My T43 arrived today!

[thespeakerbox]

Wow. I played around with an old IBM in highschool, but im guessing it wasnt a T series or modern because this thing feels like a TANK!!!

The case is simply amazing. It's the most sturdy feeling laptop i've ever owned. This blows all the dells i've ever used (Inspiron and XPS series).

I sacrificed some general computer power (lower specs on the thinkpad) in order to get my T43, but i'm glad i did! The keyboard and nub thing are amazing. It feels so much better than other laptop keyboards.

I was thinking about purchasing a dual core gateway, but instead got this for the same price. ($550) I can't wait put it to work

Specs

t43
512mb ram
14.1
x300
60gb 5400 hdd

I'll probably upgrade the memory and HDD soon. Any suggestions? What about a case suggestion? I need one quick!

[pianowizard]

Many HDDs would lead to the 2010 error on the T43, which many people extremely annoying. See this thread for more info.

[Ken Fox]

Many HDDs would lead to the 2010 error on the T43, which many people extremely annoying. See this thread for more info.

The safest and best solution would be to buy a Hitachi 7K100 PATA drive in the 100gb size. There are a number of good explanations on this website to guide one in flashing the IBM firmware to avoid the 2010 error. I have also seen some explanations for the 80gb version. There are a few other drives that some have flashed successfully, and reportedly a drive or two that don't require flashing, although results on at least some of them have been mixed.

Being as the 100gb 7K100 is both the fastest PATA drive out there at the moment, and because it is not very expensive (about $130 delivered from Newegg, it seems the best choice and will represent a real upgrade from a 60gb 5400rpm drive. The original 60gb drive could be used either in an ultrabay adapter for about $35, or put into any old USB2 2.5" hard drive box. The latter regularly sell for around $12 delivered from various sites or as low as $7 or $8 from Meritline with frequently available online coupons one can find on such sites as techbargains.net , bensbargains.net , gotapex.com , fatwallet.com, slickdeals.net (especially in the forums section for the latter two), and I'm sure, other sites.