Old Thinkpad T43 build quality vs. New mainstream laptops

I can get a T43 laptop recertified by lenovo for $299 free shipping and no taxes. Is the build quality really that much better than the cheap high spec laptops found at fry's? I will be using this laptop for some internet browsing, office 2007 apps. So nothing demanding whatsoever. I don't need to watch movies, edit videos, play games, etc. on the laptop.

For example, there was a Toshiba laptop with a t3400, DVDRW drive, 2GB Ram, 160gb hard drive, vista, etc. for $399 on sale at Fry's. So with Tax, that's $432. Not bad at all considering it's fast, has a dvdrw drive, etc., and can play multimedia files easily if needed. Only thing is when inspecting it at Fry's the materials used...keypad, etc. felt so cheap. The plastic casing felt cheap. The specs however were nice.

Then there is the Thinkpad T43 recertified model I've been looking at for $299, free ship, 0 tax. Only thing is, it has lower specs and I'm not sure what kind of condition it's going to be in. Will it have tons of scratches etc? It is being sold at JR electronics.

Intel Pentium M 730 1.6GHz / 512MB (upgrade option 2GB) / 40GB Hard Drive / 14.1 XGA - 1024x768 Resolution / 8x DVD Reader / 802.11abg Wireless / XP Pro

The only thing I would plan on doing is upgrading the ram to 2gb...it would cost $23 for 2gb of ram at newegg, not bad. 40gb HD will be enough for me for now.

 

I would be concerned at the 1024x768 resolution. It seems too small for me (i.e. less stuff fits on screen).

 

I got a 24 inch monitor and reduced my resolution to 1024 x 768 and the viewing area seems good enough to work with office 2007 and browsing the internet. Of course, my desktop monitor is widescreen so I'm not sure how well it will look on the thinkpad's monitor though.

Any way, is the build quality better as I have read on the internet? I want something that feels solid and sturdy...that is a bit more important to me than the actual specs. I know that's crazy but the actual construction, build quality, and ovrrall feel of the laptop is more important to me. I plan to travel with this thing a lot and it seems pretty light from the specs. My desktop rig that I built with a Q6600 and 4850x2 I use for the demanding stuff.

 

It's a bit of a lottery there. The T43, which uses the Sonoma Pentium M, generally runs hotter than other T4x machines and is more noisy due to the fan. If I were in the same boat I'd look at the R60, which can be had on eBay for around the same price. The pickings are slim right now, but if you can wait some better offering will come along. The R60 will get you a Core Duo. My own R60 had been a great machine. It runs cool and is well built. The screen is a bit dim on the lower settings, but the it's not too bad and the T43 uses the same panels anyway. If you're looking for a used ThinkPad, I might suggest looking in the Marketplace forum on ThinkPads.com. They tend be much more descriptive over there. It's easier to discern what you're getting as to opposed to eBay or J & R where they're purposely vague.

You certainly can get a new machine close in price, but it won't be as well built. A used ThinkPad will offer bettery quality, but you'll be going without a warranty, which carries more risk. The T43 will have no trouble outputting to you external monitor regardless of the resolution.

 

To be honest given those screen brightness of T4x series degrade alot over the period its released, XGA will actually be much brighter than SXGA+ ones. I'd opt for a new laptop to be honest, thinkpad T43 still had the motherboard flex issue, and the chance is it will break quite quickly no matter how you use it; it's not new.

 

He makes sense you know? A lot of people dont include warranty as a cost. They should.

 

i believe T43s are famous for there hot hot heating. my T42 doesnt have that problem but T43s do.

...so keep that in mind

 

The XGA and SXGA+ panels in the 14" T43 are the same brightness., 150 nits.

 

It can be a bit of a gamble, betting on the horse that it's cheaper but the returns will be greater if he wins. Except that with the horse you can see in what condition he is in.

 

I've had laptops before and can usually diagnose and fix overheating issues. I have experience in taking laptops apart, changing out the gpu on higher end models, etc. if heat is indeed an issue. Hopefully the fans still do a good job though. But you guys are probably right. These laptops are a few years old now and who knows how much life they have left. I have no problem opening up the laptop and dusting the insides when I get it. Probably the first thing that I'll do since I have to swap both ram modules with the 1gb sticks I ordered. I ordered the t43 laptop. I hope it is in good shape.

