before my order but I was, at the time, eighth in line for shipment. Even though the order status page wasn’t promising anything quicker than the first week of October, three days after my order my system, along with seven others (I have a feeling my unit may have been in the same batch as yours, Plinkerton!), was shipped by UPS 2-day air from Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong.

I’m not sure which brand battery and display I have though; could anyone tell me based on these part numbers? Battery manufacturer part number 92P1062, 14” display manufacturer part 93P5570 / FRU part 11P8348.

I guess I have some decisions to make… namely whether I should return the unit altogether because of the single stuck pixel and also if I should make a false fuss about the Chinese keyboard and (if it turns out to be the case) non-Sony battery. And that [censored] generic laptop lock.

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Doesn’t look like a $40 Kensington lock to me.

n3il · #7 Post by **n3il** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 4:51 am

You can set the display brightness of the LCD on battery power to "HIGH" in ThinkPad Configuration (or in the BIOS [F1 on boot -> Config -> Display]). This will make it as bright on battery as it is on mains power - although it will affect the battery life.

sugo · #8 Post by **sugo** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 7:15 am

Based on your FPU # 11P8348, you have a Samsung screen.

Vasant56 · #9 Post by **Vasant56** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 11:26 pm

where is the part lookup so that I can see mine?

#10 Post by **JaneL** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:45 am

>where is the part lookup so that I can see mine?

It's item #9 in the FAQ at http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=1689

Vasant56 · #11 Post by **Vasant56** » Fri Oct 01, 2004 8:19 am

thanks, I did a check, and it said "no parts shipped with your system"..

Is there any other way of checking?

My type is 2373

s/n 9956NWW

Bit the Bullet: T42 14.1" SXGA+

Bit the Bullet: T42 14.1" SXGA+

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