IBM ThinkPad R40 Notebook (1.8 GHz Pentium 4-M, 256 MB RAM, 20GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Rating:
Summary: Overall a nice laptop for around $1100
Review: ... did not really review Model 2681CU1 as shown on this website. This models comes with Pentium 4 -Mobile 1.8 Ghz, 256MB Ram, 20GB Harddrive, CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive.

Like the first reviewer said, the 20GB drive should really be called 16GB drive, and in reality, because IBM reserves about 4GB to store recovery info, leaving you with about 10-11GB of hard disk space you can use, so if you really need a lot of hard disk space, beware that instead of 18.6GB, you'll only be getting about 10GB.

Boot up on my machine takes about 1 minute with PC cillin Antivirus running, (booting to Win XP Home) so if you are used to 20 sec bootups, this machine will be slow to you on a bootup. However, once all of the programs are loaded, the computer performs pretty fast. Also, please note that the Hardrive is about 4200 RPM, so replacing the Disk for a higher RPM's will shorten the boot up time.

IBM does not provide a lot of software, I believe I only had Norton AV 2003, PC Doctor and Adobe (among others). You can type the Model number in IBM's website and get the exact detailed specs of what exactly comes (and does not come) with this laptop.

What I like is that the Norton AV and all other applications do NOT load automatically. You have to go to START--> Programs --->Norton AV 2003 and it will start installing Norton AV 2003. My previous laptop had all of the software already preloaded, which made it a little more painful, because you ended up uninstalling a bunch of useless programs you did not need.

The laptop's case is relatively sturdy and appears like it can take the ocasional bruising without major impact.

Also, the BIOS on this laptops comes configured to MAX BATTERY mode, which means that if you are booting from the battery (i.e the AC adapter is not plugged in) your CPU Speed Step will keep the CPU cycles to 1.2Ghz maximum even if your power options says "Always ON". Setting the power setting to AUTOMATIC (in BIOS) will fix this.

BEFORE YOU ADJUST BIOS, call IBM tech support to make minimize your chance for errors.

I was impressed with the quality of IBM tech support. I 'd say that I got a live person within 2 minutes and the tech support was somewhere in the US, as opposed to overseas.

Battery life seems to be close to 2.5-3hrs, though I have not had a chance to test it out fully. When fully charges, the battery indicator says that 3 hours is left.

Beware that this laptop does not come with a floppy drive.

I think that the reason this Laptop costs $1100 is that there are Pentium M chips that are out, replacing P4M's.

Oh, and last thing, I have IBM T23 at work and found that the ultrabay drives used with T23 are compatible with R40's (all except R40e) drives. Check IBM's website for verification. ...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent laptop for the price
Review: I bought one of these and very happy with the product!

Highly recommended.. Number 1 value laptop on PCWorld.com

Rating:
Summary: OK for a Cheap Laptop
Review: I have recieved the laptop today. The speed of the laptop is not what I was hoping for. I will have to purchase more memory for it. I have noticed it has been paging about 216 megs on the avg and only leaving me about 39 megs free on the Ram. I will be purchasing more ram for this laptop.

The Hard drive has a specs of 20 gigs. I think it might be from the way IBM had set this up its starts out at 15.6 gigs on the hard drive and only leaving you with 10 gigs free on it. You will def need a external hard drive with this unit.

There is no software so i suggest you down load open source or if you got copies of office you can use it.

One of the best features is it has a long battery life. But if you got the extra cash i suggest you buy HP, Sony or somthing better. if you need the extra power.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing cheap about this
Review: Sorry to break the news to the previous reviewer (please -- you really have to use a product more than one day to give a competent review), but there is nothing cheap about this laptop. Perhaps he had it configured with a little less power, but mine works as well as any laptop I've ever used.

This is my second laptop, but the first one was a small 486 I bought because the size was cool. Now, THAT one was cheap. IBM has made the best laptops and have the best service. The only question for me was initially, whether I wanted to pay for it, and then, which one do I get. Mine is configured with a 2 gig chip, a 40 gig HD, and 512 Meg of RAM. Please don't skimp on the RAM or you will wonder whether your system is slow.

It came complete with Windows XP (which I don't care for) and I had to reconfigure everything so it looks more like Windows 2000, which I have on my other desktops. I use the laptop for surfing on wireless internet connections -- both home and away, writing letters and other documents, doing some financial spreadsheets, and will soon be doing some film editing work. The trackhead (whatever its called) works MUCH better for me than the simple trackpad. But the pad is there, and you don't have to use the eraser shaped head in the middle of the keyboard if you don't want to. I don't remember hitting the head and moving the mouse when I typed the letters "h" and "g" (or whatever two keys it is between) so if you don't like it, it should never interfere with your work.

The screen is great! Big enough to have your desktop arranged like you like and plenty big to watch DVDs. The CD/DVD tray comes out, and feels somewhat flimsy, but you shouldn't have a problem taking care of it. On the left side are the various inputs, including (at least on mine) USB, firewire, and s-video. For you multimedia types who want a PowerBook for creative tasks but need a PC to do real work on, don't worry -- the Thinkpad has what you need. I considered a PowerBook and might have actually bought one (even though I'm firmly grounded in the Windows camp), but the prices were just way too much, and I would need a boatload of additional software for the Mac. While your emotional side might miss a PB (Apple does have a knack for appealing to the emotion), the logical beast in you will realize the TP has what you need.

The unit will, like every other high powered laptop, get hot on bottom. Mine doesn't create much of a problem. When I'm using it on my recliner, I put a pillow under it and I am fine. When using it on a table or desk, there is no issue.

Battery life on every portable unit is always disappointing. I've had my TP since March and have used it some, but not a great deal (once or twice a week on average, but lately increasing). I'm at a little more than three hours, and there is an indicator that clearly gives you an idea how much time you have left. If you fly cross country or longer than 3 hours and need all that time to work, you will need multiple batteries.

Finally, I haven't noticed any pixel loss on my screen. The unit is solid enough to take most anywhere. While I treat all my equipment well and don't dropkick anything, if you are a bit rougher on your stuff than I am, I don't think you will need to worry. But don't take this review for any advice on how the IBM will work if mistreated.