EDIT// Thinkpad T42 pics/mini review

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:16 pm

Most of yall know my laptop, the DIY 1558j. Well i am being offered a Thinkpad T42 notebook plus an extra buck or two to make up for the differance in price because i know mine is worth more. With the T42 I get thinner, lighter, more powerful graphics, and i have always liked the thinkpads. The main thing if i were to loose my current laptop would be the appreciation of building my own and the nice HDD and WIFI card which i can get with the extra money.

Dont get me wrong i really really love my laptop i have now, but i also really love the T42, especially the price i can get it for. I wouldnt really loose the laptop since it would be going to my parents, thats a plus.

Please oh please help me in my decision.

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:18 pm

go for the better laptop. you can always build a new laptop later, when better and cooler tech comes out.

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 2:05 pm

well after all the help

i went ahead and got the T42 thinkpad notebook. i will start another thread or just rename this one with some pics and stuff. It really is a nice book!!

bigblockmatt · Post by **bigblockmatt** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:25 pm

damn, this aint good. if it ends up that it sux, it's gonna be all on me...

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 4:55 pm

oh no, its an excellent laptop. pentium m 1.7, 512 ram(gonna upgrade), radeon 7500, 40gig 5400 HDD(gonna upgrade), and a freaking keyboard lite to boot!!

brand new in the box, 600 bucks. I am in class now, when i get home ill take some pic and write up a mini review.

Yes my other one was way faster, but this thinkpad is lighter and smaller and offers soo much more. I never actually lost my old one, again since my parents will be using and will still be at my house.

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 9:39 pm

Well i came across an excellent deal that fell in at an excellent time. We do the Nextels for this one construction company and the owner has this side business of "re-wholesaling" stuff. Well as part of his stuff he had these laptops. Long story short before they were all gone i got in on the last one he had. For $600 brand new in the box i couldnt pass on the deal. My parents are getting my old one so its not like its leaving my life, it will still be in my daily routine.

Review: (i will try and keep it short so you dont have much to read)

The main reason i was interested in it was its wieght and size. Compared to my AOPEN 1558j its really thin and lite! As far as the specs go i know my other one was fast with the gig or ram and 7200rpm SATA HDD, the intel 915 chipset, but i can easily change that with some minor upgrades. It does have an on board ATI 7500, which sucks when compared to most newer laptops, but hey it runs CS at max FPS. The thing i love most (the geek in me) is its built in keyboard light. Fn+Pgup turns it on and off. SOOO FREAKING AWESOME!!!

IBM is very proud of thier products, everything on the laptop is IBM help, IBM recovery, IBM secuity, IBM updates,IBM wireless, IBM this and that with MANY MANY services running for all these. I dont know for sure if its the 5400rpm drive or the services but its takes a long time to boot and even longer to shutdown. I have gone in and deleted most of them and it boots a few seconds quicker. I am sure a nice personal format will help with some of that. However some of the software functions with the laptop are nice like the backup features, profiles for power and wifi depending on your location etc... I have yet to go through all the bells and whistles. The battery life on it is just as good as my 1588j if not by a few minutes more. I have no bad things to say about battery life.

Overall i am happy with my choice of using this lappy. Well... it was a win win situation because i still pretty much have the other one to use because my parents wont use it that much. For my daily school basis and totin around this laptop suites me just well minus the boot and shutdown times. which i think can be fixed some either reformatting without all the IBM stuff.

As far as WIFI goes i havent had a problem with reception, it has been great. Unlike my 1558 where the antennas are in the lcd hinges, the antenna in the T42 are in the LCD monitor its self.

1558j left, T42 right
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7193.jpg[/img]

The keyboard LED in pitch black
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7197.jpg[/img]

Innards
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7204.jpg[/img]

WIFI (wonder if my Intel 2915 will be better???)
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7205.jpg[/img]

The Built in Bluetooth card
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7208.jpg[/img]

The BT card its self
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7220.jpg[/img]

Onboard ATI 7500
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7227.jpg[/img]

At least its a Travelstar
[img]ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics/IMG_7233.jpg[/img]

My only questions i have after all this is, if i get a new HDD will i still be able to use all the IBM features and will i get any benefit using my Intel 2915 instead of this philips wifi card?

BTW: IBM is the only manufactuer that has an avaliable to the public 284 page manual on how to take their entire product apart that i could find. That makes me a happy panda. http://people.debian.org/~ericvb/92p2252.pdf

kenc51 · Post by **kenc51** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 1:17 am

Sweet....IMO I think thin and light is the way to go if you have a pc already for gaming......

I've always loved IBM, even their workstations!
Pity they don't make laptops anymore!

BTW your pics don't load...!!

Dragon_Cooler · Post by **Dragon_Cooler** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:04 am

that was another reason for getting the lappy was because i have always liked IBM too, they are a true workhorse and durable and meant to mobile travlers.

As far as the pics go hrmmmmmm its working for me

the direct link is ftp://mulanserving.homeftp.net/t42pics anyone else having problems? i will have to see if i can get somewhere else to host pics.