I'm in Notebook Buying Hell - I need T42 advice

March 25, 2005 8:55 PM

I've finally decided to breakdown and buy a T42 Thinkpad to replace my quickly fading HP desktop. I'm so confused and I think that I've screwed up.

After much research I decided to go with the IBM Thinkpad. I talked with an IBM cust. svc rep today and told mhim my needs. I bought a T42 2379R9, 512 MB, 60 GB, Pentium M 745 1.80G, 15.0" 1400x1050, 64MB ATI Mobility RADEON 9600, CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo, Ethernet, 56K modem, Wireless 2200BG, Bluetooth, integrated fingerprint reader, plus a port replicator, extra 9 cell battery and 3 yr svc contract, inc. accidental for $2432, inc. tax.

An hour or so after completing the transaction someone tells me that you get a discount if you use Visa to pay for it. So I call back and talk to a different cust. rep who changes my order to a T42 2373L1U, which has 512 MB, 40 G, Pentium M 735 1.70GHz, 15.0" 1024x768 32MB ATI Mobility RADEON 7500, CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo, Ethernet, 56K modem, Wireless 2200BG, Bluetooth, integrated fingerprint reader, plus an extra 9 cell battery, port replicator and 3 yr plan for $1825, inc. tax.

I felt really rushed by the 2nd cust. svc rep. It felt like he just wanted to steal a sale from the 1st rep. Now I'm not sure which notebook is better for me.

Here are my needs:

This notebook will replace my PC. I tend to run multiple applications (Outlook, Word, Firefox, etc). I'm not a "gamer," but I do play flash games. I store a lot of photos and MP3s, as well as a huge amount of Word docs on my harddrive. Long battery life is a must. This will be my work and play notebook. I will use it for DVD watching. I'm in the Army Reserve and I will probably be deployed early next year, so I need a notebook that is rugged, yet light enough to travel and can withstand the elements. Good tech support is really important to me and I'm willing to pay a premium for it.

posted by Juicylicious to computers & internet (8 comments total)

Have you looked at the Panasonic Toughbooks at all? I've only worked with the Japanese ones, but they're the ones that the army buys I believe.

As far as the real difference between the two notebooks that you spec above, it looks like the main difference is the HDD size, 40g as opposed to 60g. That's still a lot of space. You can always burn things off with your CDRW or get an external HDD, though it doesn't seem to be the best option for you. Basically, with these two notebooks, you need to ask yourself: is a 20g difference worth $600 to you? Personally, were I buying the notebook, I would say no. Is it possible to upgrade the second notebook to a bigger HDD? That might be best for what you need.

I realize that the processor is a bit slower in the second one, as well, but for your needs I don't think that it will make that much of a difference.
posted by sugarfish at 9:28 PM on March 25, 2005

Difference, difference, difference! I need a thesarus.
posted by sugarfish at 9:29 PM on March 25, 2005

(First of all I should say that I love my Thinkpad -- it's an X31 and runs circles around the less expensive Dell ones.) So it looks like the basic differences between the two are the video card, 20gb of hard drive space, the screen resolution, and .1 Ghz.

I'd say the second one is a much better deal. .1Ghz will not be that noticeable without games, nor will the video card. (I notice very little difference between my 2Ghz desktop and my 1.3 Ghz Thinkpad on most applications.) I'm not up on my 15" notebooks, but 1024x768 was plenty hard to see on 15" desktop monitors in the first place, so I don't think you'll be begging for that extra resolution. It's more than enough to play DVDs.

But it sounds like you have lots of storage needs and the 20GB might be important.

So I think you should definitely go with the 2nd model, use $200 to get an extra 512mb of ram (which is nice on a notebook), $200 for a rugged 40-60GB of extra external hard drive space (for backups, mp3s, etc). You then still come in at $150-$200 less which you can use for a good carrying case or extra creature comforts.

Good luck and stay safe in the deployment -- and thanks for serving in the reserves. I hope you go and do some good somewhere!
posted by ontic at 9:39 PM on March 25, 2005

The difference you'll notice most is the screen resolution. A 1440x1050 screen has very dense pixels (118 dpi), whereas a 1024x768 15" screen has just about the largest pixels (86 dpi) you'll find on any modern screen. The 1400x1050 would have given you a lot of screen space to play with, and personally I would have gone with that, but it all depends on the quality of your eyesight and whether you'd use the space..
posted by cillit bang at 10:10 PM on March 25, 2005

First of all, the IBM T42 is considered the highest quality laptop you can purchase and the customer service is by and far the most accesible (and useful) as well. This can be verified by asking any laptop forum. www.hardforums.com can give you a good vantage point.

Flash will work absolutely fine with either laptop. Let's definately get this out of the way: If you are not buying the laptop to play games, the 9600 will be mostly wasted.

Extra RAM is always useful on a notebook, so having 1GB is good though certainly not a neccesity.

On to the screen: You should get the higher resolution display not only for its quality difference but also for longevity in the future. If you decide to sell your laptop or upgrade the OS in the coming few years the extra desktop real estate is worth it, not to mention the fact you said you are dealing with lots of word docs.

A DVD-RW is right up your alley. Never trust a hard drive. For the heck of it i'll say it again: Never trust a hard drive. Disk size is up to you. Consider how much you have right now and how much you are getting in the future. Maybe someone you run into in the future has a bunch of music you want? It's possible.

Battery life for both models, as far as I know, are very good. They are probably quite close to each other as it is, and since both have Pentium M technology they are efficient in the first place.

I would probably go with number one, but you have to accept that you are probably wasting some money by having a higher grade video card than needed. Doesn't hurt to call back and ask if you can get the resolution of number one with the features of number two.
posted by Dean Keaton at 12:44 AM on March 26, 2005

Caveat: I used to work Customer Support for IBM, and I own a x40 that is my baby. IBM is teh sex0r.
One thing you should be careful of - the first model is an "IBM Express" model, whereas the second is not. Unfortunately, I don't know what the difference is with T-series notebooks but the R-series Express models had some limitations (eg No docking port, reduced warranty, cheaper components).

That being said, the only difference that you will notice _constantly_ is not performance, but screen resolution. The 15" 1400x1050 screen is GORGEOUS, and very much worth the extra cash if you can afford it. Particularly if you're going to be editing photos and whatnot, the extra realestate is very very handy. Also, that machine ships with a 9cell battery as standard; the second seems to have a 6, so you're talking longer battery life with the first.

Finally, don't underestimate your hdd requirements. 40GB turns into 36GB (formatted) turns into 30GB (recovery partition) turns into 25GB (OS and Office) and suddenly....
posted by coriolisdave at 4:30 PM on March 26, 2005

Does this VISA discount work for either model? If you phoned back to get the discount, why did they change the order?
posted by jb at 10:59 PM on March 26, 2005

The thinkpds.com forum is a great resource, also look at the TABook pdf, it contains info on every laptop IBM makes. I personally got an T42 2373-N1U through the IBM education store (works for students, teachers, even alumni of higher ed)
posted by borkencode at 10:23 PM on March 27, 2005