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DrThinkpad · #1 Post by **DrThinkpad** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 8:51 pm

No one took care of these babies, they deserved better...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0110202502

Comments on how people don't treat well their Thinkpads ?

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#2 Post by **schen** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:12 pm

Houston Mississippi itself is in the northern half of the state more toward Memphis but, seeing as how these machines are some years old, I wouldn't be a bit surprised it they came from down a little further south in the state where I hear that they might of had a bit of water trouble a while back.

Maybe around the time that A31s were more commonly in use.

olex126 · #3 Post by **olex126** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:22 pm

Schen, believe it or not, we had used CARS up here in Canada that were written off when they were flooded by Katrina. I watched a used car dealer in my area restore 2 cadillacs he had imported from Louisiana. Carpets, electronics, seats, etc... all were completely soaked through and had to be ripped out and replaced.

Don't know how the guy made any profit after all the work he put into getting them into salable condition.

Regards.

Dave

sparta.rising · #4 Post by **sparta.rising** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:43 pm

They don't look that bad. I bought a T41 covered in chocolate. I bought a Latitude D800 covered in lilac candle wax.

#5 Post by **schen** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:07 pm

olex126 wrote:Schen, believe it or not, we had used CARS up here in Canada that were written off when they were flooded by Katrina. I watched a used car dealer in my area restore 2 cadillacs he had imported from Louisiana. Carpets, electronics, seats, etc... all were completely soaked through and had to be ripped out and replaced.

Don't know how the guy made any profit after all the work he put into getting them into salable condition.

Oh; they'll figure out ways to make a profit, never fear! Back in the mid-90s I moved to New Orleans the summer after a particularly bad flood and the hot topic of discussion were cars being sold that LOOKED fine, but would stop running after not too long since the inside of the transmissions would rust up. Apparently, most modern automatic transmissions have a "breather" hole on top of the housing. You were fine as long as you didn't try to start or run the car with that hole under water. Otherwise, you'd suck water into the inner working of the transmission and that would turn out badly..... not immediately, but long enough for a deal to sell you a car and have you going for a while. And that's not even taking in account the hidden wet areas that would rust out eventually, but that'd probably not be such an issue in the Great White North wear it was liable to rust out soon anyway.

#6 Post by **schen** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:19 pm

sparta.rising wrote:They don't look that bad. I bought a T41 covered in chocolate. I bought a Latitude D800 covered in lilac candle wax.

I agree! I've seen much worse. I used to work IT at a large public university in Texas where at that time (I don't know whether that's changed), you couldn't sell off any old computer equipment as surplus like you could other items such as chairs, bookcases etc. So, all the computers were sent to a big warehouse on an old AF Base where they sat in piles until there was enough so they could be palletted and sent to the prison system (I have no idea what the prisons did with them). But anyway, they just sat there for months.

One of my favorite pass-times was to go out there in late Oct. and Nov. when the infamous Texas summer heat was over and all our summer upgrades were done and dig around carrying my phillips screwdriver and a cardboard box. They didn't care what I took out of the machines since the only thing that mattered was that the case with the inventory barcode was still left! So I prowled around looking for useful parts, armed with a phillips screwdriver and a cardboard box. I dug in some pretty UGLY and nasty machines out there, but I'll bet I saved my department thousands of $$$ over the course of a few months. RAM, print servers, network cards, power supplies; you name it. It was a lot of fun for me. Other people thought I was crazy. In the process I did manage to learn how to take apart virtually anything!

sparta.rising · #7 Post by **sparta.rising** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:12 am

I used to do IT work for a large public university in Illinois and it was the same story. But they never let me go to the surplus warehouse, I would have had a field day there. Some nice machines were sent to surplus. When a machine was out of warranty, and a part broke that wasn't a hard drive, it was marked for surplus. When I managed to get to the piles before they got carted off to surplus, I usually was able to fix some of it. The departments didn't want it so it'd stay around the IT office. Supposedly local schools were able to go and take systems, but I hear it didn't happen very often.

Heh, in the short time I did that work I accumulated more than a few gross tech stories. And we only worked on lab and professor computers!

virge · #8 Post by **virge** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:20 am

DrThinkpad wrote:No one took care of these babies, they deserved better...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0110202502

Comments on how people don't treat well their Thinkpads ?

