T40 series - which one to purchase???

[Alejandro Audisio]

Im wondering if someone can confirm if the T42 or T43 series was the last of the ThinkPads to be made by IBM - as in before the Lenovo takeover?

Also, Ive been told that the external housings of the laptops changed sometime after the Lenovo handover, from a titanium like material used in the external housings to a more standard plastic housing... - is this true? Would appreciate the feedback of the forum experts on when and with which model this happened.

Also, a friend told me that the T42 was prone to motherboard issues/problems.... he had a T42p and had to exchange motherboard twice, ended up selling it on Ebay.

Is the T43 more reliable than the T42 or is the T41p the best of the 40 series...?

Sorry for such broad/general questions... Im sure individual experiences vary, but I would appreciate hearing from those of you that have or have had these 40 series machines. Due to my budget restraint, for purchase of a used/refurbished machine, it seems that the best configuration I can aspire to get would be a premium model of the T43..... is this model my best bet?

Thanks very much,
Alex

[schen]

Im wondering if someone can confirm if the T42 or T43 series was the last of the ThinkPads to be made by IBM - as in before the Lenovo takeover?

Also, Ive been told that the external housings of the laptops changed sometime after the Lenovo handover, from a titanium like material used in the external housings to a more standard plastic housing... - is this true? Would appreciate the feedback of the forum experts on when and with which model this happened.

Also, a friend told me that the T42 was prone to motherboard issues/problems.... he had a T42p and had to exchange motherboard twice, ended up selling it on Ebay.

Is the T43 more reliable than the T42 or is the T41p the best of the 40 series...?

Sorry for such broad/general questions... Im sure individual experiences vary, but I would appreciate hearing from those of you that have or have had these 40 series machines. Due to my budget restraint, for purchase of a used/refurbished machine, it seems that the best configuration I can aspire to get would be a premium model of the T43..... is this model my best bet?

Thanks very much,
Alex

I can't reply with certainty about the case material questions, but I can tell you that I haven't been able to detect much difference if any.

As far as MB issues are concerned, it's well known that IBM/Lenovo amoung others (such as Apple) have had issues with their models that were using ATI GPUs of the generation that the T40/41/42 were a part of. At the very least, this issue has been exacerbated by the thinness of that series in the they are somewhat more prone to case flexing which places additional stress on the MBs. The T43 have suffered less from these issues most probably due to several factors: these are newer machines and have less time to fail, and IBM/Lenovo learned how to handle the manufacture better from the experience of the earlier T40s. In any case, the T43s have seemingly had less issues than the previous models of that line.

As far as "premium" models are concerned, there are several factors to consider as well. Of course the T43 are the newest and therefore to some degree, the most powerful (runs on a 533 vs. 400mhz bus) combined with the later Dothan processor. There is also a "p" version of this model as well as the earlier T41 and 42s. If you are looking for higher end models, you'll also want to consider the 15" Flexview versions of which ever model that you choose.

[richk]

The T43 machines are less likely to have the GPU failure because the CPUs are attached with little drops of some epoxy-like material, although, if they do fail, they are impossible to reflow.

[sarbin]

@Alejandro...

there are some really nice t4x machines in marketplace right now if you want to compare features/prices etc. i wouldn't hesitate for a moment to recommend a purchase from our sellers. several have much experience shipping outside the usa. i've picked up 2 beautiful t43's in the last 3 months. both great experiences.

[Alejandro Audisio]

Thanks Shen and RichK for your responses--

I guess that from what you are saying, if I can find a T43 or T43p I should have a good chance of being OK and not being caught by the GPU and other issues.

I assume there are significant hardware differences between the T43 and T43p models...? I wonder if there is a website where the available builds of these two legacy models can be compared...?

Also, does someone have the exact model numbers of the most powerful configurations that the T43 and T43p were made with...? For what Im looking for, I would rather have a larger/faster Hard Drive and CPU and 533mhz bus and more powerful graphics card - even if the screen is not 15"... of course, if the top of the line builds have all this and come in the larger screens, then OK. Some questions related to this are:
- is it possible to find a T43 with a 80GB 7200rpm drive?
- do the most powerful graphics cards come with a 14" or 15" monitor?
- any drawbacks on the performance of the 15" over the 14"? (**)

(**) sometimes larger screens dont perform as well as smaller ones. Im willing to have an on board smaller screen as I will be using external monitor(s) - would like to configure a dual monitor setup performance allowing

Thanks to everybody for your patience in dealing with my pain in the rear questions!!!

[schen]

The main place you want to spend some time in is the IBM specification manual for withdrawn systems which is:

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitu ... awbook.pdf

That will allow you to look at the different T43 models and compare the exact specifications of a given "type". That being said. You are in luck, if you are interested in 15" displays. The top models are all available in that size. Furthermore, only that size has the Flexview displays which come in 2 flavors (SXGA+ 1400x1050, or UXGA 1600x1200 resolution). The GPU is the very competent FireGL 128 which is significantly more powerful than the typical ATI Radeon 32Mb that's in most T4x machines or even the 64Mb type chips. You'll also see that the T43 had the 80Gb/7200rpm HDD available on some models.

