Fujitsu T4210: 2-year review

It's the first time I see someone making a review after using an item for a long period of time (and updating it meanwhile). Really nice, thanks!

 

My T4210 is still going strong. Had a keyboard failure, but got a replacement on the net. Have replaced modular battery, but everything else still works well. Currently running Windows 7

Am wondering if an SSD upgrade would work in a T4210. Anyone know if our core duo machines would be able to handle an SSD of, say 120GB (and if so which one?)

This may be a cheaper way to speed up a slowing machine.......?

 

A quick search yields that the T4210 has a SATA I drive bay, so at best you would get SATA I speeds (150MB/s theoretical). Is a SSD worth it in a computer like that? IMO yes

If you are looking for a speed boost (mostly loading times, waiting times for things to happen and such -anything that uses the HDD for access/ writing or saving data); or if you want to 'shock proof' the machine (you can use it on the go in a car, train, plane or walking about without risking crashing the drive); or if you simply want it to run slightly cooler and substantially quieter (the machine should run a few degrees cooler with a SSD [partially due to processes and tasks that aren't loaded into ram loading faster because its a SSD]; and there will only be the noise of the CPU fan to bother you -no more HDD spinning or clicking noises)


The only manufacturers I could possibly think of recommending are Crucial, Intel and Samsung (in that order): Crucial has high performance and generally better prices with excellent reliability and is a good company; Intel also has high performance, is generally seen as the most reliable, but can be pretty expensive; and Samsung has great performance (the new 830 series seems to be very high performers), they seem to be pretty affordable and should prove to be really reliable... the manufacturers I listed are now making 3-4th gen SSD's (or something like that -depends how you look at it) and they have a proven track record over that time... don't bother looking at the rest as they are WAAAY sub standard in parts, or reliability (especially avoid OCZ, they have been the worst manufacturer of the last 1year+ and they won't stand behind their inherently flawed products -they use inferior/ low inned parts in 'high end/ performance' SSD's and have awful QC)

So: Intel 320 series; Crucial M4; Samsung 470 or 830 series. Get the 120-160GB capacity ones if you can [it will be around $100 for 64GB, $200 for 120GB, and $270 for 160GB], as you only buy once and you will probably manage to fill it up pretty fast anyways; plus these are SATA III drives so you will be able to use it in any SATA I/ II/ III computer in the future so it is also a bit of future proofing potential storage needs (a future Tablet PC, Laptop, or Desktop would be able to make good use of it, or simply tossing it in a 2.5" enclosure would net you a shock-proof and fast external storage drive)

and, yes a SATA III drive will work fine with speed and TRIM and all that jazz, even in your SATA I computer -though it will run at SATA I speeds while its in that computer. My Crucial M4 was working perfectly in my SATA I Toshiba M4 before I put it in my M1400 -which is a whole other can of worms as its using a IDE to SATA converter.

sorry for that little wall of text, but thats the basics, any further questions are welcome

 

You're absolutely correct about this, but saying that it will run "at SATA I speed" is practically not that much of a performance killer as it may sound to many.

The most impact for everyday usage from SSDs is not the speed of continuous reading, but the low latency and (as a result) the high speed of random reading.
If you watch the benchmarks you see that with smaller files and not many reading threads performance drops below the limit of a SATA I connection pretty fast.

So just because you can't get the ridiculous sustained speeds from an SSD it doesn't necessarily hurt performance in a way you would feel or that would make a noteworthy difference in numbers for the cases where it matters.

 

I actually used an X25-M G2 SSD in my T4210 for about a couple of months while waiting on parts for my desktop. Let’s just say it *really* exposed the inadequacies of the 1.8GHz Core Duo...

 

It worked!! Found a 160GB Intel320 SSD for a great deal on Cyber Monday.
Intel encloses backup software( a version of Acronis True Image that you can use on Intel SSDs only) and a HD to USB connector, so cloning was easy.
Install was a breeze (instructions on the net).
My T4210 already was maxed out at 2GB.
Apps load in 2-3 seconds!! Processes (cleanup utilities,etc. about 2-3 times as fast). When I want faster net download speed than my Atheros G , I use a Linksys WPC600N network adapter in the PCMCIA Cardbus slot, and it connects speedily to my Apple Airport Extreme router-130 Mbps.
All in all my average computer speed has tripled at least. I feel like I have up to date tablet..... no need for an iPad yet!!
Thanks you for your input and encouragement!!

 

If you go for a used Wifi Link 5100, you can even have 802.11n internally. Just make sure to get a non Dell and non IBM version.
Idk what they cost in the US, but I got mine for 15 bucks.

 

Non Dell I get. Not sure what you mean by non IBM. I thought they made the Wifi Link 5100.

Which N wifi link do you mean?

thanks

 

No, the Wifi Link series is Intel's current line of Wifi cards.
Dell and IBM/Lenovo, I know at least for them and the Wifi Link 5100/5300, get special versions that do not work without tedious modifications in other manufacturers laptops.