I just wanted to say , I like the T4x thinkpads.

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SaberX · #1 Post by **SaberX** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 7:13 pm

I never had my hands on one befor until the other day.
I have used alot of thinkpads from the A31 and down(A22p,A21,A20,T22,T21,T20's,X21,600X,600E's,570e's,and some older ones.) I used my buddys new T60P.
But the other dat for the first time i had my hands on a mint T41.(with just the XGA screen).What a nice system.Vety small and light for a full system with dvd-rom.It's just sexy looking laptop.
I realy like the look and size of the T41 next to my buddys new T60P wide screen.I like the power of the T60P BUT love the size of the T41.

This will be my next thinkpad,got to start saving now i guess.

Well i dont know if this post needs to be here or not.But just wanted to say i like the T41's.

Eric Giles · #2 Post by **Eric Giles** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:13 pm

Aren't they great? I had a T40 for almost 3 full years and honestly never had an urge to upgrade. And this was a barebones model-1.3GHz Banias, 512MB RAM, Radeon 7500 with 16MB video RAM, XGA screen, etc. I did upgrade it to a 60GB 7200RPM drive later, but it never once couldn't handle what I wanted to do.

After it was 'lost' during an EZ Serve return trip, I bought a widescreen T60p. Much faster, great screen, sturdier construction on the bottom-but I have honestly never 'fallen' for it like the T40. I was actually wanting my bottom of the barrel T40 back.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and once again I have the *exact* same T40 configuration again that I used to have-and I absolutely love it! I upgraded it to a 1.7GHz Dothan, put in another 60GB 7200RPM hard drive, and added a miniPCI wireless card-I would like to have an SXGA+ screen, but for now the XGA is fine.

I have a T61p 4:3 model on order to replace my soon to be forsale widescreen T60p. I am hoping that it will be what I am looking for overall-same basic size and weight as the T40, but with a sturdier chassis, faster performance, and SXGA+ screen.

Honestly, if it wasn't for the relatively fragile motherboards (video GPU issues and failing USB ports), I would probably just save the money and stick with a T40. They really are that good.

SaberX · #3 Post by **SaberX** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:38 pm

Eric Giles wrote:
Honestly, if it wasn't for the relatively fragile motherboards (video GPU issues and failing USB ports), I would probably just save the money and stick with a T40. They really are that good.

This brings me to another point.When looking to buy a T4x system,what are some things to look out for with them?
With the usb ports it's just to plug something into them.But what about the GPU problems?How do you tell when one is on the way out?Will it have lines on the screen?Bad colors?or just lock up the system?
I guess the best thing is when looking for one find one with warrenty.
Than another question on that.
Say someone in the USA has a T4x system for sale(say a member on this forum). and it had warrenty left on it.
I then bought it and had it shipped up here to Canada.Is the warrenty for that system still go if say the GPU goes on it.?

SHoTTa35 · #4 Post by **SHoTTa35** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 8:40 pm

yeah, i had a T2x and even played with a T30 and an R series Thinkpad. Oneday at work we got some T40 rental systems from some company (forgot their name now) to use for a project and i swear i wanted to steal that thing. LOL Well ok maybe not literally but it was so hard to go home and leave it there at work (they weren't allowed to leave the building because of sensitive data) I was so inlove that i enventually sold the Dell i had and got a T41 spending all the cash i didn't have just to get it. Sold that one and now have this T42 and it's just perfect. I don't find myself drooling over any new Thinkpad or any other laptop for that matter. This thing is just so close to my heart that i probably wont ever sell it, even when it's busted and totally dead!

melmo · #5 Post by **melmo** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 10:59 pm

I bought an off-lease T41 from the US and the motherboard went bad on it just a couple of months before the warranty expired. I put in a support request on the Lenovo website, IBM called me back, they were going to send a technician but the timing wasn't good, so I got depot service, which by the way IBM has outsourced. Anyhow, the depot was actually in my neighbourhood so it was very convenient.

By the way, I'm in Canada.

I love the Thinkpad 3-year warranty.

SaberX wrote: Say someone in the USA has a T4x system for sale(say a member on this forum). and it had warrenty left on it.
I then bought it and had it shipped up here to Canada.Is the warrenty for that system still go if say the GPU goes on it.?

minc3d · #6 Post by **minc3d** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 11:33 pm

I went back to T43p after moving to a T60 after using a T40p for about 3 years. I went back because, as many have said, the T60's are nice but don't have that slim touch and feel.

I can't complain about my T43p. Powerful enough to run Vista primetime and all my apps like Office 2007, and yet has excellent battery life!

wearetheborg · #7 Post by **wearetheborg** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 3:07 am

Eric Giles wrote:
Honestly, if it wasn't for the relatively fragile motherboards (video GPU issues and failing USB ports), I would probably just save the money and stick with a T40. They really are that good.

Why not a T42 ? I believe the T40s have USB 1.1, the T42s have more decent USB 2.0, the dothans etc.

I do love the slim feel of the T4x, however sturdiness is an issue as you said. Fragile motherboards, the screen flexes and touches the nub.
I dont know if USB ports fail on the T42s also.

#8 Post by **KristianJ** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 4:35 am

wearetheborg wrote:
Why not a T42 ? I believe the T40s have USB 1.1, the T42s have more decent USB 2.0, the dothans etc.

I do love the slim feel of the T4x, however sturdiness is an issue as you said. Fragile motherboards, the screen flexes and touches the nub.
I dont know if USB ports fail on the T42s also.

