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IBM THINKPAD R40 P4M-2.2G 60GB 256MB XPP DVD/CDRW 15-XGA 56K ENET (IBM-2681L7U)
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More…| PC WorldBench 4: Performance word scores reflect comparisons of PCs in the same category (power or value) running the same operating system. See Guide to the Top-Rated Products for more details. | Average: 107 (Windows XP Professional) |
| Base configuration | Very good |
| CPU | 2.2-GHz Pentium 4-M |
| Screen size | 15 inches |
| System memory | 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM |
| Hard drive | 60GB |
| Graphics | 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 |
| Pointing device | Touchpad, eraserhead |
| Expandability | One multipurpose bay, one PC Card slot, expansion bus port |
| Extra features | Very good |
| Bundled removable-media drives | 8X DVD-ROM and 24X/10X/24X CD-RW combo drive |
| Communications | Built-in V.92 modem and network interface |
| Extra ports | Headphone jack, S-Video and FireWire ports |
| Business suite | None |
| Other features | NA |
| Overall design | Outstanding |
| Battery life (hours:minutes) | Good: 3:22 |
| Weight (typical/minimum, in pounds) | Average: 7.2/6.3 |
| Vendor's reliability/service | Good/Good |
| Support policy | One-year parts and labor warranty; 24-hour daily toll-free support |
Bottom Line
Though $2149 is still a substantial price, this ThinkPad dishes out excellent value.
IBM ThinkPad R40
THINKPAD R40 P4M-2.2G 60GB 256MB XPP DVD/CDRW 15-XGA 56K ENET (IBM-2681L7U) Review, by Carla Thornton March 28, 2003
WHAT'S HOT: Like its predecessor the R32, the ThinkPad R40 stuffs so many great features into a lightweight unit that you'd never know it's supposed to be a bargain-line notebook. The modular bay and easy-to-use keyboard are just the beginning: The 6.3-pound (not including power adapter) R40 is the first two-spindle ThinkPad you can order with a 15-inch screen and dual pointing devices (previously available only with the ThinkPad T series). It's also the first of any of IBM's ThinkPads to have USB 2.0 ports (two of them), and the first with built-in antennas that support both Wi-Fi (802.11b) wireless networking and the faster 802.11a standard. (Our test machine wasn't completely wireless ready--like some configurations, it lacked the necessary wireless mini-PCI card, which costs about another $50 for Wi-Fi. And the 11a/11b card that makes full use of the dual antennas was not available in time for our review.)
The R40 bundles three swappable caps for the eraserhead pointing device, including the new Soft Rim and Soft Dome. We didn't receive the Soft Rim, but the Soft Dome installed on our unit was bigger, softer, and much easier to use for cursor control than the old, stiff Classic nub.
The R line keeps improving in battery life. Our test machine lasted 3.3 hours on one charge, about 25 minutes longer than the 1.8-GHz Pentium 4-M-equipped R32 we tested in December. You can stretch battery life even further by swapping out the notebook's optical drive (a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination drive at this price) for an extra-cost second battery. (Other bay options include a second hard drive and a Zip 250 drive.)
On top of all of that, the R40--carrying a 2.2-GHz Pentium 4 CPU--is zippy, too. Its PC WorldBench 4 score of 107 slightly tops the 104 average for 2.4-GHz Pentium 4 notebooks.
WHAT'S NOT: The R40's printed documentation is limited to one slim troubleshooting manual. A floppy drive costs extra, and IBM ends free technical support after one year. The touchpad on our review unit was sluggish, taking several seconds to respond to taps even at its most sensitive setting.
WHAT ELSE: Unlike the products in most value lines, which stick to the basics, the R40 leaves little to be desired in a notebook. It's designed for easy connectivity and upgrades, with the most common connections plus a TV-out port and FireWire. The hard drive is hidden behind the audio ports, but you can easily extract it after removing one screw from the bottom of the notebook. Both sets of mouse buttons depress deeply, offering much better feedback than the shallow, stiff buttons found on most other notebooks. Our model also came with IBM's cool spacebar magnifier: When used in combination with the function key, the spacebar maximizes the active window to fill the screen. The R40 lacks IBM's proprietary USB 1.1 Ultraport on the top edge of the display, but that omission isn't much of a handicap as the port accepts only a handful of IBM devices, such as a basic digital camera.
