I never really needed one. Our T30s were working fine until my wife's HDD failed. By that time T30 and T40s were discontinued, so i got her a new T61. Nice machine, and I lucked out by getting one with the Intel graphics. I'm still using her old T30 with a massively larger HDD and 2GB RAM thanks to the folks on this forum.

I used T4xs at various training sites and over in the AOR, but never bought one.

Now I'm glad I never did. Between the hard drive firmware, issues, whitelists, HPA and now the new to me southbridge chip problems, I'll stay clear thanks very much.

You missed out then -- the T42 was the best Thinkpad ever made. I've been using T42s since they were introduced with no problems. I use my T42 in preference to a T61 that's a twin of yours: better keyboard, better screen, quieter, and lighter.

Which would be the T4X series to stick with? Are any known to not have the southbridge problem>

I'm glad you like your T42.

My wife uses an external monitor, mouse, & keyboard (IBM of course) 99% of the time so that a moot point on the T61 for her. I use an external monitor & keyboard too whenever I'm home (not very much lately) and always have my little black Thinkpad travel mouse. I hate ALL laptop keyboards. It's real easy to wipe out an entire line or paragraph if you can't type (like me).

I'm not knocking the T40 series, they work great as long as one of the above mentioned items doesn't trip you up, of if you can deal with it. Me, I prefer the T30 - older slower, heavier, but rugged with fewer IBM "inspired" issues. I've had my T30s (& T22 before that) all over the world in some pretty inhospitable places and they worked very well.

Brian10161 wrote:



That's a tough call. Theoretically, all of them can fail due to a SouthBridge issue.

All of that said, it's really a lot less common than people would presume by reading the forums...

My choice - obvious from the signature - is T43p. But there's a lot to be said about cool-running, yet well-performing higher-end T42 units...

I've just finished preparing a 15" T42 for shipping and was stunned - for the millionth time - how quiet these babies are, and we're talking about a machine that sports a Radeon 9600 GPU and is perfectly capable of running W7 with full Aero...

I love T4x series...to my eyes, a 14" version with no touchpad is by far the prettiest 4:3 ThinkPad ever...

I like T30's (have 4) but they do have video chip issues and RAM slot issues.

Still havn't picked up a T40 myself (had a lead on one a while ago but somebody snagged it before I could) but I plan on getting one. As someone else said the T42P is a classic machine.

Personally if I could stick a P3-3ghz (if they existed) into my T23 I would rather use that.

The issues of T4x series can be divided into several groups:

* GPU solder problem - applies to all models starting from late T40s till early T42s, and far less to late T42s and T43s (due to updated soldering technique). Does not apply to T43/R51/R52 with integrated graphics.
* Southbridge solder problem - seems to apply to every model equally.
* Hard drive whitelist - applies only to T43/R52/X41, and is only a minor annoyance at boot. Was finally fixed this year with a special BIOS.

A T30 can also encounter GPU issues, as well as the RAM slot soldering problem. It is thicker and looks more rugged, but that does not necessarily make it so.

And of course, your luck may be very different with each individual unit.

My T42 (*knock on wood*) still runs well after 6.5 years, including being thoroughly abused by my sister as her day-to-day laptop for the past 2.5-3 years. The southbridge problem seems to have raised its head once (some finicky USB ports), but went away.

This unit (2373-F7G in my signature) is similar to the one George just mentioned - a 15" model with Radeon 9600 and Flexview SXGA+ IPS screen. It is also one of the late units (built 04/2005). I like this machine a lot - as George had said, it sports a nice combination between performance and quiet, runs fairly cool, and has a beautiful screen.

I also like the design of the 15" T4x better than that of their 14" siblings, which I deem a bit too asymmetrical and full of strange notches.

Back when I got the 2373-F7G, I knew nothing about any of these things, such as IPS screens, fan noise, GPU issues (of course the problems only became apparent a few years down the road).

Bottom line - where you consider yourself to be lucky to have avoided the T4x altogether, I consider myself lucky to have ended up by sheer coincidence with one of the nicest specimens of the series.

I think the T4x keyboards were just gorgeous. I keep my T4x laptops as a typewriting instrument (a grand piano for the typist, even though i type lousy).

