T43

[roguerower]

How long will it be before IBM lets you go on their website and customize a T43. Seriously looking at one for college. Good idea, bad idea. Thanks for the input.

 

[corkyg]

Just checked it on the IBM site - and the only difference between it and a comparable T42 is that the 43 uses PCI Express bus for graphics. Is it worth it? Not to me, anyway. But - if it had a WXGA display, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

T43

 

[fbrdphreak]

T43's are going to be nice, the difference being that it uses the Sonoma platform. There will be a tangible performance benefit, with the increased bus speed (533MHz) and use of DDR2 memory. The question is whether it is worth the extra money. T42's will drop in price when the T43's are released, making them a better value for mobile performance.
Some T43's come with the craptacular Intel GMA 900 graphics; leave those alone and go with at least the baseline X300 PCI-E graphics card.
The 15" screen models usually have what is known as the "Flexview" screen. This is a screen that is brighter than usual and has an unbeatable viewing angle, at the cost of a higher response time than the non-Flexview panels. 14" screens do not offer FlexView.
If you need the Thinkpad to be mobile, I personally suggest going with the 14" screen. They truly are a lot easier to carry around with you, as I own a 15" and have played with a 14".
Regardless of what Thinkpad you get, make sure you get the 9-cell battery. The 6-cell will you get you 3ish hours of life when NEW, give it a few months and you'll be down to 2-2.5 hours easily. The 9-cell is worth every penny
Also feel free to wander over to forum.thinkpads.com, there is a lot of great info on Thinkpads in general there.
Hope this helps

 

[trikster2]

> There will be a tangible performance benefit, with the increased bus speed (533MHz) and use of DDR2 memory.

Yet to see a single review showing that. "slight performance benefit" on a sunday with certain applications is more like it. Main benefit of sonoma is all the new graphics cards are coming out for PCIe. Unfortunately the X300 in the T43 is not one of the better ones (about the same as the 9600 in the T42). Disadvantage (according to IBM) is a tangible loss of battery life.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: trikster2
> There will be a tangible performance benefit, with the increased bus speed (533MHz) and use of DDR2 memory.

Yet to see a single review showing that. "slight performance benefit" on a sunday with certain applications is more like it. Main benefit of sonoma is all the new graphics cards are coming out for PCIe. Unfortunately the X300 in the T43 is not one of the better ones (about the same as the 9600 in the T42). Disadvantage (according to IBM) is a tangible loss of battery life.

IBM just announced higher amp/hour batteries for it's whole ThinkPad line. SO I wonder if the battery run time really drops as they are shipping these in new thinkpads.

 

[Conroy9]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Regardless of what Thinkpad you get, make sure you get the 9-cell battery. The 6-cell will you get you 3ish hours of life when NEW, give it a few months and you'll be down to 2-2.5 hours easily. The 9-cell is worth every penny

Aren't they 9-cell batteries less portable? Do you know if they're heavier or bulkier?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Conroy9

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Regardless of what Thinkpad you get, make sure you get the 9-cell battery. The 6-cell will you get you 3ish hours of life when NEW, give it a few months and you'll be down to 2-2.5 hours easily. The 9-cell is worth every penny

Aren't they 9-cell batteries less portable? Do you know if they're heavier or bulkier?

The ones used in the previous T series just stuck out the back of the laptop a little bit; from what I've seen they aren't a bother at all.

And according to WackyDan, they're using higher capacity batteries FINALLY {angrily glares @ my T42's wimpy 6-cell}

 

[azazello]

Originally posted by: WackyDan

higher amp/hour batteries

<nitpick> it's Ah, as in Ampere times Hour, not A/h. </nitpick>

 

[Conroy9]

The ones used in the previous T series just stuck out the back of the laptop a little bit; from what I've seen they aren't a bother at all.

Do you know if the 9-cells are noticeably heavier?
I guess this question is obsolete already if they're swtiching to higher capacity batteries...

 

[Triumph]

It's March 24th and the T43 STILL isn't available on IBM's website. What the heck? And there is no DVD-R option on the T42 (not sure if it will be available on the T43). What's the holdup here?

 

[roguerower]

In order to get the T43 that u want, you have to go ibm's website and download the TABook that has all of the models listed. They are ALL in there.

 

[Tiamat]

Im real tempted by the T42 newegg has for 1500$.

1.7Ghz, 256MB, Radeon 9600, SXGA+, 14" screen. The latter 3 points being the most important to me along with the fact it is "<5lbs". If the T43 doesnt come out soon, i might just settle for the T42.

 

[roguerower]

The t43's are out. Check my previous post.

 

[WackyDan]

Call the 800# for IBM direct... the website doesn't list them all.

DVR is available.

T43 has been shipping for some time now.

 

[uOpt]

I just hope they don't offer a Thinkpad with NVidia 6800 anytime soon...

 

[Moe Madness]

They won't. The Thinkpads are made for business, which is why the high-end cards are ATI FireGLs...

 

[Moe Madness]

Originally posted by: TriumphAnd there is no DVD-R option on the T42 (not sure if it will be available on the T43). What's the holdup here?

The T42 has the Ultrabay and you have the ability of swapping out the CDRW/DVD with an extra battery, HDD, or the Ultrabay DVD+-RW.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Moe Madness
They won't. The Thinkpads are made for business, which is why the high-end cards are ATI FireGLs...

only ThinkPad with Nvidia chipset is the G41.

 

[imported_mysbca]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Im real tempted by the T42 newegg has for 1500$.

1.7Ghz, 256MB, Radeon 9600, SXGA+, 14" screen. The latter 3 points being the most important to me along with the fact it is "<5lbs". If the T43 doesnt come out soon, i might just settle for the T42.

If you are looking at the 2378FVU model, you can get it directly from IBM through one of the credit card sites for $1376. You also get a 30 days unconditional return policy. The 2378FVU only has a one year warranty, so you might want to upgrade the warranty to 3 years for about $120.

If you know someone who works for IBM, they can get it for a couple of hundred dollars cheaper.

The T43 equivalent to the 2378FVU is 266846U. You might have to call them to get it though.