Which to one to choose R50e or T42?

[r2d2]

Hi...

A friend of mine wants me to ask this question. She plans on buying a thinkpad and has come across an R50e and a T42. Now she is at a crossroads on what to choose.

I told her I know of this forum and would ask here. Anyway she uses her DELL right now (to be replaced by the said thinkpad) for just email, internet, office stuff and some games (i believe not the high resolution ones).

Appreciate any advise...

Thank you.

[KristianJ]

Does yoru friend have access to model numbers and serial numbers for both laptops? These will help you get an idea of the system specs, and, more importantly, whether or not either of the laptops has factory warranty remaining. The differences may not be as much of an issue for her as they may be for some of us.

Personally I'd go for the T42 primarily because of the slimmer form factor and the touchpad/trackpoint combo (unless I'm mistaken, all R50e's came trackpoint only). Plus I'd say that there's more chance of a T42 having warranty remaining than an R50e.

[ajkula66]

Any T42 will blow away a stock R50e. Period.

[pianowizard]

It depends on the prices of these units. If the R50e is much cheaper than the T42, then it may be worth getting the R50e. Otherwise, get the T42 because it is a better machine.

[r2d2]

I think price is not really that big a difference. It seems based on the replies that T42 is the way to go. I read some pretty good reviews on the T42 but I also have read that there is an existing problem with the fan or something.

I may ask her of the model numbers and the serial numbers but I do not think she has access to it at the moment.

Thank you so much. I will tell her to get the T42 instead.

[underclocker]

Any T42 will blow away a stock R50e. Period.

Just a note, while this seems like it should be the case, it's not entirely true with performance in 100% of the cases. In fact, some R50e's have 1.7GHz Dothan cpu's with integrated Intel graphics, while some T42's have 1.5GHz Banias cpu's with ATI 7500 graphics. In these cases, the R50e would have superior compting power. (Even though many would still choose the T42 based on looks, weight, etc.)

Bottom line, the R50e's, while somewhat feature limited (no touchpad, no microphone, only mono speaker, no Bluetooth option), really aren't bad performers.