T40... how do you tell if it's Lenovo or IBM made?

Message

silverfast · #1 Post by **silverfast** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:51 am

I have been using my T23 for a long time with pride. Recently i decided to get another laptop, just for the fun of it and better gfx card plus faster hdd and, of course, USB2 ports. I decided on T40 which came in absolutely amasing state, even though the seller said it was a second user machine from 2003.

I just can't believe it. It looks so fresh, it smells so fresh and it really is just like out of the box one. On the other hand it doesn't have as quality casing as my T23 does. It says it's still tutanium based but heck, it looks like an ordinary plastic to me. Can You please tell me if i'm wrong and that every T40 looks a bit cheaper than T23 or is it the newcomer from Lenovo perhaps?

The seller told me that i got myself an original IBM, very well made in Scotland. But on the sticker it says that this laptop is "made for" IBM UK. It makes me wonder... is it a rip-off and i just bought a Lenovo machine, or is it really IBM? Perhaps the serial number would tell me more or is there another way of making sure what do i got?

T40 users please help, i'm really trying to find out as i paid a bit more than i expected for "original IBM thinkpad" and i have to be sure it was a fair deal and not cheaper Lenovo.

bigtiger · #2 Post by **bigtiger** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:07 pm

Well, it really depends. I am almost sure that the assembly was done in China, either IBM or Lenovo.

T40 was made before the merge so it should be made by IBM.

I owned both T23 and T40. I do not think the Build quality of T23 is any superior than T40.

That said, enjoy your T40. You will like it.

silverfast · #3 Post by **silverfast** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 12:24 pm

bigtiger wrote:Well, it really depends. I am almost sure that the assembly was done in China, either IBM or Lenovo.

T40 was made before the merge so it should be made by IBM.

I owned both T23 and T40. I do not think the Build quality of T23 is any superior than T40.

That said, enjoy your T40. You will like it.

Well, i AM enjoying it. But still, it feels way better to know that i own the original IBM system. On my T23 it says "made by IBM UK" and on the T40 it reads "made FOR IBM UK". I just wish i knew what is the exact difference. Is it "very well made in China" for IBM UK then? And if so, it could be Lenovo as well, even though T40 is so old, it is unlikely to be possible at all...

About the casing again... it really IS cheaper. If you had T23 before and T40 too, you should see the difference. T23's plastic is more solid, you can't just push it down with your thumb at all. I can do that easily on T40 and i can't believe it is still the titanium based case. It's quality but a bit strange compared to T23.

I'm still confused. Hope it's just me and not my T40 being weird :]

Torque · #4 Post by **Torque** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 2:20 pm

silverfast wrote:
bigtiger wrote:Well, it really depends. I am almost sure that the assembly was done in China, either IBM or Lenovo.

T40 was made before the merge so it should be made by IBM.

I owned both T23 and T40. I do not think the Build quality of T23 is any superior than T40.

That said, enjoy your T40. You will like it.
Well, i AM enjoying it. But still, it feels way better to know that i own the original IBM system. On my T23 it says "made by IBM UK" and on the T40 it reads "made FOR IBM UK". I just wish i knew what is the exact difference. Is it "very well made in China" for IBM UK then? And if so, it could be Lenovo as well, even though T40 is so old, it is unlikely to be possible at all...

About the casing again... it really IS cheaper. If you had T23 before and T40 too, you should see the difference. T23's plastic is more solid, you can't just push it down with your thumb at all. I can do that easily on T40 and i can't believe it is still the titanium based case. It's quality but a bit strange compared to T23.

I'm still confused. Hope it's just me and not my T40 being weird :]

Frame is titanium, as far as I can see. The casing (body) itself is ordinary plastic. The lid, however is rubberized and has magnesium particles in it.

christopher_wolf · #5 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 3:27 pm

T40 is True Blue, as you like. (Getting tired of answering these "IS IT TEH IBM OR LENOVO?" threads you know

)

Even my T43 is marked as "Made by IBM for Lenovo"

What is strange is that this is a T40 we are talking about, not anything even near the merger; which is interesting.

First of the T4X Series? Pretty much all IBM; hence, "True Blue."

Plastic can vary quite a bit depending on the type (HDPE, LDPE, ABS, etc) and the thickness plus any other structural additions. In the end, it will still have different characteristics as compared to, say, a titanium/magnesium alloy. Flex is different, different robustness, different young's modulus, etc.

silverfast · #6 Post by **silverfast** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:32 pm

So it's just a titanium frame in there. And probably my T23 got an ABS plastic (really VERY solid, the laptop landed on the floor several times and NOT a single crack anywhere) while T40 is made of some cheaper one but still the frame is made of titanium, ok. The lid is indeed coated with rubber as usual and seems to have those nice magnesium particles in it.

