Ack! Reading put me BACK on the fence - please help!

[hman]

Hi,

I was all ready to place an order for a T42p (2373-KXU), but after extensive reading of the forum, I'm back on the fence! Please set me straight!

I want to upgrade from an old Dell Inspiron 8000. I need the 1600x1200 screen and I hate the modern "high glare" screens on many laptops, so the T42p seemed like a great choice, and the 2373-KXU in particular - especially with many people saying great things about it on this forum.

However - I'm now worried about complaints that the 2 GHz processor might keep the fan running, and that the 7200 RPM disk leads to greater heat and vibration - especially in the right palm area. While I want good graphics, I want the machine to be relatively cool and quiet. I don't want to be disturbing people in meetings, etc. Also, loud fan noise, hard disk noise, and excessive heat are real pet peeves that I'd like to avoid - these are reasons that I looked to IBM, as I thought the T4x series would be the best in these areas!

Does it make any sense to "downgrade" to a slightly slower CPU and hard disk? I'm eligible to get a T42p 2373-7XU. Would this be a better way to go?

Here's the comparison. Keeping in mind my worry about heat and loud fans, PLEASE help me choose!

2373-KXU / 2373-7XU
------------------------------------------
$350 more / $350 less (price is an important factor)
9-cell battery / 6-cell battery (6 cell looks better - do I need 9?)
IBM a/b/g WiFi / Intel b/g WiFi (do I really need "a"?)
Bluetooth / no Bluetooth (don't use it now - future need?)
1 GB RAM / 512 MB RAM (512 ok - could upgrade later)
DVD-RW / DVD-RW (don't need burner, but no choice)
2 GHz CPU / 1.8 GHz CPU (major difference in heat?)
7200 RPM HD / 5400 RPM HD (is vibration/heat a problem of 7k?)


If you simply add up the components, the KXU seems to be the better
overall deal from a price standpoint. But if the 7XU runs significantly more quiet and cool due to the reduced CPU speed, HD rpm speed, etc., I can probably afford to take the performance hit. The 9 cell battery could be a big win, but I could always buy a battery for the Ultrabay and not have the battery protruding from the back.

If you think that the greater processor and the hard disk performance are very important, please let me know! Also, you might think that the Atheros wireless card is a must, or that I need to get Bluetooth for the future. Weigh in please!

Perhaps there's no significant heat/fan/vibration difference, and I should get the better model?

Sorry for the long post - but your concerns on this forum worry me a bit. I don't like to exchange or cancel items, so I'd like to get this right.

Please help me join your fold correctly!

H.

[hman]

*Bump*

No KXU owners out there with advice?

[jschunkew]

Relax. I was also concerned about the infamous fan noise,
hard drive whine, keyboard flex, dead pixels (the list goes on).
Got my T42 (DXU) and it was for all practical purposes silent and
trouble free.

[hman]

Thanks for the reply - others please follow.

I'm not sure of the configuration of the DXU. Can you send the full model number?

Thanks again.

H.

[daeojkim]

Get it. Use it. If you don't like it return it for full refund within 30 days.

You will never know whether you will like or not until you use it.

[jschunkew]

2379DXU - It a general purpose workhorse (15").

[kjarrett]

Sorry, just saw this, would have posted sooner. I love my KXU. Comments:

$350 more / $350 less (price is an important factor) - understood, but, how often are you going to buy another laptop? I'm figuring my KXU is good for at least 3 years, maybe more.

9-cell battery / 6-cell battery (6 cell looks better - do I need 9?) - I have the 9 cell and don't use it. The extention bugged me and I'm always on AC power. However, I have on occasion needed battery power, and lots of it, so I have the 6 cell, the 9 cell, and an Ultrabay battery. With all three of those charged I can go virtually ALL FREAKIN' DAY at MAX POWER EVERYTHING. Sorry for the technical jargon, LOL. Seriously, the three cells are great when I need them, it's just not often.

IBM a/b/g WiFi / Intel b/g WiFi (do I really need "a"?) - no but you want IBM's wifi, Intel's SUCKS! Lots of posts here about that. This was one reaosn I went with the KXU.

