
My situation is that I have an IBM R31 with failed backlight (works with external monitor, no pink tint but intermittant fault on startup evaded by leaving open and switched on, then just went out and stayed out) and an IBM T41 with fan failure (type of problem unknown).
I would like to have at least one working IBM Thinkpad that can run XP, so I am hoping for advice please on getting a Thinkpad-friendly repair within the M25, London.
When I took these into a local repair store they told me no point due to the age of the machines, and another repair centre I called suggested buying another refurb for the same reasons. I have already tried this, got a Lenovo T61, dislike it and it can't easily run XP. Also, bought an R51, worked great for a few days, died, seller refunded me because it was BER.
So, I am seeking advice on how to find a laptop repairer willing to mend one of the IBM Thinkpads I have, where they may have to source parts, making cost more than buying another refurb for under £100, but not to the extent they'll try to exploit this. The people I spoke to seemed like their heart wasn't in it and they looked down their noses at the ancient machines, so I decided not to push the issue because starting out not wanting to do a thing seldom gives very good results. Speed of repair is less important, they've been dead for a couple of months.
However I have specific reasons for wanting an XP Thinkpad, not something "better," for example I have some old hardware that only works on XP.
Can anyone please give me any helpful advice?
I can keep watching ebay for an IBM refurb (and then another when that dies, and another...) but don't want to eventually wall myself in with stacks of dead Thinkpads. I used to be reasonably competent at simple hardware repairs, but only on PCs and that was a long time ago.