SMOKING !! IBM T41 for $1399.00 with Nylon case

[CBuilderX]

Recently I have been noticing that my new T41 performance seemed unusually s-l-o-w when running on battery power. I know IBM sets the Pentium-M power management to auto-throttle down to 600MHz on battery power by default and I verified this with CPU-Z. But even with the lower CPU speed the T41 still seemed way too slow in battery mode. Today I did some checking and pulled up the task manager to look at the CPU and process information, and found the RUNDLL32.EXE process to be using 99% of the CPU resources! Rundll32 was hogging all the CPU so apps and IE were being starved for CPU. I did a little further checking and found the rundll32 was normal when running on AC, 0-1% CPU. So something was definitely not right with something in the power management settings when running on battery. I isolated the problem to a setting in the ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 driver. ATI has power management built into the video driver that is called Powerplay and IBM has it enabled by default. When I disabled the Powerplay ATI PM and rebooted my battery performance was greatly improved and the rundll32 process usage was back to normal, 0-1%. Not sure how much this being disabled is going to hurt by battery life but it might even improve it since the CPU will not be running at 99-100% all the time on battery. I am going to download and install the latest ATI Mobililty Radeon driver from IBM later and see if this bug is fixed in the newer driver. I am kind of surprised that this bug was missed by IBM in their PM setup for these T41 models. Will post back if the newer driver has fixed the problem.

 

[Tash]

I ordered the Kingmax 256MB PC2700 from Newegg. Was this a bad idea? Is there a free slot for it? If so, will it work with the ram that comes with the unit?

 

[docinthebox]

Originally posted by: Tash
I ordered the Kingmax 256MB PC2700 from Newegg. Was this a bad idea? Is there a free slot for it? If so, will it work with the ram that comes with the unit?

I think it'll work fine. Yes there's a slot on the T41 for an extra stick of ram. It's on the bottom of the laptop, near the battery slot. Refer to the

T41 Hardware Maintenance Manual, p.73.

 

[Flair]

make sure it is a SODIMM and you should be ok... CAS 2.5

 

[Tash]

Thanks, yea, it is SODIMM. I got my nylon carrying case yesterday and monday I'll get my X31. I'll have to decide which one to keep. I think I might like the lighter weight, but we'll have to see how much the smaller screen annoys me.

 

[Ns1]

I installed the 512mb kingmax stick from newegg, making the total ram 768. There isn't anything I should need to do with the clock speeds, right? It should all run at 2700, etc by default?

 

[docinthebox]

If it's a T41, it should run the memory at PC2700 speed. You can run CPU-Z to verify the memory speed if you want.

 

[sree]

has anyone had a problem with the wireless connections on these t41's? my wireless conn. keeps getting disconnected ever so frequently. i have a netgear mr814 router. just wondering if anyone else had similar problems and solutions? thanks

 

[Tash]

yea, I have the T41 and a new X31 and both have flacky wireless cards. I already had a DLINK 650+ cardbus, and once I installed that, no problems.

 

[teKillah]

Originally posted by: sree
has anyone had a problem with the wireless connections on these t41's? my wireless conn. keeps getting disconnected ever so frequently. i have a netgear mr814 router. just wondering if anyone else had similar problems and solutions? thanks

Adjust the power saving setting for the network by clicking on the icon on your bottom right. By default it is set at high(low network performance and higher battery life), to extract the most from your battery. Once you set it to low ( best network perfomance and battery intensive) then you wouldnt see this problem.

 

[hconnor2]

got my t41 and it doesn't seem to come with any software. is there supposed to be lotus notes on these units?
otherwise i think this is an excellent unit. i'll take the lightweight over an extra 1inch on the screen any day. besides if i use this a lot as a desktop replacement (unlikely) i'll get a 17 inch display to use with it. nice find.

 

[Tshirt]

I've been checking the thread of this deal since its beginning at FW. Well I got one after all. At least for now it's the best laptop around the block. I'd write a few lines about how good it is, but that won't be objective because I already fell in love this thinkpad.
Hey we also get the IBM support. And nothing compares to that, especially when the issue is laptops.

 

[jkresh]

order a t41 (2379dju) on Tuesday, on Wednesday it said it was in the configuring/packing stage, now it is saying it will be in stock in 2-4 weeks, has anyone had that and actually gotten it in a reasonable amount of time? Getting nervous as I am heading back to school next week and can?t really deal with not having a notebook for much more then the first week of the semester.

