possible upgrade to T23

[pcengine92]

I'm thinking of purchasing a working T23 unit for $125. I'm currently using an A22e. Is this a good deal, and what are the advantages?

[rkawakami]

Depending upon the physical condition (any cracks in the bezels, missing panels, broken lid locks, etc.) and configuration of the system (hard drive, memory, Ultrabay device, CPU speed, screen resolution, built-in wireless, included software, etc.), $125 can be either a good or bad price. From the standpoint of the capabilities between the two systems, then assuming that you have a maxed out A22e (850Mhz PIII with 512MB of memory), the slowest T23 is 866Mhz, while the fastest is the 1.2Ghz (1200Mhz) processor. The T23 can handle up to 1GB of memory, however it requires the slightly faster PC133 memory modules than the (probable) PC100 ones in your A22e. The screen size of the T23 can be 13.3" (about the same as the 13.1" A22e) or 14.1". Screen resolutions are XGA (1024x768) like the A22e or SXGA+ (1400x1050). The best thing to do is obtain the TYPE number from the bottom of the T23 (2647-xxx or 2648-xxx) and plug it into the "Product number" entry field at this site:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... OME-LENOVO

This will give you the configuration of the system as it left the factory. Note that previous owners could have easily replaced the memory, hard drive and/or Ultrabay device. Harder to replace would be the screen, although it can be done.

Now for some possible hang-ups:

- T23 systems are known for having issues with loose components; typical symptoms are power related (lack of system power, failure to charge battery)
- they can develop cracks in the keyboard bezel next to the Fn and right arrow keys that are usually accompanied (caused) by...
- a broken Ultrabay mounting tab at the back right corner of the system
- as mentioned before, if your A22e has PC100 modules then you can't use them in the T23

The good:

- Ultrabay devices are swappable between the A22e and T23
- memory prices for PC133 are generally a little bit less per MB than for low-density PC100 modules that the A22e requires
- T23 size and weight is just a little bit smaller/lighter than the A22e

[pcengine92]

Thanks so much for the info. I found the unit on craigslist, and I from the correspondence I'm having with the owner, I don't think they know too much about it. He only told me that it has xp and ms office, and that it has a dvd-only drive. I might pass.

[rkawakami]

If you can manage to get the full seven character TYPE number from the bottom of the machine, it would give you a good starting point for figuring out what's in it. I also forgot to mention something which needs to be checked when considering any used Thinkpad: Make sure that you have full access into the BIOS. In order words, no password has been set. Some people may be trying to off-load a machine that they don't know too much about and if you don't check for this before accepting the system, then when the CMOS battery runs out in a couple of years, you'll end up with a bricked system.