From: Ken (kenzo_at_free-music.com)
Date: Sun Jun 30 2002 - 22:27:44 EDT
I've had my T23 for a couple of weeks now. Overall, I'm very pleased.
Specs on this model:
DVD-ROM, 128MB RAM (upgraded to 640MB), 802.11b wireless, ethernet, Windows 2000, 1.13GHz P3, 14.1" SVGA+ (1400x1050 on screen, 1600x1200 external), 48GB 5400rpm hard drive
Random comments, mostly comparing my old Thinkpads to this one:
- Keyboard is a bit different from the earlier models I'm used to. Like others on the list, I didn't like it at first. The keys put up more resistance than I'm used to. But it turns out to be about as easy to type on as the models I'm familiar with (770ED and 600X). Just takes slightly more work.
- Trackpoint is still good.
- Not having a Windows key is still good.
- Hard drive is fast. It's a little noisy, but no more than average.
- Machine feels very quick overall.
- Screen is nice, resolution is quite sharp, but the screen itself has "texture" to it. Hard to explain, but clean, white images don't look purely white, but rather like I'm looking at them through glass. Doesn't bother me except when I'm working on images. Screen is bright during sunny outdoor usage.
- Built-in ethernet is convenient - although I wonder if it wastes battery power.
- Battery is very inconvenient to remove and insert. I like to remove the battery whenever I'm plugged in, and this is just a nuisance with the location on the underside.
- I miss having the power button accessible while the screen is closed. Costs me a few seconds extra of waiting for the machine to start up.
- Power indicator isn't visible when screen is closed. Power and hard drive indicators are hard to see in bright light.
- I miss having an external dial to control volume, rather than the two volume buttons on the keyboard. And it takes getting used to the placement of those volume buttons, when used in the dark.
- Two hands are required to open the screen and to adjust the screen brightness.
- I miss Fn-F8 to toggle screen expansion mode.
- I miss the wake-at-given-time feature (from my 770ED), which was handy for using the laptop as an alarm clock when travelling.
- I miss a battery power remaining indicator on the machine. Need to depend on the OS and the screen now. (I like to be able to check the battery power when I'm about to leave the house, and the machine is already off - on this machine, I can't do that.)
- I preferred the DVD drive being placed more at the front of the machine (770ED, 600X) - on the T23 it's at the back, which increases the chances that something on the tabletop is obstructing its opening.
- I miss the covers on the ports on the back of the machine.
- I miss the feet in back to prop the keyboard up (770ED).
- Built-in microphone is placed better (near the front of the keyboard, instead of the back) - not that I have a lot of cause to use this.
- External speakers are well placed on the outside of the machine, vs. the terrible placement on the 600X (right where your typing hands or closed screen would go). They sound pretty good.
- I miss RCA video output (770ED).
- Machine is thin and light, especially considering its 14.1" screen.
- The OS is tolerable for MS. Although individual apps crash plenty, the system itself hasn't. That's at least some improvement.
- Haven't figured out how to completely disable the wireless antennae - anyone have any reliable suggestions?
- The machine doesn't come with a recovery CD, but instead uses up a full GB of hard drive space with a recovery partition. That would be handy if I wanted to run the recovery program frequently, while on the road, but seems pretty wasteful considering the reality of that feature. I ordered the recovery CD from IBM, one afternoon. They told me it could take up to 2 weeks to arrive. I received it the day after I ordered it..
- Haven't figured out how to get the hard drive to stop accessing itself once a second, but this is a W2K issue. As such, I haven't experienced much yet in terms of power saving features.
- Removing Outlook Express and Frontpage was no small feat. Another W2K issue.
- I find it interesting that the machine comes with a 47GB FAT32 partition, when even Microsoft themselves recommends against having any single FAT32 partition be larger than 32GB.
- Installing all the IBM upgrades was a pain, but an expected pain. At least they've eliminated the floppy disk requirement.
- Battery has lasted a while so far. We'll see how long before it disables itself.
- The finish feels like textured plastic instead of that funny rubber finish. I preferred the rubber, but this is perfectly fine.
- Machine hasn't been unbearably hot to keep on my lap - but it's still pretty hot.
- If I'm not mistaken, the BIOS setup screens let you configure basically anything you could configure using the Thinkpad Configuration tool in Windows. This is superior to prior Thinkpads I've seen, and makes the machine seem more promising for running an alternate OS on.
- I miss the "suspend battery" from my 770ED. On that machine, I could suspend it when the battery wasn't in, and the machine would hold its suspended state for at least 5 minutes (it might have been longer earlier in its lifetime). On the T23, I have to use hibernation if I want to move the machine without external power or battery.
I would've preferred the model without wireless, and with a CD-R instead of a DVD, but this was what I found cheaply (under $2000). Models with the 60gb (instead of 48gb) were disproportionately more expensive. Extra 512mb RAM was reasonable at about $150.
The A31p was appealing, with its superior graphics and firewire port, but that machine is as clunky as my giant 770ED.
Overall, I recommend the T23 if you're looking for a sturdy, lightweight, powerful and economical laptop, and you're a fan of the Thinkpad keyboard and Trackpoint.
- Ken
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Thu Jan 23 2003 - 09:59:02 EST