T42 experience

[kev009]

I'm a new proud owner of an IBM ThinkPad t42 2378-FVU. This machine is an incerible deal. I am upgrading from a t30 which is another fine machine. Overall I am very pleased with the machine. I was skeptical of the 1440x1050 res on a 14.1" screen but I am a true beleiver now and it makes my Dell 18" flat panel look like a joke. I think the quality is slightly less in some areas on the t42 compared to the t30 but the overall use of good technology (Dothan 735, Radeon 9600) from other companies is what make this laptop great, and ThinkPads still remain the best laptops in quality and design. It looks more closely related to a Toshiba than the old ThinkPads though. It runs much cooler on AC and the battery life is exceptional. It is also considerably more thin than the t30. The only real negatives I can see are the speakers (which ThinkPads have never excelled in) and the fact that all the ports are on the left. The 'Access IBM' button is a bit tacky compared to the 'Thinkpad' on the t30 but that isn't a big deal. I hope to get many years of quality computing out of this notebook and from the looks of it I will.

Shipping was fun but it wasn't IBM's fault. It got stuck in canada from the 4th to the 9th after clearing customs and was supposed to be a 2 day service. Yet another negative UPS experiance.

I know the topic of cases has been beat to death but I'd like to poll some opinions because none of the other posts ever come to conclusion. I need a compact slip case that I can wedge into a 3 ring binder to walk from class to class, something really compact yet offering a fair amount of protection. Any suggestions?

[kev009]

I'm also interested in doing the bluetooth CDC card swap. I didn't see any succsess stories. Has anyone done this? What FRUs are the needed parts and where to buy?

[ThinkPad]

Nice review. I have the same complaint with my T-41 with the poor speaker quality, which I believe are the same in yours. The keyboard did not seem to be as firm as my T30, but im getting used to it now. I like the longer battery life which is always a plus because I travel alot. I also just ordered the 9-cell battery for a longer unplugged time.

[kev009]

An update after some real use... what an awesome laptop. I take back my comments on the construction. This is by far the best laptop on the market (aside from the t42p). The bottom is rock hard and the cover is right up there. The inside is a bit less rugged (normal ABS plastic), though I see no keyboard flex and very little palm rest movement if I press hard in just the right places. Nevermind the fact how cool this 1" laptop looks. If anyone out there is waiting to buy the perfect notebook, look no further. I wish I could have gotten the t42p merely for the 128MB video ram but the Radeon 9600/64MB card is nothing weak. I would hate to lose the 14.1" form factor in any case.

The two negatives I can find:
-The power adapter is a bit lose as others describe in some posts, so I will need to find a solution to that.
-The Ultrabay Slim drive seems a bit more flimsy than a 2000/plus drive.

Now to get some more RAM and a 7k60 . I can't see needing anything else and am considering selling my main desktop. Any suggestions on my case and bluetooth posts?

[dbonds]

Can't agree withe the pro-FVU sentiments more. I overspent my budget a bit picking mine up back in the July/August timeframe last year and haven't regretted it one bit. I picked up the 9 cell battery just because it was a good deal (haven't used it TOO much) and 512M RAM from crucial. I'll probably end up picking up a 5K100 80g drive in the next couple weeks along with an ultrabay HD tray (gotta load linux on the old 40G).

Bluetooth:
I just added the bluetooth modem a couple weeks ago. Haven't used it a lot yet, but I can at least comment that the install was easy. I believe it's four screws to lift off the keyboard and two for the modem module. The BMDC2 module itself changes part numbers periodically, but mine was

BMDC2 91P3471 $67.50
CLEAR PLAT 13R2455 $3.07

The T42 w/ bluetooth plate that came with my kit of clear plates was slightly marred, so my FVU is now a T42p poser..

Daniel

[kev009]

Thanks for the FRUs. The T42p plate sounds like a neat idea too . I want bluetooth so I can sync my phone easily and use it as a cell modem. It may also come in handy for futue PDAs or phone/pda combos. Just curious, why are you going with a 5k100/80 drive? How does it compare to a 7k60? Space isn't too big a concern for me but power and heat are.

I'm a Gentoo luser on my desktop, and may consider the 2nd hard drive adapter depending on whether the 40gb drive will fetch a decent sum on eBay or not.