Should I bother upgrading from a T21 to a T23?

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clayton.bigsby · #1 Post by **clayton.bigsby** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:02 pm

I was thinking if I could sell my T21 then I might be able to get a T23 for just a little bit more. But I don't know if it's worth the bother.

I've pretty much maxed out my T21 with 1GHz CPU and 512MB RAM and for the most part I've been pretty happy with it. I only use it to write papers and surf the internet. Nothing seriously intensive. However, there are times when I wish it would have a little more oomph. For example, I like to watch TV shows online and the online videos from NBC, ABC and FOX punishes my 1GHz cpu usage at 100% resulting in choppy video (shows from CBS for some reason does not have this problem).

If I may ask anyone out there who has a T23, can you visit the sites above, like NBC, and try and watch an online TV show such as Heroes and share your experience please? If it's still choppy with a T23 then I'll just forget about it. Thanks.

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:11 pm

I think for the online videos that you are talking about, a T23 might not quite cut it. I know that one of my T23s was "ok" with videos, but dare I log onto a myspace page with more than one video and/or music playing, it would drag....heck, even my R40 (2.2ghz cpu with 1gb ram) has a problem with some of the myspace pages.

Some blame it on the low amount of video ram, but it might just be the overall speed of the machine...

l4lewis · #3 Post by **l4lewis** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:14 pm

My 1.2GHz T23 struggles with NBC, cpu @100%

better off saving up some more for a T4x

clayton.bigsby · #4 Post by **clayton.bigsby** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:16 pm

Yeah, I was hoping the T23 might just be fast enough, but it seems like it'll have to take at least a T40 (I'm skipping the T30. Too chubby for me). That's cool. Maybe I should start looking for a T4x instead. Thanks.

#5 Post by **rkawakami** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:34 pm

Went to ABC.com a couple of days ago for the first time after I accidentally re-formatted my Panasonic DVR (:() to watch the last four "Lost" shows I had recorded. On my T23 (1.2Ghz 1024MB) system with a 900Kbps download DSL connection, the video stuttered a couple of times every few minutes. It really wasn't too bad. I did not notice the CPU utilization but I did see the CPU temp climb to the mid 70s. This was with their "original" player; the newer one stoped and started like Mel Tillis (sorry to the C&W folks for that analogy).

clayton.bigsby · #6 Post by **clayton.bigsby** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:45 pm

Yes Ray! I've noticed that the "new" player on ABC is really sucking it too. The older player was OK, it was actually quite watchable for me, but after the their upgrade it is just horrible.

TonyJZX · #7 Post by **TonyJZX** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:39 pm

the big problem with the T23 is that it uses a crap video processor.

I have a Dell with an ATI Mobility type GPU and it's a lot better than the T23 at video oriented tasks.

I have a T21 and T23 and they perform about the same...

In fact I will probably move to a X23 given they are a lot small and they use ATI.

Purcy · #8 Post by **Purcy** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:20 am

clayton.bigsby wrote:Yes Ray! I've noticed that the "new" player on ABC is really sucking it too. The older player was OK, it was actually quite watchable for me, but after the their upgrade it is just horrible.

Did you know though that when you launch the page that has the new player, there is a smaller box to the right that has a link to the old original player?? It's still there. I used it

unrortit · #9 Post by **unrortit** » Tue May 01, 2007 12:30 pm

anything that complicates the proven pentium 111
machine, especially abnormal cpu loads,boils down to unoptimised+ crappy software scripts+or crappy servers.
why fix something that ain't broke?
good ploy for marketing new technology,however i would look towards better channels that was proven to work with pentum 2 and on processors.
bottom line if it worked before and all the sudden doesn't anymore
they are playing schemes are they not?
don't take the bait.

Zaph · #10 Post by **Zaph** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 7:11 am

The video processor on the T23 was a marvel of it's time. Sure you can get blazing fast video chips on modern laptops, but compared to other video processors of it's time the savage can really hold it's own.

Allso the audio chip brings most other audio solutions of the t23 era to shame, tested and kickass.

For the life of me i can't figure out why a laptop should have heaping amounts of Vram, when they are generally not used to play Vram heavy software, ie. 3d gaming. For normal GUI use, videos etc.. the GPU on T23 is just right. If some ABC or NBC or what ever codes crappy video players, or if your end is misconfigured then it's no skin off T23's back.

Peace, out!

--Zaph

BruisedQuasar · #11 Post by **BruisedQuasar** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 3:21 pm

I agree with ZAPH. I play DVDs and online video on my Windows 2000 SP3 just fine.

The only serious downside I find with my T23 is it is very limited for gaming but IBM designed the T23 to be a fine general business PC, not a game machine. For that, we use Wii and Sony PlayStation. Containing dedicated PCs, they are simple insert, push start, and play.

I have a serious Dell Intel Dual Core, 2Gig, 2 serious graphic card gaming machine. Yes, it does games and photo editing far better than a T23 can but my T23 does everything else just fine and it is lighter than many new laptops. The price is sweet too. I got mine for $300.

Before I bought a new Lenovo designed laptop, I would seriously research them. So far, Laptop reviewers are not impressed with Lenovo designed Laptop models.

Bruised

Should I bother upgrading from a T21 to a T23?

Should I bother upgrading from a T21 to a T23?

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