Finally here : My new T23 - /!\ Pics inside

[WarMachine]

Hi !

I've just received my new T23 today !

It's like new ! (I didn't expect less than that, as it is an IBM reconditionned laptop). I'm not disappointed at all ! Not a single grain of dust, nowhere !!!

Soooo, what do we have ?

It's a 2647-BG4 model, with PIII-M 1GHz, 20 GB 4200RPM HDD (Hitachi) - I will buy another HDD, for sure !!! , an XGA Screen, 512 MB SDR-SDRAM PC133 (2 x 256 MB), an S3 Savage IXC graphics card, and an DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive. There's also a WiFi MiniPCI card installed in it.

The battery is an 4 AH one.

First impressions :

- It's like new ! Really, there are very little scratches on the cover, but they are only visible if you put your nose onto them, in full light,

- The overall build quality isn't what I have on the 600E. I had to retight some screws on the back and there are little noises when I carry the laptop in my hands,

- Another poster mentionned that it was flexible. Not mine, but it doesn't seem to be assembled as well as my 600E. It seems more "plastic". Any way, you see that it's still a well built model. On another hand, the LCD Cover is rock solid,

- The feeling of the keyboard is totally different from the 600 one. Still firm, but softer than the 600. Anyway, better than the Dell L400 one. Large keys !

- I run XP Pro SP2, and it runs very well. I have installed IE7, and OMG, it was really quick !

- I have tried Q3 : Big surprise !!! It runs very well in SVGA with medium options. I will try to tweak it more. It's absolutely nice !!!

- The quality of the screen is very good, I've watched 10 minutes of a DVD (Van Helsing, FYI ), with PDVD4, and I love the quality of the image.

- The Thinklight is a delight . Seems like natural light. Absolutely fantastic !

- The sound is not bad at all, I don't know how to describe it, but I love it.

To finish, my first impressions are rather good, and I think I will have a lot of time with my new friend.

Ohhh, another thing : I received the T23 with a brand new Dicota bag, and two mouse pads !

Note to my 600E : Don't be jealous, you are and you will still be a great machine, and you will not finish you life in a cellar, I promise !



W.

[RUSH2112]

The T2x series are phenomenal machines, I've owned a few of them myself. Solid, stable, just overall great.

Enjoy.

[ambientscape]

Welcome to the T2X club, dude! By the way, is this topic suppose to be in the T2X section?

[WarMachine]

Actually, I'm currently enjoying it !

It will be hard to work today. Only three hours of rest... And I'm working from 8.00 AM to 6.00 PM.

But as we say in France, let's keep the "Positive attitude" : Tomorrow, I'm not working, so, I will sleep more, enjoy the laptop, and try to take Level 14 in WoW. It will be a nice day !

W.

[winslow]

Hi !

- I have tried Q3 : Big surprise !!! It runs very well in SVGA with medium options. I will try to tweak it more. It's absolutely nice !!!

W.

What is Q3???

[pianowizard]

The overall build quality isn't what I have on the 600E.

That's a well-known fact. I've owned four T2* series Thinkpads and two 600E's. Both 600E's were more solid than all four T2*'s. But the T23 is still very [censored] good.

[iMav]

and try to take Level 14 in WoW. It will be a nice day !

Is WoW playable on your T23?

[rkawakami]

I've just received my new T23 today !

Welcome aboard the T23 train! And I totally agree with you on the comparison between it and the 600 systems. The keyboard has a much more solid feeling on the 600E and 600X. Probably due to the way that they are screwed into the keyboard bezel. With the requirement of flexibility that is needed with the T2x keyboards in order to install or remove them (you'll find that out the first time you have to pull the keyboard off), it's no wonder why those two systems feel so different with respect to typing.

One word of caution: Don't pick up the T23 (or any T2x system for that matter) by the corner with one hand. Especially the front left corner. There is some inherent chassis flex that can occur. It's been theorized that this can lead to some parts separating from the motherboard. My technique is to lift the front edge of the laptop in the middle, slide my opposite hand underneath the middle of the system and lift up

[WarMachine]

@ iMav : I haven't installed WoW yet on my T23. I'm not sure the T23 can run WoW very well. In fact, I'm playing WoW on my desktop PC.

