ThinkPad 701C: What exactly constitutes "museum quality"?

[rabbitsquadron]

I have seen people refer to various pieces of older IBM equipment as “museum quality”. But I’m really not sure just how “mint” something has to be in order for this to be an accurate description. I have a Thinkpad 701C that I bought retail new and still have ALL the original packaging, paperwork, software, ads & offers and accessories that came with it. Ext. floppy, charger, docking port, etc. Even the little spare Trac Point replacement nubs! It saw very little use and has been stored in the box for many years. Butterfly opens smooth as silk.

As with most of these older 701s, the battery has leaked. The good news: it was not inside the battery slot when it leaked. It was wrapped in a Ziploc bag and in the place that it would be when the computer ships new. The only other flaw with this 701 is that when it boots, it gives a dead CMOS battery message. It will continue to boot just fine and runs flawlessly. (I just got done being trapped playing Solitaire for 45 minutes.) It has Win 3.11 factory loaded. DX4, 24MB RAM, 720MB HD. No mods, never opened or repaired, no marks or scratches, non-smoking environment. I read how much of a challenge it would be to replace the CMOS battery, so I figured the computer would be worth more if I didn’t even try.

So how would this be fairly described in an ad? I know there are a lot of these floating around in fair-to-horrible condition, and there aren’t too many in spectacular condition, because people actually USED them. I pampered this one the relatively few times I did use it.

I have no idea what asking price to place on this. I cant find a "comp" for this anywhere. Obviously I could set a reserve on ebay and just let the market decide the value. I DO NOT want to use words like “museum quality” to describe it if that is not an accurate statement. Probably a good idea if I set up a photo session.

Doug

[Unknown_K]

Unless the photo is crisp and very high resolution you will not notice skuffs and other problems in the rubber like finish. How well the keyboard mechanism works (is it smooth when opening and closing) is important.

Top quality to me would be one owner who upgraded to a different model the next year and kept all the documentation, original media, and box.

For the most money you need a new CMOS battery and a working main battery.

[rabbitsquadron]

Yes, I think that photos would require good lighting so that the rubber can be shown without going black. I'm considering posting high-res shots on a personal web page so that it wouldn't tie up some other site's bandwidth.

I am certainly the original owner. I used to make Powerpoint slides for corporate customers. The laptop was just used a few times so that I could make corrections and modem them in for imaging. But it wasn't really necessary too often. A few years later, I picked up a Dell, which I just last month replaced with a ThinkPad SL410 (I know, not a REAL ThinkPad!). Looking for reviews about the new laptop was when I discovered this forum. (If anyone saw the excellent condition my nearly 10-year old Dell is in, they would understand how my 701C could be so clean. I paid about $1800 for the 701C, almost 2x what my first car cost 20 years prior to that. I was pretty careful with the thing. More careful than I was with my car, to be sure.)

I read horror stories about people who tried to replace the CMOS battery and couldn't get the poor thing back together again. Tracking down a #1 Torx bit seems to be the LEAST of the worries. I agree that it could reduce the value, since it's so invasive to replace. And I would have to weigh the cost of a new main battery against the reduction in value without it.

This is one of those situations where it would be so useful for local buyer who could see the thing in person, but collectors are pretty much scattered around the world.

[hjanzen]

I saw an old post mentioning that the CMOS battery is soldered to the underside of the lower motherboard , reason that replacement is hardly possible.
I wonder if someone can confirm this

[sb102]

I saw an old post mentioning that the CMOS battery is soldered to the underside of the lower motherboard , reason that replacement is hardly possible.
I wonder if someone can confirm this

I can confirm this - I had to change the CMOS battery in my 701C. And yes, the process is very hard (mainly because it's virtualy impossible to get a T0 Torx screwdriver for the keyboard-mounting screws that are in the front).

[hjanzen]

Thanks sb102.

Dismantling the laptop is not the problem for me.
I have changed the systemboard some years ago, and I have the famous torx nr 1 screwdriver. But I did not pay attention to the CMOS battery that time.
If it comes to soldering parts to the systemboard I am afraid I must forget it..
Never mind, the 701C is not my only laptop, although I am proud to have one.

[ajkula66]

I believe that there's a post with linked pictures somewhere on this forum by RealBlackStuff detailing CMOS battery replacement from the time when he was restoring the 701C in my signature, and yes, it was a PITA by all means, that's why I haven't done it myself...

And to OP...not too many people are willing to dish out any serious cash for museum-quality ThinkPads nowadays...so you may just want to hold on to that butterfly for another ten years until they become even more scarce...

My $0.02 only...

[rabbitsquadron]

...not too many people are willing to dish out any serious cash for museum-quality ThinkPads nowadays...so you may just want to hold on to that butterfly for another ten years until they become even more scarce...

Well, I can certainly hang onto it... although people forget how large the thing is when it's in the original box! As I run out of room around here, I'll continue to re-evaluate it. But I'm curious - is the CMOS battery going to leak out onto the MOBO and cause increasing damage over time?

[Unknown_K]

Plenty of people are spending decent money for old desktop computers, since laptops have taken over the computer market I expect them to be collectable in a dozen years (by which time most will be broken and recycled). At least they take up less space then a desktop.

I would remove the main battery from the 701C (actually any laptop) if you are going to store it for any long period of time. I usually leave coin type CMOS batteries in place since the odds of them leaking are remote. Just make sure they are stored in the house somewhere dry where the humidity and temp does not flucturate that much (and out of direct sunlight).

Still I would not keep something just expecting it to be worth some money down the road, I collect because I like using the old relics now. And I know that the only models that will be worth something will have been the ones I never had or got rid of ages ago anyway.

[RealBlackStuff]

I posted 3 times about a CMOS battery on a 701C:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=73649
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=74898
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=81514
I do have pictures about the corrosion, which I sent to George (ajkula66), but did not publish.