T43 vs T43P

[kd3yt1]

Quick questions for you Thinkpad gurus'

What is the difference between a T43 and T43P??

Last summer I bought a T43 Type 2668-89U (15" screen, 1 gig ram, 80G hard-drive) off Ebay. I have grown to really love this laptop. I must admit, for some reason, I thought it was a T43P. Yesterday, I realized it was a T43. I went back to ebay and was able to bring the listing up and realized, yes, I had bought a T43.

Like I said, I really love this laptop, but was just wondering -- Is there really that much difference between the T43 and T43P?

[rkawakami]

"P" systems generally have a higher-resolution display and/or a larger video memory and/or a "discrete" video processor than the "non-P" version. For example, a T43 might only have an XGA screen with Intel GMA integrated graphics, whereas a T43p could have a UXGA screen and an ATI graphics chip. Your best resource to determine the system configuration would be to obtain the seven character TYPE code from the system and plug it into the "Product number" field at this page:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... country=us

Doing so with your 2668-89U, this is the original configuration:

Original description: P M 750, 512MB RAM, 80GB 5400rpm HDD, 15 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 64MB ATI Radeon X300, 24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD, Intel 802.11a/b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip, Fingerprint Reader, 6 cell Li-Ion battery, WinXP Pro

A similar "P" version would have a 15" UXGA (1600x1200) screen and a 128MB ATI GPU.

[dr_st]

Ultimately, since T40, the only thing that was available on "p" models, and never available in the original configuration of "non-p" models are exactly the things that Ray emphasized:
* 15" UXGA (1600x1200) screens (which only started with the T42p, since T40/T41 only came in 14")
* Workstation video processors (ATI FireGL) with more RAM and often stronger GPUs

Everything else (fast CPUs, fast hard drives, 14" SXGA+ screens, fingerprint readers) one could find on a non-p unit as well. However, they were not always as readily available. Non-p models started with some very low-end configurations (like in Ray's example), whereas the lowest-end "p" models had still higher specs that most of the high-end non-p counterparts.

[killer]

To sum this up in a few words, always have a P when you get the chance.

[dr_st]

To sum this up in a few words, always have a P when you get the chance.

I dunno, I would prefer a high-end non-p model to a p-model, but that's just me...

[kd3yt1]

Thanks everyone!
Just the info I was looking for. I know I
love my T43 even if not a P model.

[ajkula66]

These are great machines, since you get the benefits of a FlexView LCD in 1400x1050 which is preferred by most people when compared to 1600x1200 on a 15" LCD, but you don't get the extra heat (or power) of V3200 GPU.

What's there not to like?

Although I sport a T43p in my signature, "standard" T43s with IPS screens are very dear to my heart...

[Xenomorph]

I am very lucky to have my T43. So I'm happy to even have a "non P" system, because the T43 I have is NICE. It has an ATI video chipset instead of Intel, so that means it works great with Windows Vista/Win7.

Pentium M @ 2.0 GHz
ATI X300 w/ 64 Megs
2 Gigs RAM

So even a "regular" T43 can still be a decent system.

[pimpinainteasy]

To sum this up in a few words, always have a P when you get the chance.

Are you taking the P?

[killer]

"You should say what you mean", the March Hare went on. "I do" ... "at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing, you know." From Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

You put a sign at the end of your question. Very odd. We were taught to use the evil or mad symbol when one was irate ... but it was the tortoise that taught us. (Carroll again.)

Are you mad or evil? Sorry, are you indicating mad or evil ... or what?