just saw an ad in my local paper for someone selling a T41 super cheap. Apparently they forgot their password and now the pc is locked. is this something I can simply fix by doing a recovery to factory settings? Or by forgetting the password can only IBM unlock it now? if I can fix it I'll be able t...

I guess the bigger question i've got is what defines USER ABUSE ? how does the service centre figure out when to charge or not? when key components screw up during the warranty (like HD, motherboard etc..), it's clear IBM need to step in and sort things out. But when it's a structural issue, surely ...

hmmm . that is an interesting solution. unsure if there will be enough room though inside the machine for the extra cables.

Of course I won't manage to get the full benefit of having a SATA drive, but the extra rpm's on a new disk should still help.

thanks for the tip!

wow - didn't realise ordering TP parts was so easy! tx

good call on not sending it in - the machine would have been branded for life. it looks like the hinge sits inside a little box which is part of the base cover. It's made of metal of course and it's cracked open: http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=421457607&size=l Got 3 options: 1 - find a repa...

thanks for the tip on the T42 - I've been looking at getting a T series laptop for basic use anyway. will focus on the T42 then

I connected a hitachi 7k60 7200rpm and it got going no problem. nothing was installed on it so I have no clue whether it would work in an actual boot up. to be honest, if there is no practical way of fixing the 2.5" drive onto the notebook so it stays as mobile as with a 1.8" drive, then I'm probabl...

can you boot off a flash card? What about the read speeds of using flash memory - will it be as quick/or even quicker than an IDE drive? I agree that the IDE connector isn't designed for frequent use and so I could end up doing more harm than good. And having the drive sticking out unprotected is al...

james - yup, ur right! it fits (an IDE harddrive that is) and is probably better than carrying the cardbus, cables, and external SATA drive as you said. Only thing is that the drive sticks out unprotected. I'll see if I can improvise somehow to give the drive at least some minimal protection. tx!

coz SATA is MUCH quicker than USB 2.0

SATA works out at 115MBps while USB 2.0 is at best (in the real world) 30MBps

so if i booted up from the USB harddrive (even with a 7200rpm 7k100) it would in all probability be slower than the crappy 1.8" 4200rpm drive I have currently installed

just had a thought - as you can get pcmcia SATA cards would it be possible to remove the internal 1.8" harddrive and boot off an external 7200rpm drive? the x40 is a great machine (much better build quality than either my x60 or x60s especially the keyboard) but it's not the quickest I feel. Just tr...

micro fibre cloths, yeah. sprays, I'm not so sure. I've used them before and all of them leave some kind of residue afterwards. U don't notice it much when the computer is switched on (if at all), but when turned off, u see the marks which bug me a ton. I found that by just breathing on the screen a...

Bill & pianowizard - tx for the fast awesome posts. exactly what I needed!!

What's anyone's experience with having their thinkpad sent in for any structural hardware issues? I just bought a secondhand x60 for a bargain price and wanted to get one of the hinges fixed. The right hinge is a bit loose/moves forwards and back when opening/closing the screen. The laptop doesn't l...

aight! - this is my first newbie post have an x60 and am a bit shocked to find that the keyboard is on par with other commercial laptops out there (ie NOT better than them). I have the last X-series made IBM laptop (x40) and the keyboard lives up to the Thinkpad's reputation of being by far the best...