Referb T30? CPU Upgrade?

[fabriciom]

I’m about to purchase a factory refurbished T30 for $700. What do you guys know of buying refurbished stuff from IBM? According to the site the laptops usually come “like” new. Also it comes with a Pentium 4 1.6ghz but I looked up the model in ibm.com and they had T30s that went up to 2.4ghz. The question being can I upgrade the CPU like I would on a normal PC?

Thanks

[JHEM]

Yes, the CPU is in a mini-ZIF socket on the motherboard and is easily upgraded to a 2.6GHz. Takes less than 1/2 an hour to swap processors.

In addition, the unit will support 2GB RAM, not the 1GB IBM states in the specifications.

Regards,

James

[dc_slim]

I've bought two refub laptops direct from IBM -- they've both been great deals. Near-new condition (a few signs of wear if you look closely enough), no problems. You get seven days to check them out and can send 'em back if your're dissatisifed for any reason. I'd say go for it.

I'm typing on an X30 I bought from them about two months ago, in fact.

Dan

[ScoCul]

Yes, the CPU is in a mini-ZIF socket on the motherboard and is easily upgraded to a 2.6GHz. Takes less than 1/2 an hour to swap processors.

Where might I be able to find/purchase this upgrade?

In addition, the unit will support 2GB RAM, not the 1GB IBM states in the specifications.

Interesting - got any spare 1Gb SoDimm's that I might test this with? <g>

TIA
Sc.

[kchung]

If you do get a refurb T30, make sure to test both dimm sockets (more on this in a sec) and make sure the RAM access door has been swapped and the hard drive door has been retrofitted.

On a number of T30's at my company (2366-87U), we had mother board failures involving the #2 Dimm slot (the one closest to the edge of the laptop) which cause that RAM in that slot to not be visible/usable. Basically if you had two 256 sticks for 512 mb, all of a sudden you'd only see 256 - once this happened, that's all the system would see. The only recourse was to get the mb replaced.

The T30's also had a retrofit kit to which included a new RAM access cover and a hard drive door cover. The new RAM door is not flush with the bottom - it has a square "bump out" over where the RAMs sit on the mb. The new hard drive door has an extra metal spacer/shim that fills a gap between the bottom of the hard drive and the hole on the laptop frame that the screw that holds the hard drive inside the laptop goes through.

I believe the FRU part number for this kit is 26R7937.

-Kevin

[steveho]

Did you ever figure out what happened to DIMM#2? My T30 has the same problem. Although I found the problem 2 years after I purchased the machine. ....

[kchung]

Did you ever figure out what happened to DIMM#2? My T30 has the same problem. Although I found the problem 2 years after I purchased the machine. ....

Steve - At one point I think they told my company what the technical reason was.

When they came out to my company and did a "sweep" to retrofit the T30's, they replaced the doors as noted earlier and did some retrofit work to the motherboard (I think).

There is an ECA on the T30 (at least on model 236687U) - All I have for a reference is ECA 003 and the Description is : Prevent DIMM Socket Failure.

BTW, once the socket fails, the only recourse is replace the motherboard. Fortunately my company buys the 3 year, NBD warranty, so they don't even question it.

[Thinker]

fabriciom,

Like Dan said, you shouldn't have any problems buying Certified Used from IBM. I have had a T23 from January that looks almost new and operates great (Recently it stopped charging, but the problem seems to be minor, probably the AC adapter).

Two things for you to consider: Inquire about the RAM configuration to avoid surprises. Mine came with 256 Mb RAM, and I mistakenly assumed it was a 1x256 configuration (new Thinkpads I believe use single bank configuration when this is feasible), but it was in reality 2x128, so when I upgraded my RAM I was "cheated" out of 128 Mb.

Another thing: In order to buy you some peace of mind, you might try and get some sort of extended warranty (most Certified Used models only have 90 day warranties) from IBM. Thankfully, the problem with my T23 seems to be minor, but it happened about 110 days after I bought it.

Por cierto, que tal es el tiempo en Madrid?

Ruben

[underclocker]

Just one note, which you probably already know, the T30 does NOT have USB 2.0 ports, they are USB 1.1. That was the final straw that pushed me to pick up a T40. The first T series with USB 2.0.

My T40 was certified used direct from IBM and was perfect. I picked it up in February. It included more than listed - it had the high capacity 9 cell battery. And it included the balance of the original warranty which turned out to be 19 months of on site service INCLUDING ThinkPad proection (covers accidents!) I still have 16 months left.

After you factor in the upgrade price, a T40 from eBay or IBM may be better. By using one of the discount links my T40 was $942.65.

Good luck.