are they worth the money

ThinkPad T43p (Think Express Program) 2687D5U
ThinkPad T43p 2668PDU
ThinkPad T42p 2373Q1U

I am thinking of buying a new IBM Thinkpad. should I buy those expensive models above or cheap ones below?

ThinkPad T43 (Think Express Program) 2686M7U
ThinkPad T43 266875U

I tend to purchase one of the first two, however, they seem too expensive. How long will the price drop? Any idea?

thanks a million

 

What are your needs in a laptop?

That will dictate the model that you get. Tell us what you're going to use it for, and we can tell you what models to consider.

 

If you need the 128 MB FireGL V3200 instead of the GMA 900 or X300, then you need a "p", otherwise, you don't.

 

Thanks

I use computer for programming, gaming, and web surfing. I guess I will use this new laptop for at least 3-5 years. My home computer (desktop) is really old, which was purchased 5 years ago. I upgraded the CPU to 2GHZ two year ago, and now it is "slow". For myself, I have not settled down, probably I will move around in the future and I believe a laptop is better then a desktop.

 

What kind of gaming will you do?

 

Mostly RPG games, such as C&C Generals, Age of empire III,

 

Hmm... gaming... what games do you play?

Programming has advantages on big screens, ditto for some web surfing.

Gaming will want a SMALL screen.

Seeing as you want a portable desktop, a 15" model will work nicely, and that'll get you a higher quality screen.

Get yourself a fast CPU (2GHz+) if you want it to last a while.

On GPU, the 64MB X600 is a good idea, it's got good price/performance.

RAM: Get yourself 1GB. At the VERY least, 768MB, but 1GB will give you dual-channel.

HDD: At least 5400RPM. AT LEAST. Even this ancient X21 experienced benefits going from a slow 4200RPM drive up to a 5400RPM drive.

Edit: With those games, go ahead and drop the GPU to an X300. That's all you need. Also, go ahead and spring for a nice 15" SXGA+ screen.

 

thanks, bhtooefr

Is X300 good enough for future games in the next 3 year as I am going keep this laptop for quite a while? BTW, I don't see X600 in the list. I have a good friend working in IBM, I probably can get a discount price from him.

 

AOE2 was very playable on a lowly Intel i810 and a 466 Celeron, which was very outdated at the time, IIRC. You should be able to play RTSes very easily on that X300, even years down the road.

If you're worried, though, there should be some config that has an X600 that will DEFINITELY be good for that.

 

Actually, it is AOE 3, which was just released. It runs slow on my 2G desktop (with 4Geforce 4600).

 

If you want to game, something like the Asus Z70va with the x700 is a better choice.

 

Yeah, but if you want it to be a Thinkpad (from obvious reasons), and still offer decent gaming capabilities for 3D games, investing in a T43p with FireGL V3200 might be worth it. Not as good as the X700, true, but will get the job done at lowres at least.

 

The FireGL cards are not designed for game performance.

The ATI OpenGL cards are designed to handle workstation tasks, not games.

 

Nonetheless, the FireGL on the T43p will be considerably better for games than the Radeon on the T43.

 

Thanks, folks. It seems that I will have to buy a desktop for games if I really want to enjoy the games. It is said that some graphic effects in AOE3 only display on 6800GTX +

 

If you want to really enjoy games, you need a good monitor and good keyboard and good mouse. None of this comes with a laptop, no matter how good the video card is. So, yes, you are right. What you say about AOE3 is probably wrong, but nonetheless.