Which would you Buy? T42P vs R50P vs T60P

[jet757f]

I have been reading this forum for awhile but this is the first time I have posted.

Im not sure if this is the right place to post this question.

I am looking for a notebook with the best Picture Quality above everything else. From what I have read the T42P R50P or T60P all have this quality mainly due to the IPS screen on the 15' Versions.


I am buying this used and trying to stay around the $500 dollar range. I can find the R50P and T42P in this range. The T60p will be tough for this price.

Im hoping that someone has had experience with these and maybe could give me some advice.

Thanks

[Puppy]

T60p because T42 might exhibit famous "BGA crack" issue: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33952

[basketb]

If you want a QXGA resolution screen, then go with the R50p and upgrade it (though it might cost you more than your $500 budget).

Another suggestion would be the R52 that in some configurations comes with a 15" SXGA+ IPS screen.

[Puppy]

Another suggestion would be the R52 that in some configurations comes with a 15" SXGA+ IPS screen.

IIRC R51 was the latest model with IPS panel.

[jet757f]

T60p because T42 might exhibit famous "BGA crack" issue: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=33952

Wow I didnt see that before. The t42p I found is refurbished from Lenovo. I wonder if they would have fixed this.
Was this a large number?

[jet757f]

I never heard of the R51 and 52 series but it looks like it is hard to tell which has the IPS screen.

[ajkula66]

All of these machines (apart from T60P that you won't find for $500) are prone to GPU failures.

Spend a little more money and get a T43p with warranty remaining, or if you can find a T42p like that, that's fine as well.

No R52 has a FlexView, all R51s with 15" SXGA+ do.

It is highly unlikely that any R5x unit will have any warranty remaining.

You'll likely have to spend more than $500 for a 15" T4xp machine with pedigree and/or warranty, though.

"Refurbished" means absolutely nothing in most cases. People have bought such items directly from IBM at premium prices and received a mixed batch...some got downright junk units.

Good luck.

[basketb]

...
No R52 has a FlexView, all R51s with 15" SXGA+ do.

It is highly unlikely that any R5x unit will have any warranty remaining.

...

Interesting statements. I guess my wife must then have a one of a kind R52 as her's has both an 15" SXGA+ IPS screen and 18 months of warranty left. But then again she wouldn't sell it for $500 either.

[ajkula66]

What's the model number of that R52? Furthermore, what's the P/N or the FRU of the LCD itself?

[basketb]

I never heard of the R51 and 52 series but it looks like it is hard to tell which has the IPS screen.

Go to this web page and search for IPS, then you'll see the ones that supposedly came with an IPS screen (warning, though, this website takes ages to load, be patient):

http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... ad&series=

[basketb]

What's the model number of that R52? Furthermore, what's the P/N or the FRU of the LCD itself?

see my post above. It's a 1847-AGU.

[ajkula66]

After taking a look at HMM, I'll say I stand corrected on R52 and IPS.

EDIT:

After researching LG and ID Tech sites, I this statement back. Read my post below. No R52 units have come with IPS LCDs.

[jet757f]

I never heard of the R51 and 52 series but it looks like it is hard to tell which has the IPS screen.

Go to this web page and search for IPS, then you'll see the ones that supposedly came with an IPS screen (warning, though, this website takes ages to load, be patient):

http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... ad&series=

Very interesting web page.

One thing I noticed is that on the T60p with the SXGA 14.1 screen that it is called out as an IPS panel. Everyone has been saying that none of the 14" screens are IPS. Is this true? Also the T60 with
the 14" SXGA screen is IPS.

Also why do people say that some of the video cards are 512MB on these notebooks. I thought they were usually 64, 128 or 256?

[ajkula66]

Having owned T60p in all three screen sizes, I will guarantee you that the only IPS LCDs are 15" in a 4:3 form.

People say 512Mb because that's the amount GPU can "borrow" and show in the Windows altogether. As for the cards themselves, X1300 is 64Mb VRAM, X1400 is 128 and V5200/5250 is 256.

[BeeJayEmm]

After taking a look at HMM, I'll say I stand corrected on R52 and IPS.

I'm curious, George. What in the HMM convinced you? And which HMM? As in my sig, my wife has an R52 1849-ADU, which I mistakenly thought came with a Flexview screen. I was fooled by the wide horizontal viewing angle (compared with my Compaq Presario) and by the designation "IPS" describing the display on the old IBM model lookup page, which looks suspiciously like the descriptions on the page basketb linked to. Speaking of which, on that page is listed an R52 1858-4MU, which supposedly had an IPS panel with Intel graphics??!!? I find that hard to believe.

The narrow vertical viewing angle convinced me otherwise. In at least one other thread here I remember, there was disagreement about a similar designation for another model and the consensus was that this was a typo. Ringing any bells? In two versions of the HMM for R52s I have (August, '05 and April, 2008), there is no mention of Flexview/IPS for any R52. The TAW book also seems to support your initial assessment, that no R52 has a Flexview (except Ed/underclocker's FrankenPad).

