T30's too heavy? Where's sweet spot in T-series?

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silo · #1 Post by **silo** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 4:45 am

I had a nice T30 some time ago and it was nice and quite fast (don't remember the particulars just now) but it was VERY heavy, at least in comparison to my T23 and so on. Are all the T30's heavy or is that a function of a special high res screen (seems to me that my T30 screen was a high res 15" [?] or something.

I guess I'm wondering where the sweet spot is in the T series?

#2 Post by **jdhurst** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:18 am

The real sweet spot in the T series (in my opinion) was the T23. Thin, small in surface area, and not too heavy. The next one from that is the T4x with 14 inch screen. Thin, not to heavy, but way too large in surface area. I use a T41 for its added CPU and other technologies, but I preferred the form factor of my T23.
... JD Hurst

ambientscape · #3 Post by **ambientscape** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 9:14 am

jdhurst wrote:The real sweet spot in the T series (in my opinion) was the T23. Thin, small in surface area, and not too heavy. The next one from that is the T4x with 14 inch screen. Thin, not to heavy, but way too large in surface area. I use a T41 for its added CPU and other technologies, but I preferred the form factor of my T23.
... JD Hurst

I agree on JD, not because I own a T23. How I wish having a T4X specs on a T23......that would be great!!

#4 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 12:44 pm

Is the t23 similar in size to the 600 series? 600's really are a great size. I do agree about the t30 being a bit heavy but it is solid. My t60 w/6 cell is great except for that WAN antenna sticking of the side, that is truly an afterthought. I still carry my t30 every day.

Website · #5 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 1:03 pm

The T23 is larger than the 600 series, as the 600 series has a 12-13" LCD, where as the T23 has a 14.1" LCD. It is much lighter than the T30, but heavier than the 600 series.

I agree that the T23 is the sweet spot. That Tualatin processor is really nice and powerful for what it is.

#6 Post by **rkawakami** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:26 pm

The 600E and 600X systems I have vary from 2386 to 2438 grams. The T23 systems weigh between 2292 and 2361. In other words, my heaviest T23 is still very slightly lighter than my lightest 600X. The overall case dimensions give the 600X a small advantage. It is only about 1/8" narrower and 1/2" less deep than the T23. Even with the larger 14.1" screens, the T23's lid is only this much bigger because the 600X's bezel is thicker around the edges. However, the 600X is a few millimeters thicker than the T23.

pianowizard · #7 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:48 pm

I just scanned through the tabook and tawbook and found that the 14.1" T40 and the T41, at 4.9 lbs, are the lightest among the T series.

Regarding the 600 series vs. the T series, I had a TP600 that was 5.40 lbs and a 600E that was 5.29 lbs, both heavier than the T23 I had (5.10 lbs) and the T43 I currently own (5.17 lbs), but comparable to the T21 that I am about to sell (5.34 lbs).

Website · #8 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:53 pm

Wow, I never actually weighed my 600s and T2xs, I just went by feel.

silo · #9 Post by **silo** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 5:29 am

jdhurst wrote:The real sweet spot in the T series (in my opinion) was the T23. Thin, small in surface area, and not too heavy. The next one from that is the T4x with 14 inch screen. Thin, not to heavy, but way too large in surface area. I use a T41 for its added CPU and other technologies, but I preferred the form factor of my T23.
... JD Hurst

Here's a question I asked on another thread--how much difference in performance between my T23 w/ 80G 7200RPM HD and 1 G ram, and a T41p or T42p?

Is it like night and day? I'd like the higher res screen, I know, but I don't like the T43 units (the fan is awful, speeding up and slowing down--very annoying). A lot of people seem to swear by the T41p--any opinions about that vs the T42p?

Website · #10 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:53 am

Keep in mind that some T23s came with SXGA+ (1400x1050), which is obviously a higher resolution screen than the standard XGA (1024x768).

