Thinkpads Forum

Hello everybody,

This is my first post here, although I’ve been reading up a lot. Having been turned on to a Thinkpad by this forum , I went for it and got myself a new T61 brought over from the US (poor choice here and prices going through the roof). One hitch to it was that it’s on warranty, indeed, but valid in Asia; still I took the risk…

And…. after a few months’ work, the hard disk died on me, without a warning I have never imagined it might go just like that, like a snap… Now it can’t even be recognized as a slave attached to a pc—only beeping hopelessly… Could be some mechanical failure.

1. Anyway, what’s your recommendation for replacement, in other words, was this a random, statistical failure in an otherwise solid product (Seagate Momentus 7200.2, 100GB 7200 rpm) or have you guys experienced problems with them, too?

Now I remember that the disk, while subjected to specific tasks like anti-virus scanning, would occasionally go into high-pitched, metallic sort of turning-chirping sound, not loud though, (besides the normal intensive low “grinding” hum) and return back to norm afterwards—is this normal or should I have been alarmed already then?

Or could it have been that I helped it die—on that night I installed a game, and it starting crashing after some time, freezing the entire Windows, so I reset it several times in a few hours. After one such reset (with battery and AC power supply on), Windows blue-screened with Unmountable Boot Volume and that was it. Bios utility says disk read error…

2. Am I correct in thinking that, according to the hardware manual, my t61 will be compatible with anything within this range:

“[…] 100 GB, 7200 rpm, 9.5 mm high, SATA interface; 160 GB, 7200 rpm, 9.5 mm high, SATA interface; 200 GB, 7200 rpm (FDE), 9.5 mm high, SATA interface”

I’d be grateful for any word of advice.

Regards

Dominik

Welcome to the forum.

As long as you get one that is 9.5mm and SATA you should be OK. Size should not matter.

Thanks for replying.

What about the manufacturer?Do you think I should give Seagate another try?

Cheers

Domin wrote:Do you think I should give Seagate another try?

Seagate drives are normally covered by a 5 year warranty, which is the longest generally offered on retail drives. You should be able to get your drive replaced under warranty.

I have numerous Seagate 2.5" and 3.5" drives and have never personally had any failures on them.

Cheers,

Bill B.

I believe IBM/Lenovo warranties on newer machines are worldwide.

Not necessarily.

bill bolton wrote: I have numerous Seagate 2.5" and 3.5" drives and have never personally had any failures on them.

Ok, I'll stick to your opinion then and get another one of the same type (although mine was like only six months old ). Thanks.

carbon_unit wrote: Not necessarily

That's correct. My warranty location says US, and the international warranty says Asia; and that's what I've been told by a local Lenovo-authorised service centre. Anyway, I can buy a new disk on my own, can't I? (instead of sending the laptop to China). This time the cost is negligible, but my internal Kassandra is starting to project gloom visions of more serious breakdowns

The alternative would be to try to get a replacement from Seagate, for example in Germany, but they say on their site they don't accept units from individual customers and direct them (me) to the originall seller

I had made a copy of Recovery disks, so, hopefully, I'll muddle through it (?).

Dominik

Some forum members will ship to Europe. Ask them. I hope this helps save you a few $$.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... light=80gb

Ok, thanks for the feedback.