About to Order a T43 (9668-92U); Any Last Minute Advice?

[rickslate]

I'm about to order a 9668-92U. The IBM rep even threw in an extra power adapter (car/home) and a leather case for just $69.

266892U Estimated Ship Date: 05/11/05

IBM ThinkPad T43 2668 - Pentium M 760 2 GHz - 15" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH) 13 in x 10.6 in x 1.4 in
Weight 6 lbs
Mobile Technology Intel Centrino
System Type Notebook
Built-in Devices Stereo speakers, wireless LAN antenna, fingerprint reader, ThinkLight, Bluetooth antenna
Processor Intel Pentium M 760 2 GHz
Cache Memory 2 MB - L2 cache
RAM 512 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - PC2-4200 - 533 MHz
Hard Drive 80 GB - 5400 rpm
Optical Storage DVD¦RW - plug-in module
Display 15" TFT active matrix SXGA+ (1400 x 1050)
Graphics Controller ATI MOBILITY RADEON X300 - 64 MB
Audio Output Sound card
Telecom Fax / modem - CDC - 56 Kbps
Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g
Wireless NIC Intel PRO/Wireless 2915ABG
Input Device Keyboard, TrackPoint, UltraNav
Power AC 110/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery Lithium ion
Run Time (Up To) 3.9 hour(s)
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Manufacturer Warranty 3 years warranty

Any last minute advice before I close the deal?

I'll be upgrading the memory to 2GB on my own through Crucial.com

[Leon]

Nice configuration. Unless your in a special purchase program, you should check with Bill. Ordering from him can save you the sales tax. (and Dead Pixel Check if you want).

[rickslate]

I'm in the SPP so I'm getting this pretty cheap.

[kimr]

I have a 2668-94U (the same as yours but no DVD-burner and the 60GB 7200 RPM drive). I wouldn't have changed anything about mine. You'll eventually want to put a faster hard drive in, but the prices on those are coming down.

[Leon]

Might still be worth a quick call.......

[rickslate]

Might still be worth a quick call.......

The pixel check does sound tempting but I just prefer buying directly from the manufacturer.

I have a 2668-94U (the same as yours but no DVD-burner and the 60GB 7200 RPM drive). I wouldn't have changed anything about mine. You'll eventually want to put a faster hard drive in, but the prices on those are coming down.

The 60GB drive was my first pick (I can barely fill 20GB right now). I was scared off though after reading all the threads about the 7200's noise level. It seems that most users don't notice it but I've read too many complaints about it to want to tempt fate. I have pretty sensative ears. I'm hoping the 2GB of memory will compensate some for the slower drive speed.

[aamsel]

OK, now this has truly been "beaten to death" but...
1.) Memory will not compensate for a slower hard drive. These are not the days of running DOS where the OS can run off a RAMDRIVE. Windows XP constantly hits the hard drive for a variety of reasons, and there is no substitute for a fast hard drive. More memory will help XP depending on what you are running and/or how many things you are running.

2.) The 7200 rpm is not substantially louder. It can, however produce more vibration. I personally can not tell any discernable difference in noise running a 7200 rpm vs a 5400 rpm.

The speed difference, however is dramatic. EVERYTHING is faster.
More memory won't accomplish this effect.

I put a Hitachi 60GB 7200 rpm in an old 600MHz PIII notebook I had. I won't run a notebook without a 7200.


Andrew
Austin, TX

...I'm hoping the 2GB of memory will compensate some for the slower drive speed.

[kimr]

A couple of observations, just for completeness.

1) I have a 5400RPM 80Gb in my T40. I have a 7200 RPM 60Gb in my T43.
The 5400 RPM drive has more vibration and is noisier than the 7200. It's
also about 6 months older.

2) A coworker spent a few days analyzing how to best reduce disk usage
in a 2GB T40. His conclusion was to create a fixed-size paging file of 256MB-512MB. This forces more of the RAM to be used. You can also try running without a paging file, but this caused some applications to fail.

[pae77]

Have to agree with Andrew on the 7200 rpm drive. The speed difference on my system over the original drive is dramatic and the noise level is not a problem. I use my TP a lot at home in a very quiet environment and I am sensitive to drive noise. It just has not been an issue so far, however, my 7k60 is not very old. Now, the fan noise is another story . . .

[stgreek]

2) A coworker spent a few days analyzing how to best reduce disk usage
in a 2GB T40. His conclusion was to create a fixed-size paging file of 256MB-512MB. This forces more of the RAM to be used. You can also try running without a paging file, but this caused some applications to fail.

On that aspect, I can assure you that Windows XP has the worst memory management from ANY OS out there.

I can post a 5-line code that simply creates an array and fills up about 180 Megs of memory. On WinXP, even on newly-booted systems with 2 gigs of RAM, windows will put it straight to the swap file. No changing options in the relevant system tab will change this. The funny thing is, even if you force windows to use no page file, it will create one and put it in!! Contrary to that, the same code run in any Unix OS (either compiled natively, or even the windows executable through wine) , will use the physical memory for storage.

So tell your co-worker not to sweat, it is not his fault but Bill's !!!

[aamsel]

Yes, Windows XP is "a pig"!!

Andrew
Austin, TX

2) A coworker spent a few days analyzing how to best reduce disk usage
in a 2GB T40. His conclusion was to create a fixed-size paging file of 256MB-512MB. This forces more of the RAM to be used. You can also try running without a paging file, but this caused some applications to fail.

On that aspect, I can assure you that Windows XP has the worst memory management from ANY OS out there.

I can post a 5-line code that simply creates an array and fills up about 180 Megs of memory. On WinXP, even on newly-booted systems with 2 gigs of RAM, windows will put it straight to the swap file. No changing options in the relevant system tab will change this. The funny thing is, even if you force windows to use no page file, it will create one and put it in!! Contrary to that, the same code run in any Unix OS (either compiled natively, or even the windows executable through wine) , will use the physical memory for storage.

So tell your co-worker not to sweat, it is not his fault but Bill's !!!

[fbrdphreak]

So tell your co-worker not to sweat, it is not his fault but Bill's !!!

Bill being Bill Gates of course, not Bill of thinkpads.com

[Leon]

No, your WRONG! It COULD be the OTHER Bill's fault too (he's been around a LONG TIME! .

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