T30

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joecolerulz · #1 Post by **joecolerulz** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:47 am

Hi guys , just purchased a Thinkpad T30. So far so good its 2nd hand refurbished with 3 months warranty. 2ghz pm4 processor , 40 gig hdd and 512 ram so not to bad.

Question - This model there has been heat problems reported correct? Well will something like this be benificial so i can play certain games - http://www.pccasegear.com/prod2052.htm and will it fit underneath the T30 no probs?

Question - How do you rate the T30? im just after something reliable and ok speed and the specs are ok.

cheers great to be here

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:33 am

Welcome to Thinkpads.com

I have a T30 myself and am quite happy with it. First thing I did was replace the thermal paste between CPU and cooler with Arctic Silver 5.
Make sure the CPU air-inlet (on the back above the RH USB-port) is not blocked, and keep any fluff out of the cooler. You can easily get at that, by taking off the keyboard (only 2 screws).
Download the Hardware Maintenance Manual here, loads of info.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-42308

In my part of the world it's not hot enough to warrant such a cooler.
You should ask to try it out, or borrow one from a friend first.

These T30s are quite reliable, although I would not consider them gaming machines, the graphics are too low-class. But it's great for your everyday portion of work, like Office programs, browsing, emailing, etc. I do web-design on them as well.

Any questions, just browse the T2x/T30 forum, use the Search function and post if you can't find it.
Enjoy the fantastic support you'll be getting here.

joecolerulz · #3 Post by **joecolerulz** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:50 am

yeah thanks mate , i aint interesting in tinkering with it and taking it apart etc because i will end up stuffing it up knowing me , do you think that cooling thing im going to purchase will be good?

also i dont want to play high tech games just mainly football management games , they arent hard on graphics just processing.......

cheers

ronbo613 · #4 Post by **ronbo613** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:02 am

If you have a T30 that is under warranty, I'd suggest you make sure both memory slots are working. The T30 RAM slot issue is well documented on this forum.

joecolerulz · #5 Post by **joecolerulz** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:11 am

how do i do that?

ronbo613 · #6 Post by **ronbo613** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 3:41 pm

Put one stick of memory in each of the two slots and see if it all shows up. Borrow a stick from somebody buy another module. They are pretty cheap. I've got 768MB in my T30, very snappy performance with XP Pro, saves hard drive wear and tear by not having to go to the pagefile all the time, 1G would be nice.

#7 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:04 pm

I had a T30 as my main machine for about 8 or 9 months as my main machine, I had maxed out the ram and put in a 7200rpm HD, my processor was the 1.8Ghz PM. It was a solid machine and great for my type of work, which is not sitting at a desk at all. I was very close to upgrading the processor but was concerned about heat issues, so I can't comment on how it will turn out for you. But overall everything on the machine worked flawlessly, I bought it from the IBM site as a certified used machine, now my girlfriend has it and uses it everyday, and her kids also use it, so it is a tough machine.

It was a 2366-81U.

joecolerulz · #8 Post by **joecolerulz** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:44 pm

thanks guys. I aint interested in upgrading the ram or processor the spec is ok. I did a memory check with pc doctor and it worked ok.... i just want a reliable comp and i chose IBM over compaq cause it is very well known.

what exactly is the memory problem does it cause crashes or something?

#9 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:51 pm

The memory problem is that the slot does not recognize there is ram in it. There is some pretty long threads back in this series conference in reference to that issue.

joecolerulz · #10 Post by **joecolerulz** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:01 pm

you mean if it says 512 ram it wont actually use all the ram? Or the problem only happens when you update to a gig?

Does it cause crashes?

#11 Post by **Kyocera** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:04 pm

If you have two stick of ram in your pc and it shows the proper amount of memory you don't have the memory slot problem, a lot of people bring up that point becuase it was a popular problem way back when. If you are showing the proper amount of memory don't worry about it.

Rick Aguinaldo · #12 Post by **Rick Aguinaldo** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:19 pm

joecolerulz wrote:you mean if it says 512 ram it wont actually use all the ram? Or the problem only happens when you update to a gig?

One (or may possibly become both?) of the memory sockets does not provide proper hold on the stick to effect good contact, thus only half of the installed memory is read. Just in case in the future, one of your T30's memory socket goes awry, you may try the remedy I made. I taped a piece of plastic spacer on the back of the memory cover so that it lightly presses against the module in question (and thus correcting the contact problem) when it is closed. The spacer thickness was determined by trial and error. So far the trick (crude as may sound) is working fine. If memory serves right, a more elegant solution using a replacement clip for the memory stick is described in the threads that deal with this problem.

agarza · #13 Post by **agarza** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 12:46 pm

The T30 is a great machine. I bought it new in Sep 2002, served me well until last year, when I sold it. Unfortunately it developed the memory slot problem after the warranty expired so that a 256MB extra module was not recognized by the BIOS (even tried the trick but only worked for a few days).

I would say is a pretty solid machine, considerably more ticker than a T4x laptop, but upgrading the HDD to 7200rpm is going to serve you pretty well

I did game on that machine a lot, mainly driving games like NFS Porsche Unleashed and even NFS Most Wanted (with 768MB) of RAM. I also changed the thermal compound to Arctic silver 5. The fan span life is somewhat short, as the fan started to need oiling maintenance, and rather often got the Fan Error message at POST. Quite annoying

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