Bluetooth / no Bluetooth (don't use it now - future need?) - I didn't think I'd ever use it but guess what I just snagged a neat little BT optical mini mouse and I love it. See the comment above about how long you plan to keep the laptop. I say get it.

1 GB RAM / 512 MB RAM (512 ok - could upgrade later) - true, but I went from 1gb to 2gb just because I could and I do work with lots of large images simultaneously. I also wanted to have the same RAM in my T42p as I do in my kickin' Dell Dimension XPS desktop.

DVD-RW / DVD-RW (don't need burner, but no choice) - agreed, I could care less, tho it was nice to create DVD rescue disks.

2 GHz CPU / 1.8 GHz CPU (major difference in heat?) - I have no idea, I guess it's hotter, I could care less, and I have never seen a 1.8 to compare.

7200 RPM HD / 5400 RPM HD (is vibration/heat a problem of 7k?) - not for me. I've noticed the fan runs a bit but it's quiet as far as I'm concerned. I've never heard or felt a thing from the HD and it's SMOKIN' FAST.

The only niggle I have with my KXU is the 1600x1200 screen, while GOREGOUS, is just a little tiny for my 42-year-old-bifocal-equipped-peepers. I'm not unhappy - my desktop runs at the same rez and it's nice having it on my T42p - it's just that it took a little getting used to, even with fonts set to 125% (which was a huge help). At the stock setting, I don't see how ANYONE could read the screen, the fonts are so small!

Do what you feel is best but personally I wanted the biggest baddest T42p I could get at the time and for me it was the KXU. Looked at the Q1U but didn't need the FP reader, an additional .1ghz of speed, and the Gen2 multiburner.

I LOVE MY THINKPAD!!!

-kj-

[hman]

Thank you for your posts - greatly appreciated.

H.

[dvorak]

You can just configure some schemes for it to stay at 600MHz, when it runs at the maximum speed, the fan will spin up, doesn't matter if it's 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz or 2.1GHz.

[edelrc]

As an owner of a KXU, I agree with kjarret (he also adviced me 6 months ago)

Then, the KXU was very expensive and I was strugling if to do the sacrifice, with the price drop nowdays that decision is much easier.

To compliment kjarret post:

- Difference with 1.8GHz? No, unless you do video editing very frequently. However it has a psychological factor. Wether for yourself or if you plan to sell it in the future, a 2.0GHz looks like a next generation and will have better value.

- 7200rpm or 5400rpm? Your question to yourself should be "little better performance or 20GB more?". I wanted the 20GB better, but now I got used to my partition backups in 3 minutes and will suffer missing that speed. however for 90%+ of applications you won´t notice the difference. Vibration? Same as 5k. Noise? Slightly noisier, but so subtle that to noticie the difference you´ll have to put the ear close to the keyboard. Heat? No noticeable more. As I see it, if you notice it warm, its is because you are do making use of its full potential so in that case you´ll be better with a 7k than 5k drive anyways.

I always liked the 1400x1050 of my old A20p. Going to 1600x1200 was a bit intimidating the first week. Two weeks later I wouldn´t go back to the 1400x1050 in a 15" screen. But, you will feel it intimidating first too. If you never had work with a 1400x1050 think twice because, while only a few, there are some people that think the KXU screen it is just too much. Do you tend write little handwriting words? if you do, you´re likely you will like this screen too.

[dfumento]

I went from 15" A31p UXGA to a 14" T42 SXGA and for me I'm glad I made the switch for portability. In my view, unless you are doing something like a lot of photo editing, it is not worth the price premium of a 2 GHz vs. 1.8. Also, I prefered the larger 80 GB HD (but then again I dual boot with Linux, store my songs/photos, etc).

Depending on your discount schedules (see FAQ in my signature) and if you're spending your own money, you might consider the 2378FVU upgraded to 3 year warranty and add 512MB RAM to 768 MB (or you could get two 512MB for 1GB), upgrade HD if need to.

T43p will be coming out in April if you need higher GPU (graphics) speed (which might be better with a UGXA display). The T43p GPU is based on the X600 chip which you can look up on the ATI web site. It is supposed to be about 25% faster than the T42p ATI 9600 based GPU.

DVD burning is best done with external drives in my opinon because of speed and you can do double layer if you want.

Good luck!