Brian

Edit: Found one such thread.

[ajkula66]

To put it this way: I still don't believe that there's a R52 with IPS, but list of the manifacturers for the 15" SXGA+ states ID Tech and LG...could this be a typo? Absolutely.

I have yet to see such a machine, apart from Ed's custom model, and I'll believe it when I see it.

However, I can't prove the HMM to be wrong at this point so I'm bowing down.

I don't have the time right now to go to manufacturer's websites and check FRUs and P/Ns, but I will when I get a chance.

ThinkWiki also makes no mention of R52 having an IPS LCD, which I find ominious. But, once again, until I can prove I'm right, I'll accept that I'm wrong.

Stay tuned.

[jet757f]

To put it this way: I still don't believe that there's a R52 with IPS, but list of the manifacturers for the 15" SXGA+ states ID Tech and LG...could this be a typo? Absolutely.

I have yet to see such a machine, apart from Ed's custom model, and I'll believe it when I see it.

However, I can't prove the HMM to be wrong at this point so I'm bowing down.

I don't have the time right now to go to manufacturer's websites and check FRUs and P/Ns, but I will when I get a chance.

ThinkWiki also makes no mention of R52 having an IPS LCD, which I find ominious. But, once again, until I can prove I'm right, I'll accept that I'm wrong.

Stay tuned.

What about the fact that it mentions that some of the 14" LCD SXGA are also IPS? Is this a mistake?

[ajkula66]

That's a mistake and then some.

EDIT:

Back to square one: I have found no collaborating evidence that R52 has an IPS LCD. LG and ID Tech P/Ns used in these machines are reflecting non-FlexView units.

[fasterbybike]

Go to this web page and search for IPS, then you'll see the ones that supposedly came with an IPS screen (warning, though, this website takes ages to load, be patient):

http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... ad&series=

I'm getting an error when I open this page

Code: Select all

Error 500
HTTP Web Server: Lotus Notes Exception - Cannot write to file (possibly it is READ-ONLY or the disk is out of space or not ready)

[BeeJayEmm]

Keep trying. I got that error about every other time I tried the link. The page is very long, so be patient when it does load.

Brian

[jet757f]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their guidance and information on this forum. I did a lot of reading and ended up buying a T43p for $640.00 on Ebay. The model number is: 2668H1U.

I just got it today and it is in excellent condition. I can definately tell that it is an IPS screen just by looking at the picture. There is no mistake...........it just has that certain look. It was the same reason I bought my Toshiba Satellite 5205-S703 because it has the same screen.

Seems like a very nice computer. I like it so far.

[Puppy]

To put it this way: I still don't believe that there's a R52 with IPS

Yep. Few years ago I was deciding between R51 and R52. R52 was significantly cheaper with better chipset and faster HDD. The trick was that R52 had crappy TN display.

[pianowizard]

ended up buying a T43p for $640.00 on Ebay. The model number is: 2668H1U. I just got it today and it is in excellent condition.

Congratulations! It's a really good time to buy T43p's because they are so cheap these days. And because they are still not that old, many units are in near-mint condition and still in warranty. I got mine on eBay for $620 shipped last week with a 10% off coupon. It's 9.99 out of 10 cosmetically, and has 7 months of IBM warranty left.

jet757f, how loud is the fan of your T43p? My T43p has a loud fan and so did the 14.1" T43 that I owned two years ago. Luckily, I use this T43p in a pretty noisy environment so I can hardly hear it. If you are bothered by the fan noise, you can try this.

[jet757f]

ended up buying a T43p for $640.00 on Ebay. The model number is: 2668H1U. I just got it today and it is in excellent condition.

Congratulations! It's a really good time to buy T43p's because they are so cheap these days. And because they are still not that old, many units are in near-mint condition and still in warranty. I got mine on eBay for $620 shipped last week with a 10% off coupon. It's 9.99 out of 10 cosmetically, and has 7 months of IBM warranty left.

jet757f, how loud is the fan of your T43p? My T43p has a loud fan and so did the 14.1" T43 that I owned two years ago. Luckily, I use this T43p in a pretty noisy environment so I can hardly hear it. If you are bothered by the fan noise, you can try this.

Thanks for the info.

So far I havent noticed that much fan noise but then again I am coming from a Toshiba Satellite 5205-S703 which had a very loud fan when it would kick in and it still was running hot. Maybe that is why it died. So besides the T43p I also just got a Toshiba 1955-S803 which has the 16" IPS screen. The fan on this unit is very loud and almost runs all the time but the notebook stays very cool.

Anyway I will keep this procedure for the T43p fan in case it starts getting noisy.