I received my thinkpad 2 days ago, but have been too busy installing software and getting things setup to post until today.
Here are the significant specs:
T42p, 15" UXGA w/Flexview, Pentium-M 1.8 GHz 745, 128MB ATI FireGL T2, DVD-R/CD-RW Multi-Burner, 80GB 5400rpm HDD, 512MB RAM, Intel 802.11b/g Wireless, Windows XP Professional, 3 year warranty.
My Initial Thoughts -
Ordering Process: 5/5
When I asked one of the people working at my university's bookstore if they sold built to order IBMs, he told me that there were a few pre-configured models not listed and that he could print me out a list in case the ones on display didn't have what I wanted. I'm thinking he screwed up, because he ended up giving me an internal document with all of the direct from IBM prices, profit margins per computer, net profits, etcetera. I had actually gotten quoted a higher price than the bookstore earlier that day on the phone directly with IBM, but figured I would try my luck again and try to get them to sell me a notebook at the price they sell them at directly to my bookstore. With a stroke of pure luck, a senior sales supervisor answered the phone when I called was very friendly and helpful. He told me he would give me the best deal he could, and then asked me how much the computer was listed as direct from IBM on the printout from the bookstore. I was looking at a lesser configured SXGA+ model at the time which was listed as $1800 direct from IBM, and sold at $2000. He said he could give me a price of $1700. I was quite surprised, so I asked him how much he could sell me the UXGA model that was priced as $2550 direct from IBM, and sold for $2800 (which was still significantly below retail). He said he would give it to me for $2200. To make this long story short, ordering process was incredible, and after taxes/free shipping this notebook was ~$2400. A very good deal in my opinion.
Shipping: 5/5
I ordered the notebook around 4 PM on the 5th of this month. The website had the ship date pushed back as far as the 27th, and phone support estimated the 19th, but the notebook shipped the 10th from Hong Kong and arrived the 12th. It was very well packed. Overall, I can't imagine anything that could have been improved along the lines of shipping.
Build Quality & Keyboard: 5/5
IBM is known for their superior build quality, and they lived up to their reputation. This notebook has a very clean design and feels practically indestructible. The keyboard is insanely nice. It is very quiet, and has a great feel to it. My only (minor) complaint would have to be the 'Fn' key that I keep hitting out of habit instead of 'Ctrl'. I'm not sure that is specific to this keyboard's layout or not though. Regardless, I'll train myself how to use 'Ctrl' again.
Screen: 5/5
I have to admit I was pretty nervous after ordering the notebook that UXGA would be just too hard to deal with. However, after using it the last few days I have to say I am definitely happy with the 1600x1200 resolution. The screen is crystal clear, and I don't have any problem reading text. I haven't even needed to touch the DPI or font size settings, which I was all but certain I would need to. Having all the extra space to use for web design and general use is great. The viewing angles on this as quite good in my opinion, especially considering it is not widescreen. It isn't quite a Sager 3790 when it comes to viewing angles, but they are very good, both vertically and horizontally.
Speed: X/5
I haven't done any benchmarks, so any comments I make about the performance of this machine are going to be purely my impressions coming from an Athlon 1.4 GHz desktop. I won't bother to make unquantified statements about the speed of this machine, other than to say that it blazes through everything I do with it.
Video: X/5
Again, no benchmarks, and I'm not much of a gamer, although I used to be quite fond of UT, so we'll see how the 128 Fire-GL runs UT2k4 when I get a copy. My testing of the video capabilities have so far been limited to running fullscreen winamp visualizations at 1600x1200 and staring at them in awe and amazement for extended periods of time.
Multi-Burner: X/5
I need to find some blank dvd media that works with this drive, and/or check the firmware. The first two burning attempts came back coasters.
Wireless: 4/5
The internal b/g card on this gets slightly better signal strength with my Linksys WRT54GS than my desktop does sitting 5 feet away with a Linksys WMP54GS. I haven't lost my signal, except when I was having some router problems earlier. I give the wireless a 4/5 because I'm still pissed I couldn't get an internal bluetooth card in this. After reading the thinkpads forum, this model apparently has the antenna built in, I just need to order the the parts and swap out the modem card. Unfortunately the card is 100+ dollars, so we'll see if I end up doing that.
Overall Impression: 4.99/5
A great machine through and through. The build quality and keyboard are in a league of their own, and I am quite fond of the simplistic and clean look the laptop has.