@ Ray : Thx for all the advices. I don't take my latops by one corner, even the 600. I will take care of the T23 too !

I've typed a lot this night, and despite the keyboard is softer than the 600's, it remains however very comfortable (I did typo error due to the difference between the two keyboards, but nothing noticable).

The more I use it, the more I love it !

I've read a lot of things about this laptop before buying it, and I've found useful informations in your posts, Ray, you who have 8 of them ! I do just need one, and I'm not disappointed at all ! My thinkpad family grows and grows and grows !

W.

[iMav]

@ iMav : I haven't installed WoW yet on my T23. I'm not sure the T23 can run WoW very well. In fact, I'm playing WoW on my desktop PC.

Ok. I didn't think that WoW would be playable on a T23. I was quite shocked to see that you were playing it (because I assumed it was on your T23).

MY T23 should be at my front door later today. Then my wife has to turn around and ship it to ME! (in Iraq)

[WarMachine]

The boy with whom i'm working says WoW should run on the T23.

I will try to install it this evening. Stay tuned !

W.

[WarMachine]

Hi !

- I have tried Q3 : Big surprise !!! It runs very well in SVGA with medium options. I will try to tweak it more. It's absolutely nice !!!

W.

What is Q3???

Quake III Arena.

http://www.activision.com/en_US/game_sp ... tid=942398

W.

[WarMachine]

The overall build quality isn't what I have on the 600E.

That's a well-known fact. I've owned four T2* series Thinkpads and two 600E's. Both 600E's were more solid than all four T2*'s. But the T23 is still very [censored] good.

Absolutely !

W.

[WarMachine]

Welcome to the T2X club, dude! By the way, is this topic suppose to be in the T2X section?

But I don't have any problem with it.

Forgive me if I'm not in the right section, I wrote this topic very early on the morning, with only an eye opened !

W.

[Phazer]

In regards to your flexing concern, I've discovered that binding hinges can cause all sorts of problems. If the RH hinge binds, it can break a mounting tab on the cage that surrounds the DVD drive which lets the keyboard bezel break at the lower keyboard opening corners, (by the Fn and right arrow keys). It also caused the computer to think that I was ejecting the DVD when really I wasn't. Just my .02 worth.

BTW....I feel the same way about my T23's.

[WarMachine]

Thx for your contribution.

In fact, my T23 doesn't seem to flex, but doesn't seem as rigid as the 600.

But as I said in a previous post, I générally take care of the laptops, when I'm carrying them.

The laptop will not be used as a really portable machine, I did want a kind of desktop replacement, to avoid enormous bills of electricity...

And, if I take it to go out, it will travel in a car, and never in a plane, or tramway, or whatever...

W.

[WarMachine]

Well well well !

So, I have installed Q3 : It runs ! 1024x768, medium quality, Vertex lightning. 800x600 if I want Lightmap lightning, which is visually better. As it's only the demo, I haven't tweaked it yet, I will do that when I will install the complete version,

I have installed the demo of UT2003 : No problem, it runs too : 800x600, normal mode. I haven't the complete version, it was just a try, I will delete it quickly,

I have installed Warcraft III : It runs, 1024x768x16 bits, medium,

WoW runs too : 800x600, low details.

I installed too Duke Nukem - Manhattan Project, it runs in 1024x768, 32 bits, OpenGL, FullScreen, ie very well !

In fact, I will only keep Q3A, but it was nice to see that you can install games without difficulty.

I suppose I will be able to play better when I will have a 7200rpm HDD, and, 1 GB of RAM.

Playing is not my priority, but it will be cool to play from time to time even if I'm not at home...

W.

[iMav]

WoW runs too : 800x600, low details.

I'm floored that this plays at all. What is the video specs of your T23? (do they all have the S3 SuperSavage IX/C with 16MB of vram?)

[WarMachine]

WoW runs too : 800x600, low details.

I'm floored that this plays at all. What is the video specs of your T23? (do they all have the S3 SuperSavage IX/C with 16MB of vram?)

Mine has this card, indeed.

W.

[WarMachine]

Pics of the T23 :



(Click to enlarge)



(Click to enlarge)



(Click to enlarge)



W.

