Measuring only 1.4" thin by 13 by 10 inches and weighing an easy-to-tote 6 pounds (weight saver) and with all accessories loaded It still weight only 6lb, Even at 1.4 inch thin The IBM Lenovo Thinkpad T42 gives you the best in class durable casing The screen cover for the ThinkPad T42 is constructed of magnesium and prevents any screen flexing, With other laptops you can usually push on the back of the lid and get a worrying ripple effect on the LCD screen, the T42 protective case will prevent such a thing from happening. The ThinkPad's insides are housed in case of titanium-reinforced material held together by a pair of sturdy metal hinges that attach the screen and main body.

The Thinkpad T42 DVD/CD-RW Combination Drive brings all the advantages of DVD-ROM, a CD-RW, and a CD-ROM to a single drive eliminating the hassle of carrying multiple modules in your briefcase. With this DVD/CD-RW combo drive, you can read DVD-ROM disks, read CD-ROM disks and create your own custom data CDs. 24X CD-Recording, 24X CD-Rewriting, 24X CD-ROM Reading, and 8X DVD-ROM Reading, Features drawer-type loading and Automatic buffer under run error protection technology.

ThinkPad T42 notebook include an integrated, easy-loading modular bay for fast swapping of  Ultrabay optical and storage devices. Ultrabay optical and storage device let you tailor your ThinkPad notebook to meet your computing needs. The Ultrabay Slim, available on ThinkPad T42 enhances portability by supporting lighter, thinner 9.5mm device options.
The IBM Lenovo Thinkpad T42 internal swappable bay ( when shipped occupies a CDRW/DVD drive) can be easily removed and replaced with other optional ultra bay devices, such as a second battery (available for $49), a DVDRW multi recorder (available for $79) or a second hard drive.

The IBM Lenovo Thinkpad T42 series includes both a pointing stick and a touchpad centered in the wrist rest. There are four mouse buttons: two below the spacebar  and two below the touchpad.
The Track Point navigation featuring a pointing stick, touchpad and multiple mouse buttons lets you choose your favorite way to navigate the cursor on the screen.  The pointing stick makes it easy to get the cursor where you want it to go on the screen. when combined with the scroll button (located between the two upper mouse buttons) you can scroll through web pages and long documents with ease.  Just hold down the scroll button and push the pointing stick up or down to scroll to where you want on a page

Like an airbag for your data
The Active Protection System (APS), available on many ThinkPad® notebook models, employs airbag-like technology to protect the hard drive. The system has an integrated motion sensor that continuously monitors the movement of the notebook, and, if a sudden change in motion is detected, it temporarily stops the hard drive to protect it from a potential crash.
This ThinkVantage Technology provides up to four times greater impact protection than systems without it and helps reduce down-time and support costs. APS can greatly improve overall system reliability by providing enhanced hard drive protection from shock. Using the latest technology to constantly monitor the movement of your ThinkPad computer, users can feel confident that their data will be better protected in the event of a drop or similar potentially damaging event.

Help when you need it most
Rescue and Recovery is a one button recovery and restore solution that includes a set of self recovery tools to help users diagnose, get help and recover from a virus or other system crashes quickly, even if the primary operating system will not boot.
It helps with everything from complete software failure to occasions when you need only to restore a corrupted or deleted file.
Rescue and Recovery recovers files, folders or even your entire previously-saved system image, including data, applications and operation system. The File Rescue utility can help retrieve files that were not backed up prior to the problem and save them to a storage device. The backup and recovery function, now more efficient, requires less hard drive space than the previous version and supports a broad range of external devices for recovering information, including CD, DVD, network, second hard drive and USB hard drives. If your hard drive needs replacement due to mechanical failure.

Integrated Dual Ban WiFi
ThinkPad T Series models offer a variety of integrated Wi-Fi wireless solutions, allowing you to experience the freedom of wireless networking when you're ready using one of the new Wi-Fi adapters. T42 notebooks are rigorously tested verify they'll work with other wireless products.
just one of the wireless performance features on ThinkPad T42 notebooks — is built into the display cover for optimal signal reception. This combined design supports 802.11b and G wireless to help maximize coverage and performance for improved wireless LAN connectivity around the world.

Can stop a coffee spill from becoming a disaster
A simple accident with a cup of coffee could spell disaster for an ordinary notebook. But ThinkPad notebook keyboards are sealed and sit in a tray, so liquids are less likely to get through to damage the system.

Discreet illumination for every ThinkPad notebook keyboard
Situated on the top edge of the display, this integrated light illuminates the keyboard on any ThinkPad notebook. It’s ideal for catching up on work in a dark environment without disturbing those around you.