Real stories from real people about ThinkPad® notebooks surviving adverse weather, fire and the weight of a rolling pickup truck. ThinkPad notebooks have long been known for their impressive reliability — you could even say "legendary" performance and portability. But over the past 13 years, as ThinkPad grew to become the world's most popular notebook computer, something else emerged: Legends of ThinkPad.

ThinkPad — Because we mean business.<click here>

The ThinkPad T42 is IBM's first Dothan laptop. Relatively thin and light, the ThinkPad T42 (329x268x31mm, 2.45kg) succeeds Big Blue's ThinkPad T41 and is one of the most complete corporate workhorses we've reviewed. It's not the fastest laptop in terms of graphics performance, but its market-leading build quality, impressive support and excellent battery life help distance the system from its competitors.

For a laptop offering the latest in processor technology, the IBM ThinkPad T42 is strikingly modest in its design (which is par for the course for the all-black ThinkPads). The ThinkPad T42 includes lots of hardware technology and software solutions that aren't instantly obvious, but make computing on the move a lot more accessible than with competitor offerings. For instance, the laptop's enclosure is made of titanium composite carbon fibre reinforced plastic that is around three times the strength of ABS plastic. The system's thick metal hinges that connect the core of the base to the top cover might add a little weight, but it keeps the ThinkPad T42 extremely durable.



The T42's thin profile and system weight of 5.0 pounds makes this a good choice for road warriors who carry a machine everywhere. Another standout feature, as always, is the IBM keyboard. IBM's notebooks are famed for their legendary keyboards, the ThinkPad T42 bears the traditional standard-sized keys and a large spacebar and it is really comfortable to type on - with a nice tactile feel to boot. The pitch between the keys are spacious enough and the depth is just right on our fingers. If you're the sort who types furiously while on the go, you really can't go wrong with a T42 here. The T42 also features the ThinkLight which is a built-in LED lamp which is used to illuminate the keyboard at the touch of a button (well, two actually - Fn+PgUp). The ThinkLight is definitely a thoughtful feature for many users who likes to work in the dead of the night. We also like the simple buttons above the keyboard, including volume controls and an Access IBM button that directs you to support and troubleshooting information. And the sharp and bright 14.1-inch TFT LCD screen is easy on the eyes.



One bonus feature unique to IBM is the Access IBM collection of utilities. The blue button on the keyboard launches a self-serve help wizard you use to get updates for the operating system, keep device drivers up to date, and obtain warranty information for your unit. Also within Access IBM is the Access Connections, a utility that manages connection profiles for use with communication devices such as the built-in wireless and Ethernet adapters. The built-in wireless network adapter performed flawlessly, giving us the best throughput numbers in this roundup. IBM's UltraConnect antenna helped the unit achieve throughput of 22.7Mbps at close range (in 802.11g mode) and sustain an impressive 5.8Mbps at 160 feet.



The CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive is fine for a corporate machine, and you can (finally) step up to a DVD+/-RW drive for $399 extra (Upgrade Available at CoolTOYZ). Similar to all IBM laptops the ThinkPad T42 is built for business, so IBM has catered well in terms of connectivity options. High-performance wireless networking comes in the way of built-in 802.11b/g Wi-F, Gigabit Ethernet, a V.92 modem, and an infrared port (4Mbit/s). You also get an S-Video port for hooking up to a larger display, headphone and microphone jacks, a Type II PC Card slot, two USB 2.0 ports annd there's even a parallel port for legacy printers.

The IBM ThinkPad family has always been highly regarded for its reliability and dependability, and their keyboard feel is unmatched among its peers. ThinkPad T42 mobile workstations are ideal for highly mobile users who work in the office, on the road and everywhere in between. The ThinkPad T42p model with 14.1" TFT displays are the thinnest and lightest mobile workstations available, offering a perfect balance of performance and portability.<click here>