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Artwork: Rick Rizner, John Goddard
IBM ThinkPad T41 Notebook (IBM-23733HU)
| 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. | Very good: 123 (Windows XP Professional) |
| Features | Very good |
| CPU | 1.6-GHz Pentium M |
| Screen size | 14.1 inches |
| System memory | 512MB of DDR266 SDRAM |
| Hard drive | 40GB |
| Graphics | 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 |
| Pointing device | Touchpad, eraserhead |
| Bays | One |
| Bundled removable-media drives | One multipurpose bay with DVD-ROM and CD-RW combo drive |
| Floppy drive | None |
| Ports | Parallel and serial, two USB 2.0, microphone and headphone jacks, S-Video-out port |
| Communications | V.92 modem, gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth, 802.11b |
| Business suite | N/A |
| Other features | N/A |
| Overall design | Good |
| Battery life (hours:minutes) | Good: 4:19 |
| Weight (typical/minimum, in pounds): Typical weight includes the computer, AC adapter, optical drive, and floppy drive (if offered). | Light: 5.9/5.1 |
| Vendor's reliability/service | Good/Good |
| Support policy | Three-year parts and labor warranty; free unlimited 24-hour daily toll-free support |
IBM ThinkPad T41
ThinkPad T41 Notebook (IBM-23733HU) Review, by Carla Thornton December 21, 2003
The IBM ThinkPad T series of notebooks are thin and light without sacrificing typing comfort, a big screen, or important connections. This edition, the T41, has a slim black case and weighs just over 5 pounds, including a removable optical drive (a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combination model in our unit) and a 14.1-inch screen. It also has most of the common ports, with the exception of FireWire. In addition, the T41 has dual pointing devices and IBM's quirky ThinkLight, an LED that shines a pale light on the keyboard for typing in the dark.
This is the first ThinkPad we've reviewed with IBM's new Hard Drive Active Protection System, touted as the industry's first automatic hard-drive protection utility. According to IBM, it's based on a technology similar to that used in automobiles to deploy airbags on contact: A microchip on the motherboard detects physical acceleration--such as when the notebook falls--and in response the system temporarily parks the hard drive's read/write head until stability returns. But we found that the utility leaps into action every time you even nudge the notebook, popping up an animated alert dialog box. Nevertheless, you can disable the alert, and the drive spin-down didn't seem to slow our work, so the feature is harmless--and possibly helpful when you really need it.
The heads of the case screws are a combination of slotted and Phillips, so you can remove the screws securing the panels over the hard drive and RAM compartments no matter what kind of tool you have.
Overall, the keyboard is classic ThinkPad--a cut above the crowd with its smooth typing action, good layout, and wells beneath the arrow keys to guide fingers. The eraserhead comes with a selection of caps for easy steering and works well with a center button for scrolling through documents.
However, other parts of the notebook's design seem uncharacteristically inferior to other ThinkPads we've reviewed. The hard drive was sticky, and the battery's dual releases made it awkward to remove as well. The strangest flaw: The mouse buttons for our unit's eraserhead creaked like loose boards and partially sank into the case when they were pressed.
The T41 earned scores of Very Good on our performance tests, turning in a battery life of 4.3 hours and a PC WorldBench 4 score of 123; these results were right on target for a notebook with a 1.6-GHz/600-MHz Pentium M processor and 512MB of RAM.
The single memory slot limits your RAM upgrade options somewhat (256MB is built in to the motherboard), and having most of the connections on the sides (the battery takes up the back) may be inconvenient in tight spaces. Two front-mounted speakers, controlled with a nice set of volume buttons, emit standard ThinkPad sound--just so-so quality.
Plenty of expansion options are available for the T41, starting with the modular bay, which accommodates several types of devices aside from the optical drive, such as a Zip drive, a secondary battery, and a secondary hard drive. Removing a device from the bay is easy with the side pull tab. For using the T41 on a desk, you have a choice of three different docking stations ranging from a simple $179 port replicator to the $529 ThinkPad Dock II with dual bays.
Documentation for the T41 centers around IBM's outstanding electronic manual. The only animated reference guide we know of, it walks you step by step through operations such as upgrading the hard drive.
Upshot: The T41 combines light weight, strong performance, and a breadth of features into a fairly slim package, but various aspects of our unit's workmanship were uncharacteristically subpar for IBM.
Carla Thornton
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User Reviews
Average User Reviews for IBM ThinkPad T41 Notebook (IBM-23733HU)
1 Review Add your own »
- Latest User Reviews 1 review
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Reviewed by: JPros
Duration of ownership: 3 Years
Strengths: Attention to detail, large screen for multiple windows and ability to read plenty, plenty of battery and ability to buy a better one
Weaknesses: (Over time) Screen easily cracks, hard drive gets ruined easily, keyboard pops out, screen brightness wears down, unable to handle too many things loading at once, bulky and too big in some situations (airports etc.). Overall not very durable.
Overall: Not highly recommended
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: spong3rs
Strengths: Quality, look/feel, attention to detail.
Weaknesses: None
Overall: This laptop is by far the best laptop ever! We use many different varieties of IBM laptops(including the R, and X series) and the T series(starting with the T40) is by far the best of the bunch. I have one personally as well, and have never regretted spending the money on it. If only other manufacturers would take a hint from IBM, the laptop market would be much better off! BTW, as the last reviewer noted, if the author had done even a little bit of investigating he would have found the second memory slot under the keyboard, which isnt hard to get to, the screws on the underside are clearly marked as to what they remove.Wonderful laptop! Best EVER!!
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Reviewed by: bjossi
Strengths: Extremely strong, lightweight, keyboard, mouse, very well made, Access IBM, ThinkVantage technology, Access connection, Presentation manager, battery life, wireless range
Weaknesses: Price
Overall: It's always a shame to see bad reviews made on wrong information. In this review the author doesn't know of the second memory slot that is only 4 screws away under the keyboard. This computer can use 2GB of memory! How can you also only give it 3 stars now but you gave the T40 4 stars last year?The quality and workmanship of this machine is excellent and no other laptop comes close in the way it feels and handles. I've seen almost all brands of laptops and they all feel wobbly and plastic like. Like www.tomshardware.com says righfully this is the Bentley of laptops.The mouse is the best available and thankfully you can disable the inferior touchpad and use the Trackpoint for top performance.When you buy one you'll never go back to other brands. Can't wait for the T42....
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