IBM T42 - Which One Should I Buy? (Also 14.1" vs 15"?)

R

RogerPodacter

n00b
Joined
Feb 28, 2003
Messages
42
Just asking for some advice from fellow Thinkpad owners. I want to replace my T41 (2379-DJU) which was stolen. I definitely want a T series IBM - want to go with a T42 - and dont want to spend over $2,000. I loved the 14.1 inch screen on the T41, but I'm not sure if i would be happy with the larger 15 inch screen on the T42. I definitely want the better video card, 9600. But i think the 14.1 inch size was perfect and i am afraid the 15 inch will be a little too big. And suggestions from people who have either? Here are some choices i have in mind.

23795VU (Newegg.com) - $1,819.00

2378FVU (Newegg.com) - $1,710.00

2378DXU (Newegg.com) - $2,049.00

23733UU (IBM's Website) - Your price $1,879.20*

I think i am leaning towards the last one (23733UU), but Newegg doesnt have it and i would much rather buy from them since their service is so fast. Thanks for any advice.

RP
 
go with the 14.1
battery life is better on those than on the 15; I got about 7 hours w/ the 14, about 5 with the 15 on the same battery.
 
You can get a refurb t41p direct from ibm for $2000
Will have a non upgradable 1 year warenty though...
 
Stang Man said:
i got the 2378FVU....

best laptop for the price from them IMO.
Click to expand...

After researching all night last night, this is my conclusion as well. the FVU is the clear winner if money is an issue. But...

tiebird321 said:
You can get a refurb t41p direct from ibm for $2000
Will have a non upgradable 1 year warenty though...
Click to expand...

This aint a bad idea. now i dont know which to choose. i kinda like the fact that i can order the FVU from Newegg and have it by the end of this week. What is the lead time for ordering from IBM's website? I've read that it can take weeks to recieve your lappy.
 
Does the FVU come with bluetooth? I could definitely use bluetooth if it did. If not, can it be added by purchasing the IBM modem that has the bluetooth functionality? I think the FVU does have the bluetooth antenna already built in to the display, correct?
 
my 2378FVU didn't come with bluetooth.

i'd rather have this 2378fvu then a 2000 dollar refurb..


you can always get a bluetooth usb adapter or something
 
RogerPodacter said:
After researching all night last night, this is my conclusion as well. the FVU is the clear winner if money is an issue. But...



This aint a bad idea. now i dont know which to choose. i kinda like the fact that i can order the FVU from Newegg and have it by the end of this week. What is the lead time for ordering from IBM's website? I've read that it can take weeks to recieve your lappy.
Click to expand...

I ordered one of the refurbs a while back
working perfect for the client still

Just took a look... they are curently out of the t41p's
so i would say something off of newegg is your best option
 
Go for the 23733UU Direct from IBM and you will have a 30 day no questions asked return policy just in case of any pixel problems or anything else.
To me this is definately worth the lead time. Not to mention they are usually a lot less than IBM predicts.
 
I have a T41P and here's some issues I've come up with...

I've had problems with the firegl chipset. It's fast when playing games but ATI is pulling marketing games with supporting it, and it won't even run their multimedia center. I have an all-in-wonder card in another computer and I'd like to broadcast tv to my laptop since it has the ati chipset, but ATI specifically excludes the firegl chipset from using the MMC software. It won't even install. I've tried every single driver out there, hacked and non-hacked, plus several versions of the MMC, and it won't work. When I checked with ATI, they sent me back a nice note saying the MMC software doesn't support the firegl chipset even though it's really just a 9600 with an extra 64 meg memory.

So get the 9600 card instead of the firegl T2 even though the 9600 only has 64 meg memory.

Get the 7200 rpm hard drive. That alone makes this the quickest-responding laptop I've ever used.

Get 512 meg memory already installed if you can, so you can just install another and have a full gig of ram. If you don't and later on you need more than 768 meg, you'll have to disassemble the laptop to get the 256 meg stick out.

Apparently both the T41 and T42 laptops are compatable with the Dothan cpus as long as you have the latest bios, and I've read several reports of people having success swapping out the older pentium-M cpus and putting in 2.0 ghz dothan cpus into T41 laptops. YMMV of course and IBM doesn't specifically support it, but apparently it works just fine and it provides a useful upgrade path in the future if you have to get one of the slower T41 or T42 laptops now and think you might want more cpu power later on.

The slim internal DVD writer option has dropped $200 in the last few months(from $499 to $299), so consider getting that too. I've had some problems with my internal CDRW/DVD drive not reading some cds (the ones that came from Canon with my scanner for example) so if you can afford it I'd get the DVD RW drive instead of just the CDRW/DVD drive. Or just realize you might end up having to get an external DVD writer in the future.

Although I sorta regret getting the damn firegl vid chip (it was the only fast one available from IBM in Dec 2003) I got the T41P fully loaded because to me it's a bit of an investment. The last fully loaded laptop (micron XKE) I got lasted 6 years, 2 house moves, 2 military deployments to the persian gulf region, and when I retired it the old laptop still ran perfectly fine, but the cpu was just too slow. A pentium MMX 266 just doesn't cut it for anything but email ;) I'm hoping to get 5 years or more out of this one and that's why I bought the best I could find even though it cost more. Don't go cheap on the hard drive especially... Get the 7200 rpm drive and you won't regret it.
 
flenser, great post. awesome way of giving thorough advice and opinion. My problem is i am set on getting the 2378-FVU. I think that model is the best breakpoint regarding value vs. performance. I will upgrade with a faster Dothan CPU, upgrade to a 7200 RPM HD, and get another stick of memory from crucial. But you made me think about getting the full 1GB of memory. i could also just add a 1 gig chip with the existing 256 MB, no? might be overkill though. And video, i dont want to skimp on this. I'm definitely going with the 64 MB 9600.

Anything else i am overlooking? Thanks again for that timely response, it must have taken some effort.

RP
 
IMO, the FVU seems like the best bang for the buck. Memory can be upgraded to match the others, and the harddrive can be swapped for a 7200 rpm unit. It has Intel 802.11b/g networking, but no Bluetooth. The form factor is right at 14" and the resolution is very good, 1400x1050. When you upgrade the FVU it gets as good as the T42p.
You don't need DVD burning on the move, the 9600 is as fast as the FireGL. In the end they are the same computer, with slightly different internals, and very different price points :)
 
GLSauron said:
i like that DXU...
Click to expand...

Yeah... I second that. The DXU looks the best out of all of them (if aesthetics are your thing). I love the front of it, where it looks like a sideways V with the sharp end towards you :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top