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Here's a moderately lengthy review of my new T42 (2373CYU) that I just received today... I tried to take closeup shots with this crappy HP Photosmart digital camera, but the pics are grainy and quite useless. If I can get the camera to take a decent picture, I'll see about posting them or having Bill make them available.
Order Date: 05-14-2004, 11:24am
Delivery Date: 05-21-2004, 11:00am (Est. date was June 16th!)
Summary of features: 1.8GHz, 1GB, 80GB 5400rpm HDD, 15" SXGA+ Flexview, MR9600 w/64MB, IBM a/b/g, Gigabit, Bluetooth, DVD-R/RW
Aesthetics
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The system is very solidly built. There is only one battery latch, instead of two, as on the T40/T41, but the battery (6-cell) stays in there. Not the kind of wiggle some of the T Series batteries have shown in the past. Of course, I have a Sony battery, which tend to fit tighter than the Sanyo batteries.
The left-side palmrest is very snug, and doesn't make any noise/squeaking that my T40p did when it would come into contact with the PC Card housing. Also, there isn't any flimsiness of the keyboard. On my T40p, the right side needed a business card underneath it to keep the PgUp/PgDn and arrow keys from flexing or giving way a bit. The keyboard is solid and secure. I removed the keyboard and it was a very tight fit, with little to no room to move around, unlike my T40p in which the keyboard could move an 1/8th to 1/4 inch when the screws were removed. Needed a screwdriver to lightly pry the keyboard out. Once out, the internals, with the exception of the wireless antenna cable paths (a bit different) remain identical to the T40p/T41p. There is an additional cushion above the fan to firm up the keyboard.
The keyboard itself has the same exact feel as the T41p. The only difference is that the plastic around the Access IBM and volume buttons is now matte instead of glossy plastic. This eliminates the glare sometimes associated with the ThinkLight reflecting off the glossy plastic in low-light situations.
There is more room on each side of the keyboard, and about 3/4" more room for the palmrest area v. the T40/T41. It 'seems' like I'm using a roomier keyboard, but the keyboard itself is identical, except for the matte plastic grille around the buttons I just mentioned.
As far as heat goes, the keyboard remains room temperature throughout, and the right palmrest has a similar heat characteristic to that of the T40p/T41p. The 80GB 5400rpm drive actually doesn't generate as much heat, and it's definitely quieter than my 60GB 7200rpm drive. Even under a load, burning DVDs, the drives operate at a comfortable thermal level.
The 15" SXGA+ Flexview screen is PERFECT (well, mine has ONE dead GREEN pixel, but in theory....lol). For my money, this is the perfect size/resolution combination. I compared my screen with a UXGA resolution screen, and it is much easier on the eyes, and still gives you a good amount of screen real-estate. The UXGA is beautiful, but I feel that IBM has struck a nice balance with the 15" SXGA+ screen. Side by side with a T41, and you can see a noticeable increase in readability between the 15" and 14" SXGA+. And the contrast, brightness, color saturation on the Flexview is well worth the money. The metal LCD hinges are also bigger (or more precisely, they are both the same size now, whereas on the T41, one was bigger than the other... on the T42 with 15" Flexview, they are both bigger).
Also, the ThinkLight is once again WHITE (for all those folks with R50p's and AMBER ThinkLights)...
FAN..... The fan is the same LONG FAN used in the T41p. It seems to make SLIGHTLY more sound when on, but I think that's because the fan vent is slightly bigger than those on the T41p. Again, it may not be ANY different, but I think it's a tad louder. Also, the fan runs near continuously when the CPU is on full power. However, the bottom of the unit seems to stay cooler than my T40p, so who knows. But the GOOD NEWS is that there is NO ANNOYING HUM, FLUCTUATION, 5 SECOND INTERMITTENT HICCUP or any of that nonesense I encountered with my T40p. Even with the fan on at full speed, I can absolutely live with it, and it doesn't bother me. So I'm definitely happy I don't have to do surgery on my new machine because of a noisy fan.
Finally, the side ports, the Ultrabay Slim, the battery, the memory expansion slot, and the overall construction are what we all come to expect from the T Series line. No ABS plastic cover, this is the T41p's big brother with the same materials and quality construction. In fact, as I've said about the solid construction, it actually feels stronger than the T40/T41.
If there are any aspects of the build that I've missed, ask me a question, and I'll try to follow up in this thread.
Configuration
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The system comes configured slightly different from previous systems. The biggest change is the IBM Rescue and Recovery with Rapid Restore 4.0. When you press the Access IBM button at startup, you now get the IBM R&Rw/RR main screen, which includes many of the same features the previous PreDesktop area included. But now you have the Opera Browser available with network connectivity (very cool), and a number of diagnostics and backup/recovery options. And FINALLY... there are utilities included that allow you to BACKUP the factory software and configuration. It makes 7 discs that allow you to completely restore factory contents from CD. It also allows you to make CD backups of your R&R data backups for archive purposes. Very nice to see IBM addressed these two issues. They were also probably tired of all of us calling up asking for the restore CDs.
