Re: [Thinkpad] T40P review

the T41 series uses PC2700 memory..
the T40 series uses PC2100 memory..
i.e. 266 vs. 333 mhz..

i, TOO, disagree with the reviewers comments on the display..
i would LOVE to see a 1200x1600 14.1 flexview display..
talk about photo quality..

for now, the T41p is TOP's..
and it will be for some time.. :-)

*******************
Cordially,
Bill Morrow
(from NetFinity Server)
web page: http://www.thinkpads.com
bill@thinkpads.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "tOM Trottier" <tOM@Abacurial.com>
To: <thinkpad@stderr.org>; <thinkpad@cs.utk.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2004 1:06 PM
Subject: [Thinkpad] T40P review

> http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/53.htm
> January 6, 2004 -- Vol. 4, Issue No. 53 By Scot Finnie
>
>
> LONG-TERM REVIEW: IBM THINKPAD T40P | Top Product!
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The ThinkPad T40p series of notebooks represents a notebook form factor
> at the top of its game. There is no other product available with a
> 14.1-inch LCD that works out this perfect compromise between sheer
> portability and comfortable livability.
>
> I've examined, tested, reviewed, and written about a wide range of what
> I call "thin line" full-size notebooks. They're thin and light but have
> full-size displays, and by that I mean screens measuring 13.3 inches or
> larger on the diagonal. The trend is toward ever-smaller notebooks,
> many of them under 3 pounds with screens measuring 12 inches and
> smaller. And if all you're doing with your notebook is checking email
> or surfing the Web, a 12-inch screen may be big enough for you.
>
> But I hunger for more screen real estate and a larger keyboard than
> that. I want the chance to go to 1280 x 1024 when I want to. And at
> 1024 x 768 pixels on a 14.1-inch display, I could happily work a whole
> day without coming away a blurry-eyed mess.
>
> -- The New Boss --
> IBM released the T40 series in March 2003. I've examined two T40 series
> machines over the course of the last six months or so. The first one
> had the SXGA display, which offers native resolution of 1400 by 1050
> pixels. The second one has the SVGA display, and its highest resolution
> is 1024 by 768 pixels. I found the 1400 by 1050 resolution to be too
> fine for my over-40 eyes. And the non-native resolution modes, such as
> 1280 by 1024 and 1024 by 768, just weren't as crisp as I'd like because
> they rely on software interpolation. It's difficult to find ThinkPad
> T40 models with the 1024 by 768 resolution, but they can be had.
>
> Let's get to what's truly great about this notebook PC: 4.5-pound
> travel weight, and it's only about 1-inch thick and 10 inches deep. The
> keyboard is perfection in a way that only IBM seems able to master.
> IBM's UltraNav pointing system has spoiled me on the rudimentary
> pointing devices provided by other notebook manufacturers.
>
> -- UltraNav --
> UltraNav comes with both the eraser-head style pointing stick and touch
> pad. The touch pad is just a touch pad. I've never been overly fond of
> them because they're imprecise. But the pointing stick on the T40 is
> evolved. The pointing stick itself is larger than its competition, and
> it has wider, flatter surface that's covered with soft rubber. With
> other pointing sticks, I find that my finger hurts after a few hours.
> Not so with this one. The UltraNav pointing stick can also accept tap
> inputs, interpreting them as a left (or optionally right) mouse click,
> like most touch pads. But the best part is the scrolling solution.
> Anyone who uses a wheel-mouse will miss that scrolling functionality on
> most notebooks. The T40 has an ingenious solution.
>
> There's a third button nestled between the left and right thumb buttons
> for the TrackPoint, just below the keyboard. When you press and hold
> the middle button and move the pointing stick up or down, you get the
> same type of scrolling you would get by rotating the wheel on a wheel
> mouse. A tiny scroll-bar icon appears at the tip of your mouse pointer
> signifying that you're in scrolling mode. You can also control the
> scroll speed with the amount of downward pressure you apply on the
> pointing stick. The harder you press, the faster the page will scroll.
>
> UltraNav may sound like a gimmick, but it isn't. It's so good, in fact,
> that I've had thoughts of chucking the mouse for my desktop PC and
> getting IBM's $85 UltraNav keyboard for my main desktop PC. The fact
> that you don't have to take your hand away from the keyboard is a major
> advantage.
>
> -- Performance and Battery Life --
> I've never run out of juice with the T40p. Now I'll admit, the longest
> plane flight I usually make coast-to-coast in the U.S., rarely more
> than 5.5 hours. And I'm unlikely to use my computer the whole way
> unless I'm in first class. And, albeit, I literally have no other
> reason to unplug my notebook PCs other than for brief moments when
> they're being carried from one room to another. But Intel's and IBM's
> claims that the Centrino chip vastly stretches battery-charge life are
> true. What's more, Centrino/Pentium-M machines run much cooler than
> comparable Pentium III mobile chips or P4 chips.
>
> The clock rates listed for Centrino processors are also confusing. You
> would think that a 2.4GHz Mobile Pentium 4 would be much faster than a
> Centrino/Pentium-M 1.6GHz processor. But according to many people in
> the industry (and I don't just mean Intel), that isn't the case. My own
> basic testing bears this out. What's more important, in real-world use
> with today's software, you're not going to notice any difference. Why?
> Because the Centrino chip has 1MB of onboard cache, whereas the Pentium
> 4's have 512K. For some types of operations, that isn't a big plus, but
> in many cases it is.
>
> -- The T41, A Modest Update --
> Last October, IBM announced a slightly newer variant of the T40p, the
> ThinkPad T41p model, which is identical to the T40 but adds some new
> security and durability features. The T41 comes with hard-drive-
