Diff between X40 and X41 (non-tablet}

[dwilsonfl]

What's the difference between the two?

[tim S]

There's a little more to it than a straight comparison.
The X40 uses Banias CPUs, from 1.2Mhz to 1.3Mhz. From 1.4Mhz to 1.6Mhz they use Dothan CPUs as do all X41s.
All versions can use up to 1G of memory, but some models have 256MB soldered on the motherboard while others have 512MB.
The X41 uses slightly faster main memory and system bus, plus it has more (shared?) video memory than the X40. For example
in Ubuntu Linux I can use the maximum screen effects with the X41 but not with the X40.
The X40 uses PATA pinout for the hard drive while the X41 has a weird PATA to SATA thing going on. That means
the X41 gets the 2010 error beep for 'non-recommended' hard drives while still using the same special 1.8" hard drives as the X40,
which doesn't get the 2010 error! Go figure!
Other differences are more subtle. Different wireless cards along with a different set of drivers for most of the hardware.
Everything else is identical including the external docks.
I have both, an X40 1.6Mhz with the new 60G ZIF to PATA Lenovo drive and XP. And an X41 1.6Mhz with an old 40G IBM drive and
Ubuntu Hardy Heron. My wife loves the X40's size and weight, so she gets the fast drive and Windows.
I use the X41 and I find Ubuntu breaths new life into the rather slow regular PATA drives.
Tim S

[sjthinkpader]

X41 uses DDR2 and X40 use DDR. Similar to T43 and T42 split. So the chipsets are different. Tablet version simply incorporated the Wacom pad function in hardware.

I haven't tried it yet, likely a straight WinXPP plus a Wacom driver may work for the X41 Tablet.

[guanghua19]

There's a little more to it than a straight comparison.
The X40 uses Banias CPUs, from 1.2Mhz to 1.3Mhz. From 1.4Mhz to 1.6Mhz they use Dothan CPUs as do all X41s.
All versions can use up to 1G of memory, but some models have 256MB soldered on the motherboard while others have 512MB.
The X41 uses slightly faster main memory and system bus, plus it has more (shared?) video memory than the X40. For example
in Ubuntu Linux I can use the maximum screen effects with the X41 but not with the X40.
The X40 uses PATA pinout for the hard drive while the X41 has a weird PATA to SATA thing going on. That means
the X41 gets the 2010 error beep for 'non-recommended' hard drives while still using the same special 1.8" hard drives as the X40,
which doesn't get the 2010 error! Go figure!
Other differences are more subtle. Different wireless cards along with a different set of drivers for most of the hardware.
Everything else is identical including the external docks.
I have both, an X40 1.6Mhz with the new 60G ZIF to PATA Lenovo drive and XP. And an X41 1.6Mhz with an old 40G IBM drive and
Ubuntu Hardy Heron. My wife loves the X40's size and weight, so she gets the fast drive and Windows.
I use the X41 and I find Ubuntu breaths new life into the rather slow regular PATA drives.
Tim S

Excellent comparison, great job.

[Lars]

There's a little more to it than a straight comparison.

What about the LCD screen. Can I take the screen from an X40 and fit it in my X41?

[xiaotian7076]

Banias vs Dothan, 915 vs 855

[dwilsonfl]

So if I have a 1.2 X40 now that I love except it needs more giddyup, finding a 1.5 X41 and adding a 5400 ZIF drive would put me in happy land?

[guanghua19]

There's a little more to it than a straight comparison.
What about the LCD screen. Can I take the screen from an X40 and fit it in my X41?

Yes, the screen is compatible.

[guanghua19]

So if I have a 1.2 X40 now that I love except it needs more giddyup, finding a 1.5 X41 and adding a 5400 ZIF drive would put me in happy land?

I did not notice much performance difference between my 1.4Ghz X40 and 1.5Ghz X41.

[underclocker]

Performance-wise, it is hard to see/feel any difference between equal speed X40 or X41's. As noted above, both X40's and X41's were available with CPU's up to 1.6GHz (Dothan). Batteries, media slices, docks, LCD's, keyboards, bezels, drives are all swappable, only memory is unique and the X40 doesn't support a fingerprint reader. CPU's are soldered to the motherboard, not socketed.

Unique reasons for selecting an X40;
-no 2010 hard disk error with non-IBM firmware drives like SSD's or Samsung 5400 rpm ZIF drives
-potentially longer battery life with slower CPU's (and cooler & less fan use)

Unique reasons for selecting an X41;
-fingerprint reader
-accepts 2GB sodimm for up to 2.5GB of system memory (XP only sees 2GB, but Vista and other OS's can see/use more), the X40 is limited to a maximum of 1.5GB (be careful some models of each only had 256MB soldered to the motherboard, reducing maximums to 2.25GB for the X41 and 1.25GB for the X40)

[gongo2k1]

...accepts 2GB sodimm for up to 2.5GB of system memory (XP only sees 2GB, but Vista and other OS's can see/use more)...

The OS may see more because the motherboard reports it, but it cannot use more than 2gb, the 915 chipset doesn't have the memory lanes to use it.

It reports the correct amount because it takes the information it gathers from SPD. As long as SPD correctly reports the memory module specs, the motherboard will 'see' all of the memory, even if it can't address it.

Honestly though, with the somewhat limited horsepower you've got in the X41, you're not really going to need all of that memory anyway.

[sjthinkpader]

...
Honestly though, with the somewhat limited horsepower you've got in the X41, you're not really going to need all of that memory anyway.

I wouldn't discount the X41 performance too much. Other than the LV Dothan CPU, it is almost like a T43 with integrated graphics. I have 2.5GB RAM in my X41t.