Here are the significant specs:
T42p, 15" UXGA w/Flexview, Pentium-M 1.8 GHz 745, 128MB ATI FireGL T2, DVD-R/CD-RW Multi-Burner, 80GB 5400rpm HDD, 512MB RAM, Intel 802.11b/g Wireless, Windows XP Professional, 3 year warranty.
My Initial Thoughts -
Ordering Process: 5/5
When I asked one of the people working at my university's bookstore if they sold built to order IBMs, he told me that there were a few pre-configured models not listed and that he could print me out a list in case the ones on display didn't have what I wanted. I'm thinking he screwed up, because he ended up giving me an internal document with all of the direct from IBM prices, profit margins per computer, net profits, etcetera. I had actually gotten quoted a higher price than the bookstore earlier that day on the phone directly with IBM, but figured I would try my luck again and try to get them to sell me a notebook at the price they sell them at directly to my bookstore. With a stroke of pure luck, a senior sales supervisor answered the phone when I called was very friendly and helpful. He told me he would give me the best deal he could, and then asked me how much the computer was listed as direct from IBM on the printout from the bookstore. I was looking at a lesser configured SXGA+ model at the time which was listed as $1800 direct from IBM, and sold at $2000. He said he could give me a price of $1700. I was quite surprised, so I asked him how much he could sell me the UXGA model that was priced as $2550 direct from IBM, and sold for $2800 (which was still significantly below retail). He said he would give it to me for $2200. To make this long story short, ordering process was incredible, and after taxes/free shipping this notebook was ~$2400. A very good deal in my opinion.
Shipping: 5/5
I ordered the notebook around 4 PM on the 5th of this month. The website had the ship date pushed back as far as the 27th, and phone support estimated the 19th, but the notebook shipped the 10th from Hong Kong and arrived the 12th. It was very well packed. Overall, I can't imagine anything that could have been improved along the lines of shipping.
Build Quality & Keyboard: 5/5
IBM is known for their superior build quality, and they lived up to their reputation. This notebook has a very clean design and feels practically indestructible. The keyboard is insanely nice. It is very quiet, and has a great feel to it. My only (minor) complaint would have to be the 'Fn' key that I keep hitting out of habit instead of 'Ctrl'. I'm not sure that is specific to this keyboard's layout or not though. Regardless, I'll train myself how to use 'Ctrl' again.
Screen: 5/5
I have to admit I was pretty nervous after ordering the notebook that UXGA would be just too hard to deal with. However, after using it the last few days I have to say I am definitely happy with the 1600x1200 resolution. The screen is crystal clear, and I don't have any problem reading text. I haven't even needed to touch the DPI or font size settings, which I was all but certain I would need to. Having all the extra space to use for web design and general use is great. The viewing angles on this as quite good in my opinion, especially considering it is not widescreen. It isn't quite a Sager 3790 when it comes to viewing angles, but they are very good, both vertically and horizontally.
Speed: X/5
I haven't done any benchmarks, so any comments I make about the performance of this machine are going to be purely my impressions coming from an Athlon 1.4 GHz desktop. I won't bother to make unquantified statements about the speed of this machine, other than to say that it blazes through everything I do with it.
Video: X/5
Again, no benchmarks, and I'm not much of a gamer, although I used to be quite fond of UT, so we'll see how the 128 Fire-GL runs UT2k4 when I get a copy. My testing of the video capabilities have so far been limited to running fullscreen winamp visualizations at 1600x1200 and staring at them in awe and amazement for extended periods of time.
Multi-Burner: X/5
I need to find some blank dvd media that works with this drive, and/or check the firmware. The first two burning attempts came back coasters.
Wireless: 4/5
The internal b/g card on this gets slightly better signal strength with my Linksys WRT54GS than my desktop does sitting 5 feet away with a Linksys WMP54GS. I haven't lost my signal, except when I was having some router problems earlier. I give the wireless a 4/5 because I'm still pissed I couldn't get an internal bluetooth card in this. After reading the thinkpads forum, this model apparently has the antenna built in, I just need to order the the parts and swap out the modem card. Unfortunately the card is 100+ dollars, so we'll see if I end up doing that.
Overall Impression: 4.99/5
A great machine through and through. The build quality and keyboard are in a league of their own, and I am quite fond of the simplistic and clean look the laptop has.
:O :O 
