t42p issues, complaints

[xcoldricex]

i got a t42p with the DVD-RAM drive. does anyone else have any problems with this drive being really picky? if the cd is minorly scratched it has issues playing it, and sometimes it doesn't even read some perfect cds/dvds. also the audio extraction speed is ATROCIOUS. i get 3.5x TOPS.

and sometimes my mouse cursor continues to move across the screen even when i'm not touching the red button - my touchpad is disabled. i think it has to do with the flex in the keyboard where my right wrist rests because when i lift my wrist up the cursor will stop moving. i know the keyboard flex issue is a known problem, but is this?

another problem is that i have a PCMCIA sound card. it used to work fine, but now when i push it in it works for a few seconds and then it just stops working. i have to hold it in at a certain angle or something to keep it working. is this a motherboard problem? considering i just had it replaced (my last one got shorted out by the usb ports on the second day i owned it, if i have another problem with it i'll be pretty irritated.

overall i've had a pretty bad experience with ibm. first with a terrible customer service representative that would never answer my emails, on top of the fact that i got my computer 3 weeks later than i should have because my warranty was "out of stock" and my customer service rep wouldn't fix the problem, then my motherboard shorting out. and it's a hassle getting it fixed abroad. and now this? sigh.

[kaplanfx]

and sometimes my mouse cursor continues to move across the screen even when i'm not touching the red button - my touchpad is disabled. i think it has to do with the flex in the keyboard where my right wrist rests because when i lift my wrist up the cursor will stop moving. i know the keyboard flex issue is a known problem, but is this?

Actually, this is done by design. I believe that it has something to do with the fact that the way the trackpoint reads the input can be effected by the heat of the laptop. To counter this the trackpoint constantly recalibrates itself. Unfortunately if you are pushing on the trackpoint when it recalibrates, you will see that the center point has been changed when you release your finger and the cursor starts its ghost movement. The best way to avoid this is to not rest your finger on the trackpoint when you are not intending to move the cursor. If you see the problem, you simply take your finger off the trackpoint and in a second or so it will re-calibrate to center.

[STS06]

Sorry you had a bad exprience with IBM. I asked and had all my questions answered here...so I didnt talk to or get to know my rep very well. Placed an order, talked for roughly 20 minutes and it was a done deal.

As far as customer support goes, I haven't had anything go wrong, so I don't know how extensive or good/bad it is. Thus far, they are superior than Dell primarly b/c I typically wait close to an hour to reach a dell customer rep (and I considered Dell's service to be top before IBM's). So, a bad sales rep is probably not indicative of what to expect in the future.

As for the trackpoint, my ghosts a bit too..but like kaplanfx stated, it only occurs for a second or two and stops...so recalibration might actually be what its doing (I personally dont know what its doing). My T42 doesnt flex very much. I have my keyboard and then a solid piece of plastic (or whatever material it is exactly) surrounding the keyboard...i dont see any flex.

[Kyocera]

Sounds like a major bummer, you might think about returning it if you can. My first Thinkpad was locking up from jump street and after several tech support calls it was not resolved so I asked very nicely for another one and it came a few days later. This was prior to the Lenovo sale, I hope they are going to maintain high standards of support. About three weeks ago I had a hard drive issue, I called at 10AM and talked with a tech support guy, 3PM the next day UPS delivered a new HD and a set of restore CDs. I always try to be pleasant and not act as though they are personally responsible for breaking my machine. Sometimes you can tell if a tech support person knows what they are talking about, a while back it seems like their standard answer was "do you have SP2, cause if you do restore to factory image and the problem will go away" wrong answer.
If I get someone who seems to be reading from a script I will listen and then try to call at another time to get someone else.

I have been going crazy trying to figure out why my pointer drifts when using the track point, thought it was a software issue glad to hear it is a normal part of the system.

[xcoldricex]

ok, glad to hear about the trackpoint thing.

the keyboard flex isn't the keyboard itself, its just area to the right of the trackpoint buttons. the keyboard itself is very sturdy and couldn't complain about it.

i wish i could've returned it but i got it right before i was going to be abroad for an entire year. i think i just had bad luck (hopefully). i was surprised that in china there is no english customer service line, i had to make my way through the phone calls, faxes, and repair people with my broken chinese.

does anyone know anything about the PCMCIA problem? is it likely to be a motherboard issue? and the dvd drive?

[Kenn]

ok, glad to hear about the trackpoint thing.

the keyboard flex isn't the keyboard itself, its just area to the right of the trackpoint buttons. the keyboard itself is very sturdy and couldn't complain about it.

i wish i could've returned it but i got it right before i was going to be abroad for an entire year. i think i just had bad luck (hopefully). i was surprised that in china there is no english customer service line, i had to make my way through the phone calls, faxes, and repair people with my broken chinese.

does anyone know anything about the PCMCIA problem? is it likely to be a motherboard issue? and the dvd drive?

The flex you're talking about is on the palmrest, right? That part sits right on top of the HDD housing. I took off my palmrest and put a bit of cardboard (from a business card actually) to prop it up - no more flex. But yeah, it's too bad that you have to go to such lengths.