<p>The new laptop that they have for our class is pretty crazy </p>
<p>Intel Pentium M Processor 760 at 2.0GHz
1GB RAM
80GB 5400RPM internal hard drive
14.1" SXGA+ (1400x1050) TFT display
128MB ATI Mobility Fire V3200 video chipset
10/100/1000 on-board Ethernet and 56K modem
802.11a/b/g integrated wireless
CD Writer/DVD Writer
Full complement of ports (including: 2 USB 2.0, parallel, S-Video out, headphone, microphone)
UltraNav (touchpad/TrackPoint) pointing device
Bluetooth
Fingerprint Reader
Lithium-ion battery (one-year warranty)
Three-year manufacturer's warranty
Three-year ThinkPad Protection (accidental damage)
Weighs less than 5 pounds</p>
<p>I still prefer my Sager over that :-)
Last year everyone got those boring Thinkpads, everyone had the same thing, and I would beat them all in a Maple loading contest every time haha
The laptops are good, but everyone still seemed to get frustrated over them.
The biggest problems with the T42's (and they dont tell you this) are that:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>SO many people this year had failing hard drives, I'd say on average everyone had to get their laptop re-imaged at least once or twice. 4 people actually had their drives physically die on them, my theory is that the constant spin up and spin down with the gyroscrope technology puts alot of wear on the hard drive. Of course, they replace it, but just make sure you back everything up.</p></li>
<li><p>IBM did a poor job planning how the screen makes contact with the keyboard -- most of the sophomores and juniors last year had these really ugly wear lines going across the screen from so much contact with the keyboard. I doubt ibm made any improvements here, so expect that is a few years</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I got my Sager 12 months ago, and although it is a little heavy it will still blow your class' laptops out of the water as far as perfomance goes:
3.0Ghz P4 HT
80gb 5400rpm hard drive
15" UXGA 1600x1200 lcd
Turbo wireless 108Gbps a/b/g
CD Writer/dvd reader (you guys have me beat here)
Radeon Mobility 9700</p>
<p>Honestly, who is gonna use that fingerprint reader???</p>
<p>How is your battery life though? A P4 with HT must chew through batteries like you wouldn't believe. Also, the fingerprint reader can actually be quite nice for avoiding entering passwords during lectures. The security chip also moves password information to a much more secure location. (Ok, this may not be a big concern elsewhere, but there are lots of very smart people at my school, if someone wanted to break in to your computer, they probably could, so the extra security is nice.) FireGL graphics is a workstation level card which should outperform your radeon card in any rendering such as maple or solidworks. We have bluetooth for connectivity with other devices. (Ok, only a big deal if you have other bluetooth devices, which I have several.) </p>
<p>I will yield that the laptops screens develop scratches, but in general it isn't noticeable when the laptop is on unless in direct sunlight. As for dying hard drives however, most people simply abuse their laptops too much. Just because it is designed to be portable doesn't mean you can simply throw it around. Physical trauma still damages sensitive electronics. Also, the laptops will tend to all have the same flaw as they all come from the same batch process, so if one has a defect, they all have the same defect, but when the defect shows, I can get repairs done the same day by stopping by the repair center on campus where they have replacement parts in stock. To get a hard drive replaced takes about 20 to 30 minutes and then a reimage takes another hour or so. Much less of a hassle than shipping the laptop off or waiting a few days for a replacement part to ship.</p>
<p>Lastly, size does matter. With any books and other stuff I have to carry, I want my laptop to be as light as possible. Also another note is that my school gets this entire package, also loaded with software, most of which becomes full licenses upon graduation as well as a backpack carrying case custom designed for the laptop all for $2300. The same hardware specs currently would sell for more than $3000 from IBM, though an exact price can't be determined because a T43 with these specs is not available on the market at this time. The most expensive one was $3000 and it didn't have bluetooth and was only a 1.8ghz processor and did not have most of the software.</p>