"new" T41p

[ashat]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum, I am a proud owner of a R40 2681 since 5 years, and two weeks ago I got a used T41p 2374.

I am waiting for Lenovo to send me the recovery CD set, (ordered last monday) and I have read all that I have found googling around about the t41p.

I also read here all about buying used T4x series, (a bit scared about the GPU problem, hope to be lucky, and the HDD mandatory firmware upgrade) and about installing the cd set, during the last week. But if you have any specific information I should know about this machine, or be careful about, I will really appreciate.

Honestly I bought it without many thinking.
I was just looking for a used T4x for my parents, and by accident I found this one for just 250 Euros, and I thought it deserved a try.

If it mantains the promises I have read all around despite being 4 years old, I could consider my parents will get my 5 years R40 instead.

Until now I have just checking something by an Ubuntu CD live, but I wait to install XP to make all the tests I want to do on it.

For now I can say that compared to the R40 the keyboard is great.
Now I get completely what "sturdy" means in english!

[sjthinkpader]

If this machine had not seen heavy use, it may last you quite a while.

The tell tale signs of heavy use will be from wear on the keyboard and the cycle count on the battery.

Try not to let it run hot as temperature cycling may contribute to failure of the GPU solder joints.

[jdhurst]

A T41 will withstand a far amount of heavy use. Mine was a daily driver for nearly five years. I replaced the battery once, and the motherboard was replaced once under warranty. Other than that, it has fallen on the floor, been heavily jostled in use on city buses, and generally expected to work flawlessly upon any demand I made. It did.

If my T61 works as well as my T41, I shall be most pleased.
.. JDH

[schen]

I also read here all about buying used T4x series, (a bit scared about the GPU problem, hope to be lucky, and the HDD mandatory firmware upgrade) and about installing the cd set, during the last week. But if you have any specific information I should know about this machine, or be careful about, I will really appreciate.

Honestly I bought it without many thinking.
I was just looking for a used T4x for my parents, and by accident I found this one for just 250 Euros, and I thought it deserved a try.

If it mantains the promises I have read all around despite being 4 years old, I could consider my parents will get my 5 years R40 instead.

Congratulations and welcome to the Forum. That does sound a little ironic written to someone who lives in Rome! Base on what little I know about the exchange rate, I'd say that what you paid for a T41p in good condition would be considered a very good deal.

I understand your concern after reading about the GPU issues, as I did as well before I bought my T41 (previous machine) and to some degree, my T42p as well (current machine). However, they are such a nice combination of capability, build quality and nice design that it's much too nice of a machine to avoid!

If you machine is working well at the moment, the only advice that I'd have to offer to try and keep it that way is what you might have already read in other threads:
* Try not to carry it one-handed with your finders creating a pressure area under the middle (particularly left-middle) of the bottom of the machine.
* Try to keep it from cycling hot-cold as much as possible. Better to put it to "sleep" instead of turning it off as much as possible.
Others will have more specific procedures, but those are some basics. One of the mechanisms I've adapted is to put a portfolio style notebook under the machine when I use it. Since I use my machine around my home and move from place to place on a regular basis, this helps distribute pressure over the entire bottom instead of a particular spot.

As far as your R40 is concerned, I have a family member who has used her's for about 3 years. I bought it for her "used" and reloaded the machine for her and it's served very well for these years. The only warning I'd give you regarding this machine is that you might want to ask your parents to be careful of putting stress on the plug where the A/C adapter is attached. The Acer contracted machines (of which the R40 is the last) will sometimes develop stress cracks in the soldering of that jack module and it wil require replacing or resoldering (neither of which is much fun and probably not worthwhile on a machine of that age). Otherwise, I've found them to be very solid machines as well.

Like any brand of notebooks, all ThinkPad models have weaknesses in differing areas. Therefore, you just have to be aware of what they are and try to avoid and/or compensate for them as best you can. Of course, we ThinkPad users believe that these compromises are fewer with the product of our choice!

It sounds like you are off to a good start and I wish you good luck with your particular machine as well.

[ashat]

Thanks schen for your suggestions.

By external inspection the laptop seems in very good conditions.

The keyboard is almost as matte as new, as opposed to my R40 which is really "lucid" after 5 years of use, but it could be due to a better quality of the T series, I don't know.

All the buttons of the UltraNav are good, some troubles in setting the TrackPoint as "fluid" as the R40, but I assume it depends on Ubuntu driver. I can't live without a TrackPoint as fluid as I want it...

Also the LCD seems to be ok, no dead pixel and good brightness. I am impressed by the incredible amount of space gained through the 1400x1050 resolution!

As for the battery (9 cell), I don't know how to check the cycles in Ubuntu, but it shows 2h40 of duration at the maximum charge, and I know usually under linux batteries show less power. (Better tests under XP and with the AccessIBM as it will be available).

As for preventing the bottom, I have discovered the PortaBook since a couple of months, (seems a poor plastic thing but it actually works great for my R40, for my neck and wrists!) and I am going to buy another one of these for the T41p.

As for the heat problem, these two laptop have a very different fan system, this is clear, I just have one fan on the R40, on the left side, which get on and off regularly, not so silent.

The new one seems to have at least 2 fan, isn't it?
One on the left side, the other one under the right palmrest.

The first impression under Ubuntu CD Live is they are almost always on, even if they produce a really really low noise, which is probably an Ubuntu problem. I will see how they work in XP.

It will be nice if you could suggest me how to check CPU and GPU temperature, something that I never mind to do on my R40 (maybe I should have) Is there a specific option in Access IBM or I should try some specific software for this?

thanks in advance,

[schen]

As for the battery (9 cell), I don't know how to check the cycles in Ubuntu, but it shows 2h40 of duration at the maximum charge, and I know usually under linux batteries show less power. (Better tests under XP and with the AccessIBM as it will be available).

The new one seems to have at least 2 fan, isn't it?
One on the left side, the other one under the right palmrest.

It will be nice if you could suggest me how to check CPU and GPU temperature, something that I never mind to do on my R40 (maybe I should have) Is there a specific option in Access IBM or I should try some specific software for this?

Like you, I've run Ubuntu just a little so I wouldn't be able to help on what utilities to use with that. I'd suggest you do a search on the Forum's Linux Conference for that.

Also haven't done a lot with the Windows utilities software to temperature, so I'd suggest the same as above. There are some Forum member who are very experienced on these types of software and you should have no trouble finding threads that identify specific utilities for those functions.

As far as the fan question is concerned; the T4x series have only one fan (on the left side). What you are feeling under the right palmrest is the HDD spinning.

[ashat]

As far as the fan question is concerned; the T4x series have only one fan (on the left side). What you are feeling under the right palmrest is the HDD spinning.

really?!
I know it is a 7200 rpm but it is curios it runs so fast under a CD live that doesn't even access the HDD.

hope this is normal!

Annalisa

[ashat]

under a Knoppix CD live, it works really really silent.

The fan is doing his works of expelling hot air so silent that I can hardly hear it.

Very nice!

As far as the fan question is concerned; the T4x series have only one fan (on the left side). What you are feeling under the right palmrest is the HDD spinning.

really?!
I know it is a 7200 rpm but it is curios it runs so fast under a CD live that doesn't even access the HDD.

hope this is normal!

Annalisa