a question about buying...

[ranchmom5]

I am not sure this is the right place to post this, but it is the only forum I am familiar with and I know my forum friends come here. Moderators feel free to move this to the appropriate forum if necessary.

I purchased a r50 from underclocker a month or so ago. I had never owned a laptop and only had a 6yo Dell desktop for myself and 5 children. I enjoy the freedom of the laptop so much I am now wondering if I can simply ditch the desktop and use a laptop for all of my needs. I thought I would still replace the desktop when I first bought this but I have found that I don't really want to have 2 personal computers and I definitely want to stay with ThinkPad!

If I do just get rid of the desktop and go exclusively with a laptop, I would like to have a bigger HD than this r50 has. here is a link to the specs on what I bought: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=
I basically surf the net, do some word processing/spreadsheets, use Quicken for the ranch financial work and also software for keeping the cattle records. Can/should I just upgrade the HD in this laptop or would I be better off selling this to my son and buying something faster/bigger/newer? I am still most definitely needing to stay within a modest budget - under $1000 (and that is pushing the budget!) If you all think I should buy something else, what model should I look at (along with any other important specs)

Thanks in advance!

MOD EDIT: Moved from Marketplace.

[Harryc]

Anything on this list will work in that machine -

ATA-6 Drives at Newegg

[KristianJ]

With the base machine you have right now, a new hard drive should be all you need to upgrade for now. Take a look at the link that Harryc has supplied, especially at the 7200rpm drives (which will give you a noticeable speed increase compared to your current 4200rpm drive).

There's always the option of purchasing an external drive, but it may be better as a secondary upgrade once you've bought a faster and larger internal drive.

[Johan]

I’d certainly say: Stay with what you have now (the R50 with the beautiful FlexView/IPS display!) and what you are happy with – and simply upgrade the HDD to a big 100 GB, speedy (7200 rpm!) Seagate Momentus 7200.1 (model ST910021A), which are around USD 110 at e.g. Newegg. This will give you a much faster ThinkPad, compared to your present 4200 rpm HDD. The Seagate Momentus 7200.1 (having a 5-year warranty!) is slightly, slightly more noisy compared to your present 4200 drive, and will consume slightly more power (unimportant if you always run off the AC mains-outlet), but I’d certainly recommend it anytime. If 100 GB is not sufficient, you may get more space in 5400 rpm HDD’s (they will be almost completely inaudibly); here I’d again recommend Seagate – the Momentus 5400.2 or .3 series (available with up to 160 GB capacity). Now, if even this is not enough, Western Digital offers up to 250 GB 5400 rpm 2.5” ATA-drives (see the WD2500BEVE).

For more information about HDD’s, I suggest you take a look in the thread T42p HDD Question (see the links pointed to in the post of Wed Aug 29, 2007 5:38 pm and see the post of Mon Sep 10, 2007 6:46 pm ).

To remove e.g. the HDD in a R50, see the videos at Hardware removal and installation - ThinkPad R50/e/p, R51/e, R52 – it’s so easy!

So, to emphasize my suggestion:

1) Keep your R50!

2) Sell the 6yo Dell to one of the kids, charge them USD 110,- for it and let them manage it (it is probably not much worth on the open marked, I'd guess?).

3) Use the money earned from the sale to get a new 2.5" 7200 rpm (or 5400 rpm) ATA harddisk for your R50.

4) Be hereafter eternally happy!



Best regards,

Johan

[ranchmom5]

I knew I could count on all of you to give great advice! Thanks! Now one more question - sorry if it is dumb one.

If I change the HD, won't I have to reload the OS? I didn't get a disc with the machine. It was just came loaded.

[Johan]

I knew I could count on all of you to give great advice! Thanks! Now one more question - sorry if it is dumb one.

If I change the HD, won't I have to reload the OS? I didn't get a disc with the machine. It was just came loaded.

First off, you should immediately make yourself a set of the IBM ThinkPad Rescue and Recovery media - see how, here: How can I get a Product Recovery CD or DVD?. NB: You probably don't need to download anything from IBM; the necessary programs ("Rescue and Recovery") are already on your ThinkPad. See e.g. the thread Create Recovery Disk problem about how to create these media (read the post by GomJabbar of Fri Aug 24, 2007 12:29 pm). Having these rescue media will enable you to reestablish the contents on your HDD to its factory-state. This is very useful should the HDD ever fail, or in the event that you pick up some virus you just cannot get rid of. Be sure to use high-quality CD or DVD media for these "R&R"-media, such as Verbatim.

PS: Sometime when you have a little free time, you should visit the ** HOW TO's & FAQ's ** section of this forum... e.g. the second entry deals with R&R media. Very useful to know, if something happens...!