 

I love the 14" T4x series. I used a T40 for 5 years and it served me well until I upgraded to an x200 (the T40 is still serving a friend).

 

Was there any opportunity to add a warranty? That might be a good investment. Even if it comes out to the new lower-build quality laptop's price...I still think you'd enjoy having a thinkpad vs a regular mainstream user's laptop.

 

I don't think so. Just has a 90 day warranty.

 

JR is a solid vendor

 

I've ordered from JR before. I will admit I should of upgraded the shipping on this thing as it is taking forever via ground. Won't get it until Monday. It was $299 out the door though, and got 2 1gb sticks of kingston ram for $23 at newegg.

 

Forever goes 'til Monday?

 

Nope, not even monday, as ups routed the package incorrectly. Was suppose to come monday but now tuesday, sigh.

 

Got to love UPS

 

Well finally got the laptop. Very impressed. The laptop is in immaculate condition. There isn't even any wear on the palm rests...lol. It's almost like they put these in a time capsule. Even the lid is in new condition. These things don't look like they have been used. I guess they do really recondition these things to new condition.

Any way, I will say that the t43 feels very solid all around. Sturdy, and strong, unlike the $399 laptops I checked out at fry's and best buy. The top lid almost feels like metal. I see what people are saying about the keyboard on these things. It's a full size keyboard and feels sturdy, unlike the cheap plastic ones found on the mainstream laptops these days. Definitely worth more than the $299 price admission, especially since it's in brand new condition.

It loads windows fast even though it is a 1.6M processor. Loaded office 2007 and it runs it just fine. That's all I really need on this thing, along with wifi and ethernet. Not sure if the new thinkpads are of this quality, but will definitely consider a lenovo next time I buy something. Kind of cool that this laptop has the IBM thinkpad logo on it though.

I also discovered that the laptop can support up to 1600x1200 resolution when I use my external hp monitor. The display is actually quite bright and looks good, but pales in comparison obviously to the newer laptops with the wxga screens. I obviously didn't get this laptop for the pretty visuals. Any ways, well worth the $299 price tag.

 

Oh yah, was surprised it came with a hard copy of windows xp pro w/ sp3. Says "For Refurbished PCs." Battery will only last 3 hours on power save mode though with a full charge. Not too bad I guess.

 

Dwayne,
The machine looks beautiful. You made out well. Man I love Thinkpads.

 

Awesome. Glad it worked out, especially at that price .

 

That is in immaculate condition. It should also hold that condition pretty well. I used my T40 for 5 years, and aside from the corners on the lid, it still looked fantastic.

There really is no comparing the build quality of a ThinkPad (especially a T4x) to a bargain basement consumer PC. The only thing you should be careful about is picking it up with 1 hand (especially by the front right corner). The T4x is prone to motherboard flex if you lift it this way, and this can cause the GPU to become desoldered from the mainboard (happend to mine after 2.5 years, but was fixed under warranty).

 

Thanks for the tip, I will be careful not to handle it with one hand. I got a laptop sleeve to protect it, I like keeping my gear in good shape. I'll be traveling with it so I'm sure it will get bumped here and there, but what can you do. I already put one of my 1gb ram sticks in it. It's nice that they put the 512mb dimm under the keyboard and left the ram slot on the underside open. I put a 1gb stick in it already, you can get them cheap at newegg for like $13.

I am probably only going to buy thinkpads from now on, hopefully lenovo is carrying on the tradition. JR was good as usual, though shipping was slow...but I'm from CA and it shipped from NY ...and I opted for ground for free shipping, so I can't blame them. They really took care to pack this well. I mean, double boxed, sealed tightly via shrink wrap...the attention to detail and care is quite amazing. I like how they seal the box as well with their own special seal that way you know no one tampered with it before it gets to your door. Kudos to JR electronics, makes me want to buy from them more. Thanks for the help guys, hopefully I won't come back here with issues, just upgrade questions, and more good things to say about IBM.