The IBM ThinkPad T42 is a notebook that combines plenty of punch and portability. It only weighs 2.25kg, making this one of the lightest notebooks in this review. It features an Intel Pentium 1.7GHz M processor with 512MB of RAM, ATI graphics, 40GB hard disk, and DVD/ CD-RW drive.
This IBM notebook uses a titanium composite in the top and bottom covers which makes this notebook robust and light. In general the build quality is superb -- only Apple could say otherwise. The display on this model is only 14.1in, which is a little on the small side these days but it does help to keep the weight down.
The T42 offers Wi-Fi, but unlike any other notebook it has a dual antenna built into the display for increased signal strength. Another nice feature is the differently coloured functions keys. Having the option of using either a trackpoint or glidepad is also nice.
This notebook also comes with a fingerprint recognition scanner -- like the Fujitsu, it uses a slide scanner rather than a touch scanner. Setting it up is a piece of cake thanks to the IBM fingerprint software which asks you to scan your finger three times. You can also set up more than one finger to be recognised, giving you protected booting using fingerprint.
As for performance, the T42 is fast enough to handle any office or desktop publishing type applications. Its battery life time isn't too bad; it manages to run for four hours and eight minutes.
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