thinkpad r51 or thinkpad t42?

i am looking for a notebook, looked at the R51 and T42, what do you all suggest?


General Usage

I am looking for a Notebook for convenience, I love my desktops but I need something portable to work on my projects. I am doing a BSc in Information Systems and Management and I have two projects this year. Basically programming in Java or VB. I would like to play the occasional games (I love games like Battlefield 1942, Fifa 2004, Age of Mythology etc...)


Looking for a standard notebook, something i can lug around and not necessarily brake my back.

I'll be carrying it short distances. I drive so I don't need to travel with it unless I am going abroad.

I need it to have good battery life, i can't afford for it to die on me while I am doing work!

I think I would keep this laptop for 2-3 years.

Features

40-60GB is enough HD Space, but more would be nice

I would like to burn DVDs but could settle for burning just CDs


Graphics & Display

I would like a nice viewable screen, 14.1" looks good....15" is always better.


I would be playing games such as Battlefield, Fifa, Age of Mythology, Call of Duty etc...

Miscellaneous

I want something that looks good and perform well.

I like Dell machines, but I have heard that the Inspiron Notebooks are made poorly, cheap parts etc..

I'll be adding this computer to my home network and would like to gain access to my schools wireless network.

I am willing to spend about $1500USD for this notebook

 

Go over to www.newegg.com and see what thinkpads they have for under $1500, I know they have few R51 models and a T42 in that price range, and yes for reliability it is wise the steer clear of Dell for now[ ]

Jack

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security" (Ben Franklin)
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

I'd look on ebay as well. Just picked up a T41, lasts years model, for $1100. It was still in the box with three year warranty. The hard drive, which I upgraded, has a manufacture date of 09/04. Its specs are simillar to the low end T42 on NewEgg. The only differences were the T41 had no integrated wireless card, but you can one of those for $10. Also the T41 had a 1.6Ghz versus a 1.5Ghz for the T42.

 

my son recently purchased a t42dwu for about 1600 at newegg. It has 40gb of hard drive and a 1.5 processor. Battery life is very good, about 3 1/2 hours. He works on VB and likes the speed. Though only 256 mb of RAM it seems acceptable for surfing, gaming and programming. He may increase the RAM later.

I don't know about the R51 but we like the T42 (I have the 2379DXU). I had a Dell Inspiron 5000 for 4 years (poor build quality). Cracks and fractures in five different places on the casing (I babied that notebook too). Go with IBM.

 

Hello,

I am asking myself the same question. I don't want to add clutter so I hope you don't mid me using your threadto ask a few questions.

Which does everyone prefer? The 51 or the 42? Other than size what are the significant differences? I know that the 42 does not have firewire.

Also, I have a few more questions that I'm sure others might find useful also.

Heat: How hot do these systems get?

Sound: Is the fan noisy? Is the computer noisy? hard drive, etc?

LCD display: standard is XGA TFT I think. How does it compare to other models outside IBM. what are the viewing angles like? (this is important to me because I'll be using it for powerpoint presentations.


Thanks for the help.

 

The T Series is far and away more popular than the R Series.
There is really no comparision over which series is preferred.
The T Series is IBM's "flagship" series of notebooks.
The R Series is a more reasonably priced, less-well-built consumer-oriented series.

From everything I have read (and I have read a lot) there is little to separate the R Series from HP's and other models that you would find in a Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City store, or Dells that you would order.

The T Series is the "high quality" series.

Anyhow, that is my understanding.

Also, the T42 is quiet, and does not get hot at all.
The viewing angles of the XGA and SXGA+ 14.1" models are very narrow in the units that I have seen.

I would have to say that the LCD screens of the T42's are the one disappointing aspect of an otherwise great system, which are VERY solid and have great keyboards.

The 15" T42 with SXGA+ and the Flexview screen has far better viewing angles, but of course, it weighs more.

Andrew
Austin, TX