I had one T42 that had an ATI gpu issue, but a reflow fixed that up quick and easy.

Now that T4x machines are $100 or less, I suggest the OP picks one up to see what he missed. The T4x machines had a flawed solder issue that might show up early with improper handling, much later or never. However, for the Pentium M era of laptops, many people felt that the T4x was a supreme design and just about the perfect all-around laptop - beautiful design, powerful, long battery life, crisp LCDs, well-balanced feel, outstanding keyboard and cool & quiet (unless you selected the "p" variant).

They were a joy to hold and use. I had more than one long-term T4x that never failed and my brother still has an Intel GPU-based T43, purchased new in 2005 that still hasn't failed in any way - in fact, my other brother has the sister machine, a nicely spec.'d 15" FlexView R51, purchased around the same time that hasn't failed either.

I'm glad the information got posted, I'm looking into getting a T4x for work (some DDC controls work, plus mobile email/internet for the office stuff). I am also looking into an X3x as it has a serial port (with the T4x I can use a USB to serial adapter, they work fine) plus the smaller size.

Who knows, I may just use my X40 for work. All are nice and fit the bill

AFAIK X3x does not have a serial port. It is available via ultrabase, but that's the case with much newer machines as well.

The last ThinkPads with an integrated serial port were A31/p and T30.

Ah my mistake, VGA port. Pictures were a little blurry I was looking at.

I actually just won an auction on a T40 for a really good price. Can't wait for it to arrive hehe

Nope - I'm getting another T61.

I got a T41p back when they were brand new, which endured several years of hard travel, and is still going strong on my wife's desk. She got it when I upgraded to a T61, when those were new; it is also has endured hard travel with no problems. I expect that we will upgrade to a newer model only when one or the other fails.

@acz:
off-topic: for your pulsing T23 fan, see this: viewtopic.php?t=27245

off-topic: Yes, thank you very much for that reference. A couple of years ago, I had some time for a project and took the t23 apart, the inductors were firmly affixed. So at that point I chickened out, reassembled, and then took it to a real laptop fixit place. They said that they re-soldered those inductors but it did not solve the problem. I wonder where I put that T23; its around here somewhere. I wonder what to do with the older thinkpads now, in 2011.
Thanks again.

unknown; "I like T30's (have 4) but they do have video chip issues and RAM slot issues"

Video chip issues? Other than being slow compared to current stuff, i don't know of any. and yes they do tend to bog down sometimes.

The RAM slot issues is common however; i still have 2 with this and my 2 GHz T30 sufferred at the hands of an incompetent shop and is currently FUBAR'd far beyond a memory slot issue.

I've used T40 series (different ones at CASCOM & CENTCOM & other commands) and while nice, T60 series has better performance without some of the widespread T40 series problems.

Video chip issues like video to the LCD is blown but external VGA works fine (have one T30 unit like that).

Of the 4 T30's I have only 1 is 100% functional, 1 has the video chip issue (used as a parts machine), and 2 have RAM slot issues (they still work with shims).


So while I will eventually get some T4x series machines, I expect to have issues with some of them.

After a R40 bought new in 2003, (still working fine) I bought the first second hand T41p in 2008 (2374-GGG) for about 250$, and the second one (by chance exactly the same model) in 2009.

Those machine are incredibly quiet and cool, despite not having IPS or Flexview screen, one of the 1400x1050 14.1 LCD is still crispy and bright. The keyboards (NMB) are just perfect.

Few days ago I bought a second hand (just one year old) X201s (nearly the same price of a new X220) and coming from those two T41p I still can't believe what I got is a true high-end Thinkpad...

A.

If a T42 or T43 falls in my lap I'll gladly take it in and use it, but I'm not actively searching for one.

RAM slot is easy to fix - by a competent shop or individual - but a blown video to LCD - well that's not good. Of my 8 T30s, 5 are 100%, 2 have a bad RAM slot, and 1 is FUBAR'd. If i can get a good file replication utuility going i can leave them at various places and just synch files with a single secondary HDD!

I got one T40, 2 x T41, T42 and a T43. I think the quality on them are pretty good, if you don't abuse them. But they are getting some what slow and a T60 would be a better buy for the better chassis rigidity/quality.

