ibm thinkpad t42 laptop review
March 13th, 2008 by discountbatteryIbm thinkpad t42 laptop review
IBM’s new ThinkPad T42 series
comprises the mainstream T42 and the workstation-class T42p. As well as
featuring the new Pentium M Processor 735 (1.7GHz), 745 (1.8GHz) and
755 (2GHz), plus a range of wireless connectivity options, the T42
series will be the first ThinkPads to offer a 15in. display. Another
first for the range is a 9.5mm multi-format DVD burner, the snappily
named ThinkPad Multi-Burner UltraBay Slim Drive.The standard T42 is a
far more basic model than its ibm thinkpad T42p
sibling, but to be fair it’s also significantly cheaper. The chassis is
the same as the T42p I looked at, but there is one major difference as
soon as you open it up – the 15in screen sports a native resolution of
only 1,024 x 768. Now there was a time when 1,024 x 768 was a great
resolution for a notebook, but things have moved on. These days the
average 14.1in screen will have a native resolution of 1,400 x 1,050,
so a 15in display with 1,024 x 768 looks a little odd to be honest.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the
screen on the T42 – it’s bright and evenly lit, while the colours are
vivid. But the 15in physical dimensions seem like overkill considering
the resolution.
The 2.4kg (15in. screen) or 2.1 kg (14in. screen)
T42 comes with either a Dothan processor featuring 2MB of Level 2 cache
or the older 1MB-cache Pentium M running at 1.5GHz. Graphics are
handled by ATI’s Radeon M10 (with up to 64MB of video RAM) or M7 (with
up to 32MB) chipsets, while hard disk sizes top out at 80GB (5,400rpm).
Wireless
networking options for the T42 include single-band 802.11b or b/g,
dual-band a/b/g or "wireless ready" (i.e. no wireless module fitted).
IBM uses two antennae fitted in the screen bezel to provide isolation
from electromagnetic interference. Gigabit wired Ethernet is standard
on all models, as is infrared (not a given these days), while Bluetooth
is offered on selected models.
The lightweight (5.4-pound) Ibm thinkpad T42
is incredibly thin–just 1.1 inches tall with the 14.1-inch screen
closed–and offers IBM’s great keyboard with both eraserhead and
touchpad pointing devices, each with their own smoothly working mouse
buttons. The ThinkLight, an LED in the lid that a keystroke combination
activates to shine a light on the keyboard, is a useful feature that
helps when working in dim light.
Powering the ThinkPad T42
is the Intel Pentium M 735 (1.7GHz) that provides an excellent mix of
power and battery life. Matched to this is 512MB of PC2700 DDR memory
allowing it to run through the most applications without any problems.
Storage
is not one of the strong points for the ThinkPad T42. It comes standard
with a 40GB hard drive. Thankfully it has a higher spin rate of 5,400
RPMs for inproved performance. It also uses the APS system to protect
data during shocks or bumps. A 24x CD-RW combo drive for CD burning and
DVD playback is also standard.
Connectivity:
My ThinkPad
came with the Intel 2200BG wireless card. There is no off/on button but
can be switched using keyboard controls. When I first got it, I still
had an 802.11b router. It worked well with that. I have since upgraded
to an 802.11g router and it works well with that too. I really only use
it co share my internet connection so the 802.11b standard is more than
enough for my 400k DSL line. My ThinkPad also came with Bluetooth. I
purchased a Bluetooth enabled Kensington Pilot Mouse to use with it. It
works well and finds it right away when I turn it on. One of the few
faults I can find with my ThinkPad is the lack of connection options.
It has two USB ports and that is it. It has no firewire or card reader.
Not that I use those all that much, but they would have been nice on
such an expensive laptop. They could have gotten rid of the parallel
port to add them because they are rarely used anymore.
Optical Drive:
Most
ThinkPads come with a CDRW/DVD combo drives even though DVD burners are
common on a lot of other laptops. Newer T43s are more likely to have a
DVD burner. Mine came with a Hitachi-LG 24x/8x drive combo drive.
ThinkPads have a super slim modular bay. There are only a few drives
that will fit in there. I decided not to get one with a DVD burner
because IBM burners are slow and expensive. The burn quality on the
drive is not very good either. I have the modular battery and like to
keep it the bay, so an external seemed like a good choice. I purchased
a NEC ND-6500A from NewEgg and a case for it from Centrix Intl. The
burn quality on the NEC is the best I have seen on a laptop drive and
it is much faster than the 2x Panasonic drives offered by IBM. The case
it a little cheap and platicky, but seem to work as described. It is
USB powered so thankfully I do not have to carry an adapter.
Audio:
It
is a laptop so using it’s speakers to listen to audio will do in a
pinch, but a good pair of headphones is a must. I use the ones that
came with my Creative Labs Muvo2. It uses a SoundMax chip.
I
have the larger nine cell and the modular bay battery. I haven’t done
any scientific testing, but with both batteries full charged it goes
between six and seven hours on medium settings with wireless on which
is excellent considering the larger screen. More often than not, I stop
using it before the battery runs out.
