Lenovo's biometric-enhanced ThinkPad T43p reviewed
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jun 29th 2005 12:01PM
posted Jun 29th 2005 12:01PM
BIOS magazine has a review of Lenovo's biometric-enhanced, Sonoma-powered ThinkPad T43p, which was released earlier this year. And they have pretty high praise for it, saying it is "the most complete corporate workhorse we've reviewed." Among its high points are the high-res display, aforementioned biometric security, and excellent support features. On the downside, they say it's expensive, the screen isn't very bright, and they're also not so hip to the lack of FireWire port. Still, if you've got the cash for it, and you dig the ThinkPad's ever-present corporate minimalist style, it looks to be a solid choice.
A ThinkPad, at that price, without a FireWire port? What were they thinking?
Ok, everyone. Here is an article about a ThinkPad. Now, before you all of you have a fit..yes, the ThinkPad has looked the same for forever. Some people love it, some people hate it. Yes, the ThinkPad has a TrackPoint. Some people love it, some people hate it. If we're going to discuss this machine, why can't way discuss it on its merits rather than its minimalist design and its ever present (although you can now use a trackpad with thinkpads) TrackPoint.
And for all you clever folks, let me forestall your word games. TrackPoint AKA:
ClitStick
Nipple
Nip
EraserHead
BitchStick
etc, etc, etc
I am just so tired that every single time an article about a ThinkPad is published oin this site, all of the comments are about these things. It is lame, annoying, and quite old. If you really want get off on bashing a ThinkPad, relive your glory days by reading all of the old ThinkPad aticles. They contain all the same shit you guys would talk about on this article anyway.
They were thinking what they've been thinking for years, as no T-series laptop has ever come with FireWire.
The bigger story is that the T43p gets much worse battery life than the model its replacing (T42p): about an hour less. It always amazes me how reviews miss basic information like this. Ever seen a laptop review include comments about the dock? No? Me neither, yet most laptops in this part of the market are purchased with docks.
If you compare the T43p to the Dell Latitude D600 then you can see the difference. My company buys both. The Dell is half the cost. The Dell does not have a firewire port either. The Dell is just not as rock solid of a machine as the IBM though. If I had a choice I would have the IBM. Both have identical screens,processor, keyboard/trackpoint/touchpad, LCD resolutions.
A couple of things that Lenovo needs to address on these boxes to make them the perfect laptop:
- DVI out
- What is up with the parallel port?
- Firewire would be nice
- some sort of XBrite like techonlogy for the screen
- a better graphics card (personal preference)
As someone who currently has a T43p (with the smaller res, 14.1" screen) and has to return it due to a faulty Ultranav - I am considering alternatives since all of the things that Nick lists in post #5 above actually do bug me. Add fan issues to the list as well.
Is there a suggestion of something that would meet those requirements AND have the quality, and support of a Thinkpad?
I am considering an Acer TravelMate 8100-series, but the support/warranty is lacking from what I can tell compared to the thinkpad's. But it is a bit cheaper...
Granted the specs might be fair, you'd think after some time they'd realize they're selling an ugly piece of plastic.
I'm amazed that folks think this is ugly, when you look at the stuff that is out there right now with cheap looking silver plastic etc... the IBM Thinkpad is a solid bet and it works great and lasts very well. Also, it has a high spec now in the "P" series to enable it to compete with the high end machines from other manufacturers' machines.
It seems pricey until you look at the spec, try finding another machine with a 7200rpm hard drive and 128mb video card that's built this well and doesn't have one of those trendy widescreens that reflect glare so badly and have very little "normal" screen space to play with.
I just wish you could buy/configure them from the Lenovo/IBM site, but they don't have the "p" models on there.
considering buying this machine. can't find anything as nice and thin out there with this much power. however, customer service during the sales process has turned me off. two calls with curt, hurried and stressed sales guys makes me worry about what a customer support experience might look like. also the machine has a 6 week leadtime which seems excessive.