IBM T41 Thinkpad Laptop

(4 star rating)

IBM T41 Thinkpad - solid, dependable mid-range laptop

Background
I have used the IBM T41 laptop for a little over a year now, after the lease on my old laptop ran out. I use it for work only and as a desktop replacement (all of the people in my role at work use laptops exclusively). This means that I have it turned on and in use at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Often I work from home with this laptop as well, so it regularly sees 10+ hours of use per day. This configuration is as follows:
-Intel Pentium M 1.6 GHz CPU
-512 MB PC2700 RAM
-40 GB Hard Disk Drive
-14-inch TFT display capable of 1024x768 resolution
-ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 video card with 32 MB video RAM
-DVD-ROM optical drive
-Gigabit Ethernet
-Integrated 56k modem
-Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11b wireless networking
-Windows 2000 Pro Operating System

Setup
The laptop was given to me with all software already pre-installed and configured, so I cannot comment on the ease of setup. However, I can give a very thorough real-world opinion of this laptop based on the amount of usage it s gotten in the last year.

Use of the laptop and Advantages
This laptop has proven to be a dependable and capable machine. I use it for a wide variety of applications, with the most often used programs being:
- MS Office 2000 (Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Word and Access)
- Lotus applications (Notes, Sametime)
- Mainframe access (Rumba)
- Visio
- Database access (Toad, PL/SQL Developer)
- Various other programs and utilities (Winzip, Macromedia Dreamweaver and Contribute, Adobe programs, Internet Explorer, etc.)

I regularly have multiple windows open of all of these programs (on average, I have at least 6-7 windows open) and this laptop is able to handle it without missing a beat. The Pentium M 1.6 GHz processor has enough horsepower to handle all of these apps with no noticeable slowdown. The 512 MB memory is enough to simultaneously open and run multiple programs without noticeable slowdown. The 40 GB hard drive is relatively fast, although I mostly use network drives to store and access my files. As this is a 5400 RPM hard drive, I don t expect much out of it when compared to faster desktop hard drives with bigger caches.

The integrated Ethernet and WiFi 802.11b connections are very handy, as I use wireless both at work and at home nearly as often as I connect through Ethernet. I have not had any problems with these devices and they have always been speedy when connected to a network (which is nearly 100% of the time). The power of the wireless signal is good, and I can be 30-40 ft. from the nearest wireless access point and still get an "Excellent" strength signal. This is a plus for me as I move around quite a bit while in the office.

Overall weight and ergonomics of the laptop are average. It is light enough to carry around to meetings and home every day without being a burden, but it is not the lightest laptop available. The keyboard and various function buttons all work fine without any hoopla, but there is nothing special about the way the notebook is designed.

The 14.1 TFT display is quite nice compared to previous laptop screens that I have used. It is large, bright, clear, and provides good viewing angles for a laptop display. This is definitely one of the strong points of this machine. The brightness, resolution, refresh rate and other display options are easily configured to suit your needs.

Battery life for this laptop has been good, but not outstanding. Under heavy use I get approximately 2 ? to 3 hours, and under moderate use I get about 4 hours. Turning the brightness of the display down helps extend these times, but there are other laptops out there that provide longer battery life.

Reliability and sturdiness of this laptop has been excellent. As I said, I have had no problems with this machine since I started using it about a year ago. All programs run reliably every time without slowing down or crashing the computer. Even under heavy use, nothing had broken off, no scuffs or nicks are showing and no parts have become loose. What more could you ask for in a laptop?

Drawbacks
So far, there are only a couple drawbacks I have experienced:
- Graphics power --- this is a computer designed for work tasks and general computing tasks, not for games. If you try to run any 3D software or graphics intensive game, you will not be happy with the results.
- Heat --- the battery on this laptop is on the bottom of the machine, with no covering over it. When you use it with it placed on your lap (hence the term, "laptop" :- )) it gets very warm and almost to the point of not being bearable. It would be nice if there was some sort of covering or casing for the battery that absorbed some of the heat.

Conclusion
Overall, I am generally satisfied with the IBM T41 Thinkpad. It has served its purpose well as a desktop replacement for me at work. I have not had to take it in for any service or repair in the year that I have had it, and it has performed reliably and capably with all of the programs I have tried to run on it. While it is certainly not the least expensive laptop out there, I think it is worth the extra money you pay for the service and reliability you get with the IBM name.