[ltp] Linux, Thinkpads and IBM warranties

[Bret Comstock Waldow]

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On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 09:14, Christopher Sawtell wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Apr 2005 05:54, David A. Desrosiers wrote:

> > 	In the time I had it, it would consistently "bake" IDE drives,
> > no matter which ones I would put in it. After the first 3 were eaten
> > (I bought replacements myself, thinking they were faulty drives), I
> > realized it was the laptop itself doing it. It would run so hot that
> > it would literally cook the black rubber from the bottom of the laptop
> > (which is why they replaced that shell once).

<snip>

> With all due respect, I think that it's absolutely amazing that IBM are
> replacing all these parts for you for free, because you would appear to be
> running your TP at full speed all the time, thus over heating the poor
> thing. Needless to say IBM should have realised that and been able to
> advise you appropriately. btw are you running a cpu speed control daemon?

With all due respect, rubbish.  IBM (of all companies) is perfectly capable=
 of=20
deciding what promises to make about products they design and sell, and=20
definitely perfectly capable of advising consumers on the limitations - I g=
ot=20
more pages of legalese with my Thinkpads and accessories than of actual use=
r=20
documentation.

If IBM thought their products couldn't run 24/7 at full speed, they would h=
ave=20
said so - they are very careful about their liabilities - "Computers design=
ed=20
by Lawyers" as one of my friends says.

My T21 ran all day, almost every day at full speed on mains power.  I used =
it=20
so much the keys and palm rests are worn shiny.

Shortly before the 3 year warranty ran out, it began to lock up.  IBM asked=
=20
about the output of the Windows based diagnostics, and so I restored the=20
Windows factory setup to run them.  I don't know if they would balk about a=
=20
Linux setup, but I suspect they might have a claim about guaranteeing only=
=20
what they sold, and that how Linux treats a computer is beyond their contro=
l,=20
and hence beyond their liability.  I didn't test that issue.

But they replaced the mini-PCI card twice, and the motherboard the second t=
ime=20
to fix the problem without a murmur.  IBM's quality and service are second =
to=20
none (no one commercial anyway - NASA does very good equipment).

I understand you think it's useful in some ways to run speed control softwa=
re,=20
but don't pretend that this has anything to do with IBM.  It's not what the=
y=20
think and not what they say - please speak for yourself.

An overheating Thinkpad is completely within IBM's responsibility unless th=
e=20
user wraps it in blankets while it is running.  There is nothing wrong with=
=20
running a Thinkpad 24/7 according to the manual specs (ventilation and=20
ambient temperature and humidity, and input power quality).

Sorry I can't help on the Linux question though, David A.

Regards,
Bret

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