T42p KTU arrived today! Mini-review. (not good)

[apollo46]

Hi,

My T42p KTU (ordered from Bill) finally arrived in London,UK today!

First off, Bill was an absolute pleasure to deal with and responded to all my emails very professionally. I would rate his service 10 out of 10. He really is focused on customer service and was even able to supply me with a memory upgrade to 2GB and a number of accesories all from stock! Thanks Bill!

When I purchase technology, my number 1 criteria is usually build quality, which usually means I end up going for the most expensive hoping it will provide me with value over its life. My T20 was one of my best purchasing decisions ever and I was seriously impressed by that machine. However, the second I took the T42p KTU out of the box I noticed the vastly inferior build quality. It actually feels like a delicate machine (like a cheap clone), the exact opposite to my tank like T20. The following are my initial concerns after playing with the machine for 3-4 hours...

1. When the unit is closed, there is a LARGE gap between the sceen edge running along the back and the base unit itself. This causes the screen to flex quite a few millimetres when picked up at the back. i.e. I can push down on the screen at the back and it feels almost like it will crack as it has nothing suporting it. Is this normal? Anyone else have this issue? I feel like Im gonna have to put a sicker on it warning people not to put anything too heavy on top.

2. The 9-cell battery is loose! Some people said they actually used the 9 cell as a carry handle. It feels like the unit would fall out if I did this (Yes, I did check the battery was 'locked')

3. The pads where your palms rest must be very thin as they make cracking noises, like the machine is hollow beneath. I have heard of others complain of this before, but I never realised it would be so irritating.

4. The keyboard has definitely taken a step in the wrong direction. It really feels cheap, with the space bar making that cheap clicking sound as if I was using a keyboard in an airport terminal internet cafe.

5. The DVD-multiburner is much thinner than the ultrabay, meaning that there are big gaps below and above the drive. I dont know if this is a build fault with my machine or another bad design from IBM, but as soon as I saw it I instantly thought my unit was broken! However it does work.

Good points (so far)

1. The screen is perfect with no dead pixels (thanks Bill ). I love the SXGA+ resolution, it really is an upgrade from the 1024x768. I am also very happy with the color saturation, sharpness and brightness.

2. The wireless card configured first time with my 54Mb netgear router using 802.11g.

3. The trackpoint is VASTLY improved. Whew, no more blistered thick-skinned fingertips!

For a laptop costing $3799, I expected to be impressed by this machine, however I am very dissapointed. I have heard that other models and the 15" version have a different build quality, so I can only comment on the unit I received. I would not recommend this unit.

Oh well....

Nick.

[sktn77a]

Some people say the Sony batteries fit tighter in the thinkpad than the Sanyo. This wasn't my experience but you can check to se if you have the Sanyo battery. Also check whether you have the Thai or China keyboard. If you have the China keyboard, a lot of people say the Thai one is much better. IBM will replace both the battery and keyboard (at least they will in the US).

I feel your pain - I moved from a 600E which was even better than the T2x series

[gcchatel]

I agree with most of what you said, I got my t42p and was not so happy with the build quality. Then again, I had a toshiba before it and it just didn't feel right, the ergonomics weren't good, the unit was bulky, and it didn't look good. After a few days of reading this forum, I did the couple of mods (business card for left palm rest, tape on the battery, get the new keyboard from IBM) and I have been using my t42p for a month now.

After a month, I have to say that I love my thinkpad. Because of the build quality, I tend to baby it more than my old laptop leaving it still in prestine condition. Although it might feel less sturdy, it does take a hit pretty well (sometimes, material that is more flexible is better for shocks).

On another note, my old toshiba had problems with the hardware (LCD, DVD ROM, trackpoint, and many random crashes). So far my thinkpad has not crashed once, and this is running a dual boot with linux and xp pro and REALLY using it, many apps open all the time. It recovers from program errors flawlessly and all around is a wonderful machine.

Verdict is that IBM went for lighter more bendy materials, and a slight drop in build quality perhaps to drop the weight down a bit, but hardware is still topnotch and with a few easy mods, the t42p is a wonderful machine.

Gael

[rocketman]

Wow thats a bummer. I'm having second thoughts after some of the posts I've read here, I mean some people are using business cards to solve keyboard or squeaking palm rest problems and all the complaints about displays (the 14" version) My A20p was bult like a tank literaly I'm almost sorry I sold it. I should have upgraded the hard drive to a 7200rpm version and added more ram. I wouldn't be fast like the current Thinkpads but it was so well built it's amzing.

[wanna_IBM]

So is the T42 built any better than the T42p ??

[Daniel]

So is the T42 built any better than the T42p ??

They're built the same.

[zigver]

I just received my HTU last week, also courtesy of Bill, and have noticed some of the things you mentioned. However, after thoroughly checking out many notebooks at local stores (Fry's, CompUSA, etc.) I can say that despite the build quality issues the T42p has, it's much better than anything I've seen from the competition.

Specifically, I noticed that the smaller the laptop, usually the better quality it seemed to be. All the big laptops seem to suffer from case flex, screen closure issues (for a really bad example, look at the Sony A series, close the screen, then press around the edges and note where the contact points are and the lid flex. Makes me cringe), and so on.

I was thinking about the multiburner gap and wasn't happy with it initially. But think of it this way: It's going to flex when you press on the case above it and if the gap was tight, the case would be pushing directly on the burner tray. I'd rather have the gap...

My 9 cell is tight and doesn't move at all but a 6 cell rattles all around.

On a different note, first thing I did was delete the hidden IBM partition and install Gentoo from Stage 1. Everything compiled just fine the first time. It's been sort of a bear getting networking setup for my needs and I haven't messed with ACPI yet, but overall it's been pretty painless.

I only wish the 14" was available with flexview because this 15" is a bit bigger than I like.

[talenos]

what's flexview?

[pete0r]

i think people are expecting too much. my 3vu t42 is fine for me. the lid closes, the keyboard sounds like i think a laptop keyboard should sound and the battery is off by just a bit but when it's locked in there i don't feel like it's going to fall out.

this thing is great. i've used several friends laptops (Dells) and i can't stand it. in fact i used my roommate's dell inspiron.. 5150 i think and after a while it just drove me nuts. the build quality on dells is horrible.