 

[ibmt41]

Q: Where can I get a good deal on a new IBM ThinkPad T40?
A: Direct from IBM. Call 1-800-656-0833 +3. Tell them you're a first time buyer, and you'd like the 20% discount. (NOTE: This discount doesn't apply to the IBM Express Program configurations. They are already discounted greatly. Most CSRs will give you 5% off the Express models, so don't be too disappointed!) You should also be able to haggle free shipping, but there YMMV.

I saw somebody ask earlier. I tried the regular IBM number and was offered only a 5% discount despite the fact that my credit card offers 10% (this is not a think express model either). Is this only for small businesses? Is it discontinued?

Thanks.

 

[hconnor2]

anyone had problems with the hard drive motion sensor system?

i have.

all i have to do is breath on the thing and the hard drive shuts down, essentially telling me i'm moving too much. heck i'm sitting still with the thing on my lap. moving no. breathing, yes. sheesh.

checked around and consensus is that i just turn the motion sensor off. i have and it works wonderfully.

btw thanks to the post about the ATI issue. i went in and made the change and my performance is significantly better and so is the battery life. you gotta love anandtech.

 

[Tweakmeister]

I thought this deal was dead?!?

I was in need of a Win32 notebook to replace my TiBook (love the thing but need a speedy Win32 machine).

You can find these on eBay for varying levels of cheapness...particularly the Buy It Now's. I paid $1999 shipped (called one of the sellers and haggled)...but got the 64mb FireGL 9000, 1gb ram, 1.6ghz, SXGA+, etc, etc.

@ $1400 you can't go wrong for these.

--

On a side note....check out Circuit City for a good backpack. I needed a backpack and finally came upon a top of the line Targus. Thing is awesome, and was only ~$70 (cheap for a "notebook backpack"). It's already served me well going to Germany and back with my old TiBook.

Has anyone tried running normal drivers on these? I like to run clean installs minus all the IBM stuff.

Can't wait to get my hands on one of these! Only a couple more days...

 

[heart101]

How's the case flex on the T41?

 

[lisantica]

Did anyone buy the T41 and decided it's not for them? If so, let me know, I'm looking to buy one
Lisa

 

[kctopitz]

I've had mine a month now and I'm quite satisfied - and I've even had to deal with tech support: My CD/DVD drive wasn't quite staying shut when I closed it. I called IBM support at prime time expecting a bit of a wait - got through to a tech in about one minute. Told him the problem, he took my address, sent out a new drive and it arrived within a week. No fuss.

 

[slunk]

My CD/DVD drive wasn't quite staying shut when I closed it. I called IBM support at prime time expecting a bit of a wait - got through to a tech in about one minute. Told him the problem, he took my address, sent out a new drive and it arrived within a week. No fuss.

My R40 does the same thing. I need to contact them. It has to be pushed in pretty hard, while holding the other side of the laptop, in order to close.

 

[lisantica]

Kctopitz, that's one main reason I want a ThinkPad, IBM seems to stand behind their product and they have great warranties.
Can anyone point me to the best price on a T41?
Thanks,
Lisa

 

[Janus64]

Shopperwiz.com was pretty good. I got a 2379DJU for around $1871. This included shipping and no tax to Texas.

If you order from IBM, they charge sales tax.

Even with a Employee discount, the price difference was only about 10.00 cheaper for the employee/ friend/family discount.

At the time that I ordered mine, there was a 2 week wait on the IBM website. So I got mine in about 5 days from shopperwiz.

I'm very happy with my T41 laptop.

Funny thing was, shopperwiz was in MA, but the laptop came from a shipper in Fort Worth Texas. So, eventhough I got the laptop from a company in Texas, I still didn't have to pay sales tax. What a deal!

 

[lisantica]

Janus, Glad to hear that you're happy with your T41. I just ordered one from the IBM website today.

 

[hconnor2]

just a note of thanks to those who advise buying the ram from newegg.

to be on the safe side i ordered mine from ibm. the bill about 170.00. i didn't mind. afterall, i get the big blue guarantee. one small problem: for some reason my order is nixed. days later I'M THE ONE following up with big blue about what happened. it took two days to get a person to give me the straight answer: a credit card glitch. now i love my t41 and i would gladly have purchased from ibm, since i didn't want to take a chance with other memory.

instead, because of poor service on their part (too many chefs in the kitchen?) i ordered from newegg. saved myself 70 dollars and in the end i'm probably happier, since i've heard so many good things about newegg, but never purchased anything from them.

perhaps i'm being too harsh. the people at ibm seemed nice enough, they just couldn't seem to sort things out in a timely and efficient fashion.