Question about "p" model Thinkpads

[kawal]

I have a T40p and my sister-in-law has a T40. Mine has an SXGA+ display, and she has the XGA display.

What exactly is the difference between the "p" model and the non "p" model? Only the video card, or more?

Is the same true for later T41, 42, and 43, and even the T60?

I would appreciate some input from some of you "Thinkpad gurus"!

Thank you,

[jamerslong]

the P series has alot of different upgrades too it.

1st the Video cards are high end (were) with more memory on some models.

high resolution screens, IPS, Flexview Ect.. Ect..

faster RAM

Faster CPU's

Better/Included Wifi cards

theres a few differences.

P is the power series with the top o the line options only available to them. (at the time)

[Johan]

... see the thread T4X specs pointing to the ltwbook (title being: "Personal Systems Reference, Lenovo ThinkPad Notebooks, 2005 to present - withdrawn, November 2008 - Version 348") which includes specifications on T4x/p's and T6x/p's.

Johan

[dr_st]

Indeed, checking the LTWBOOK as Johan suggested will shed lots of light on the differences. However, the LTWBOOK will only list US preconfigured models, and none of the European/Custom models that have been made available.

In a nutshell, the "P" models were usually equipped with top of the line hardware, while the non-"P" often started very low, to allow for some really low-cost configurations, but also had some midrange and high-end.

I'd say that while non-"P" covered low-to-high, "P" was high-to-very-high.

In practice, the only things that were always exclusive to the "P" models were high-end video cards (Quadro FX/FireGL) and ultra-high-res (UXGA/WUXGA) screens.

They also always came with 7200RPM drives, usually bigger drives, more RAM, faster CPUs, often large battery. However, all these things were also available in some high-end configurations of non-"P", either through CTO (Customized-To-Order) configurations or some special models Lenovo/IBM released for the business sector.

[underclocker]

In practice, the only things that were always exclusive to the "P" models were high-end video cards (Quadro FX/FireGL) and ultra-high-res (UXGA/WUXGA) screens.

They also always came with 7200RPM drives, usually bigger drives, more RAM, faster CPUs, often large battery. However, all these things were also available in some high-end configurations of non-"P", either through CTO (Customized-To-Order) configurations or some special models Lenovo/IBM released for the business sector.

This is correct. The motherboard, more specifically, the GPU on the motherboard, was the difference. Plus, the peripherals that were added to the machine. For a specific line, like the T40/T40p, the memory speed, bus speed, LCD options, and most of the peripheral options were the same - the T40p had the top of the line GPU.

Generally, with a "p" model, you were getting a higher performance GPU and some of the faster/larger peripheral options.

[T400plus]

Swindlers at IBm were ,Plenty.
They should have advertised that the only difference between /p and the 2 chracter less models is/was a graphics chip.All the rest was always avilable when we customised the non p
version. God will reserve a place for thembetween Heaven and Hell.
They were smart too.The moment the hobbyists' crown became more knowledgable they
cut their tails short and made money on that also. ..Poor Lenovo.

I have learnt from these forums that I can even fit a R series mobo inside a T series if I
can live with the "Integrated Graphics" chipset from Intel.
Just like the cpu they should have had a user installable graphics slot.

[kawal]

Thanks for the info - that's more than I expected!

[ajkula66]

T400plus wrote:

Swindlers at IBm were ,Plenty.
They should have advertised that the only difference between /p and the 2 chracter less models is/was a graphics chip.All the rest was always avilable when we customised the non p
version.

Not true.

You could never get IEEE1394 and S-video in on A30/A31, regardless of how you customized them, while these were standard on A30p/A31p. The same goes for UXGA IPS FlexView LCD on these units.

A21p/22p were the only A2x units offered with (non-IPS) UXGA LCDs. They also sported 12.5 mm/5400rpm hard drives that were not offered on the rest of A2x units.

No matter how much you customized R50, T42 or T43 you could not get the UXGA IPS LCD on them, which was, once again, saved for the "p" models.

The same was true for T60 vs. T60p in a 15"/4:3 format.

Z61p was the only unit in "Z" series offered with WUXGA LCD.

So it takes more than just GPU to jump from non-p to a "p" ThinkPad in most cases...

[underclocker]

I should have restricted my previous post to the realm of 14" T40/T41/T42's. I believe what I wrote holds true there (of course, someone on this forum will probably find an exception!)

Even in the case when only the GPU was different for a "p" model, I do not think that IBM was being misleading. The "p" meant that you got the fastest GPU and several of the higher end options of the era. For many people, this is enough - it meant top of the line and configured quite nicely.

While it's hard for many of us to believe, there are poeple out there that don't take the time to completely strip every computer they get their hands on just to see what it came with and what can be tweaked. For those people, "p" is a guarantee for performance - not an entry level machine.

[killer]

It seems harsh to accuse IBM employees of being swindlers. I worked for IBM for 26 years and everyone I met was straight and above board. Maybe I missed the baddies?

My wife is delighted with her T43p. It gives great performance and reliability. We had a few concerns over the screen definition but once that was resolved we have no complaints.

[Harryc]

It seems harsh to accuse IBM employees of being swindlers. I worked for IBM for 26 years and everyone I met was straight and above board.

Ditto, 24 years here, and another 10 with a business partner.

[John H]

The 10 years I worked at the Tom Jr. IBM everyone was honest and aboveboard. But the new T V Learson management stabbed us in the back.

YMMV.

[sjthinkpader]

...
Just like the cpu they should have had a user installable graphics slot.

....

Then you'll get an ugly as sin and heavy as a brick G40 or even worst, a DELL, god forbid.

[sjthinkpader]

The 10 years I worked at the Tom Jr. IBM everyone was honest and aboveboard. But the new T V Learson management stabbed us in the back.

YMMV.

If you have a dig in Los Altos, you didn't do too bad at all. I am in the low rent district.