Looking for feedback

[bhuiyan]

[Q] Three T41 models, 2373-1FU, 7FU and 9FU. Do all three have the exact same recovery CD?

Dear all,

I have the 2373-1FU. I am now considering buying either the 2373-7FU (new, with 3 years of warranty at $1500) or the 2373-9FU (refurbished with 1 year non-upgradeable warranty at $1600, new with warranty will approach $2000). Dual-booting with Linux is a goal.

Pro for the 9FU:- bigger and faster HDD; better supported WiFi,
Con*- Not being able to maintain the warranty beyond the first year is bugging me.

Also, Radeon 7500 with 32 VRAM and 14” XGA screen is serving me well right now at 2373-1FE. 2373-7FE have the same too. But 9FE have the SXGA+ screen with the Radeon 9000 card on its 32MB VRAM. I do not play games at all. This machine is mostly for presenting at meetings and conferences and for web surfing. I also plan to use open office applications, write/edit technical papers in Latex, and do moderate programming in GNU/Linux environment. I certainly would like this to be my work machine for a very long time. I am not sure whether any serious 3D thing can be done with 9FE in future though. And I have no use for Bluetoothe or infrared ports. So any suggestions here?

On a slightly different topic, IBM.com offers different discounts throughout the year. Earlier I noticed the “back to school” campaign. There are SPP and EPP and credit card discounts too. Is there a specific time for these campaigns? If yes, I’d like to know which is when. Even the discount seems to differ with different period of the time and with different models. Any tips here?

[RCube]

ha I just bought the 23739FU! I love it so far.
I have no idea about the recovery CD...I reformated the hd as soon as I got it. :p

The 7200rpm drive really makes the laptop feel like a desktop. It feels as fast as my amd xp 3200+. If you like 7500, then 9000 will be fine for you. The videocard(ati 9000) is ok for games. But don't expect to play all the latest games that comes out.

Bluetooth is cool, you might get a bluetooth cellphone in the future..or a bluetooth mouse or remote for presentation. I think it is good to have...but not a deal breaker.

[bhuiyan]

Dear Experts

What can Mobility Radeon 9600 do that the 7500 or the 9000 card can not? I am interested in running standard 2D business applications at normal resolutions and refresh rates (e.g., 1024x768-1280x1024 at 75-85 Hz)? No need to conider any 3D games.

On a different note, do all the T42s starting from the entry model to the high-end non-p models have the exact same recovery CD set from IBM?

Regards

Shoaib

[RCube]

Dear Experts

What can Mobility Radeon 9600 do that the 7500 or the 9000 card can not? I am interested in running standard 2D business applications at normal resolutions and refresh rates (e.g., 1024x768-1280x1024 at 75-85 Hz)? No need to conider any 3D games.

On a different note, do all the T42s starting from the entry model to the high-end non-p models have the exact same recovery CD set from IBM?

Regards

Shoaib

As I said above...all three videocard will be more than enough for what you want to do. 9600 is good if you want to play 3d games.

I think they all use the same recovery cd.

[bhuiyan]

Thanks for the reply RCube to both of my threads. I then do not need to buy Radeon 9000 or 9600 card. So the question is, how can I have the Mobility Radeon 7500 card with 512 MB RAM stick, 60 GB 7200 HDD, WiFi a/b/g card, XGA screen and 3 yr warranty at a reasoable price that can be shipped to Japan?

Shoaib