ThinkPad T40: Traveling professional's dream

Zatni Arbi, Columnist, zatni@cbn.net.id

If you catch me working with my seven-year old, Intel Pentium 133 MHz-based Siemens Nixdorf notebook, please do not laugh. I know. I wrote a couple of times in this column that I thought I had finally found the right replacement for my old, heavy but extremely durable notebook. But, time and again I came across an even better alternative just before I had the chance -- and the courage -- to ask for my wife's permission to take out "some" money from our joint savings account for buying the new notebook.

Incidentally, Siemens Nixdorf does not exist anymore. The company merged with Fujitsu in 1999. My notebook, which has traveled to a lot of places with me, is still in perfect working condition. It has a 1-GB hard disk, mind you, and it runs Windows 95 without a glitch. Certainly, this is the kind of notebook that I want as a replacement.

The latest candidate seems to be IBM ThinkPad T40. Courtesy of IBM Indonesia, I was able to use this expensive but really outstanding notebook for ten days. As you must have expected, I have also fallen in love with it.

The ThinkPad T40 is a powerful but lightweight Centrino-based notebook, which means that it has the Intel Pentium M processor (note that it is not "Pentium 4 M"), Intel's 855PM chipset and Intel's Pro wireless adapter. My review unit had a 1.5 GHz Pentium M processor. Because of its efficiency, this processor actually gave the performance level of a 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 M. With 256 MB of RAM, it was able to run Windows XP Professional without any problem.

Intel Pentium M processor allows for a slimmer design, so one of the first things people notice about this notebook is its thinness. It is only one inch thick. With a weight of slightly above two kilos, it is also very lightweight notebook, a mobile professional's dream machine.

IBM also uses the new, very slim drive for the notebook. My unit came with a DVD/CD-RW. Unlike most other notebooks, which usually have their batteries in front, ThinkPad T40's battery is located at the rear underneath the metal hinges. The design of the battery's bottom also makes the notebook very comfortable to hold in our hand.

The hard disk has shock absorbers, too, which adds to the durability of the notebook. My test unit came with a 34.2 GB hard disk, although you can choose more expensive models with 80 GB hard disk capacity.

Other standard features include those that we found in ThinkPad T30. It includes the UltraNav TrackPoint and touch pad combination, a light inside the lid to help us work in the dark and a Gigabit Ethernet port. ThinkPad T40's two USB ports support the 2.0 standard. My test unit did not come with a modem, although the RJ-11 port was there. It gave me a headache when I took this notebook on a short trip to Pekanbaru, as I was not able to access the Internet with a dial-up connection. I think a modem is still necessary for the Indonesian market, as most of us still have to rely on the telephone network to get online.

What do I like about this notebook? Plenty, for sure. As always, I love the keyboard. I like the sturdy, black titanium composite cover, which we certainly have to pay a lot for. It has been reinforced so that the protection to the screen is optimized despite the thinness of the housing.

The Pentium M processor also makes this notebook run cooler. The notebook still felt cool after hours of operation. I like the placement of the battery, and because it is located in the rear of the notebook most of the ports had to be moved to the left side. It makes plugging and unplugging easier, although you may need more desktop space on the left side if you work on your desk. You may have a problem if you use a USB mouse with a short cord, though.

I like being able to connect to a hotspot, of course. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to test drive the Wi-Fi capability of this notebook at one of the few emerging hotspots in Jakarta. However, based on my previous experience, it should be seamless. And, finally, I like the long battery life, which was made possible by the Pentium M processor. With the standard battery, I was able to work for almost five hours without attaching the power adapter. Pricey

This beauty is not the top performer in its class, according to tests performed by independent reviewers. However, it certainly has more than enough horsepower to help us complete most of our daily tasks. For a writer such as myself, the power is already overkill.

Another thing that is missing is the Firewire connection. But, because this notebook is meant for business use, I can see why IBM did not include this feature. Anyway, we can add a PCMCIA- based Firewire adapter if we need to transfer videos from our camcorder. There is no TV-out port, either. But, with the price of digital projectors coming down so fast, who will need it anyway?

We can order a ThinkPad T40 with extra features, including a Bluetooth adapter, a high capacity Li Ion battery that gives us more than 9 hours of battery life, support for the faster 802.11a in addition to the currently used 802.11b wireless connection. With an infra-red port, this notebook can have up to five links to a network, and an included IBM-developed utility called Access Connection will determine which connection is the best for you at any given time and let you switch to it seamlessly.

Other options include a faster, 1.6 GHz processor and its successor, of course. If you are a number cruncher and need a keypad, IBM has an optional numeric keypad that you can insert into the slim Ultrabay.

The only thing that will certainly hold me back is the price, which can easily sing to the tune of US$ 3,000 and even higher. Still, corporate users will probably get their money's worth if they invest in this notebook.