Nope, the T40s are 2.0 as well. I'd say that the T42s, if a buyer can afford them, are worth the extra investment (mainly from the fact that they're more likely to have factory warranty remaining), but nobody should ever disregard a T40.

andrewb · #9 Post by **andrewb** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 6:18 am

[quote="minc3d"]I went back to T43p after moving to a T60 after using a T40p for about 3 years. I went back because, as many have said, the T60's are nice but don't have that slim touch and feel.

Me similarly. I have gone back to using my T43p full time. After two weeks, I gave away my T60 to a colleague who has already since given it to another colleague (after a discrete interval, my guess it will be put in a cupboard and ignored). I didn't care for the build quality of the T60 and although it was otherwise a perfectly good machine, when compared to the T4X, the T6X just simply doesn't have that certain something !

To me, the T6X is merely just another notebook and has nothing to distinguish it from a Dell, HP etc., except for the price tag.

Eric Giles · #10 Post by **Eric Giles** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:21 am

KristianJ wrote:
wearetheborg wrote:
Why not a T42 ? I believe the T40s have USB 1.1, the T42s have more decent USB 2.0, the dothans etc.

I do love the slim feel of the T4x, however sturdiness is an issue as you said. Fragile motherboards, the screen flexes and touches the nub.
I dont know if USB ports fail on the T42s also.
Nope, the T40s are 2.0 as well. I'd say that the T42s, if a buyer can afford them, are worth the extra investment (mainly from the fact that they're more likely to have factory warranty remaining), but nobody should ever disregard a T40.

Exactly-finding a T42 with warranty would be better overall. I should have stated that I mentioned a T40 because that is what I have, and besides the video RAM there really isn't that much difference between the T40, 41, and 42. I have access and could easily swap out this T40 with my choice of 5 T42's with warranty-but really there isn't a need in my case.

Then again, some of it could be just sentimental!

One more thing-of all of the Thinkpads I have owned over the years-and there have been many-I have never had any marks or damage on the screen that were caused from the keyboard or the trackpoint. I believe the machines that show that damage are slightly abused and not taken care of. You take care of your T4x, and you shouldn't have that problem.

SaberX · #11 Post by **SaberX** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 7:45 am

wearetheborg wrote:
Eric Giles wrote:
Honestly, if it wasn't for the relatively fragile motherboards (video GPU issues and failing USB ports), I would probably just save the money and stick with a T40. They really are that good.
Why not a T42 ? I believe the T40s have USB 1.1, the T42s have more decent USB 2.0, the dothans etc.

I do love the slim feel of the T4x, however sturdiness is an issue as you said. Fragile motherboards, the screen flexes and touches the nub.
I dont know if USB ports fail on the T42s also.

Ya i should have said T4x system.
All depending on how much cash i can get together.

pianowizard · #12 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 8:06 am

The T4* are among the sexiest-looking laptops. I had a 14.1" SXGA+ T43 for five months last year which performed well but was marred by the infamous fan noise problem and had major flex issues. I didn't use another T4* again until last week, when a 14.1" SXGA+ T42 arrived from eBay. Of course SXGA+ was too low for me, so I upgraded the screen to UXGA. I also replaced the original 60GB 7200rpm HDD with a 100GB 7200rpm drive, and raised the RAM from 512MB to 768MB (plenty for XP). It's now a very useful computer, and is possibly the world's lightest UXGA laptop (5.05 lbs with travel bezel). I don't think I've ever loved a laptop this much. The two R50p's have even nicer displays (QXGA Flexview), but they are thick and ugly monsters compared to the thin and sleek T42.

As a computer owner, I've never been happier. The QXGA R50p and 14.1" UXGA T42 are the best laptops ever made, in the whole world. I am not very tempted to buy more laptops any more, the first time I've felt this way since 2002!

wearetheborg · #13 Post by **wearetheborg** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 8:47 am

I bought a T42 last week. Initially I was not all that thrilled with it, as its SXGA+ screen was not as good as the dell 17" WUXGA. But over the past few days I've really grown to like it. Keyboard rocks, and the slim form factor just adds the oomph.
Additionaly debian installed without a hitch, suspend to ram works out of the box. CPU frequency can be changed. I'm currenty determing undervolting voltages.
At 2Ghz, with 2GB ram, it seems equally as fast as my core duo M90 (which runs HOT).

The nice thing about dothans is that they can be undervolted a lot (especially at lower voltages), banias requires higher voltages.

A little more lid rigidness, and it would be perfect.

Eric Giles · #14 Post by **Eric Giles** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:01 am

Not to bring any of this off topic, but after thinking about it-I think that the T60 with 4:3 screen is a very worthy successor to the T4x series overall. True, the bottom chassis rollcage does add a very slight amount of thickness and weight to the unit, but it does seem to take care of the flex that the T4x chassis has.

A friend of mine has a pretty basic T60 which I have used a good bit. I would have to say that it reminds me a lot of the T40 I have, but sturdier and faster. And not that this normally matters to me, but the T4x does 'look' a bit better overall-with it being a bit thinner and sleeker and the multicolored keyboard and mouse buttons.

In the end, the T4x series will be remembered as one of the best Thinkpads made.

pianowizard · #15 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Aug 21, 2007 10:39 am

Eric Giles wrote:True, the bottom chassis rollcage does add a very slight amount of thickness and weight to the unit

Very extremely slight. These are measurements that I made of four SXGA+ 14.1" T series I owned, all with both RAM slots occupied and 6-cell battery:

T23: 5.25 lbs
T42: 5.17 lbs
T43: 5.17 lbs
T60: 5.22 lbs

I just wanted to say , I like the T4x thinkpads.

I just wanted to say , I like the T4x thinkpads.

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