T43 prices! This might be for me!

I was just checking around for a thin and light that can equiped with the high end P-Ms and runs cool, has a decent keyboard, and 14" sxga. So obviously I headed to IBM expecting a near $2000 option. But I was shocked by the low prices of some models on sale ... or maybe I have been away from the market for a long time, but the prices are lower than fujitsu and latitude even equiped with 7200RPM!!!

LINK

Anything I should be looking out for when trying to decide on a 14" sxga T43?
Probably will be going with the 2GHz option. This will be used in a lab for research purposes. Programming and intensive computational modeling (Rams will be upgraded later to at least 1GB).

Only reason that I am looking for a second laptop is the fact that my fujitsu N6010 is over 10lb and not a delight to carry on a daily bases, other than that it would have perfectly fit my needs.

 

Oh forgot to ask, does the X300 add to the heat on the T43. I really don't need any graphics on this, but it seems I don't have the option!

I am trying to keep the heat producing components as little as possible because with a CPU running for extended periods on 100%, I am afraid of over heating and crashes. (I am thinking of even skipping on the 7200RPM HDD for this laptop, although I really love it on my fujitsu!)

 

Looks good to me. Maybe Leveno has found some extra savings. The first one only has one year warranty. If you want a machine with less heat, perhaps the T42 is the way to go. Plus the 7200 drives are more available in the T42.

 

I wouldn't worry about that. The video card won't produce substational heat by idling, and the X300 is not one of your top notch power hungry GPUs anyway. Dunno about that 7200RPM hard drive, but it probably won't be crucial too. If the machine is properly cooled (and Thinkpads are), you're not gonna run into overheating, whether you run on 100% for 20 minutes or for 20 hours.

 

i heard t43 is noisy and the 7200 rpm is hot. not sure how noisy or hot they are.

 

Excellent. Bringing the Fujitsu guy over to ThinkPad world. The graphics card would be the least worries for heat given that it's an X300, just a non-factor relative to the processor and to a lesser degree hard drive. Those prices are great, and the SXGA T43 would be my choice for best thin and light on the market, I think the faster processor available in the T43 will benefit you for number crunching. It'd work great in a lab since it has a spill proof keyboard, but doubt it's acid resistant
As long as the lab doesn't get to 80+ degrees cooling will be fine, it's not loud, and in your setting you definitely won't notice the fan noise even if it is somewhat audible.

go for it!

 

Its a lab with no spillables, research data comes from abroad and modeling/simulation is done locally. So all there is is tables, books and computers

I cannot seem to find the T42 at a resonable price, at least when compared to the now low priced T43. And lenovo don't seem to have the T42 anymore. So I guess I'll have to go sonoma (Edit: just noticed there are still T42 on lenovo's site ... checking them out)

A question about the warranties. What is:
- Extended service contract
- Warranty service upgrade
- and PC proctection service

I am guessing that at the moment I am pretty much happy with the 1.86 or 2 gig (it wont make a very great difference, just a few more minutes crunching ) a 60GB 5.4K and the free 512MB upgrade. And of course a 9 cell battery for the times I decide to do some work outdoors (in those rare days that it aint too hot or cold here in philly). And I'll save a bit by getting home edition XP, and just use the corp licence for the pro edition from my school.

I am not coming over to the thinkpad world, just visiting. I'll remain with both worlds, IBM by day, Fujitsu by night ... plus both satisfy my pickiness on keyboards and NO heat in the handrest area. But I guess I'll make use of office depot this sunday and just convince myself some more. I used a friends T4x before but was never considering buying it, so I didn't poke much