Meet Tim, a senior technician here at Laptop Broker. Like all our technicians, Tim knows his way around a laptop and has upgraded and rebuilt thousands of computers over the years. We asked Tim to review a few laptops he is familiar with and have posted them for our customers to review. We hope you find this information helpful and welcome your feedback.

The IBM ThinkPad T41 Review

In today's world, the need for mobility has increased drastically. Most businesses out there are not bound by geographic limitations. Modern business trends need businesses to be mobile. A competitive market is witnessing extensive collaborations, acquisitions, and partnerships being built around the globe. No one can afford to stay out of this globalization trend. Evolving partnerships and mutual benefit contracts are now contributing to building the face of a new and a more progressive global economy. The need to develop outsourcing partners is also fast emerging. The need to efficiently coordinate with offshore partners on levels such as implementation and managerial tasks is now becoming seemingly important. It's important to fine tune collaborations and gel with each other to improve efficiency. Whether it be product life cycle management, a promotion campaign, a field like parallel publishing, or decreasing time to market and availability, information sharing and the power to stay mobile and yet connected to your business is of utmost importance. Keeping these needs in mind, it would not be fair to tie an engineer, a developer, or a marketer to his workspace, and attach his needs to his immovable table desktop. IBM came up with a feasible solution to overcome these problems, and they also managed to give it a name: Yes! We are talking about the IBM ThinkPad T41. The IBM ThinkPad T41 is a gem in the crown as far as the T series notebooks are concerned. It is lightweight, it is super fast, it has a hardware protection system which provides four times the protection as compared to its counterparts, and its above average battery life makes it stand out of the crowd. Basically, this laptop is a traveler’s delight as well as an elegant and strong business companion and asset.

IBM never designed any flashy laptops, and the IBM ThinkPad T41 is no different, wrapped in its traditional black. But then again, what's under the hood is what really matters! And IBM has left no stone unturned in creating the perfect laptop. The T41 is the battle tank of all laptops, as strong as they come. The IBM ThinkPad T41 is available in a wide variety of configurations and it also comes with a standard 3 year warranty.

To keep the introduction brief and simple, it would only be fair to say that the IBM ThinkPad T41 is definitely one of the thinnest, lightest and definitely one of the fastest notebooks that IBM has to offer. It is a perfect mix between, dependability and performance. That being said, the IBM ThinkPad T41 has also introduced the sensitive (responsive) touchpad. The touchpad is a suitable substitute for the Trackpoint that was the exclusive pointer for previous IMB laptops. The touchpad has mouse buttons which are placed above and below the touchpad. This enables the CLICK as well as the SCROLL options. The keyboard comprises of the expected IBM style full size keys, enabling ease of use, not to mention the screen mounted illuminating light, which comes in handy while making slide presentations or working in a dark room. As far as ergonomics are concerned, IBM laptops have never fallen short of excellence and the ThinkPad T41 simply re-iterates that.

The IBM ThinkPad T41 is equipped with Centrino Wireless Technology along with the 2.0 version of IBM's security subsystem, which not only allows seamless connectivity, but also a safer connective environment.

Let's take a look at the IBM Thinkpad T41 from a more technical specifications perspective:

The IBM ThinkPad T41 seems to look rather sleek in the first glance. At 12.2 inches wide, 10 inches deep, and barely 1.2 inches high, and does not weigh an ounce above 4.9 lbs, the ThinkPad T41 can very easily become the cynosure of all eyes.

As mentioned earlier, the IBM ThinkPad T41 comes in a variety if configurations, ranging from an Intel Pentium M 1.4 GHz processor to a Intel Pentium M 1.7 GHz processor and the data bus speeds up to 400 Mhz. Armed with an enhanced Speed-Step technology and a chipset type of Intel 855PM, the processor surely suits everyone's requirements. May it be a college student who needs to store important assignment data or use the notebook for entertainment purposes while idling away time in his dorm, all the way up to a Business executive who may need to connect to the internet, watch a presentation on his laptop or store data which he wishes to carry with him.

