Dummy placeholder

[zzyss]

OK the dummy refers to me, and the placeholder refers to the Ultrabay Slim on my T40. What I'm wondering is if I don't want to have *anything* in the ultrabay - that is, no optical drive, no extra battery, nothing. Then is there a plastic insert or something that can sit in that slot so that there isn't just this big fat gaping hole in the side of my laptop (ok ok, and to stop dust getting in)?

I expect it would probably cost some money, but it would be extremely disappointed if it turns out to be more than $5. But then again, this *is* IBM we're talking about here

Oh yeah, and same goes for the ethernet/modem ports. I've seen these in pictures before (I think one review of a T40p said that it comes with a plastic plug for the modem port, but not the Ethernet. Mine didn't have either).

I'm just trying to "dust proof" my system as much as possible, since I live in a fairly dusty environment.

[sktn77a]

The optical drive blank is available and, yes, it's $20! Search this site and you'll get the link. Don't know about the port covers - my three Ts didn't come with any.

[JHEM]

https://www.compu-lock.com/tbezel.asp

At $20 plus the ubiquitous shipping and handling, it's cheaper to leave the optical drive in the bay!

No covers for the other ports AFAIK.

The only ready path for dust to get into your Thinkpad is via the cooling fan, which is a closed system. If you're concerned about dust, simply get a can of air and give the fan's inlet a blast on occasion.

The rest of the machine, while open to the environment (e.g. not sealed), doesn't have any air currents running through it that would serve as dust transporters.

Regards,

James

[webnexus]

$20 ???

It's €2,44 (including taxes) here in Germany for the BLANKBEZEL (13N5108) on the IBM website. I took two of them when I ordered the PALMREST without touchpad.

[JHEM]

$2.51 from maintenance parts over here. But then they add tax and $13.50 for shipping and handling!

Regards,

James

[zzyss]

I searched the IBM website, and the only result it returned was the manual for Service Parts on the support site. Hmm... for $20, I think I'd give it a miss.

[JHEM]

I searched the IBM website, and the only result it returned was the manual for Service Parts on the support site. Hmm... for $20, I think I'd give it a miss.

Start here: https://www-132.ibm.com/content/home/st ... rts_r.html, put the part number in the lookup field and it will be added to your shopping cart at $2.51 each.

Regards,

James

[brewt]

Someone should order a whole bunch of them and sell them at cost + shipping + packing + a little more for their time. Though, it probably wouldn't be worth it, since it'd probably still cost around $10.

[JHEM]

Someone should order a whole bunch of them and sell them at cost + shipping + packing + a little more for their time. Though, it probably wouldn't be worth it, since it'd probably still cost around $10.

The "trick" to getting these without paying a ridiculous amount for shipping is to add them to an order for other parts you really need. But unless you'd want to buy 10 of them, you'd still be looking at having to sell them for around $10 to recoup your investment plus shipping and handling.

You can get quite a few Thinkpad bits from IBM parts and still only pay $13.50 for shipping and handling. In fact I don't recall ever paying more than that, even when my order included case bits like screen bezels and lower cases.

Regards,

James