T42/43

Hello,

I am planning to get a IBM T-Series model. Does anyone know what the difference btw. T42 and T43 is?

Thank you.

 

The key difference:

T42s use the Dothan Pentium M CPUs (400MHz FSB). Possible speeds are 1.6GHz, 1.7GHz, 1.8GHz and 2GHz (maybe higher?) and DDR RAM.
T43s use the somewhat faster Dothan Pentium M CPUs (533MHz FSB). Possible speeds are 1.73GHz, 1.86GHz, 2GHz, 2.13GHz, 2.26GHz (maybe more?) and DDR2 RAM (with dual channel support).

T42 (Centrino platform) comes with Intel Wireless 2200BG adapter.
T43 (Sonoma platform) comes with Intel Wireless 2915ABG adapter. Newer, maybe better.

Clock for clock the CPU on the T43 should be faster than its T42 counterpart. However, the difference won't be big, definitely not noticeable without benchmarks.

T43 models don't offer good graphic cards (X300 is the best they have). T42 models offer 9600 or FireGL cards (better).

The battery life on T43 should be shorter, because the new CPUs use more power.

The design is probably identical.

 

dr st, there is also the alviso 2660 mhz model out now

 

Probably 2260Mhz.

 

I have bencmark them and the T42 is about 7% quicker than the T43.
The biggest diffirent is the 7200rpm hard disk in the T42 versus 5400rpm in the T43.
The battery life is shorter.

 

Not all T42 models come with 7200rpm hard drives. I think only the 60GB model is 7200rpm.

 

Depending on how you are measuring the speed, the 7200RPM will make a big difference.

 

Incorrect, many of the T43s have only the 2200BG adapter, this will depend on what configuration you buy.

Also incorrect, the T42 only offers FireGL on the T42p models to my knowledge, and the T43p also includes the FireGL. Also, many T42 models offer worse video cards then the x300, so again, this is largely based on which configuration you buy.

Not all T43s have a 5400rpm hard drive. Many also include 7200rpm hard drives, including the one I own.

All in all, there isn't too much difference between the T42 and the T43, just try to find a configuration of either model which suits you, and stick with that one. Also, be aware that the fan is likely to be somewhat louder, and the temperatures somewhat hotter on a T43 due to the fast chip. The battery life might also take a dip, but that can be easily countered through the purchase of the optional extended 9-cell battery. I personally don't find the fan to be loud or there to be any heat issues on my T43.

 

I thought that the 2915ABG is part of the "Sonoma" platform. Does that mean that not all T43s are "true Sonoma"?

I seem to have seen FireGLs on T43s, but then someone told me that they didn't have them and I was too lazy to recheck. Gotta stop being lazy sometimes. Anyway, FireGL aside, the T42s offer 7500 or 9600. The T43s offer only X300, IIRC. The performance of these cards is 7500 < X300 < 9600.

Do they come in sizes other than 60GB?

 

From what I hear, T42 is recommended over the T43 because the latter has got fan/heat/trouble installing new hard drives etc.

 

Some of the newer T43s, released last month are supposed to be better fan wise.