If this is the model that you've targeted, you can also find ones that are still in warranty which will allow you to extend it as well.

[Alejandro Audisio]

Shen, thanks for the link and the advice. Ive looked at the manual provided at the posted link, but the T series models go up to the T41 only.... where can I find the T43s you mention....?

[sarbin]

try this one: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitu ... twbook.pdf

[schen]

Shen, thanks for the link and the advice. Ive looked at the manual provided at the posted link, but the T series models go up to the T41 only.... where can I find the T43s you mention....?

Oops, sorry about that; I put the wrong link on my reply Thanks to Sarbin for getting you back on track. Hopefully you'll find the right model for you.

[Alejandro Audisio]

Thanks Sarbin... and thanks Shen. Actually both links are perfect because one gives me the details of my current T30, and the other gives me the details of the T43p Im hoping to be able to find at a reasonable price....

I seem to have narrowed down my preference to the following three models.....

2668-Q3U
2668-Q1U
2668-Q2U

Which are almost the same (hard disc size varies), although the Optical drive options seem to differ and there is apparently also a difference in the Mini PCI... both of these differences Im not sure I understand, can someone clarify??

Final question would be... am I trying to find a needle in a haystack here... or are these specific T43p models relatively easy to find..?

[ajkula66]

These are all high-end units, and will command premium prices if in good condition with warranty left.

One such machine (2668-Q1U) was recently sold here by syedj who is a very trusted seller on this forum for $700, with warranty until March and in very good condition. I was personally after it, but cash flow prevented me from actually getting it.

These machines do come up, expect to pay from $650-800, depending on warranty, condition, and seller's need for urgent cash.

Having said all of the above, let me just add one thing: go for it. You won't regret it. These are great ThinkPads in my not-so-modest experience.

Best of luck with your noble quest.

[RonS]

The T43 series had widespread complaints of fan noise. The T42p was the best Thinkpad I've ever owned. In my opinion, it was a high point in the lineage of Thinkpads.

[schen]

Which are almost the same (hard disc size varies), although the Optical drive options seem to differ and there is apparently also a difference in the Mini PCI... both of these differences Im not sure I understand, can someone clarify??

Final question would be... am I trying to find a needle in a haystack here... or are these specific T43p models relatively easy to find..?

As you can see, the main differences are between the drives and WiFi MPCI cards. There doesn't seem to be that much difference between those wireless card except that some are a/b/g vs. b/g (all Intel) which is irrelevent to most people. If you had pick other models, you might see some IBM a/b/g cards which are most likely Atheros chipped cards that many Forum users favor (including myself).

You are likely to find the exact model here on the Forum as the users here are typically more knowledgeable, as well as find them in better condition, but you'll probably have to pay a higher price. Although you can find them on eBay, it's not only an iffier proposition, but it'll be a long hard process where you'll spend a lot of time asking sellers for the complete "type" number from the bottom of the machine and even then, you'll have to double check their their information and pictures, just in case they are trying to sell a machine that's been put together from parts. So yes, that will be like finding a needle in a haystack!

[Nick Y]

The T43 series had widespread complaints of fan noise...

Use NHC and TPFanControl by Troubadix. Depending upon planned use, I have my CPU speed set to switch between 1.33 GHz and 1.88GHz on the T43. Fan noise is therefore very low.

An alternative thought is to buy a T41/42 with known motherboard problems and aim to buy a new motherboard, although I don't know about costs.

(Edited typo on TPFanControl)

[dr_st]

My opinion - stay away from the p-models. They are expensive and in most cases are not worth the difference. You probably don't need the FireGL GPU, and the CPU speed difference between the top-end 2.1/2.26 CPUs and the next in line (2.0/2.13), and even the 1.8/1.86 are not as big so as to justify the extra cost. The p-models also tend to run hotter because of the more powerful GPU (and partially the faster hard drive).

Of all the advantages of the p-models, the biggest one is probably the 7200RPM drive, but you can find some non-p models with these drives as well.

I would suggest looking for either a T43 or one of the later T42s (the ones manufactured in 2005), as I understood on this forum (from George), that these models are less likely to develop the GPU problem (due to the different soldering method mentioned by richk).

15" SXGA+ Flexview if screen quality is more important to you than portability. 14" SXGA+ otherwise would be my recommendation.

[schen]

Alejandro,

I should have probably moved your thread earlier to the T40 Series Conference, but didn't know how to do it. So I ask, and then went ahead and did it so that others in that conference can weigh in with any thoughts and opinions.

[denisky]

I owned T43 before, and I can say that the fan was really noisy. My dad's T41 also has that fan noise too. But if you don't care about the fan noise, just buy T43. You can't go wrong with it.

[Alejandro Audisio]

Wow... thanks for all the great additional information. Im not too worried about fan noise, unless its really really loud.... also, can this be solved by buying a new fan and replacing the offending noise maker?

[Alejandro Audisio]

Video card related questions.... if I go for either a T42p or T43p model, am I correct in assuming that the onboard memory cards are capable of properly handling a two monitor setup at relatively high resolutions...? I dont need to do high speed gaming, just want to be able to browse the internet and use Office at the same time.

[awolfe63]

Yes - 2 monitors are fine on any T42 or t43 with ATI.