Help me decide (t41p vs t42)

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brendel95 · #1 Post by **brendel95** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:10 pm

I am considering between

t41P(Refurb) 2373-GGU

P M 1.7GHz,
512MB RAM,
60GB 7200rpm HDD,
14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD,
128MB FireGL T2,
16x10x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD(slim),
802.11b Wireless(MPCI),
Bluetooth/Modem(CDC),
1GB Ethernet(LOM),
Secure Chip,
UltraNav,
9 cell Li-Ion battery,
WinXP Pro

t42 2378-kk2
P M 745(1.8GHz),
512MB RAM,
60GB 5400rpm HD,
15in 1400x1050 LCD,
64MB ATI Radeon 9600,
CDRW/DVD,
Intel 802.11abg wireless,
Bluetooth/Modem,
1Gb Ethernet,
UltraNav,
Secure chip,
Fingerprint reader,
6c Li-Ion batt,
WinXP Home

Both have really similar specs and t41p is about $100 cheaper.

What would you get?

I do mostly use matlab, C++ coding, and latex (for the paper)

Thanks in advance

nirvana0001 · #2 Post by **nirvana0001** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:26 pm

for those programs i think t42 is good enough

cmarti · #3 Post by **cmarti** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 9:32 pm

My choice:

The T41p because it has a better video GPU ( double ) in case in the future you want to upgrade it will be more dificult.

I know because i been there.

brendel95 · #4 Post by **brendel95** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:38 pm

Do you think I can buy more warranty for the refub model?
I believe that refurb has only like 6month warranty.

Does t42 uses better cpu than t41p?(cache size and so on)

nirvana0001 · #5 Post by **nirvana0001** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:06 pm

you mean mack warranty?
Do you really need T2 for those programs?

brendel95 · #6 Post by **brendel95** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 11:15 pm

My concern is that t41p is refurb and it is not a donthan processor. Of course faster the processor, it is better. sometimes I do run a big code on the notebook when my desktop is running 100% for couple of days

And there are no mack warranty in my country yet. (I am not sure though)

Is t41p > t42 ? even if it is a refurb.

AIX · #7 Post by **AIX** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:09 am

T41p (14.1") is lighter than T42 (15"); and has better battery life (9cell vs. 6cell). Probably the CPU is Banias; anyway, my vote is for T41p in this case.

christopher_wolf · #8 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:50 am

I routinely compile over 50K lines of code on my T43 and I have seen my friend with his T40 do much the same; unless you are doing really huge amounts of coding, you will most likely not notice the CPU speed as much as you will the memory. I would go for the T41p in this case; it all depends on whether or not you are mobile with it. The 128MB Video Card just comes in as an extra goody.

hoya · #9 Post by **hoya** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:15 am

I would focos more on the fact that one is a 15" while the other is a 14" - this doesn't sound like much, but if you plan to carry this with you for extended periods I would highly recommend the T41p.

if this will only leave your desk rarely or you aren't sensitive to weight, the T42 is the way to. the 2mb cache on Dothan is better than the 1mb on Banias, and the TDP is 21W rather than 27W, so battery life will be better on the T42, all else being equal (since T41p has 9-cell it will have better life in this case, but you can always buy a 6-cell on eBay cheaply).

cmarti · #10 Post by **cmarti** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:58 am

This is what i would do if i was you:

1-Buy the T41p.
2-Buy and upgrade to SL7V3 Pentium 765 2.10Ghz 2Mb cache.
3-Sell my Banias on Ebay.
4-Enjoy the fact that my T41p is more powerful than any T42.
( Not including T42p )

Your choice!

nirvana0001 · #11 Post by **nirvana0001** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:11 pm

Yes, t41p is using Banias(400Mhz) and t42 is using dothan(533Mhz).
However, their motherboards are both running at 400Mhz, which means both processors are running at 400Mhz too. so.........not big different. You can overclock Banias to 2Mhz or whatever you like.........

Troels · #12 Post by **Troels** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:44 pm

The T42 cpu is dothan 400 mhz fsb, you probably meant that anyway.

-----
As to what to buy, it is hard for others to choose for you -
How new are the batteries ? If the 9 cell is old and only holds 2/3 charge then it is not better than a new 6 cell. Also, the 9 is larger, so take that into account when you are looking for a bag for the notebook.

Will you be carying this around? It's not impossible to cary around the 15" since it is a lot lighter than many of the 15.4" notebooks available, and has a smaller footprint, perhaps you should try putting something the same weight in a backpack and try...
The 14" is considerably lighter though.

If you're not in the US, the MACK warranty is quite bad. AFAIK you'll need to ship it to NY when under warranty, regardless of where you live.

802.11b Wireless of the T41p is not much, but can be upgraded.

