Thinkpad X41T for $250?

[roguerower]

I had a Dell Precision workbook for my first four years of college and at the beginning of my fifth year (last september) it finally gave up and died (for unknown reasons, probably MB related). I spent $400 and bought a ASUS 1101HA which I've been using since. I like it for the battery life, resolution, and keyboard but everything else leaves a bit to be desired.

I was browsing through CL and found an ad for a Thinkpad X41T for around $250. It definitely is but from what I've read it was a solid design so I'm trying to find some more info and thoughts on whether I should pick it up. Specs are...

-1.6ghz Pentium M (Centrino so it includes Intel Wireless & Chipset)
-1gb memory (will most definitely upgrade to 2gb)
-60gb HDD (might upgrade, probably not, if I do it'll be for something smaller and faster)
-2 batterys that go on full power for 2hrs, energy saver for 6hrs

I haven't got pictures yet so those will definitely tell me more. This will be strictly for schoolwork and work once I graduate. I prefer the nipple style mouse rather than a touchpad but the "tablet" portion will be new to me.

My concerns are...

-Old system (probably 3-4 years)
-Video Card is not that much of an upgrade (GMA 500 v. GMA 900)
-Speed of the Pentium M over the Atom
-Actual condition of the batteries

Suggestions?

 

[CurseTheSky]

The Pentium M should be a bit faster than an Atom, but not by a ton.

Integrated Intel graphics cards are laughable. Even the GMA 4500MHD in my UL30A is barely adequate in my eyes.

You'd be lucky if you actually get 2 hours out of the old batteries. I'd guess more like 1-1.5 hours.

Keep what you have and look for a good deal on a more recent system. ULV notebooks are generally great values, and significantly faster than netbooks. You'll have to spend quite a bit more if you want to get away from Intel integrated graphics, though.

 

[roguerower]

I understand that the IGP is a joke, I don't laugh when I try and run youtube on my netbook and it skips like crazy. My only reason for purchasing is that i'm a construction major and some of the work we do in classes requires drawing diagrams and sketching stuff out and it's a real pain in the ass trying to do it on a regular laptop.

Your right though, and I'll probably just end up getting something portable when I start working. I really wish the tablet/slate market was more broad and that manufacturers didn't have to put a gloss finish on EVERYTHING!!

 

[fatpat268]

If you're looking for a tablet, also consider a Toshiba M200. It's fairly well built.

A lot of the M200's have a higher resolution than the x41s (1440x900 vs 1024x768) which made a big difference when using the tablet in portrait mode. Also, they have Nvidia FX 5200 go graphics, while not great, they weren't bad either.

Best of all, they're dirt cheap too. I used to have one until I moved on to other things.

 

[WackyDan]

Stay the hell away from it.

That design won a lot of nice awards but it was also lacking in many aspects.

That drive... Is not a 2.5" drive. It is a 1.8" drive spinning at 4200RPM. Those 1.8" drives back then were the biggest POS ever put in a system. IBM used them to save weigh and keep the size down on the system. On top of that, the two makers of those 1.8" drives never came to market fast enough with a 5400RPM model. Now, there is a 1.8" 5400RPM 250GIG out there today that actually performs decently.

Just not worth the $250 for the performance headache you are going to have. I had one... Took forever just to boot and that was with a clean image.

Second, the X41t's had a terrible issue with the screen latch breaking.

You'd be better off looking at an x60/61 tablet now that the X200t has been out, and the X201t is about to be out. They use 2.5" drives.

 

[Aarondeep]

Stay the hell away from it.
You'd be better off looking at an x60/61 tablet now that the X200t has been out, and the X201t is about to be out. They use 2.5" drives.

He's totally right. Id steer clear of it and save your money and be on the lookout for an X60/61T. I own one and I have worked on the x41t, there are noticeable differences.