The R40 does have the ThinkLight, a small LED that illuminates the keyboard somewhat in dark rooms. The notebook's built-in speakers aren't of boombox quality, but they will do for users focused on work, as well as for unfussy music-CD listeners. Like the rest of IBM's new ThinkPad models, the R40 uses an updated docking station and port replicator that has USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet, and other new features. Older ThinkPads can use the new expansion devices, but the new ThinkPads can't use the old ones.
While there's little printed material documenting the notebook, IBM's on-screen manual is second to none, with step-by-step animation guiding you through many operations, such as upgrading the hard drive. IBM has revamped the help interface once again, this time into five sections, but figuring out where to find information is fairly easy.
UPSHOT: Though $2149 is still a substantial price, this ThinkPad dishes out excellent value.
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Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
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Reviewed by: good2know
Strengths: Powerful and nice looking
Weaknesses: No firewire
Overall: I got it really cheap from a friend works at IBM. P4 running 2.2Ghz, 15" LCD, 40Gb hard drive, 256Mb RAM build in Cisco Mini PCI, DVD/CDRW combo drive for $1900 CND ( around $1350 US ). I order it online and got it 3 days later even it said on their web page that will take up to 2 weeks. The only thing I don't like is only got one PCMCIA slot! If it has a buildin firewire then one PCMCIA should be fine but I think for the money taht I paid I should not ask for anything more. Very happy with it.
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Reviewed by: Methuss
Strengths: Fast...durable and light.
Weaknesses: 32MB video memory is somewhat anemic.
Overall: IBM has another winner in the ThinkPad line. The amount of video memory is my only complaint. I would like to see an option for at least 64MB. The Pentium M model is fast and runs a good 6 hours between charges. The multiple trackpoint caps are a nice touch. The best configuration is with the 15 inch display, at least 512MB of memory and the DVD-R/RW "multi-burner" added on as an option. I found myself upgrading to 1GB of memory when I got into doing some serious video editing on it. The firewire port certainly helps out with transferring large amounts of video data from a DV camcorder. The clincher is that if you look hard enough you can get one of these for as little as $1400.
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Reviewed by: rjdzik
Strengths: Fabulous 15" screen; Ultra Fast; 60GB Hard drive; Surprising light; Rugged (so far); Excellent Wi-Fi capabilities (with the Cisco Aironet) PCI MiniCard; IBM ACCESS Support; No Problem Software Upgrade
Weaknesses: One 'swap-out' accessory bay; 1-year Warranty; Floppy Drive a purchaseable option (if you really care!); Stuck with base memory chip - especially if you get the full RAM.
Overall: I almost made the mistake of going with Dell! I hesitantly bought the IBM ThinkPad R40 partly because it has only one 'swap-out'accessory bay for use by the DVD/CD-RW, DVD, CD, Floppy and other numerous accessories; and (at the time) a 1-year Warranty with no-upgrade options unless you were a business. To my surprise any reservations I may have had with the R40 were completely proven wrong. I purchased the optional Floppy Drive, and have used it once (I should have saved the money)! -- the UltraBay DVD/CD-RW Drive is all I've needed. It would be nice to have a longer Warranty period like some of the competing notebooks, but non-Business (or Homebased) Users can now purchase up to a 5-year Warranty. Granted I have a 2681 Model which has a 15" screen, 60GB Hard Drive, 2.2GHz Pentium 4M Processor with the 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphic chip and max DDR SDRAM, so I can't guarantee other model types. It's blazing fast even with the CAD programs and other heavy number crunching programs I use. I've used Dell and Compaq laptops and I can say without reservation the IBM ThinkPad beats them all. No I am not a employee (or distributor) for IBM . . . But the ThinkPad R40 is a "rock solid" innovative and trustworthy notebook for the home or business User. If you don't believe me give it a try yourself, I'm glad I did!
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