Thinkpads Forum

Well I started Software Development with an 770 with 256MB and a 10GB Disk, and for 2003 it was still a workable solution with Visual Basic, anyway I was unemployed so it had to do. This was an upgrade to a new 760XL I purchased in 1998.

I then moved on to Java (and have been with Java ever since) and splashed out on a new best IBM of the time T43p back in early '06, think it set me back nearly $2K US.

How i loved that T43p. The Flexview IPS UXGA was and still is beautiful, but the severe limitation of both the Single Core and more importantly the 2GB RAM barrier made me reluctantly upgrade, I say reluctantly as I never thought that ever could a T43p be surpassed.

Anyway i had aT60 SXGA+ for a while, but then purchased a used T500,WSXGA+ Dual Video Card 2.4GHZ Core2Duo and over the last four years it has been upgraded (via Ultrabay) with 2xSSD and 8GB of RAM. However... even that is now a problem as I need more RAM (CPU is OK) so now need to upgrade again.

I love the T500 it to me is a worthy T43p successor. Build is great. Screen is very good. Fast and has been very reliable.

But 8GB can't cut it anymore.... Can anybody tell me the best and cheapest upgrade from a T500 that can take 16GB of RAM and has a WSXGA+ display or better, and isn't much larger than a T500 (which with the extended battery is very heavy to lug arround)..

Need: 16GB, WSXGA+ (or better), Extended battery. Preferably two spindles (Internal + UltraBay).

The "W" series graphics aren't important to me as I use the internal Intel card (and disable the other ATI? internal card).

Many thanks.

W520/W530 would be best for Java because they take 32G ram.
But, I have a T420 w/16G and it works just fine.

You would want a T520 as that is the first in that series that can take 16GB of RAM. Going with a 1080p screen is the only way you will have equal to or more than the same screen real estate as WSXGA+.

I did actually look at the T/W510 (can be expanded to 16GB according to reports) as well as the T/W520, although I can never imagine using 32GB (didn't Bill Gates say 640K Ought to be Enough for Anyone ...) but you never know.

It's frustrating as if it weren't for the memory issue, the T500 would last me much longer. This was also the case with the T43p... if it could have handled 8GB (I know... utterly impossible...) I'd still be using it today!!! (and I'm serious).

I guess the 510/20/30 it will have to be.

One other option I liked was a W701 (4 memory slots!) and 3-spindles.... (surely a worthy successor to the A31p !!) but the price is way out of my league currently.

Still will look at the T/W 5 range and I guess it is the way to go.

Many thanks guys.

You could still try and hunt around for a T50 motherboard, which fits in your T43 and pushes it up to 8GB RAM and other goodies!
A lot to read: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=110787

You could still try and hunt around for a T50 motherboard, which fits in your T43 and pushes it up to 8GB RAM and other goodies!
A lot to read: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=110787

Definitely DO NOT TOSS your t43p!

But, until enough people are involved to support this mod outside of the Middle Kingdom, your cost-effective options
are pretty much limited to procuring something that works without fiddling, via this forum or the watery place.

16GB is plenty for the next year or 2. If you intend to keep the machine for longer than that,
32GB is probably desirable. Memory is cheap, so programmers waste it. It's not like the old days.

W510 machines are dropping in price, and W520 machines are starting to come down, too. Sandy Bridge was a big step in computing power and battery life,
but either of these machines will blow away your T500. With prices decreasing so rapidly, IMHO it would not make sense to bother with a piddling little
dual-core i5 - go for the I7 quad cores with hyperthreading and get a W5x0 with a quad core - not a T5x0.

Just so you have something to go on, here are some reviews of the W510/W520:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 594.0.html

and

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Len ... 220.0.html

The main difference between the 2 models is much better battery life in the W520, USB 3.0,
a faster CPU, and the option to take 3 drives vs 2 (2 X 2.5" + msata in the W520)