The downside to IBM R&R is that it takes hard drive space. In addition to the 3.5GB of hidden HPA (which is where the PreDesktop area resides, and remains hidden from the OS), there's another 4.3GB service partition viewable from WinXP Manage applet wich is labeled IBM_SERVICE. It's a FAT32 partition that can't be modified or tinkered with (can't even assign it a drive letter) from within WinXP (haven't tried Partition Magic on it yet). Unlike the HPA, this service partition is used to store Rapid Restore backups, etc. Not sure how this will affect the system if you unistall or delete RR and the partition. It seems that the system requires it to be there given that the Access IBM button boots right into RR. I'll tinker with it over the weekend. But with the restore disks readily made, I may just remove all the hidden parition info and service partition info, and recapture 8-9GB of space. IBM RR lets you backup to CD, so it's not necessary, I would think, to have the service partition present.
Some additional (limited feature-set) DVD authoring software WinDVD Creator and a label maker from Sonic are included, as well as Adobe Reader 6. Other than that, the software is the same stack as what IBM has been including in the T Series since the T40.
Oh, almost forgot. I think most of us have broadband, but there's a Digital Line Detect applet in the Start Group, as well as a new NetWaiting application. Evidently, this software allows you to put your analog dialup line on hold while you answer voice calls, etc. Not sure how useful it is to most of us, but it's there.
All the latest BIOS, Embedded Controller, and ThinkVantage technology drivers and updates are present, so the system is ready to go.
Performance
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I ran some video and system benchmarks outlined below. All in all, this is a great desktop replacement. On average, synthetic benchmarks show that this system is roughly equivalent to a 2.4 ~ 2.6GHz P4 depending on the task. Again, synthetic and subjective. But it is very snappy and noticeably faster than the T40p.
The only 'downside' to Flexview that I can see is the refresh rate/response time. On some 3D and game benchmarks, ghosting during high action, detailed scenes was evident. Not overwhelming, not overly distracting... but a hard-core gamer MAY BE one constituent who considers the non-Flexview if gaming on the notebook LCD is a common/often practice. For most gamers, regardless of LCD, they are hooking into a hi-res CRT, so this isn't an issue for most non-gamers. But I thought I'd mention it up front. I could tell a definite increase in ghosting v. my T40p. The good news is that the MR9600 memory is clocked higher than the same memory on the T42p with FireGL (at least it was clocked higher than the demo T42p I saw). So the 3DMark scores I achieved on my T42 v. my old T40p v. the T42p demo I played with are modestly higher v. the latter, and significantly higher than what the T40p posted. End result, the MR9600 is WAY BETTER for gaming and 3D, hands down, no contest. Not to mention, the DirectX 9.0b support is a bonus (required for gamers).
So then, here are the scores from 3DMark2001se, 3DMark 2003, SiSoft Sandra 2004. I'll put the scores I achieved with my T40p (1.6GHz, 1GB PC2100, FireGL 9000, 60GB 7200rpm HDD), as well as my girlfriend's R40 (1.3Ghz, 512MB PC2100, 20GB 4200rpm HDD, M6 video with 16MB), just to give everyone an idea of the performance. I'm also throwing in my old P4-2GHz system with 512MB RDRAM PC-800...
Lastly, the 80GB hard drive is nearly as fast on cached writes as the 60GB 7200RPM drive. This is important for me, as I do a good amount of video capture. But the cached reads are also fairly close. My tests indicate that there is maybe a 15%-20% improvement (max) in read/write speed with th 60GB 7200rpm v. 80GB 5400rpm. Given that nominal difference, I'll take the extra 20GB and quiter/less vibration 80GB drive anytime. Again, some of this is subjective, but my 60GB drive in my T40p definitely makes more noise and gives my right hand a nice vibrating massage everytime I use the notebook. lol
Now for the numbers....
SiSoft Sandra 2004 System Benchmark:
T42 (2373CYU): CPU-ALU=5493 CPU-Int=16518 CPU-Flt=18233 Mem-Int=2184 Mem-Flt=2193 HDD=22548 BufferedWrite=67MBsec (5400rpm HDD)
T40p (2373G3U): CPU-ALU=4984 CPU-Int=14877 CPU-Flt=16802 Mem-Int=1970 Mem-Flt=1983 HDD=23247 BufferedWrite=69MBsec (7200rpm HDD)
R40 (289723U): CPU-ALU=4077 CPU-Int=12353 CPU-Flt=13672 Mem-Int=1955 Mem-Flt=1964 HDD=13394 BufferedWrite=38MBsec (4200rpm HDD)
P4-2GHz : CPU-ALU=5275 Mem-Int=2554 Mem-Flt=2554 HDD=36900 BufferedWrite=45MBsec (RAID 1)
3DMark2001se and 3DMark03 Benchmarks:
T42 (2373CYU): 3DMark01=9377 3DMark03=2465
T40p (2373G3U): 3DMark01=7227 3DMark03= 735
R40 (289723U): 3DMark01=1534 3DMark03=N/A
T41 : 3DMark01=4982 (32MB ATI Radeon 9000)
P4-2GH : 3DMark01=8097 (AllinWonder9000 w/64MB)
Conclusion
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Overall, I'm VERY satisfied with my new T42! I finally have a desktop replacement that doesn't weigh like a desktop replacement, and DVD authoring/writing doesn't take two hours with the high performance components and the 2X DVD-R drive. It is surprisingly light, the screen is fantastic and easy to read, and all the components make home video/audio editing/authoring easy as can be. Not to mention games play great (despite the occasional ghosting--but that's what an external monitor is for, right... lol).
That's it for my review. I'll try to get pictures posted, but the pictures included with the recent T42p review are identical to what I have, and the picture quality is probably better than I can achieve.
Hope everyone else has similar/positive experiences with their new Thinkpads.
Take care,
Daniel.
& cockatoos
