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How can I get EPP? I am a student going to university next year, does that help?

Everyone shouldn't get too carried away with the T43, although it is a RELATIVELY good machine. I've had a Thinkpad A30 for years and wouldn't even think of a non-IBM keyboard and trackpoint. I ordered and received a 15" T43 with an ATI x300 64mb video card and 1.5 gb RAM. What an incredible disappointment. IBM used to have a good port and connections layout with many on the back and a few on the sides but toward the back. This allowed the use of a mouse without interference from junk sticking out the sides. The T43 has almost all the connections on the left side including network, 2 usb, and the PCMCIA card slot. The right side is mostly clean for a mouse, since the CD/DVD bay is closed most of the time. However, this is a ONE-HANDED, RIGHT-HANDED machine! I have a left-side mouse and I use the PCMCIA port for an external Firewire 800 hard drive. Thus the morons that designed this one-handed design with very few ports/connections placed them very poorly. On top of that, my HDD connection inside was faulty and during boot-up the computer couldn't find the harddrive and OS. I double checked to make sure the HDD was installed. It was. On my particular machine, IBM quality control was second-rate. If I got a version with a better hard drive connection, it still would be very poorly designed for ports. I returned it and am looking elsewhere. Connectivity should not be overlooked for it is fairly important. In spite of all this, I still believe the keyboard, trackpoint, and case design is superior to almost all others; the wide-viewing angle TFT screen is above average, and IBM tech support has been US/Canada based and readily available for many years.

Jerry C

Where is everyone finding the T43p? On the site I'm only seeing the T42p and the T43.

go to ibm.com

then find the icon "notebooks"

after clicking it itll bring up a window stating that the personal computing department has been acquired be lenovo...blah blah ....

clik continue..itll bring u to the thinkvantage screen in search bar type t43p ....browse results and ull find it..

if not u can also try searching 2668g6u/g7u....

hope that helps

EPP gives such incredible deal. without epp forget about buying ibm notebook. the configuration i got was:

2.0ghz
15 inches UXGA 1600x1200
256mb ram (Buy 1 gig from newegg for cheaper)
60gb 7200rpm
Thinkpad multiburner plus
ATI Fire GL 128mb
IBM a/b/g wireless
Internal bluetooth
9 cell 2.4 AH battery
Ultrabay slim laptop battery (uses simultaneously with main battery that adds extra 2 hours)
Port replicator, docking station (now they are giving it for free)
Microsoft xp home edition
3 years guarantee

With the configuration above I paid $1750.95 out the door

Since I have discovered about EPP, I realized that the built quality of IBM notebook is worth the price that I am paying for. If I were to go to Dell, I don't think I would be able to get the built quality and price like i would with IBM. I am so glad that I am able to take advantage of EPP, because without it, there is noway that I am gonna pay for a $3000+ notebook.

The downside to this is that I chose to configure my own notebook to my specific need, it will take up to 5 weeks to deliver, and that sucks, but I guess when you want top notch quality, fantastic price, and cusmomization, that's the price you pay.

so true man....w/o epp there was no way i could afford an ibm ..... but im soo glad that i have a relative who works for them...the discount is incredible...

my options were dell d610, or a Dell precision m20... the prices were much lower then the t43p but with the EPP....it was a no brainer

as for the delivery time

i ordered mine on 07/07/05

the email with my order and customer # had an estimated shipping date of the 21st of july (07/21/05)

i was amazed that my laptop was at my door on the 12th of july!!!

i called to make sure there wasnt a mixup, and they said that they really dont have an accurate idea of when the pakcage will be shipped...that some are shipped much earlier than the estimated date....and others are shipped on the estimated date....

so i guess keep yre fingers crossed that u be one of the luky ones too

The deal you got looks really nice. I have EPP as well and I'd like something exactly how you have it. Did you have to call them up to get that deal or can you configure like that on their website?

Also, how do you get the port replicator for free? I didn't get that option online.

you have to call them up because that is how i did it. i call them up and they said by the way we are in a promotion that if you purchase around this time we are giving away free port replicator. i configured everything to the lowest, except hard drive, Graphic Card, DVD burner, and battery, because everything else i can get elsewhere for much cheaper, and i figured that if i configured those items that i listed above to the lowest, it would cost me more to buy it outside. so i might as well let those items be configured to the best value by ibm. as far as cpu goes. you can only choose 2.0 ghz, for full customization for 15" and 1.86 ghz for 14". if you want 2.13 ghz, then you are not able to do full customization. that you would have to select preconfigured system, which they have tons of models to choose from.

after it said and done, if i were to do full customization, i figured i saved me $250 on the CPU which i felt i don't need because from 2.0 ghz to 2.13 ghz you can hardly feel any difference, i dare if you if you can feel the difference. as far as memory goes. i can buy 1 gig outside for $100 and add onto the 256 Mb Ram that came with the laptop (together I would have 1.28 gig of RAM or you can take out the 256 Mb Ram sell it on ebay and pay $200 for 2 gig of RAM outside and you have a kick ass system), if you were to upgrade it through ibm they charge you $350 for 1 stick of 1 gig RAM. together right there saved me total of $600. the only thing that full customized system doesn't have as comparing to pre configured system is the fingerprint reader, which i think is not a big deal. the sale rep told me that most of their high end laptops usually don't come with fingerprint readers, and he said that ibm normally put fingerprint readers in low end laptops for extra security and not hight end laptops. i couldn't understand his logic but that's what he said.