Hm, i read Your kind info on T40 merger-wise but how do You explain that this machine is in just like "out of the box" state, there is a smell of freshness too everywhere. No dust, no scratches, keyboard looks like it was never used before. How could such system survive since 2003 or something? LCD is also in brilliant condition, even though i find it a bit mild compared to T23's one. Just one thing that i noticed - the battery's plastic casing is different in color (deep black vs deep grey) and quality (looks and feels more solid) than the rest of the bottom part of my laptop's casing.

Am i just lucky and this machine spent a few years in a cave, or is it a "fully refurbished" machine or something? It really doesn't look like an after-lease laptop at all.

NokiaNokia · #7 Post by **NokiaNokia** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 4:58 pm

bigtiger wrote:Well, it really depends. I am almost sure that the assembly was done in China, either IBM or Lenovo.

T40 was made before the merge so it should be made by IBM.

I owned both T23 and T40. I do not think the Build quality of T23 is any superior than T40.

That said, enjoy your T40. You will like it.

Thats what I said when I first got my T42 that my T30 is better built but nah T42 is way way better.

rleo25 · #8 Post by **rleo25** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:09 pm

NokiaNokia, even better than the T60 you own? could you elaborate on this issue? I am about to buy a T60, but something is saying me to wait by the end of the year for a really jump, my T42 is ok for now...

christopher_wolf · #9 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:14 pm

silverfast wrote: Hm, i read Your kind info on T40 merger-wise but how do You explain that this machine is in just like "out of the box" state, there is a smell of freshness too everywhere. No dust, no scratches, keyboard looks like it was never used before. How could such system survive since 2003 or something? LCD is also in brilliant condition, even though i find it a bit mild compared to T23's one. Just one thing that i noticed - the battery's plastic casing is different in color (deep black vs deep grey) and quality (looks and feels more solid) than the rest of the bottom part of my laptop's casing.

Am i just lucky and this machine spent a few years in a cave, or is it a "fully refurbished" machine or something? It really doesn't look like an after-lease laptop at all.

Pretty much, yeah; if it was kept in a clean storage area, then it is quite possible that you would get it just like that. The "shelf-life" of Thinkpads are actually quite long if they are packaged correctly. Hence, you still get that New Thinkpad smell; even my T43 had that smell for half a year while I was using it (really great, I tell you). Now? It still smells faintly like that, but not sour or dusty or bitter from use.

silverfast · #10 Post by **silverfast** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:56 am

Thank You very much for the final word on my T40, i'm not worried anymore and i might even start to enjoy it for real anytime soon :] Everywhere i look it says IBM in the manufacturer field, be it warranty document or bios data, diagnostic software and so on. So it has to be true blue, in fact. And i enjoy the smell of it even more now :] Looks like the new serie is just a bit poorer in design and built with cheaper materials. Especially as someone above said similar thing about his T30 versus T43. Exactly same case as mine with T23 and T40 - surprising but still ok.

If only i knew how to sort out the [censored] fan that seems to spin all the time and make a bunch of noises, it's also much worse than in T23 where you could hear the noise from time to time and then it was all quiet. Here it's up most of the time... but that's another story and probably covered somewhere else. Got to try this "fan control utility", hopefully that's what i'm looking for :]

Cheers guys, great community of people here.

rainab68 · #11 Post by **rainab68** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:22 am

I am sure that T4X series ,even Z60 series are designed and made by IBM.

The [censored] problem with T40 is not the fan noise,but the USB 2.0 to 1.1 ~~
T40 is better than T30

Enjoy it~~~~

kstuart · #12 Post by **kstuart** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 8:21 pm

You can buy a new in the box T40 on ebay for about US$650. They are units that were returned by dealers to IBM. In some cases, this was simply because the dealer had unsold stock when later models were released, and they only wanted to sell the latest model.

It's entirely possible that your T40 is one which was purchased from that supplier, used a short while and then sold.

You can get T2x's and X2x's new in the box from them as well.

Thinkpaddict · #13 Post by **Thinkpaddict** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:19 pm

kstuart wrote: You can get T2x's and X2x's new in the box from them as well.

I check eBay very often, and have never found an X2X new in the box.
You are probably referring to reburbished with S-Classification, as new. But new? I have never seen such a thing. What specific seller are you talking about?

T40... how do you tell if it's Lenovo or IBM made?

T40... how do you tell if it's Lenovo or IBM made?

Who is online