T-23 vs. T-30 : pros and cons ?

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kstuart · #1 Post by **kstuart** » Sun May 28, 2006 6:26 pm

Hello,

I've narrowed down my imminent purchase to either a T-23 or a T-30 (I can't afford a T-4x). (I'm going to use it 99% of the time on WiFi, so amongst the T-23's I'm looking for the ones with the built-in wireless antenna. )

So, I'm looking for pros and cons of the T-23 vs the T-30, thanks!

NS · #2 Post by NS » Sun May 28, 2006 7:54 pm

Why don't you try this. http://stderr.org/pipermail/thinkpad/20 ... 16762.html

It is from our admin, JHEM.

#3 Post by **carbon_unit** » Sun May 28, 2006 8:17 pm

I never had a T30 but I've had some T23's. I like them.
From reading the posts here I gather the T30's run pretty hot and some are known to have a memory slot go bad.

ambientscape · #4 Post by **ambientscape** » Mon May 29, 2006 12:33 am

carbon_unit wrote:I never had a T30 but I've had some T23's. I like them.
From reading the posts here I gather the T30's run pretty hot and some are known to have a memory slot go bad.

Well, speaking about performance, T30 wins after all on speed and wireless built in. However, if you are considering about more portability , doing normal task such as microsoft office, surfing, and watching some dvd's on the move, then T23 would be just fine.

#5 Post by **schen** » Mon May 29, 2006 12:34 am

It all comes down to $$$. I tend to favor the T23 right now based on the kind of deal that can be made on them. I just got through finding 2 laptops for some friends that are switching to notebooks completely. I had $800 to work with. I bought 1 T23 for $250 that needed a bigger HDD making it $290 total, but it was key that it had wireless built-in, 1.13 Tualatin CPU (which IMHO makes it the functional equal to the P4s in the early T30s), and 1 Gb of RAM!

The 2nd machine was a T40 with a 30Gb HDD, 512Mb of RAM and wireless built-in of course. I looked hard at the T30s as well, but the ones that I found that were new enough to be faster than the T23 in the real world really push the pricepoint of the T40. So I figured, why bother.

Just my experience in the marketplace in the last couple of weeks.

MobileGuru · #6 Post by **MobileGuru** » Mon May 29, 2006 11:53 am

Personally, I'd stick with the older T23. The T30 was a power pig for the most part, and while there was an increase in performance, in my mind it didn't justify the significant decrease in battery life. A nicely configured T23 with a fast drive and a good memory load would be my choice between the two, since you didn't mention a basic T40.

MG.

kstuart · #7 Post by **kstuart** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:22 am

MobileGuru wrote: A nicely configured T23 with a fast drive and a good memory load would be my choice between the two, since you didn't mention a basic T40.

Okay, what about a basic T40 vs the "nicely configured" T23 ?

lithium726 · #8 Post by **lithium726** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:29 am

kstuart wrote:
MobileGuru wrote: A nicely configured T23 with a fast drive and a good memory load would be my choice between the two, since you didn't mention a basic T40.
Okay, what about a basic T40 vs the "nicely configured" T23 ?

T40 kills it. Battery life, build, weight, wireless reception, performance, screen, expandability, everything. The T4x series are, imo, some of the best thinkpads ever produced.

#9 Post by **dorronto** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:49 am

I agree... T23's are GREAT, but a T40 is smaller, lighter and more powerful........

FYI.......
Ron

JHEM · #10 Post by **JHEM** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:08 pm

kstuart wrote:Okay, what about a basic T40 vs the "nicely configured" T23?

T40 is the winner, hands down.

Regards,

James

gunston · #11 Post by **gunston** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 3:09 am

all in all, T40s is the winner, the best.

jongordo8 · #12 Post by **jongordo8** » Thu Jun 01, 2006 8:01 pm

Definitely a T40...you can pick one up for under 600 as well. I had a T23 prior to a T40, and I can honestly say that the T40 is much better. The T23 was nice, but the T40 is an amazing machine.

Website · #13 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:19 am

I am going to go slightly against the grain here. Given the prices of the two machines, I would go with the T23. If you are careful and patient, you can find a T23 with your requested specs for about $250-275. A T40 will run you $500 at a minimum, unless you are extremely lucky. I will note that I had a chance to pick up a loaded T40 for $450, because someone was in a hurry to try and buy a T60p. I really regret not taking them up on it, but live and learn.

I will certainly agree that the T40 would be a much faster machine, but you should expect that of a machine that is twice the price.

I think that it comes down to what your spending range is. For as close as the T30 and the T40 are in price....I'd pick a T40, hands down.

BruisedQuasar · #14 Post by **BruisedQuasar** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 1:49 pm

[quote="tfflivemb2"]I am going to go slightly against the grain here. Given the prices of the two machines, I would go with the T23.

I will certainly agree that the T40 would be a much faster machine, but you should expect that of a machine that is twice the price. [quote]

Price & Use. Very few people ever use more than 10% of the functions of huge, expensive productivity software like MS Office, MS Word. Less than 10% of owner-users ever use more than 10% of the functions. Few home PC owners ever use a PC for more than Internet surfing and the occassional letter or "For Sale" poster. It is incredible how many of these very people have $2,500 Desktop systems or a $1800 or more notebook and/or a $400 photo injet printer that is used to print a photo about once a month or so.

A basically well-engineered and quality made PC like the T-23 is flexible and can be generally upgraded and modified. Not all Thinkpads have turned out to be well- designed, well made or long term quality machines. The T-23 has and thus remains popular among buyers & users of used notebooks.

One use a T-23 is not good for is playing video games.

--Bruised

kstuart · #15 Post by **kstuart** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:30 pm

I ended up going for the T40 for reasons that had nothing to do with speed and power - I'm sure a T23 is quite sufficient for my uses and as mentioned by BruisedQuasar, for 98% of users.

However, there seemed to be a significant re-engineering of the laptop design aspects for the T4x series - including:

- Lighter and thinner
- Better keyboard (according to those who have both)
- Better display (simply due to technology advances)
- Better battery life (AFAIK best of the Thinkpads, and one of the best for laptops, esp with optional 9-cell and bay batteries)

While the speed doesn't matter to me (although I wanted something faster than the pokey and somewhat marginal 570), those factors do count.

BruisedQuasar · #16 Post by **BruisedQuasar** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 2:51 pm

kstuart wrote:I ended up going for the T40 for reasons that had nothing to do with speed and power - I'm sure a T23 is quite sufficient for my uses and as mentioned by BruisedQuasar, for 98% of users.
While the speed doesn't matter to me (although I wanted something faster than the pokey and somewhat marginal 570), those factors do count.

--In the end, what suits is the correct choice in any PC.

--Bruised

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