so to sum it up

you can have pre configured system with 2.13 ghz cpu, 1 gig ram (1 DIMM slots occupied), and figerprint reader for $2287 or you can have full customized system with 2.0 ghz, 256 Mb ram (1 DIMM slot occupied), and without fingerprint reader for $1666, provided that everything else is equal except for cpu, memory and fingerprint reader. so take your pick.

ok so this is how the breakdown of the invoice goes:


Qty Product Code Description Unit Cost Total
1 SYS.2687E4 CONFIGURED SYSTEM $1,667.65 $1,667.65
The above product code consists of the following component(s):


Qty Component Description Cost
1 2687E4U EXP T43 P INTEL PENT 760 2.0 $1,011.75
Product Description ThinkPad T43p 2687 - Pentium M 760 2 GHz - 15" TFT
Dimensions (WxDxH) 13 in x 10.6 in x 1.4 in
Weight 5.7 lbs
Localization United States
System Type Notebook
Built-in Devices Stereo speakers, wireless LAN antenna, ThinkLight, Bluetooth antenna
Processor Intel Pentium M 760 2 GHz
Cache Memory 2 MB - L2 cache
RAM 0 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 533 MHz - PC2-4200
Display 15" TFT active matrix UXGA (1600 x 1200)
Graphics Controller ATI MOBILITY FIRE GL V3200 - 128 MB
Audio Output Sound card
Telecom Fax / modem - CDC - 56 Kbps
Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth
Input Device Keyboard, TrackPoint, UltraNav
Power AC 110/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
Battery Lithium ion
Manufacturer Warranty 3 years warranty


Qty Component Description Cost
1 09N4278 60GB 7200RPM HDD CTO $184.10
Product Description Hitachi TravelStar 7K60 - hard drive - 60 GB - ATA-100
Type Hard drive - internal
Form Factor 2.5" x 1/8H
Dimensions (WxDxH) 2.8 in x 3.9 in x 0.4 in
Weight 0.2 lbs
Capacity 60 GB
Interface Type ATA-100
Connector 44 pin IDC
Data Transfer Rate 100 MBps
Average Seek Time 10 ms
Spindle Speed 7200 rpm
Buffer Size 8 MB


Qty Component Description Cost
1 73P4304 IBM 11A/B/G WI FI WIRELESS $28.00


Qty Component Description Cost
1 30R4957 9 CELL 2.4 AH BATTERY $139.30


Qty Component Description Cost
1 73P2890 MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME $70.00


Qty Component Description Cost
1 73P3343 THINKPAD MULTIBURNER PLUS $192.50


Qty Component Description Cost
1 73P3848 CTO 256 MB PC2-4200 CL4 NP $42.00

Qty Product Code Description Unit Cost Total
1 08K8190 Estimated Ship Date:
07/20/05 $83.30 $83.30
Product Description ThinkPad Ultrabay Slim laptop battery - Li-pol - 1.5 Ah
Dimensions (WxDxH) 5.1 in x 5.5 in x 0.4 in
Weight 0.4 lbs
Battery Laptop battery - lithium polymer - 10.8 V
Battery Form Factor Plug-in module
Capacity 1.5 Ah
Run Time (Up To) 2 hour(s)
Manufacturer Warranty 1 year warranty




Ship Type: UPS Ground
Merchandise Total $1,750.95
Sales Tax $0.00
Shipping / Handling $0.00
Total $1,750.95

Was this an EPP program? I called them up to order exactly what you listed in the other post and the pricing I got was alot higher. Plus they imeediately warned me it would take alot longer...like 6 weeks.

2687e4u T43p $1349
60GB 7200RPM HD $263
9 cell battery $199
etc, etc, etc...

my price with 3 yr warranty, additional 72w charger, and XP Pro came to $2533. Based upon the cost of the additional items I added I would have expected around $2k - $2.1k.

Ah, sorry. Should have re-read you post. It was an EPP program....

Can anyone comment on the readability of text with 1600 x 1200. I tried it on my desktop with a 20" crt and my pokeroffice overlays where totally unreadable.

test is extremely nice on 1600x1200 you can even scale it down to 800x600 when your in the plane and want to set really back in the chair and relax and still see the screen. Personally i like this screen. if you are deciding whether to buy it or not: don't. this thing is hands down the best laptop where you dont need to worry about giving it a little abuse.

I have a uxga screen (1600x1200) on my dell 5150. I really like the added space, and it makes viewing large pictures better. I have increased the dpi to make the fonts/icons larger and easier to view. However, I do still find things hard to read every once in a while, and a lot of the time the extra space isn't needed. I fairly frequently click 'increase font' twice before reading articles online. This isn't so much of a problem for me, but I certainly wouldn't recommend a uxga for my mom.

So, while I think the uxga is fine, and I wouldn't have a problem having it on my next computer, I decided sxga is probably a better compromise for me (and is what I ordered). I won't miss the extra space all that much, and fonts will easier to read.

will someone hook me up w/EPP. i need to get a laptop for school, but my budget is low. Thanks.

Does this technique ever work for anyone. I've seen it here a few times...

If so, can someone hook me up also