Thinkpads Forum

My tech told me that the reason I can no longer charge any battery I try (but it works plugs in fine) is because of something on the system board and it will cost me $600 to learn more and probably repair and replace. Well the machine is two years old, not on warranty. This prognosis make sense? Anyway, is there a market to sell a laptop like this that doesn't run on battery? I have Office, Quark and Photoshop in it. Might make a nice small desktop. Thoughts? Ebay it? Anyone interested in making an offer? nickravo@adelphia.net (Boca Raton, FL)

What are the specs on it?

besides memory and processor ..... I'll have to go check

It's just so typical for someone to want to rob you of $600 when the problem sounds like a DC/DC board. Go to Bill's main site and download the hardware maintenance manual for your R32 and then take a look at the part number for that board. I wouldn't be suprised if you could even find it on eBay for $50 tops. Pretty sure if not there, www.impactcomputers.com would have it. Anyway, don't even think about selling your computer because of this issue until you have a chance to thoroughly research your options. To me, this is like selling a car because the AC has gone out. Anyway, good luck!

Edited....I just checked out your ThinkPad and to my surprise, it doesn't have a DC/DC board like most others do...it's built into the motherboard...so, you may be right about having to switch out the Mobo....thus, $600 is about right, unless you can find it somewhere else cheaper. However, this ThinkPad does have a IO/Bracket, which includes all the connectors on the back of the machine...including the connection from the AC plug to the mainboard. Could be that this is the culprit. You can view or download the maintenance manual for the R32 here: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... 2r2914.pdf Near the bottom of the pdf document you'll find the part I'm talking about.

What is the specific model number?

akvla5l serial number
2658a7u machine-type model number
130,032 kb memory
x86 family 15 model 2 stepping 7 processor
27,798,088 kb c drive
xp os

any other questions e-mail at nickravo@adelphia.net.

I figure stripped the machine is worth a couple hundred, but with the extra software (Quark, Photoshop) it's gotta be worth more, no?

i might pay "something" for it for my wife to do her email on..
rather than give her a T42..

heres a link to the info..
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/us/products.nsf/ ... p/_2658a7u

I know several, two anyway, people who will pay $300 for it, but I feel that the software on it alone is worth a lot and besides if that's all I can get then I can either donate it, feel good and take a tax write off worth close to the same amount or give it to my 8-year-old niece. I may try e-Bay, though. If anyone wants to make an offer ... before hand. I'd probably start bidding at $499, I think. I figure there are probably some folks looking to buy Quark alone for close to that price who will view it as getting a free computer in the deal.

nickravo@adelphia.net

nickravo wrote:I know several, two anyway, people who will pay $300 for it, but I feel that the software on it alone is worth a lot and besides if that's all I can get then I can either donate it, feel good and take a tax write off worth close to the same amount or give it to my 8-year-old niece. I may try e-Bay, though. If anyone wants to make an offer ... before hand. I'd probably start bidding at $499, I think. I figure there are probably some folks looking to buy Quark alone for close to that price who will view it as getting a free computer in the deal.

nickravo@adelphia.net

I'd pay $200 for it. The system board is bad and it is basically on its last leg right now. You oculd get someone on eBay to pay around $400 or $500 but they could get a decent one for under $700 instead of a defective one that is about to break... Could save some headaches for everyone.

if I have bids for $300, why would I sell for $200? And yes, a new one could be had for $700, but Quark alone costs $495. I could donate this machine and software seperately and probably clear $400 in tax savings. too.

Nick...you have such a nice Thinkpad for it to go for such little money. Unfortunately, what you view as very expensive software may not be something someone cares about at all. This is just me, but if I were you, I'd hold onto the machine and keep scouring eBay and other places for someone selling the motherboard for your machine. If you're lucky, in a few weeks or months, someone will have the same machine as you, but it being unrepairable, with good motherboard, will want to sell it cheap. Just my opinion, but I'd keep using it with the AC power cord. Another alternative is an external battery that feeds into the barrel shaped connection. Look around and you may be able to find one of these at a reasonable price.

I may do just that, although one of the folks who is offering me $300 is a brother-in-law, so it sort of stays in th family and all that.

I now have someone from Uruguay who wants it for $500 plus shipping via PayPal. Caveats? Reasonable price?

For $500 plus shipping, I think it's worth it, though you could try to talk him up a few more $$....you can almost get one for that price that is fully functional. If by PayPal, there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

We'll see what happens ...