I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of the machines still worked. I picked up a 770Z (prior to my 770X) that was described as in "great condition." It arrived with cracked and dead LCD panel, LCD bezel missing a section about 5-6", and the worst part of it was that it smelled wet. You know how electronics that have been in water have a distinct musty smell? 1/2 to 1/3 the screws on the machine had rust and when I opened up the casing I was surprised to see that the aluminum heatsink was corroded! The aluminum parts looked like the sacrificial zinc anodes on a boat motor! Guess what though? That laptop booted right up and worked fine with an external monitor.... I just wish I knew the story behind how it got in that condition.

sparta.rising · #9 Post by **sparta.rising** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:42 am

Alright, I picked up an R51 today from a corporate auction. When I picked it up it looked like the ultrabay drive had been removed. No big deal, was a good price. When I took it home to take a closer look, I realized that they had removed the tray of the DVD/CD-RW drive, but not the casing. WTF? If you don't get what I mean, open up your drive and give the tray a good yank (no, please don't do this). I give this gives new meaning to travel bezel.

#10 Post by **schen** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:22 pm

sparta.rising wrote:I used to do IT work for a large public university in Illinois and it was the same story. But they never let me go to the surplus warehouse, I would have had a field day there. Some nice machines were sent to surplus. When a machine was out of warranty, and a part broke that wasn't a hard drive, it was marked for surplus. When I managed to get to the piles before they got carted off to surplus, I usually was able to fix some of it. The departments didn't want it so it'd stay around the IT office. Supposedly local schools were able to go and take systems, but I hear it didn't happen very often.

Heh, in the short time I did that work I accumulated more than a few gross tech stories. And we only worked on lab and professor computers!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you work? Before I moved back to Texas and started working IT at Texas Tech, I was at The University of Illinois at Chicago from '99-2000.

sparta.rising · #11 Post by **sparta.rising** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:59 pm

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Edit: I'm waiting for one of my former-coworkers to jump out of the woodwork...

ajkula66 · #12 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:07 pm

BTW, regardless of what the clearplate says, these are NOT A31p machines, but plain A31 units...

Now what makes me say that...

Guesses are welcome...

sparta.rising · #13 Post by **sparta.rising** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:17 pm

Because all A31p's are 2653 and the machine in the picture is 2652! Ooooh liar... I bet they are hurricane machines.

ajkula66 · #14 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:22 pm

Excellent catch, sparta.rising (BTW A31p units are either 2653 or 2654)...there's one more hint...

tbartold · #15 Post by **tbartold** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:56 pm

ajkula66 wrote:Excellent catch, sparta.rising (BTW A31p units are either 2653 or 2654)...there's one more hint...

What kind of evidence is that? Two of the pictures clearly show A31p. Another clearly shows 2652. All that means is that at least one is A31 and at least one is A31p.

I'd cut him some slack (although I still wouldn't buy them).

olex126 · #16 Post by **olex126** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:59 pm

I emailed the seller on these.

They are all 2653-R8U models.

Regards.

Dave

ajkula66 · #17 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:10 pm

tbartold wrote:

What kind of evidence is that? Two of the pictures clearly show A31p. Another clearly shows 2652. All that means is that at least one is A31 and at least one is A31p.

I'd cut him some slack (although I still wouldn't buy them).

Well, some of us have owned A31s that were badged A31p...that's for starters. And these are quite common on eBay, eBay, even in 14" form...

I said there was another hint, no one got it yet...

And what is in picture is by no means 2653-R8U...

tbartold · #18 Post by **tbartold** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:22 pm

ajkula66 wrote:tbartold wrote:

What kind of evidence is that? Two of the pictures clearly show A31p. Another clearly shows 2652. All that means is that at least one is A31 and at least one is A31p.

I'd cut him some slack (although I still wouldn't buy them).
Well, some of us have owned A31s that were badged A31p...that's for starters. And these are quite common on eBay, eBay, even in 14" form...

I said there was another hint, no one got it yet...

And what is in picture is by no means 2653-R8U...

OK. That R8U response does indicate they ain't what they claim to be. But if the seller lies about the model number then won't ebay cover you? They should...

olex126: can't you report "abuse" or something to ebay about this guy? You have the email/response vs the pictures to prove it.

basketb · #19 Post by **basketb** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:22 pm

ajkula66 wrote:...
I said there was another hint, no one got it yet...
And what is in picture is by no means 2653-R8U...

Could it be that there is no s-video in?

ajkula66 · #20 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:28 pm

And the winner is...basketb....

You got the second hint. Kudos. Drinks on me when we meet, be it in this life, or the next one.

@tbartold:

You obviously haven't spent that much time on eBay...any poor soul that buys these as A31p machines would never get PayPal to refund his money...but his credit card company would...

eBay is full of garbage like this, that's one of the reasons why I'm not there anyhere near as much as I used to be, buying or selling...

madkat · #21 Post by **madkat** » Tue Nov 18, 2008 5:41 am

hint that are not real A31p - for me at least - is the lack of S-Video IN jack

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