The FireGL T2 and 9600 are the same chipset, only the T2 has double the memory. Considering your uses and that applications that require much memory are games, and that those most likely soon will require much more memory along with a faster GPU i'd say it doesn't matter what you choose here.

Sucks that the t42 comes with winxp home only though... But if you use Linux, then...

brendel95 · #13 Post by **brendel95** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:00 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. Yes, I will enjoy small form facter because I have problem with my back. 15inch looks more bulky and heavy and t42 has only one year wrranty. Finally, t41p is about $100 cheaper than t42.

I am leaning toward t41p but I will ask more question to the seller to make sure that battery is new and it is IBM refrubished not others.

I will post review when I got one of them soon

Thanks again

cmarti · #14 Post by **cmarti** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:01 pm

Wise choice!!

T41p Better--->T42

T41p= Lot cheaper to upgrade + you can sell the parts that you remove during the upgrade, because they are working!!

Keep us posted.

brendel95 · #15 Post by **brendel95** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:46 pm

Finally, I got the t42 instead of t41p.

I called 4 dealers to check whether they have t41p refurb. But nobody had them (Although they said in stock on their website). So I got the t42.

But I am really happy about the machine. Most of all its warranty. The ibm website said that this model has 1 year warranty. But wehn I checked warranty status through the IBM website, it has 3 years and then I called IBM and checked that it has 3 years mainboard warranty (all other parts are 1 year except battery).

Also when I was at the dealer, I checked LCD and I found 1 bad pixel on the bottom left corner. And they gave me the choice of getting new one and discount. I choose the discount(Because it was almost invisible in my eyes). So I got like $100 off.

Now I am typing on my new machine. And also upgraded ram to 1.5GB. Keyboard is really awesome (I am keep typing now ^^). Performancewise, I don't know yet ( i had only 12hours). But I know that it should be good. One bad thing is that it looks little bulky when I placed mine next to my sister's t42 (14inch). But it is okay because I will not place mine next my sister's computer.

Thanks guys

One happy t42 user

dr_st · #16 Post by **dr_st** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:26 am

brendel95 wrote:One bad thing is that it looks little bulky when I placed mine next to my sister's t42 (14inch). But it is okay because I will not place mine next my sister's computer.

Do place the laptops next to each other, then look at the screens and evaluate their quality. Then look at the screens from different angles to feel the superiority of the 15" LCD.

Also, IMO, the extra space on the sides of the keyboard on the 15" model makes for an overall neater look.

Aroc · #17 Post by **Aroc** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 1:37 pm

I would not want to carry around the extra weight and bulk of a 15 inch. Although I would like to have the option of the UXGA or QXGA displays. And for that, I would need a 15 inch.

brendel95 · #18 Post by **brendel95** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 9:10 pm

I did placed 14inch (XGA, 2378RGU) next to my 15inch (SXGA, 2378-kk2). And LCD differences are Huge. All the font in 15inch is much clear and viewing angle is a lot larger for the 15inch. Also 15inch is brighter thant 14inch. Of course, because of its resolution, 15inch has much more work spcaes.

Also I measure the weight of both machines and difference was really minimal

14inch was 2.4kg (5.291094lb)
15inch was 2.7Kg (5.952481lb))

bzzz · #19 Post by **bzzz** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:37 am

brendel95 wrote:I did placed 14inch (XGA, 2378RGU) next to my 15inch (SXGA, 2378-kk2). And LCD differences are Huge. All the font in 15inch is much clear and viewing angle is a lot larger for the 15inch. Also 15inch is brighter thant 14inch. Of course, because of its resolution, 15inch has much more work spcaes.

Also I measure the weight of both machines and difference was really minimal

14inch was 2.4kg (5.291094lb)
15inch was 2.7Kg (5.952481lb))

I'd say it's silly to compare TN+flim LCD (14") to FlexView (15"). And 14" T4x is 2.2kg, not 2.4. Plus it's smaller (noticable). I tried the both and choose 14" because of size of weight.

brendel95 · #20 Post by **brendel95** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 7:29 pm

I know its silly comparision. But as you know dr_st suggest me to compare. Also the weight is my own measure using my scale and there should be some error. I believe that all the 14inch t42 does not have same weight. Correct me if I am wrong.

And in the above post, I said that it looks bulkier than 14inch.

You don't need to be cynical to the happy 15inch owner.

dr_st · #21 Post by **dr_st** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:08 am

brendel95 wrote:I know its silly comparision. But as you know dr_st suggest me to compare.

Exactly. It's silly, because Flexview is _so much_ better. An inch of size here, an inch of size there is negligible in the long run. Screen isn't.

Help me decide (t41p vs t42)

Help me decide (t41p vs t42)

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