Something weird on my new buying T42p (second hand)

[cchsiao]

Recently I bought from ebay a second hand T42p, 2373KTU according to the serial no (the BIOS has the same serial no. Moreover, the serial no. sticker is there). However, when I checked the content of this laptop, the wireless card is a intel 2200bg and there is no bluetooth antenna and bluetooth daughter card. Since there is still warranty left on this machine (according to lenovo's website), or more precisely, warranty on this serial no. I'd like to know if it's possible that teh seller is selling some non-genuine Thinkpad and just steal serial no from other machine. My purpose is to extend the warranty on this machine, but if this serial no is fake, then I don't need to waste my money.

By the way, after using IPS for about a year, this 14.1" LCD really annoys me. I have to look straight into the LCD (meaning that the eyesight need to make a right angle with the LCD) to avoid unpleasant light leakage or color. I start wondering if my next machine will only be the Tablet one since they are the only machines with IPS LCD.

Admin Edit: Please read the posting rules and adhere to them!

[kim-chee-san]

It sounds like the seller may be swiping the good components off the laptop s/he is selling and replacing them with "lesser" components.

Not exactly a nice thing to do. The seller should have indicated in the auction that s/he had replaced the OEM components.

[richk]

Find the motherboard part number. That's the most important piece. You can find it under the rear memory cover.

[bill bolton]

Have you taken your issue up with the seller? If not, why not?

[cchsiao]

I already emailed the seller, but he didn't reply (yet). I am not sure if he is going to reply at all, since the business is sort of done.

The motherboard in this machine has a ATi FireGL with 128MB memory. So I think it's probably the original motherboard. I certainly can obtain the serial no. of this motherboard, however, I don't know where I can check if this serial no. is the correct one. I guess the warranty is with the motherboard, isn't it? I mean, you can change anything you want without voiding the warranty, but you can not have a motherboard with a serial no. different from the one in lenovo's date base.

[underclocker]

Do you have the BT icons on the front and rear LCD clear plates?

Are you sure that the spare antenna lead is missing? I've seen some T41's that didn't come with BT, but still had the antenna in the cover. You would be able to see a lead near the modem CDC card.

Does the clear plate on the front of the LCD say T42p?

Either way, it sounds like one of two things happened 1) the BMDC was swapped for a CDC and the a/b/g adapter was swapped for a b/g adapter, perhaps along with the clear plates or 2) the entire LCD was swapped, as well as those cards.

I'm not up to speed on all the possible T42p configurations, but did any actually come without Bluetooth?

Regarding your ultimate question, about the warranty extension, I don't see why it wouldn't be honored. IBM / Lenovo has been know to make the occasional mis-configuration error themselves.

At least you have the right motherboard and the serial numbers match.

[richk]

If you look here, you can see what parts were with the machine when it was made.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... yle=lenovo

[opposite_305]

First off let me introduce myself and say that this is a fine informative website. I was a frequent visitor of this forum STRICTLY for knowledge and awareness purposes of the IBM Thinkpad line of laptops. I Officially joined the forums today (hours ago actually!) after reading this email and noticing that I TOO!! purchased an IBM T42p with the same serial number....from possibly the same eBAY seller.

I am worried whether I have purchased from an eBay "SCAMMER".
Aside from my worries....I am angered at the fact that he didn't reply to your concerns on the matter. I am angered only becuase he was QUICK! to write to me on whether I had sent payment or not (an urgent financial commitment arose around the time I was to make payment; he was informed of that matter).

I responded to this eBay sellers concern for payment and answered him back assuring I would send payment NLT the 10NOV07 which is TODAY!!! I actually have payment enveloped, stamped and sealed...ready to be dropped at the post office.

As this is my first major eBay purchase...as well as my first (possible) issue with a product from a seller, I am stumped as far as what to do now/next. I don't mean to take the satge from the original poster, but can I also receive some advice on best course of action in this matter??? I would hate to approach it the wrong way or make the issue something more than what it really is or should be.

