Thinkpad T42p: vulnerable motherboard

[ruykava]

Hi, just kinda worried about my T42p.

It's died on me twice. First time, USB daughterboard (or something similar) fried after I left computer on for a few days. Entire motherboard replaced.

Second time, it just refused to start up - no boot at all although power came on and DVD drive was recognised (it started its spinning routine). Again, motherboard replaced.

Third time, while charging the laptop I got a tingling sensation touching metal parts, e.g. USB ports, video-out, etc. Although so far nothing has happened and the tingling hasn't returned - the tingling occurred only when plugged into AC socket.

So I'm wondering is there something wrong with the T42p's design? While it is extremely fast, why is it so prone to frying? Or am I doing something very wrong?

[leegaard]

I would certainly call Lenovo if it still under warranty and tell them that you are not sattisfied with the failure rate on your current model.

I would try to persuade them to replace it with another P model

[K. Eng]

My guess is that you simply had extremely bad luck.

I also experienced two system board failures on my T40. In March 2004, the system wouldn't boot and IBM replaced the system board. In November 2004 the Radeon 7500 video chip broke, causing Windows to either bluescreen or display corrupted images. I had to get the system board replaced again.

Since then, I've had no problems with my T40.

Edit: I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with the T4x design. I know a few people with T4x machines and I'm the only one who has had problems