Close to buying THIS IBM laptop...comments?

TJN23

Golden Member
May 4, 2002
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Hello All,

I know IBM is reputable when it comes to laptops, so I was looking at this one

it is in my budget...

a few questions:

if battery life is important, is it worth getting a centrino? are u able to underclock your processor to conserve battery life?

I am in europe right now, where can I get a good AC adapter/converter for my laptop?

How good would this be with average load games (Age of Mythology, for example?)

TIA very much

Tim
 

phisrow

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2004
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Centrino implies a few diffirent things: Intel core logic, a Pentium M, and Intel wireless. The Intel core logic is pretty much a given on any Thinkpad(and most other laptops of the type). The Intel Wireless you can take or leave. I have it in my machine(T42) because it ended up being quite a bit cheaper than the Aetheros A/B/G (it isn't quite as good, and Linux drivers are more of a pain). The Pentium M, however, is absolutely essential. If you care about battery life get one. I'll ignore the low voltage A64s for the moment(though they do have their partisans). Compared to any other chip Intel makes, and most or all AMDs the PM is simply the best mobile processor out there. As for underclocking, the PM uses "enhanced speedstep" to adjust clock speed during use. You can easily specify, in software, whatever compromise between performance and battery life you desire. Depending on who you ask, the PM is said to be equivalent in speed to a P4 with a clock speed between 125% and 150% of that of the PM. It is also said that a PM will perform roughly clock for clock with an A64.
As for the adapter, the unit itself is world compatible. 110/120/220/240v at 50/60hz. All you will need is a standard figure 8 cable with the plug appropriate to your country of residence. Should run about 5 euro. Something like http://www.mdsbattery.co.uk/sh...asp?ProductGroupID=605 that would do in the UK, your needs may vary.
 

RichieZ

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2000
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do not buy the 15" T series, its just an R series with a magnesium case.

Get the 14"
 

TJN23

Golden Member
May 4, 2002
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so the 14 incher has what kind of advantage over the 15 incher?

performance?

edit: in terms of power, all´s i would need is the power cord able to correctly fit in the outlet...these are spanish plugs, so they are rated accordingly...if the laptop has a 72 watt AC adapter...will the included AC adapter be ok if it is rated up to 240 watts? all´s i would need to get would be a power cord that fits into the ibm ac adapter?

edit2: is this what i would need? Grounded Laptop Adaptor


tia

tim
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
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The laptop itself will be good, the specs are just not too hot. A 15" XGA isn't gonna give you a lot of room to work with in terms of desktop real estate, think back to having a 15" CRT monitor. IMO, an SXGA screen is an extremely worth while investment if you're going to be on the laptop a lot. Otherwise, you're good to go. Expect about 3-4 hours of batt life during avg use, with a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 4.5-5 (<--Assuming very little use, no wifi, low brightness, etc). I don't know what RichieZ was saying about the 15" T series being an R w/magnesium case. I've seen the R series and the T series (15" or not) is thinner and more "refined" looking IMO. The T series does have a magnesium case, which contributes to its durability.
If you can find a T-series w/a higher res screen, then I would say you are set. The RAM is kinda skimpy, but that is something you can upgrade rather cheaply later. The HDD is kinda small, but that's all relative to what you're going to use it for. Overall, it is a good Thinkpad for the money.
I just noticed it doesn't look like it has wireless built in. If you need a wireless, a good PCMCIA card will do fine.

As far as the power adapter goes, yes what you found looks like it will work. What phisrow was talking about is something simpler than what you found. You found an adapter+surge protector. That's all well and good, but seems a little pricey to me. But then again, I've never priced out adapters like that ;)
 

ShellGuy

Golden Member
Mar 1, 2004
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Somebody please show me where a Pm will go Clock 4 Clock with a AMD 64m chip??



Will G
 

alembic5

Golden Member
Nov 22, 2002
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Something else to think about is getting something other than the intel extreme graphics engine, and going for one of the radeon chips. You can get those for very reasonable, and for the casual gamer, a radeon 9000 works ok. Heck, even our T40's with the radeon 7500 play call of duty with lower settings! We actually went away from IBM due to a fairly high rate of problems and went to Dell. But the IBM is a decent machine, none the less. I'm a big fan of the mobile Athlon 64, but the Pm is definitely better if long battery life is important.
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
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ShellGuy, read the articles listed in the AT news about the AOpen and DFI mobos that support the P-M. They will give you a good idea of performance. I would say the A64's are more robust clock-for-clock due to better feature support (SSE2, DDR400, etc etc), but the two are very comparable.
 

trikster2

Banned
Oct 28, 2000
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Originally posted by: RichieZ
do not buy the 15" T series, its just an R series with a magnesium case.

Get the 14"

Is that really true? Seems the R series has firewire and bad graphics, while the T series has 1600X1200 IPS/flexview screens, and OK graphics (Radeon 9600). Any other differences?