IBM THINKPAD 340

in an effort to meet the demands of the mainstream user, IBM has released the ThinkPad 340. This is the latest in its range of low-cost, light-weight port-fl ables.
IBM is targeting the 340 at the home user, small office market and people who just need to be able to take a computer on the road, from home to the office or to uni. With final pricing not yet released it will be available with a sub-S2999 price tag.
The basic configuration for the machine consists of a 486SLC2 50MHz processor from IBM, 125M hard disk and 4M of RAM. While not as extravagant as some laptops, the 340 is designed to meet a pricepoint and can easily be upgraded.
One area where cost cutting has been effectively introduced is in the 9.5in STN screen. Unlike its fancier 10.5in active matrix cousins, this mono screen with its 64 shades of grey allows the price to be reduced by thousands. The target consumers for this machine are likely to spend the majority of their time with the laptop hooked up to an external monitor.
Weighing in at 2.18kg the 340 could happily be a subnote computer, the inclusion of a 1.44M floppy and full size keyboard are the differentiating factors. Performance was in line with the faster subnotebooks that we have reviewed with a DOSmark of 230.52 and a Winstone score of 9.7. There is, however, a large gap between this and larger, heavier portables based around top of the line processors.
There are a number of features designed specifically for this machine and the type of use that it will encounter. For external connectivity; parallel, serial, mouse and video ports are catered for. Unlike other ThinkPads this model cannot be linked to a docking station or port replicator. For modems or network connections one Type 3 PCMCIA slot is available.
Specific to this model is a new approach to the keyboard. For all purposes it looks and feels just like any other ThinkPad keyboard. It is in the noise — or lack of it — that the new keyboard differs. New technology has allowed IBM to reduce the noise that keyboards make considerably and this is particularly relevant if you have 20 to 30 students in a room all typing away at once.
Another handy feature is that the screen can be folded down to lie flat with the keyboard. This feature has been exploited by the NEC Versa and is essential if you intend to use the laptop with an external monitor.
For users on the road the system runs from a 1.2AH NiCad battery. Battery’ rundown times were reasonable but be prepared to have to carry the small power adaptor with you for prolonged use.
Software included with the package covers most users’ immediate needs with DOS 6.3, Windows for Workgroups 311, Microsoft Works 3 and an online users manual.