A31 vs R50 Vs T40

[dwilsonfl]

Well, due to circumstances within my control, I now have three thinkpads in the family and two people.

A31 - 1.9 P4, 1 gig RAM, 40 gig 5400 RPM, 15", CD/DVD, floppy

R50 - 1.6 Centrino, 512, 40, 15, CD, internal wireless b/g (bought from HarryC)

T40/41 - 1.7 Dothan, 1 GIG, 80gig 7200, 14", CD/DVD, internal b/g

Gotta shed one, thinking the A31, but since I've never owned one just want to make sure that's the choice.

How does performance compare across the three? Is shedding the A31 the right course of action? The T40 is my main machine everywhere. Sure lighter than they other two.

Thanks for the help,

David

[ajkula66]

Well, you're on the right track. As much as I love A3x units, I'd suggest getting rid of A31 if you must sell one of the machines.

What's the model number of A31 in question?

[dwilsonfl]

2653-CU3

Wife's machine is a desktop replacement so I got the R50 for her with that in mind. Then the A31 dropped into my lap.

[ajkula66]

Well, depending on the shape of your A31, with given specs/upgrades you could walk away with anywhere from $200-225 IMO, not a bad deal.

[sjthinkpader]

I would keep the A31 just for the 3 spindle flexibility and utility.

The T40/T41 is the least desirable for home use although the Dothan CPU and 80GB HDD are nice. You can use these in the R50.

Generally 15 inch is much better for home use than 14.1 inch.

[dwilsonfl]

yeah I'd love to have a 15" on the T40, but it goes everywhere with me and doesn't weigh a ton.

May upgrade the HD and chip on the R50 later on.

What does "3 spindle flexibility" mean?

[denisky]

It means that there are three drives in the laptop: HDD, CD, FDD.

CMMIW

[dwilsonfl]

Oh, sorry, I haven't used a floppy in years. That to me is like saying you have an 8 track in your car.

[virge]

Oh, sorry, I haven't used a floppy in years. That to me is like saying you have an 8 track in your car.

Well, you're not stuck with just the floppy. Instead of the floppy, you could install another optical drive and burn a copy of a CD or DVD much more quickly than if you had to write it to the hard drive first. Or if you want additional storage, you could install two additional hard drive bays. I think the point is that the A31 offers a lot of expandability.

Edit: grammar and spelling.

[dwilsonfl]

Ah - (light goes on in a dim place)

Now I get it. I can has multiple CDs, HDs, etc.

So could I speed the A31 to T40 or beyond? Interesting.

Thanks guys.

[ajkula66]

You can speed up A31 up to 2.6Ghz P4M which would rival PM1.7 or thereabouts...throw in 2GB of RAM and a fast drive, and you'll be surprised how modern it feels...

FWIW, the second A31p in my signature is still treated as "the main rig" although there are more modern and powerful ThinkPads around...

[dwilsonfl]

Isn't the A31 limited to 1 gig of DDR though? So I could use 2100 or 2700

[ajkula66]

Any A31/p will take up to 2GB of PC2100/2700 RAM.

The only reason why the original specs state that it maxes out at 1GB is the fact that at the time the largest DIMM was 512MB, and they were never updated.

Both of my A31p machines (along with dozens of other A31/p units that I had owned) are running with 2GB RAM installed.

[sjthinkpader]

I did a cloning in my A31 a few days ago, with two Ultrabay2000 drive trays. Checked the drives with virus checker first, then clone a HDD in one tray to a new HDD in the other.

This is doable with a T4x/R5x with a full dock but the A31/A31ps are just so flexible. They are not the easiest to carry around though.

I have a 2.5Ghz P4-M and 2GB RAM in my A31. You just have to watch the temperature. They will accept a 12.7mm HDD too.

Since the A31p has DVI output, they are great for HDTV duty.

Although they are known to have the GPU detachment problems but nowhere near the extend on T40/T41s. So they are great for playing games. The Radeon 7800 in A31p is not too bad.

[schen]

Your situation sound's almost ideal if you could see fit to hang on to all 3 machines. I have used Ts for some time since I tend to carry my machines around quite a bit, so I'm happy to live with the compromise of not having a 15" screen. However, my wife uses her machine almost exclusively in the living room, so the 15" R52 is perfect for that (now that she's finally stopped pulling a floppy or LS-120 on occasion).

A 3rd machine makes a great backup that keeps you from hauling your T41 all over the house (or even to take out of the case) as well as an excellent open access workstation for whenever you have guest. As have already been stated, they tend to make exceptionally flexible workstations as well which can be configured in virtually any manner you like. If you put the thing in a 2631 full dock(which are virtually "give away" these days), you can put a USB 2.0 card in the PCI slot and have a total of 3 UltraBays to do with what you want! DVD Burners of the UB2K form-factor are very inexpensive and the WD 250Gb PATA HDD can be had for $90.

[dwilsonfl]

So what will transfer between the machines?

CD Drives etc between the R50 and T41 but not A31, right?

Docks?

can I pull the HD out of the T and drop it in the A31?

CPU from T to R, correct?

Working out the possibilities of using the A31 more and reserving the T41 for travel/ portable use.

A31 has an amazingly bright screen.
R50 has flexview
T41 has a tired LCD I'm afraid for it is the dullest of the lot.

[ajkula66]

You can't put an enhanced drive from R series into T4 series, but you can put the slim one from T4x into R5x, some space will be left on the sides.

A31 will likely not be able to read the disk from T40, so you're probably better off saving the important stuff on a CD, and doing a clean install on A31.

You can swap CPUs between T4x and R5x.

Hope this helps.

[schen]

Docks?

Working out the possibilities of using the A31 more and reserving the T41 for travel/ portable use.

A31 has an amazingly bright screen.
R50 has flexview
T41 has a tired LCD I'm afraid for it is the dullest of the lot.

That sound's along the lines of what I was describing. Everything else, has been answered more than adequately, so I'll try and tackle the "Dock" question. Ideally, if you do the full Dock from the later T4x/R5x series (model 2877), you'll be able handle all 3 of your machines since it has a sliding cover that allows the machine to key for it's connector regardless of different physical locations. It also has a PCI slot as well as a UB2K bay and built-in power supply. They are pretty cheap these days and should also be relatively easy to find.

The 2631 full dock from the previous (T2x/T3x/A2x/A3x) series is typically "dirt cheap" and has essentially the same features as above with the exception of the slide cover that allows the later machines to connect.

If you do end up keeping those, there's always the option of upgrading the LCDs as you get time as I've done. I picked up a SXGA+ screen assembly for my T41 pretty cheap on ebay ($50) and did that. 15" SXGA+ screens can be found in both plain as well as Flexview versions so you can upgrade the A31 as well.