About to buy a T42 - some questions

Hi,

I'm about to buy a Thinkpad T42 2373JXU. I'm buying it in Canada, and the specs may differ slightly, but it's a 1.7 Dothan with 512 megs of RAM, a 40 gig 5400 rpm HD, 64 meg ATI video card.. I'm also buying the on-site warranty and the accident-proof warranty. I have a whole bunch of questions and I'd really appreciate it if you guys can help me out:

1) It is very expensive to have IBM upgrade the HD, and the only option they give is an 80 gig 5400 rpm hard drive. Is it possible for me to buy a 60 gig 7200 rpm hard drive (and if so, which brand?) and put it in myself? If so, does it void the warranty?

2) I plan on buying a Port Replicator II. I know with other brands, some of the port replicators cannot support Gigabit (10/100/1000) pass through, they can only support 10/100 (for instance, Toshiba Tecra's port replicator..) Will the IBM Port Replicator II support Gigabit?

3) I noticed that the 2373JXU comes with "IBM 11b/g WIFI wireless" while the more expensive 23733YU comes with "Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection 802.11b". My understanding is that the 2373JXU's wireless is b/g compatible but is still cheaper than the 23733YU's WIFI (which is only b and not g) because it is made by IBM and not by Intel. Is this the case? What is better about the Intel Pro wifi connection? Also, do either of these support 802.11a? Do I need 802.11a? My bottom line: Will the IBM 11b/g wifi on the 2373JXU do the job well (e.g., speed, reception, reliability..) Finally, if I need to upgrade the wifi myself with a card, will it simply use the Ultraconnect Antenna that comes with the t42?

4) I plan to upgrade from 512 megs to 768 megs of RAM. I can upgrade to 1 gig of RAM for another $100 or so - I realize that "the more RAM the better" but I need to draw a line somewhere. Typically I have about 6 windows open (e.g., Word, Outlook, Opera, MSN Messenger, our clinic software, Adobe Reader) at a time in addition to all the regular stuff that Windows XP Professional has running as well as Norton Antivirus. I also play a game (e.g., Vice City, Max Payne 2) now and then. Should I upgrade to a gig of RAM?

Thanks muchly,

Jeremy

 

hey Jeremy,

1) The IBM ThinkPad line always allows you to upgrade the hard Hard drive, has for a long time, it's super easy. On the lower right hand side you just remove one screw, pull out the hard drive that's in there, slot in a new upgraded hard drive and away you go. You could also buy an UltraBay that allows you to basically remove your CD/DVD drive and then place a harddrive into the ultrabay and put it into the CD/DVD bay. You can then configure your IBM to boot to this hard drive instead of the internal one. It's easy, just hold in the Access IBM button at boot up and then there's a "Setup Utility" screen that allows you to select which HD you want to boot to (it automatically recognizes the extra HD as being another you can boot to). Your "other" hard drive then becomes a "D" drive. Well, I guess all I'm saying is your options are limitless and if you start out with lowend harddrive now you can always upgrade later, it definitely does not void your warranty and you can still use the old hard drive.

2) Hmm, not sure, I don't use a Port Replicator.

3) don't get hung up on Intel Centrino branding. the IBM 11b/g wireless would be better than the intel 802.11b only. You don't need 802.11a, it's just not used in many places and won't be catching on in my opinion. 802.11b/g is a must have though.

4) The TP has two memory slots. Make sure to buy one stick that is 512MB and then in the other slot get a 256MB or 512MB stick. Realize that if you go with 256MB to start out, you'll be tossing that away if you upgrade...or at least trying to sell it on eBay. Maybe start out with 512MB (which is decent) and see how much you want to upgrade too after using. I think 768 would be plenty, but 1 Gig is always sweet.

Good luck, you've made a good choice of a notebook model and manufacturer.

/andrew

 

One more - if I can replace the hard drive... is the size and connectors on notebook harddrives standard such that I can buy a hard drive from any manufacturer to fit into a Thinkpad T42? If so, any particular model (a 60 gig 7200 rpm) to recommend?

Thanks,

Jeremy

 

well, seeing as how there is only 1 7200 rpm drive out there, and its made by ibm/hitachi, i dont see a problem [ ]