IBM T23 review

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Let me first start off by saying that if you are looking for a cheap, good laptop for Microsoft Office and general computer use, this is probably one the the best 250 dollar deals you can get off eBay The IBM T23 came out in 2002 for a list price of 3,500 dollars and at the time was of the best of the best small and light laptop computers. The unit I am reviewing has a 1.23ghz Intel Pentium 3 Mobile CPU, 512mb of DDR SODIMM 133mhz RAM, and the S3 SuperSavageX4 16mb 3D accelerator, DVD+CD-RW, 50gb 5400rpm HDD and Windows XP Profesional. Now this laptop is fast, you could almost mistake it for a brand new top of the line laptop just running Microsoft Office and that's where this laptop really excels This laptop however, though seems like a pile of crap as far as graphics wise, is very lenient on what it can run. I have run several games succeeding w/ full settings and a resolution of 1024x768 (Unreal Tournament 2003, NFS 1-5, and Flight Simulator 2002). As well as running things that require twice and even quadrupled amounts of vram (Call of Duty, The Sims 2, Midnight Club 2) all with a steady frame rate. However, this causes the laptop to get CRAZY hot and I would not advise running things like that in anything but a cool air-conditioned environment w/ plenty of area around the laptop. Another thing I would really like to touch on is the monitor being as "old" as it is for a laptop, I have noticed that the screen takes a second to warm up and will look tinted red for a couple minutes before it turns to normal coloration. Another worthwhile note is that the 14.1" screen is 1400x1050, incredible for a laptop of that era. As far as battery life goes, its not great sporting about an hour and a half of wireless productivity on full brightness (speaking of which you will need to get a PCMIA or USB wireless adapter), however, w/ the extended battery installed. You can easily get 4-5 hours. One other small thing worth noting is that fully rigged w/ wireless card and disc drive it only ways about 5lbs and measures in at a little over 1.2 inches thick. If you have any questions or comments or if I missed something you would like to know please feel free to reply. My next review will be of the Macbook (or possibly Macbook vs. Powerbook). Until then you guys take it easy and take a look at part one of my video demonstration.
(please excuse the horrible quality its my first video =D)

(edit: ill upload a less mentally retarted version to my new account: 666DiEtoLivE soon, didnt relize i was logged in on the old account)

part one:

part 1.5:

part two:

[racketboy]

I love my Thinkpads.
I just retired a T21 very similar to the T23)
The main think I didn't like is that it got pretty hot on the bottom.
Also, the keyboard felt a little spungy-er than most Thinkpads (which have some of the best laptop keyboards ever)

They have pretty good performance, but if you have like an extra $100 to spend I'd go for the T4X line. (which is what I think you're looking to upgrade to, correct?)
I recently got my wife a T43 and she's pretty happy with it.

[Navin_Johnson]

I concur with Racketboy and the T4x line. I have a T40 I bought used several years ago that still serves me well. If you're patient you can get one of these for less than $300 on ebay.

-navin

[racketboy]

And just for the record, I'm using a Thinkpad X41 now and absolutely love it.
It's very thin and light and even makes the T43 feel like a beast.
Not as good price vs performance, but it works well as a complement to my desktop.

The only other laptop I would consider now is something from the X60 line

[The Apprentice]

One thing I don't like about the IBM laptop is the incredible price for a new one. I was looking at upgrading from my HP to a Lenovo, but upon comparing the Lenovo to a Dell, I realized that I can get the same laptop from Dell at $300 cheaper.

There's only one problem with everything but IBM, and that is the lack of a track point. I hate touch pads, especially the one on my HP. On the other hand, the track point is extremely easy to use. If I could, I'd get my desktop Dell a track point and only use the mouse for gaming.

[racketboy]

Yup -- that's one of the reasons I stick with Thinkpads.
Nobody has as good of an integrated pointing device.
That and the keyboards and overall build quality rock.

And yes, new ones are pricey.
I've only bought one of my 6 Thinkpads new and that was a budget iSeries back in the day.
I'm always buying used ones that are a generation or two behind (kinda like my games )

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Yup -- that's one of the reasons I stick with Thinkpads.
Nobody has as good of an integrated pointing device.
That and the keyboards and overall build quality rock.

And yes, new ones are pricey.
I've only bought one of my 6 Thinkpads new and that was a budget iSeries back in the day.
I'm always buying used ones that are a generation or two behind (kinda like my games )

I was hoping I could find something w/ over 32mb of VRAM but I guess thats more than good enough for most any emulations.

[racketboy]

Yup -- that's one of the reasons I stick with Thinkpads.
Nobody has as good of an integrated pointing device.
That and the keyboards and overall build quality rock.

And yes, new ones are pricey.
I've only bought one of my 6 Thinkpads new and that was a budget iSeries back in the day.
I'm always buying used ones that are a generation or two behind (kinda like my games )

I was hoping I could find something w/ over 32mb of VRAM but I guess thats more than good enough for most any emulations.

Well the T-Series is probably what you're gonna want to stick with an the T42/T43 is just about at that point.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Yup -- that's one of the reasons I stick with Thinkpads.
Nobody has as good of an integrated pointing device.
That and the keyboards and overall build quality rock.

And yes, new ones are pricey.
I've only bought one of my 6 Thinkpads new and that was a budget iSeries back in the day.
I'm always buying used ones that are a generation or two behind (kinda like my games )

I was hoping I could find something w/ over 32mb of VRAM but I guess thats more than good enough for most any emulations.

Well the T-Series is probably what you're gonna want to stick with an the T42/T43 is just about at that point.

T43 has a 64mb ATI which is appealing to me.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I love my Thinkpads.
I just retired a T21 very similar to the T23)
The main think I didn't like is that it got pretty hot on the bottom.
Also, the keyboard felt a little spungy-er than most Thinkpads (which have some of the best laptop keyboards ever)

They have pretty good performance, but if you have like an extra $100 to spend I'd go for the T4X line. (which is what I think you're looking to upgrade to, correct?)
I recently got my wife a T43 and she's pretty happy with it.

Yea thats what my dad uses and it seems to push along very well. He does alot of photoshop and Need for Speed playing and for all those it seems to work fantastically. Course being him he tried to run Crysis on it, that was a no-go in framerate.