New T43 User

[KuniD]

Hello all

I have just returned from a two week trip to Japan, where I spent some time going around the Akihabara electronics town. The prices (compared to the UK) were too tempting, so I took the plunge and bought a Thinkpad T43 (1871-17J) for 170,000Yen (£850!).

1.6Ghz Pentium-M
512Mb PC4200
40Gb (guessing its a 4200?)
14.1" XGA
DVDRW
Finger Print Scanner
XP Pro SP2

Overall I'm very impressed, can't believe how solid it is! I do have a few minor niggles to clear up though, so I'm hoping you lot can help me

1) It came with the usual manuals, leaflets (all in Japanese of course) and cables/accessories, but no CD's for OS or drivers - is this normal? What do I do if I need to reinstall windows? (I'm having a hard time trying to change the language settings with the Japanese text, so I'm thinking it'd be easier to wipe it and start from scratch)

2) I'm guessing that the 1871-17E and 1871-17J are pretty much the same, bar keyboard? If this is true, I can wipe my T43 and load these programs/utilities/drivers instead?

3) Just to triple check, will I have any problems with IBM UK, if I need to get it serviced/RMA'd?

5) 512mb RAM - is that using both slots or is one free?

6) Will adding extra RAM or upgrading my hard drive invalidate my warranty?

7) Whats the best/cheapest place to get spares for the T43 (would like to get the UK keyboard).

Thank you for your time and patience

[Zeitgeist]

Welcome to the forum!

Use the search function of this forum, keywords:
Restore, recovery, hardware maintenance manual (HMM).

RAM: one slot should be free, see HMM, of course upgrading does not invalidate your warranty.

Before you wipe the hdd, create the recovery CDs/DVD, use again the search function to find out about installing an english os.

Spares: www.ibm.com, prices are really reasonable.