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CNET editors' rating:
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Good
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 85 reviews
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Product summary
The good: Great value; excellent performance; bulletproof IBM design; Gigabit Ethernet; long battery life; great service and support.
The bad: Lacks FireWire; no flash media slot.
The bottom line: The ThinkPad T42 is a good choice for business professionals looking for a top-notch laptop at a reasonable price.
Specifications: Processor: Intel Pentium M (1.7 GHz) ; RAM installed: 512 MB DDR SDRAM ; Weight: 5.7 lbs ; See full specs
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 05/21/2004
- Updated on: 10/06/2005
- Released on: 05/11/2004
For a laptop offering the latest in processor technology, the IBM ThinkPad T42 is strikingly modest in its design (which is par for the course for the all-black ThinkPads). We tested the larger model, which has a 15-inch screen and weighs in at 5.7 pounds (6.5 pounds with power brick and cord), measuring 13 by 10.6 by 1.3 inches. The smaller model has a 14-inch screen and weighs less than 5 pounds, but it is still a good deal bulkier than IBM's new ultralight, the X40. As on all IBM models, the metal hinges connecting the T42's lid to the body are tough as nails and well suited to day-in, day-out business use.
The IBM ThinkPad T42's keyboard is broad and comfortable, with plenty of room toward the front rim for your palms. You get a touch pad and a pointing device that nestles in the middle of the keyboard. We also like the simple buttons above the keyboard, including volume controls and an Access IBM button that directs you to support and troubleshooting information.
The standard configuration for the IBM ThinkPad T42 includes a smallish 30GB hard drive and a combo CD-RW/DVD drive in the laptop's modular bay. For an extra $150, you can fill the bay with an IBM Multi-Burner drive that will read and write CDs and DVDs. Optional six- and nine-cell batteries are also available for the bay. Hard drive upgrades to 60GB or 80GB are shamelessly pricey, each costing more than $200. Around the rim, you'll find two USB 2.0 ports, a serial port for a mouse, an RJ-11 port for the T42's built-in modem, a Gigabit Ethernet port, audio-in and audio-out jacks, two Cardbus slots, a parallel port for a printer, and a VGA port for an external monitor. That covers the basics, but accoutrements such as FireWire and flash media slots are missing. You can add Wi-Fi for between $50 and $100, depending on which wireless adapter you choose.
Our IBM ThinkPad T42 came with Windows XP Pro, but IBM supports operating systems dating back to Windows 98 SE as well as the Red Hat and SuSE Linux distributions. Software for the ThinkPad T42 includes InterVideo WinDVD Creator and Norton AntiVirus 2004. The ThinkPad T42 also comes preloaded with IBM's new Rescue and Recovery platform, a secondary operating system that lets you recover data on your hard drive and access the Internet even when your primary operating system won't boot.
The IBM ThinkPad T42 kept up with both the HP Compaq Business Notebook nc6000 and the WinBook W360 on our MobileMark 2002 performance tests. Of the three laptops, the T42's battery held out the longest, lasting a remarkable 5 hours, 40 minutes.
The ThinkPad T42 comes with IBM's industry-standard service-and-support package, which includes the company's standard three-year warranty (one year for the battery). Alas, short battery warranties are both the industry standard and the Achilles' heel of laptop hardware. You can upgrade the three-year system warranty to include either onsite or depot repair for up to a maximum of five years. The reasonably priced onsite-repair option starts at $49.95 for one year and provides next-business-day service from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. You get 24/7, toll-free technical support during your warranty period. After that, support calls cost $35 dollars per incident.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes |
User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 85 reviews
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
"Great laptop, light, sturdy, fast and powerfull, with IBM industry leading service"
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
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