Build quality

The T series and IBM notebooks in general have a reputation for being well built and durable. The T43 is no different. Other than little bit of flex in the plastic on the palm rest, it is a very rugged feeling system. The hinges, long a source of pride for the T series, are once again made out of stainless steel and look like they'd outlast a Rolex. Another nice touch on the T43 is the sealed keyboard tray. As long as you don't submerge the machine it should survive most commons spills which would seriously endanger your average notebook.

Part of what separates great laptop designs from everyday ones is thermal design and management. The latest generation of Mobile Pentiums coupled with fast RAM and a graphics chip generate heat. There's no way around it. It then falls upon the designers and engineers to deal with. IBM has done a good job handling the heat with the T43. In normal operation the machine is silent and cool. When you're calling for more power, the single blower style fan kicks in but is barely audible. What can I say, this is one of the few laptops you can still place on your lap without worrying about reproductive problems.


Performance

The configuration I have for review suits me well. It sports a Pentium M running at 1.73GHz, 1 GB of RAM (DDR2 @ 533 Mhz) and a 60 GB hard drive (5400rpm spinal speed, 8 MB of cache). While there are certainly faster processors out there and the 7200 rpm drive available on certain T43s would be nice, I've still been very pleased with the performance of my T43.

The T43 is not for the gaming enthusiast however. While the X300 chip form ATi is huge improvement over the integrated solutions that most notebooks use, it still isn't sufficient for enjoying the latest in games (i.e. Half-life 2, Doom 3 or newer). To reinforce this point, check out the 3DMark05 results below (default 1024 x 768 resolution).


3DMark05 Reslts: Ouch 

On the sound front the T43 neither impressed or disappoints. The two tiny speakers work in a pinch, but like most notebooks, headphones are recommended for music. The quality through the headphone output is quite good though.


Battery life

The default battery for all T43s is a 6-cell 52 watt-hour unit. An extended battery is available . You can also install a battery in place of the optical drive for those needing serious battery life. With the standard battery and a blatant disregard for our nations energy problem (wireless on, screen at full brightness, minimal power saving features enabled) I get a solid three hours with the standard battery. You could probably stretch that to four hours without too much trouble in a pinch. The extended battery, a 9-cell affair with an 80 watt-hour capacity, should give you around five hours.


Size

The T43 is trim for a full featured notebook. At a little over 5 pounds and an inch think the T43 is a great deal more portable than my Dell 6000 as you can see below.


T43 vs. Dell 6000 edge on