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

[Robert Tomsick]

On Sat, 28 Jan 2012, Christoph Schmees wrote:

> Am 2012-01-27 23:59, schrieb Paul Seelig:
>> On 01/27/2012 09:56 PM, Dick Summerfield wrote:
>>> 
>>> I can't help but worry about these "infamous T4x issues" mentioned by 
>>> Robert Tomsick...
>>> What are they???!!!
>>> 
>> Something for you to read to give you a preliminary idea about why buing
>> anything earlier than the rollcage protected T60 is a bad idea:
>> 
>> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=69469
>> http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=54856
>> 
>
> I for one use a very old T40p 2373-G1G and I am still happy with it. It has 
> run for years mainly 24/7 as my main working machine on my desk in a docking 
> station, added second display and external keyboard. It has accompanied me 
> when travelling a lot. The only repair I had to was exchange the cooling/fan 
> unit because the fan's bearing was worn out. I have many customers running 
> T4x machines, and to my experience flexing affects mostly T42 and T43. Plus 
> user who overload their USB by plugging too hungry devices (DVB-T; 
> hard-disks; you name them) directly into the T4x instead of into a powered 
> hub. That's all I have seen of flexing.
> On the other hand, I would strongly discourage the purchase of a T6x with 
> NVidia graphics controller. That seems to be bound to fail. T6x with the 
> Intel or ATI graphics seems a perfect choice.

In theory the later generation T4x machines (particularly the T43) are 
less susceptible to dying this way due to some workarounds that were added 
to try to reduce the chances of the problem.  IIRC there were larger 
stiffening components in the T43s.

You are right, however, in pointing out that not all T40-series laptops 
will die that way.  In fact, I'd go as far as to say that most won't. 
Their failure rate will almost certainly be much higher than normal, but 
it's not a death sentence.  Still, if you're getting a new machine which 
you plan on keeping for a while, and if you have free range to choose any 
model within your budget, it might be prudent to avoid any models with 
such problems.  Just playing the odds and all...

The T61s with an NVIDIA card... yeah, those can be trouble.  There are 
(supposedly) "fixed" planar FRUs which bring the failure rate way, way 
down, but personally I'd be very wary of them since for most of the 
planars the question seems to be when, not if, they will fail.

The Intel-equipped T61s, however, make excellent machines.  I have a 4:3 
T61 with an Intel GPU, and I have to say that it's one of my favorite 
machines -- coming in a close second to the 600X.

-Rob