[ltp] [Slightly off-topic] About to buy a second-hand ThinkPad X200....

[Henrique de Moraes Holschuh]

On Fri, 27 Jan 2012, Dick Summerfield wrote:
> I did eventually get my T43 from them and I use it happily enough now,

...

> I can't help but worry about these "infamous T4x issues" mentioned by Robert Tomsick...
> What are they???!!!

Do *NOT* let it bend.  I.e. absolutely never handle it by just one side.
The T43 is much better than the earlier models, but it is still a very
very bad idea to do anything that might bend the planar even a little
bit.

For the T43, also be careful with the USB ports.  They're protected by
the chipset and won't fry that easily, but they can get damaged easily
by overcurrent or static discharge.  Plug cable on device first, then on
the T43.  Unplug cable from T43 first.

And it will complain if you use a non-IBM-firmware HDD, but it will
still work just fine.

That's about it, AFAIK.  For the T43 you can even get an unofficial
patched firmware that reduces the long-cycle noise on the fan (there is
a ~5s tachometer calibration cycle, and a ~30s tachometer calibration
cycle. There is an idiotic bug in the EC firmware that uses a random
value for the speed on the ~30s cycle instead of the value it should be
using).

-- 
  "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
  them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond
  where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot
  Henrique Holschuh