Next, to answer your question: To copy all the contents from your existing HDD to a new HDD, it is fastest and most simply to "clone" the existing HDD onto a new one. Read about how to do this in many, many threads here on the forum, e.g. Confirm info for upgrading hard drive in T42 (see the post of Sat Jun 30, 2007 11:39 pm) or How I Cloned My IBM ThinkPad T42 Hard Drive - Step by Step (the latter, lenghty explanation sounds way more complicated than it actually is!).

So, start off by getting yourself an external USB2.0 enclosure, and then use that to house your existing 4200 rpm HDD... put the new HDD in the R50, clone contents of the (existing) 4200 rpm HDD onto the new 7200 rpm internal HDD, and that's it! Now you have a faster R50, and you also have a security-backup in the external USB2.0 box for your valuable data. What more can you dream of?!

It's far easier to get a new, blank HDD up and running than the above indicate - just go ahead, and call for help if you get stuck in the process.

Best regards,

Johan

[ranchmom5]

thanks Johan for all the help here!

I have been thinking about all this while teaching the children this morning and now want the forum's advice on one more thing. If I am keeping this, my 18yo does want to buy a TP, too. For the most part it will be for school work, probably some music storage, internet. He doesn't get into gaming much so that isn't a big concern. He might want to watch a movie now and then. So what TP models would be the best for him. Are there any particular models I should NOT buy? Seems there are quite a few different TPs available on the marketplace here right now.

Key points: we both love the keyboard - do they all have the same keyboard?
We both love the flexview screen (I know not all models have this)
Definitely want wireless connectivity.

Thanks

[pianowizard]

So what TP models would be the best for him.

What's your budget? Widescreens are ideal for watching movies, although it's probably hard to find a widescreen Thinkpad for under $500. That's because Lenovo started making such Thinkpads only about two years ago, so even the used ones are still fairly new. Another problem is that none of the widescreen Thinkpads have Flexview.

[ranchmom5]

Total budget for him is probably about $700. It will be considered his high school graduation present (in advance). We will be splitting the cost with him - so the cheaper the better!

[Johan]

If you want a ThinkPad with the (beautiful!) FlexView/IPS display, your choices are very, very limited... since these are no more offered as new from IBM. Right now, however, Lenovo has a sale going on where there are a few 15" T60's with Flexview/IPS dsiplay - see for yourself prices and models Lenovo outlet sale (search that page for "Flexview"). If you are interested in any of these, I guess you have to move fast! Benefit: All brand -new ThinkPad's, many (or most?) coming with a three-year warranty (check duration of specific models with Lenovo). Alternatives are refurbished ThinkPad's offered by IBM; check the IBM Certified Used PCs, Notebooks, Laptops, PCs ... see in particular the nice T42p's, currently offered! Drawback here: Only 3 months warranty (can probably be extended but will cost you some 100-220 USD for one-to-two more years). Advantage: UXGA resolution (1600 x 1200 pixels). A top-of-the-line model!

Otherwise, absolutely consider the R52 currently offered by HarryC in the thread FS: R52, 15" SXGA+ Flex, 60GB 7200RPM, CDRW/DVD, 2 Yea or the T42 offered in the thread FS: T42, 1.7Ghz 1GB RAM 60GB 7200rpm 15" flexview $650.

Further alternatives: eBay (potentially cheap, but you don't really always know what you get!), or the craighlists in your area, if any are close.

Wireless: Most newer ThinkPad's have this built-in.

The keyboard on your R50 that you seem to like is (probably) of the brand NMB. You can always switch out the keyboard on a ThinkPad to another type; go to the page Service parts list index - ThinkPad, select the ThinkPad type you are interested in information about (e.g. R52), choose the "Keyboard service parts" and see what are the options and the FRU numbers (FRU: Field Replacanble Unit, or CRU: Customer Replacable Unit). A new keyboard cost about USD 50, and is very easy to replace (see the movie index pointed to above in this thread).

Good luck with your-soon-to-be small family of ThinkPad's!

Best regards,

Johan

[ranchmom5]

Had time yesterday to check out the Outlet site but seems all of those machines have been spoken for...or they don't really want to check hundreds of # for each caller. The fellow I spoke with said they were hoping to have an updated list sometime soon.

I got on just now to check out the r52 and t42 that Johan suggested. Noticed the r52 had been upgraded to 2G ram...but it also says "sale pending". I also noticed the T60 for sale. Any thoughts on it? I know I lose the flexview screen with it. I also don't think I want to go smaller than 15" but my son might not mind.

I have this feeling I should have jumped on the R52...oh well.

[ranchmom5]

Oh well...don't worry about commenting on the t60. It just sold, too. I guess if I am really wanting to buy something I will have to check the marketplace more frequently.