T4x machines are thin, light and excellent performers. I remember when they were introduced and our IT shop got a couple T40P machines. Man were they fast!

Out of the dozens I have serviced, used, and issued only a few had the GPU issue. It was rather rare for me to see.

I think people are seeing more of it now due to the age of the machines, the number hands they have been through, and finally the amount of abuse and miles they have traveled.

I still love the T4x machines. So much so that while I could have a newer faster, better machine, I use this T43 by choice. I love it that much.

Well, T43s were the best and final gen of T40 series, so they are really good machines. I like T61s better, but won't knock the T43s.

I prefer the T42 to the T43 and the T60 to the T61. At least at the time of their release - the later series offered no tangible advantages and a few tangible disadvantages.

But it's interesting to see how the things changed. With the BIOS mod that removes the 2010 error, and the SATA mod which allows modern SATA disks, T43's main annoyance was solved and its potential unleashed. Same thing with the T61. Back then 2GB of RAM was standard, so few cared or even noticed the T60 3GB cap, whereas now the T61 can take 8GB and, together with yet another BIOS mod that unlocks SATA2 performance, leaves the T60 in the dust as far as maximum performance goes.

There are still the aesthetics issue, but if you take a 14" 4:3 T61 and snap a 14" T60 lid on it, then it looks just as nice. And of course, taking the 15" IPS T60 chassis and sticking a T61 4:3 board inside it is yet another amazing upgrade.

Funny enough, while I most certainly did get the T4x series, I could *never* get attached to a T6x series machine, no matter how nice it was...

And before anyone says anything, it's NOT an IBM vs. Lenovo thing at all...there are a couple of Lenovo-era ThinkPads that I'm still kicking myself in the behind for selling, most notably a top-shelf Z61m with Ti lid and WWAN...

So I guess it would be fair to say that even the most passionate ThinkPad buffs have a generation that they missed on...

I havnt had my hands on any TPs newer than a T61; I have had 15 or better T40 series TPs
come thru my hands, working and not. My favorite of all the TPs I have owned is the T40p I am typing on. Sure I have had some fail,this 1 has been serving me for better than 3 years.

I have high hopes for the $10 T42 I bought off ebay recently. It runs good ;but was all beat up so I put the mb in another box and put all my best spare parts on it.Running good so far.

I guess the main thing I see is that I have seen brand new laptops bought,lived & died in the same period of time that I have run my T40s and I although I do like my T60 for what it is;its still not the machine the T40 is. I learned long ago not to use the machines for storage.When they fail you fix it and move on...........cheers

For sure the T4x are the nicest TP's ever...
Through my hands went several of them - mostly "hybrids" or Frankenpads - in my oppinion the TR45x's are the best combinations available - and now, for work (on construction sites) i use the R52 in my sig. The next days i'll be getting a mint T43 with the ATI issue, in order to make another Frankenpad. Why? Not for a vary rational reason, just because i miss the feel, the lightness, and thinness of a T4x...

Don't get me wrong - the flexview R61 is gorgeous, but lacks the T4x's refinement, and the X60 is a pleasure to use... But the T4x's have a "don't know what" that attracts me... And from the posts above i can gladly see i'm not the only one

This is well said, My niece is tired of her dell, and wants a new one, her brother can't keep a machine from getting its browser hijacked, and all they can complain about is is wanting a new machine. While I'm still working on my T22s and T30s. Of course they can't afford new machines but that's besides the point.

Long Live Ye Ole Thinkpads Long as we have some spare parts

I researched the best t42 to get and apparently it's the one with the 64mb ati 9600 graphics chip.

From an informal poll taken here of people reporting failures, it only had 4 failures, compared to the next model which had something like 20 and the next which had 30-40.

I've moved up from a t23, and the t40 series are great. I'd avoid one with a wireless b only laptop, but other than that, if they're still running now, they'll probably keep on running for awhile.

T42. Greatest laptop so far. Loooove the sxga screen.... I just wish the screen was a little whiter and brighter. I'm refurbing a couple of other t42's and they're alot brighter, but they're xga...