The IBM ThinkPad T41 lets you take advantage of the L2 cache memory type, with the cache size of 1 MB. It comes with an inbuilt memory of 256 MB, with an option of extending the RAM up to 2GB.
Being a notebook, the ThinkPad has neither a floppy drive nor any other form of removal storage devices attached to it. However, it does come with 2 2.0 USB ports, and a media bay through which you can connect a extra hard disk or a spare battery. This media bay is also called the UltraBay Slim. Other basic storage devices include Hard Drives ranging from 40 GB to 60 GB, these hard drives come with a standard speed of 5400 rpm. You will definitely come across the optical storage alternative of a CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo, which is a plug-in module. The CD / DVD read speed is 24x and 8x respectively. The write speed and rewrite speed for both a CD and DVD is 16x and 10x respectively.

Moving forward, this particular model in comes with a 14.1 inch TFT or what is known as an Active Matrix LCD and can touch a maximum resolution of 1400 x 1050.

While looking for the different multimedia features, you will find a digital audio codec (16-bit). You can also choose between ATI RADEON 7500 or the ATI RADEON 9000 video chipset, each of these come with an inbuilt video memory of 32 MB. Amongst the array of connections that decorate the edges of the IBM ThinkPad T41, you will find standard Audio input/output jacks, a mouse connecter slot, a VGA output slot and a PC card slot. Other connection ports would include 2 AC jacks in the back.

The battery life of this notebook is approximately 4.5 hours, perfect for people who can not leave their notebooks behind even for an hour. With a lithium ion battery included, the laptop weighs just like a feather - very light and can be easily carried around. It is important to note that even though the standard battery available with the setup is adequate, you still have a few options to choose from, namely the 4.4 AH six cell unit, or the 6.6 AH nine cell unit, or just the spare AUX battery that fits in the UltraBay Slim.

The included network cards for the T41 are Wireless Ethernet – 11 Mbps IEEE802.11b, Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps), Wireless Ethernet – 54 Mbps IEEE802.11a, and Wireless Ethernet - 54 Mbps IEEE802.11g. The several interface types that this particular ThinkPad possesses are Audio - Line In (1/8 inch Mini), Ethernet - RJ45 Twisted-Pair (XBaseT), Parallel - 25 pin D-shell (IEEE 1284A), Serial - RJ11 Modular (Phone/Telco), Video - 15 pin High-Density D-shell (VGA), Audio - Line Out (1/8 inch Mini), Infrared - iRDA Wireless (iRDA-SIR), Port Replicator (Proprietary), USB - Universal Serial Bus 1.0/1.1, and Video - 4 pin mini-DIN (S-Video).

The sensitive Touchpad and the keyboard are the ThinkPad T41's only input devices. The Operating System that is provided is Microsoft Windows XP Professional and the other software applications that you will not need to install later are PC Doctor, IBM RecordNow, ThinkPad Utilities, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Lotus Notes Client 5, Norton AntiVirus 2003 (OEM), ThinkVantage Rapid Restore Ultra, Access IBM, InterVideo WinDVD, Drivers and Utilities, IBM Update Connector, Lotus SmartSuite Millennium, and ThinkVantage Access Connections. Some other features that are unique only in the ThinkPad are Asset ID, Power-on password, Administrator password, Security lock slot, Wake on LAN, Hard drive password, and ThinkVantage Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0. These will make sure that your personal and confidential details are not shared by anyone. The numerous standards that this notebook is complaint with are CE, NOM, MPR II, ACPI 2.0, FCC Class B certified, CUL, BSMI, VCCI-II, and ACPI 1.0b.