#11 Post by **jdhurst** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 7:36 am

My T23 was 1024x768, 1.1GHz P3 and 4200-rpm hard drive. Even with a faster hard drive in the T23, I am fairly sure my T41 (1.8Ghz Pentium M, 1024x768) would outperform the T23.

What I drool for is the newest, best, fastest and biggest 7200-rpm hard drive in a T23 case or smaller with T23 weight or lighter and still with on-board DVD.
... JD Hurst

mysbca · #12 Post by **mysbca** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 12:35 pm

silo wrote:A lot of people seem to swear by the T41p--any opinions about that vs the T42p?

Not too much difference between the T41p and th T42p, except for the processor. T41p uses the Banias processor (1MB cache) and the T42p uses the Dothan (2MB cache). Dothan processors will provide slight performance improvement at the same clock speed, but Dothans start at 1.5GHz while the Banias tops out at 1.7GHz. T42p starts at 1.8GHz. Some people here have upgraded their T41 and T41p with a Dothan processor.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=28274

The T42p allows you to set the thresholds for charging the battery, but the T41p doesn't. 15" displays are also available on the T42p, but not on the T41p.

silo · #13 Post by **silo** » Wed Sep 06, 2006 6:19 pm

jdhurst wrote:My T23 was 1024x768, 1.1GHz P3 and 4200-rpm hard drive. Even with a faster hard drive in the T23, I am fairly sure my T41 (1.8Ghz Pentium M, 1024x768) would outperform the T23.

What I drool for is the newest, best, fastest and biggest 7200-rpm hard drive in a T23 case or smaller with T23 weight or lighter and still with on-board DVD.
... JD Hurst

I just put a 80G Hitachi 7200 in my T23--quiet and fast. I wonder if I could get a 1400x screen to replace the 1024x I currently have, and if the price would be right (and the install simple enough for a deadhead like me).

The higher res screen would make a big diff to me. I'm thinking of going to T41p just to get it.

What the relative size of your T41 and T23 -- are they about the same size and weight?

mysbca · #14 Post by **mysbca** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:10 am

silo wrote:What the relative size of your T41 and T23 -- are they about the same size and weight?

The T4x series is a little thinner (1" in front, 1.2" in the back) than the T23 (1.3" thick), but a little wider and deeper (12.2" x 10.0") than the T23 (12.1" x 9.8"). It is also a little lighter (~0.4 lb with the 6 cell battery). Add 0.5 lb and another inch in depth for the 9-cell battery.

t20user · #15 Post by **t20user** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 1:39 pm

Sweet spot is a little bit of a misnomer. The T23 was the sweetspot until the T4x series came along with the better performance and lower power CPUs. However I think the T2x design is tougher. My T41 seems delicate compared to my T2x machines.

So, my sweet spot means owning one from each series. My T41 is my daily driver, and my T22 is my beater.

Thinkpaddict · #16 Post by **Thinkpaddict** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 4:26 pm

Like already mentioned, the T23 is a better physical design in my opinion, whereas the T4x is more advanced technologically as is to be expected for a newer machine.

A T23 with 1.13 or 1.2 GHz machine is about 2/3 as fast as your average Dothan processor. The value of the T23 is much better as well, probably about 1/4 in eBay. So, 2/3 * 4/1 = 8:3 preferability ratio *TM* of the T23 vs an average T42. Of course, you can also go with a T40 and save costs.

Key considerations: 1. T23 doesn't have integrated USB 2 (for me this is a non-issue, as I use PC cards for this).
2. T23 has an older graphics card (antique, if you will

), so even a measly Radeon 7500 in the base T4x models will be better than that.
3. All other considerations aside, if the choice is between a T23 without warranty and a T4x without warranty, go for the cheaper machine.
4. Whatever you do, don't get a &^%%ing Dell.

T30's too heavy? Where's sweet spot in T-series?

T30's too heavy? Where's sweet spot in T-series?

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