G41 good buy or not?

[T40User]

Hello friends,

I need your suggestions/opinions to help me decide whether I should go for a G41 or a T series thinkpad. I am inclined to buy the G41, even though I hate the shape and its outdated technology (like using desktop processors like Pentium P4 instead of the newer Pentium M). Mainly I like the fact that G41 is cheap and quite powerful (good processor speed). Most importantly it has the stuff that matches with my criteria.

My requirements of a Thinkpad are:
1) It should be a good Desktop replacement and cheap ( budget < $1,000).
2) Occasional travel with the Thinkpad - hence weight not an issue, but it should be sturdy.
3) Mostly plugged into Power supply, hence battery not a problem.
4) Not a whole lot of heavy duty applications. Occasional Video editing usage. Mostly Internet and other Office applications usage. Disk capacity about 60-80 GB atleast 5400 rpm.
5) No DVD/CD burner required. I already have external DVD burner.
6) Would prefer Pentium M, but P4 or P3 (as available in G series) is good enough I think.

Prompt reply will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[gforce]

Did you look into the (relatively) cheaper R series? You can get a good and sturdy R50e/R52 for under 1000 bucks.
Check out the following models:
1. http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840
2. http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840
3.
http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

[T40User]

Thanks gforce for the suggestions.

I guess R series looks good. If there are any other suggestions based on my criteria metioned below, anyone please advise.

My requirements of a Thinkpad are:
1) It should be a good Desktop replacement and cheap ( budget < $1,000).
2) Occasional travel with the Thinkpad - hence weight not an issue, but it should be sturdy.
3) Mostly plugged into Power supply, hence battery not a problem.
4) Not a whole lot of heavy duty applications. Occasional Video editing usage. Mostly Internet and other Office applications usage. Disk capacity about 60-80 GB atleast 5400 rpm.
5) No DVD/CD burner required. I already have external DVD burner.
6) Would prefer Pentium M, but P4 or P3 (as available in G series) is good enough I think.

[smugiri]

With the spec that you have given, may I suggest ( at the risk of being accused of using a pick to kill a gnat ) that you consider an A31p.

This was the granddaddy of all laptops about 4 years ago and is in my opinion one of the best Thinkpads ever made. Those on the high end of this line have specs comparable with those of some new laptops on the market despite being 4 years old and these higher end machines seem to fall at just about the magic $1000 barrier on eBay right now assuming you go with a reputable seller.

For example, you can get an IBM A31p 2653AU4 that went for about $3500 new 4 years ago for just about $1000 today. For your money, you would get:

* Pentium 4 M 1.7GHz with 512KB cache
* 768MB RAM
* 60GB Hard Drive ( 5400rpm )
* 15in UXGA(1600x1200) TFT LCD with TV Out
* 8x4x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD
* IBM 802.11b wireless, Bluetooth, Modem & 10/100 Ethernet (LOM)
* IEEE 1394

Most new laptops on the market do not have the combination of all these features ( built in Bluetooth/Firewire/TV out and UGXA on the same machine seems to me to be quite a big deal )

Some reasons why this seems to be a good fit for what you describe are:

- you will get better DVD burn speed with firewire that comes built in on this machine, I know from personal experience.
- your images will look GREAT on a UGXA screen
- you get the 60gb 5400 rpm drive standard built in up front, no need for messy ( and costly ) upgrades after the fact
- the A31p is built like a ROCK
- if you are mostly plugged in then this is the machine for you: I think that the battery life on this was like 3 minutes with the regular battery even when the machine was new. With the large capacity, you got like another 4 minutes to save your work.
- if you do video editing, the A31p came with TV in ( one of the few Thinkpads that ever has. )

Here are detailed specson the 2653AU4: there are maybe 2/3 available right now ( Oct 17th 2005 ) on eBay.

Here are the search results that I got on eBay