[pianowizard]

Thanks for the pix.

As much as I enjoyed using the four T2*'s that I used to own, I find them to be some of the least good-looking Thinkpads I have used. The 240*, X2*, X4*, X60s, T4* and T60 are all much sexier IMO. The T2* series somehow looks bulky and dull.

[ambientscape]

The keyboards is really worn out, huh?

[Stargate199]

The outside of my T21 is in perfect condition, but the palm rest s worn, but the keyboard isn't too bad.

[tomh009]

As much as I enjoyed using the four T2*'s that I used to own, I find them to be some of the least good-looking Thinkpads I have used. The 240*, X2*, X4*, X60s, T4* and T60 are all much sexier IMO. The T2* series somehow looks bulky and dull.

It may not be the sexiest one out there (though comparisons to the X series aren't really fair!) but I think that the T23 is one of the best deals out there right now. The Pentium III-M CPU and Windows XP licence make it a bargain at the $300 range it's selling for on the eBay. T30 has a P4 that I would personally rather skip, and the T40 is considerably more expensive. In the other direction, the T22 came with Windows 98 SE (shudder!) or Windows 2000, and the T21 had the older Pentium III CPU.

[pianowizard]

It may not be the sexiest one out there (though comparisons to the X series aren't really fair!) but I think that the T23 is one of the best deals out there right now.

I agree. But I have been seeing T40's that are below $400 shipped on eBay more and more often, so it looks like the T40 will replace the T23 as the "best deal" pretty soon. I have never been interested in the T30 either, because of its P4 processor and its notorious memory slot problem.

[The Spirit of X21]

I agree that the T2x series gives a whole lot of machine for the price. As far as sexiness though, I would classify ThinkPads as a different kind of sexiness- "functional" sexiness, a class all their own. Their beauty lies in their durability and no nonsense style.

[tomh009]

I agree. But I have been seeing T40's that are below $400 shipped on eBay more and more often, so it looks like the T40 will replace the T23 as the "best deal" pretty soon. I have never been interested in the T30 either, because of its P4 processor and its notorious memory slot problem.

... and of course it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to run Vista, for example, the $400-450 for a T40 is probably money well spent.

But I'm thinking of getting a T23 to run as a silent and low-powered file server at home. For that I really wouldn't need any more power!

[pianowizard]

But I'm thinking of getting a T23 to run as a silent and low-powered file server at home.

Tom, what computers do you own? Why don't you list them in your signature? I am sure many of us are curious what you have.

[tomh009]

My inventory is really too feeble to compare to you guys -- at this point in time I have two X31s (his and hers!), a desktop PC (running FreeBSD) for a file server -- and, temporarily, a rackmount Athlon 64 x2 box that I need to get set up as a database server. Oh, and maybe I should count my somewhat-hacked HP de200c?

Oh, yes, I do have a couple of T22s at work, doing their best to try to infiltrate a Dell environment.

I do love silent computing, and mobility -- including within the house. Hence the two X31s, power supplies scattered about the house, and 754 cycles on my X31 battery! But the current server is loud, and my wife is unhappy about the power consumption, hence the whole T23 server concept ...

[WarMachine]

Hi !

I wanted to buy a T40 at the beginning, but here, in France, it's difficult to find one at less that 400€ (and I guess if I could be able to find one, it wouldn't be in perfect condition, plus the fact that I don't want and can't afford me a machine that costs more than 350€. I'm not Cresus, and I've waited for 6 months to buy the T23...)

As I said previously, all I wanted was to have a machine Q3A capable, as I don't play other games, and as I spend the most of my time on the Net. So, my T23 fits well to my needs. I will probably buy an X31 and a T40 in the future, but just to have them, because I love Thinkpads, not because I need them (but perhaps I well need those types of machines one day, who knows ?).

Well, I've watched a DVD, I've surfed all this week end, and the T23 remained as silent as a grave. If I play, I can hear it, but it's supportable (a lot more supportable than the Dell L400 I had previously).

If we're talking about the looks of this T23, I love it, even if it has the "tank looks". It's rather slim, and well proportionned. But I can understand that it's not the one you prefer.

W.