> protection technology designed to protect people's data in the event
> the unit is dropped or damaged. IBM's Active Protection System uses a
> microchip on the system board that detects system acceleration and
> rapidly (and temporarily) parks the drive's read/write head. The T41
> also adds support for the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) increased
> wireless security and the Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX) in its
> built-in 802.11b wireless solution. The T41 also employs the 1.7GHz
> Intel Pentium-M processor, the ATI Mobility FireGL T2 graphics card
> with 128MB video RAM, and Intel's Centrino mobile wireless technology
> supporting 802.11a/b/g and Bluetooth wireless, and Gigabit Ethernet.
> With the T41's second battery onboard, the machine can go 8.6 hours on
> battery, according to its manufacturer.
>
> T41p Press Release
>
http://www-1.ibm.com/press/PressServletForm.wss?MenuChoice=pressreleases&Te
mplat
>
eName=ShowPressReleaseTemplate&SelectString=t1.docunid=6102&TableName=Datah
eadAp
> plicationClass&SESSIONKEY=any&WindowTitle=Press+Release
>
> -- Quibbles --
> So what don't I like about the T40p? There's very little to complain
> about. The biggest criticism was made up top: A 1400 by 1050-pixel
> display resolution on a 14.1-inch LCD is all but useless in my opinion.
> Its main value might be in displaying to an external monitor, and even
> there I have my doubts. So, IBM, give us an LCD that's native at 1280
> by 1024, or do much better job at the interpolation trickery so that
> various resolutions work visually. Samsung and some other desktop LCD
> vendors have achieved this; you can too.
>
> Other small points: The shape of the TrackPoint buttons isn't
> ergonomically correct, and this causes me to hold my hand with more
> tension that I might otherwise. I also have a suggestion for IBM's
> engineers. If you've ever used a five-button wheel mouse, you know how
> freeing it is to be able to click the browser Back and Forward buttons
> using special dedicated buttons on either side of the mouse. I
> recommend that IBM add similar functionality to the UltraNav. The
> gesture might be to hold down the left button and tap the pointing
> stick for Back, and the same but with the right button for Forward.
>
> The units I tested have built-in wireless with antennas invisibly
> enclosed in the display. That's great, but the only wireless standard
> supported at this level is 802.11b. You can pay more for an option that
> brings you 802.11a/b or 802.11a/b/g (in the T41), but some of this
> seems like needless stratification.
>
> In fact, the number of different versions of the T40 and T41 models is
> staggering, and making a purchase decision can be daunting as a result.
> And the Let Me Build It configurator at IBM's ThinkPad T Series site
> definitely creates the exact model you want, but you'll pay way too
> much for it in the process. These pre-built models with 1024-by-768
> resolution are cheaper but you can't reconfigure them:
>
>
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId
=2585
> 864&storeId=1&catalogId=-840&langId=-1
>
> Finally, I can't pass this by. The Ctrl Key and the Function key are at
> war on the left size of the spacebar on most notebook computers. Most
> touch typists use that Ctrl key far more often than the Function or Alt
> keys. None of us ever want to hit the Function key when we think we're
> hitting the Ctrl key. Stick that pesky Fn key somewhere else!
>
> -- Finish Line --
> Using the T40 series of ThinkPad notebooks is a pleasure. It's been a
> long time since any new computer impressed me as much as this one. For
> the last couple of years, I've been a confirmed HP/Compaq notebook PC
> user. This two-spindle notebook is almost as sleek and light as my one-
> spindle Toshiba Portege 7200 (which, albeit, is a couple of years old).
> In short, it's the perfect notebook for me. And probably the perfect
> notebook for just about any home user or road warrior -- unless you
> truly like typing on a midget keyboard and peering into a 12-inch
> screen. If someone forced me to part with every computer I own except
> one, this ThinkPad would be the one I'd keep. And let me tell you,
> that's saying something. [Editors note: With over 20 computers around
> this place ... please, somebody force him! --Cyndy]
>
> Notable specs: 1.3GHz - 1.6GHz Pentium Mobile-M processor (a.k.a.
> Centrino), L2 cache: 1MB, 256MB / 2GB RAM (min. / max.), 400MHz front-
> side bus, ATA-100 30GB (and higher) hard drive, ATI Mobility Radeon
> 7500 32MB DDR SDRAM video, new slim form factor add-on bay with a long
> list of insertable options, including optical drives, second battery,
> and a floppy drive. Ethernet, a modem, S-Video out, 2 USB, external
> display, and a long list of ports (everything but Firewire) are
> standard. IBM's Embedded Security System 2.0 is very useful, especially
> in an enterprise setting.
>
> * Top Product! | List price: $1,749, IBM ThinkPad T40p (Model: 2379-
> D3U), IBM Corp., 888-SHOP-IBM (888-407-7426)
>
> IBM ThinkPad T40p Model: 2379-D3U:
> http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumLookup/_2379D3U
>
> IBM ThinkPad T Series:
>
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=
-840&
> storeId=1&langId=-1&dualCurrId=73&categoryId=2072541
>
> T40p Press Release:
>
http://www-1.ibm.com/press/PressServletForm.wss?MenuChoice=pressreleases&Te
mplat
>
eName=ShowPressReleaseTemplate&SelectString=t1.docunid=288&TableName=Datahe
adApp
> licationClass&SESSIONKEY=any&WindowTitle=Press+Release
>
> Support:
> http://www.ibm.com/support/us/
>
>
>
> ---- Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur ----
> ,__@ tOM Trottier +1 613 231-6115
> _-\_<, 758 Albert St.,Ottawa ON Canada K1R 7V8
> (*)/'(*) N45.412 W75.714
> I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too
> much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.
> -Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826)
>
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Received on Mon Jan 12 17:59:24 2004