By the way I failed to mention that this seller basically has 99.99% Good feedback.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Admin Edit: Please read the posting rules and adhere to them.
thanks

[cchsiao]

I already looked up the parts when I got the KTU. On the part lists, there should be a bluetooth for sure. Although it originally should come with a chicony keyboard, but the seller changed it to a
NMB one (that's a bonus!). However, this website doesn't show the serial no of the motherboard so that I can't check if the motherboard in this KTU is the correct one or not.

By the way, the seller already replied me. He said since it doesn't list bluetooth in the item description, he will not ship a bluetooth BMDC to me. However, since the item description did say a/b/g. He will send me an a/b/g card once I return the 2200bg attached to this machine. Although the seller tried to persuade me that 2200bg is a better card, but everybody in this forum knows that this statement is simply not true.

[praetorian]

Yeah I was wondering if the eBay auction page actually said bluetooth is included. To me, he should have wrote no bluetooth but that is the way eBay often is. My experience is when ebaying, make sure things are explicitly written or ask the seller directly.

Opposite_305, my advice is simply just send the seller a quick last minute question telling him you want to double-check the included parts/spec list.

And a sidenote, I did a quick search on ebay and saw two 2373KTU's from the same seller. Curiously, one has an IBM a/b/g card, the other has the Intel 2200BG. They're both sealed reconditioned so my best guess is maybe the one with the Intel non-stock wireless card was part of a company's fleet and the IT dept retrofitted to match other laptops they were supporting.

[underclocker]

Are the Bluetooth clear plates on the front and back of the LCD?

Did you check again for the antenna under/near the CDC or look near the left hinge for three leads coming down, one white, one grey and one black?

If you have the clear plates and antenna, then swapping the CDC for the right BMDC is easy and can cost as little as $30 from eBay, assuming you want BT.

[cchsiao]

IBM Thinkpad T-42p 2373 KTU

P M 755, 1GB RAM, 60GB 7200rpm HDD, 14.1 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT LCD, 128MB ATI FireGL T2, CD-RW/DVD-R Multi-Burner(slim), IBM 802.11a/b/g wireless(MPCI), Modem(CDC), 1Gb Ethernet(LOM), UltraNav, Secure Chip,WinXP Pro.

So... the only thing doesn't look quite right is the bluetooth. Usually a KTU will come with a bluetooth and I do expect that this machine comes with a bluetooth module installed. Moreover, as I checked again, there are only two antenna leads, the grey and the black ones, inside this machine. The plate also doesn't have the bluetooth indicator, although it did say "T42p" on the plate.

I already sent back the 2200bg card back to the seller, and hopefully can get a IBM a/b/g before next weekend.

By the way, since the BMDC200b module is kind of old, do you think it's a good idea to just replace the wireless NIC card with a pre-N mini-PCI (non-IBM/lenovo) one and add one more antenna using the place where the bluetooth antenna locates. I know pre-N is still not mature at this time, but there could never be a mini-PCI card supporting 802.11n standard in the future. Anyway, thanks for your advices.

[ajkula66]

Having owned a machine like one in question, I'm going to state that mine did have Bluetooth. I've owned a dozen of different T42p machines and they've ALL had it.

Coming to think of it, apart from some versions of R50p, I can't think of a machine with 128Mb video within that generation that doesn't have Bluetooth...so something is beyond funny here.

[underclocker]

Very strange, indeed. I'd say the most likely scenario is that the original LCD was damaged and replaced with a complete assembly from a non T42p, high resolution machine. It could have been any T40, T41, T42 or T43 with SXGA+. Plus, the front clear plate was exchanged for the one without the BT icon (I did check, and some T42p's came without Bluetooth, so that clear plate is included with the clear plate package from Lenovo).

Perhaps while the T42p sat with a damaged LCD, other parts were scavenged, which is why the current modem and wifi adapters are in there.

Plausible, yes.

Anyway, as long as you paid a good price and recieved all the other parts of that high-end T42p, it seems that things could have been worse. I can't even list the number of times my eBay purchases didn't measure up to the seller's description. (Like new condition = shiney keyboard, weak battery, scratched plastics, etc.)