Now, let us look at the IBM Thinkpad T41 from a user's perspective:

The IBM Thinkpad T41 is definitely not one of the cheapest Laptops you will find in the market; however, the laptop justifies the cost in all its senses. The Notebook comes with a version 2.0 of IBM's Security Subsystem. The Security subsystem covers the BIOS as well as all the software components, making it one of the most secure notebooks available. Additionally, the other important safety feature that is included is the advanced hardware protection system which shuts off the hard drive to avoid loss of data and information in case the laptop is dropped accidentally or receives a sharp blow due to some reason.

As far as the support is concerned, the website offers you all the information that you need, you will find detailed troubleshooting guides, easy to follow instruction manuals, a FAQ section, and all the drivers that are required to run your notebook efficiently. The notebook comes with a standard 3 year warranty, and phone support is provided free of cost during the warranty period.

There are very few notebooks in its category that can match the IBM ThinkPad T41. While it outdoes most laptops for its battery life, it is also not far behind as far as being user friendly is concerned. The laptop should let you finish all your work with ease even when it is unplugged. Though it is considered to be a business laptop, I personally have used this laptop during my days in college. It is easy to carry; it can definitely withstand some rather rough treatment, and has all the necessary components to make sure your entertainment remains unlimited. With a sufficient DVD combo, a decent display and graphics card, more than sufficient storage space, it definitely became an integrated part of my college life. The TouchPad, may take some time to get used especially if you have been using a laptop with IBM's Trackpoint, however, with time, you will realize that the sensitive TouchPad is easier to use. The keys in the keyboard are large in size with clear markings. The keyboard is firm with slightly concaved keys for an easier grip while typing. I found it tremendously convenient to use the sockets, ports and jacks which have been lined up in the sides, they are placed in such a manner, that they do not interfere with your keyboard and your CD/DVD ROM.

Like most people, I often use the internet to conduct my research and gather information. The IBM ThinkPad T41 comes with a pre-installed application software called the Access Connections. Access Connections helps you in managing adapter settings and individual profiles. Logging into a network is really simple.

As far as the speakers are concerned, I'd say they are on the quieter side. However, the speakers show no signs of making a tearing sound or adding distortion even when they are played on maximum volume, which leads me to believe that the speakers were pretty decent.

I have dropped my laptop on a few occasions, only to open it and resume work and pretend that nothing ever happened. Yes the hard drive does shut when the laptop experiences sudden movement or rapid acceleration. At this point, I must admit that IBM had certainly gone a step beyond my expectations. The hard drives are yet to trouble me and still remain very responsive. The White Illuminating LED or the light for the keyboard, though annoying at times has proven to be useful during some other crucial times, especially while attending seminars in college.

A different IBM ThinkPad T41 version notebook: THE T41p

Innovation is one thing that IBM has stuck by for many years now, and so in spite of having built a laptop which is as good as being perfect, they decided to add a few features. They did this by correcting a few things they felt were not liked by the masses and came up with the T41p. The T41p though looks exactly like the T41 on the outside, is completely different on the inside. The T41p does not run on the Intel's Centrino platform, it utilizes Pentium M. This raised a lot of doubts since, Centrino is well known for its extended battery life and also its wireless networking features. However, as soon as the T41p hit the market, all doubts were laid to rest.

Additionally, some other features that were slightly changed would include the standard 1.7 Ghz processor along with the 512 MB ram instead of the 256 MB RAM. Additionally, to cater to its wireless networking customers, IBM decided to include the 802.11a, b and g wireless networking. Another feature is the BlueTooth functionality. So if you can't find a WiFi connection hotspot, then you can always connect to the internet by hooking your laptop to your mobile phone device via Bluetooth.

After a detailed walkthrough of the specifications, performance and a personal user review of the ThinkPad T41, I am sure you are tempted to get one of your own.

Summary:

Let us summarize this IBM the ThinkPad T41 review, let's take a look at the strengths and weaknesses and also rate the laptop.

Strengths: Performance oriented, sturdy, solid battery life, most current technology available. IBM delivers on all promised features of the T41.
Weakness: Price is a little more than the others in its category.
Features:5/5
Performance: 4.9/5
Price: 4/5
Usability: 5/5