So my T30 is sent into depot repair for the 3rd time...

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Merlyn_3D · #1 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:37 pm

...in 2 months for a system board replacement. Now this time I complained about how much I had to send my laptop in (when I called to check the status only to find out it's on a parts hold for 3 days) and the rep told me I *may* qualify for the replacement program since I've sent my laptop into depot repair for the minimum of 3 required times for the same problem (system board replacement). Now he told me that my problem's been escalated to sales or something and to expect a call within 24 to 48 hours regarding possible replacement to see if they'll actually do it for me or not. My question is, has anyone ever had their thinkpad replaced in such a way? How's the procedure work? Will I get another T30 or a T40/41/42/43 with similar specs? Will I get a refurb or new? I have no idea what to expect and was hoping someone's been through the same thing.

MadeInJapan · #2 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:00 am

Hard to tell...if you're lucky they won't have any T30's and will have no choice but to upgrade! Keep your fingers crossed.

jfh · #3 Post by **jfh** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 8:10 pm

Ah yes. The T30. Typing on mine now - never know when I'll see the heat-induced blue screen of death. Had two system board replacements; had I realized I was just out of warranty, I would've gotten it replaced again.

Not sure IBM ever really fixed the heat problem with the T30s, but am looking forward to my new T43.

I suspect you'll either get a refurb T30 or an equiv T4x box as a replacement if there are no T30s in the replacement stock.

Merlyn_3D · #4 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 8:24 pm

jfh wrote:Ah yes. The T30. Typing on mine now - never know when I'll see the heat-induced blue screen of death. Had two system board replacements; had I realized I was just out of warranty, I would've gotten it replaced again.

Not sure IBM ever really fixed the heat problem with the T30s, but am looking forward to my new T43.

I suspect you'll either get a refurb T30 or an equiv T4x box as a replacement if there are no T30s in the replacement stock.

Mine were never heat problems, I had issues with it draining the battery in hibernation, then the second board just clicked off whenever it felt like it, and this one after 4 weeks of use started making the video all fuzzy with horizontal lines. I'm hoping I get a T4x though, my configuration was tougher to find. I have a T30 2366-92u, P4-M 1.8, 1400x1050, bluetooth, wifi, dvd/cd-rw. We'll see though.

MadeInJapan · #5 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:37 pm

Interesting you guys have had issues with your T30's. I haven't had a bit of problems with mine. Mine's a 2.0ghz, 60Gigs, 2Gb RAM, and NEC 6500 DVD+/- 8X multiburner rhetrofitted with IBM faceplate. It also has the higher diff. screen and wifi (but no G), but no bluetooth. I've never had any heat issues and it works flawlessly all the time. Don't know why others have had problems while I haven't, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Merlyn_3D · #6 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:11 am

MadeInJapan wrote:Interesting you guys have had issues with your T30's. I haven't had a bit of problems with mine. Mine's a 2.0ghz, 60Gigs, 2Gb RAM, and NEC 6500 DVD+/- 8X multiburner rhetrofitted with IBM faceplate. It also has the higher diff. screen and wifi (but no G), but no bluetooth. I've never had any heat issues and it works flawlessly all the time. Don't know why others have had problems while I haven't, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

My gf has my old T30 2366-51U, same specs as mine except for bluetooth, and that laptop never had any issues whatsoever. I really hope i get mine replaced though, and with a T4x, I'm currently using my work laptop a dell D610, and holy crap not only is the Pentium M and ATI card in this fast, but it has far better battery life.

Merlyn_3D · #7 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 10:22 am

So I just got a call back from IBM, the nice lady said she DEFINITELY will replace the computer with a new one, however they don't manufacture any new T30's so she's going to find an equivalent or better and send me the papers to sign. She also said since my warranty was about to expire she'd extend it 60 days so that I'd have time to see if I find anything wrong with the new machine. All I can say is WOW. I'm so happy with IBM's customer service, this is how every company should conduct their support services.

Steve007 · #8 Post by **Steve007** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:13 pm

Merlyn_3D wrote:So I just got a call back from IBM, the nice lady said she DEFINITELY will replace the computer with a new one, however they don't manufacture any new T30's so she's going to find an equivalent or better and send me the papers to sign. She also said since my warranty was about to expire she'd extend it 60 days so that I'd have time to see if I find anything wrong with the new machine. All I can say is WOW. I'm so happy with IBM's customer service, this is how every company should conduct their support services.

If only IBM would treat all their customers the same way we'd be laughing. IBM have well deserved bad customer care reputations in many parts of the world and I've had many problems with IBM (none with my personal hardware) - and I used to work for IBM UK so I have seen the 'I don't care' attitude first hand.

IBM seem to bend over backwards for North American users but their attitude elsewhere leaves a lot to be desired.

Merlyn_3D · #9 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:59 pm

So the lady I spoke to told me she was considering replacing my machine (T30 236692u SXGA+ DVD/CD-RW bluetooth, wifi) with an R52 (18494WU). Now I consider this to be a pretty good trade, but I feel like asking for another T series laptop because that's what I originally shot for when I bought my T30. Does anyone know if the R series just isn't as good as the T? Any reason why I shouldn't get the R? I know that the R series actually has a firewire port which the T series doesn't seem to.

bhtooefr · #10 Post by **bhtooefr** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:12 pm

Well, except for it being a pound heavier, it's a VERY good trade.

MadeInJapan · #11 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:41 pm

yes, bulkier too, but a 52! I'd ask for a T42 or T43 and if they don't budge, then begrudgingly accept the R52 (hold your excitment in...this is a must! ) ....mention the smaller footprint being the reason you bought the Thinkpad in the first place....good luck!

Merlyn_3D · #12 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 9:48 pm

MadeInJapan wrote:yes, bulkier too, but a 52! I'd ask for a T42 or T43 and if they don't budge, then begrudgingly accept the R52 (hold your excitment in...this is a must! ) ....mention the smaller footprint being the reason you bought the Thinkpad in the first place....good luck!

Excellent idea, I left the lady a voice mail, I also mentioned that the reason I got a T30 instead of R30 was because of the magnesium alloy casing and portability because I move my laptop everyday.

MadeInJapan · #13 Post by **MadeInJapan** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:23 pm

Let us know how you make out.

Merlyn_3D · #14 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Sat Jul 16, 2005 12:33 pm

Well I asked on friday and the lady said she'd put down the R52 because it's a shorter wait. I told her that I wanted a T series because of the portability factor and better build quality and that I wouldn't mind waiting an extra 2-4 weeks for a T43, she said she totally understood and has to check to see whta they have available and would call be back monday. I'll let you guys know.

Merlyn_3D · #15 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:20 am

Well, I got an emai this morning bright and early. They're replacing my T30 (as seen in sig) with a T43 model 2687DTU. I'm so happy!!!! They told me it would take a minimum of 15 days to ship.

JHEM · #16 Post by **JHEM** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:33 am

Merlyn_3D wrote:Well, I got an emai this morning bright and early. They're replacing my T30 (as seen in sig) with a T43 model 2687DTU. I'm so happy!!!! They told me it would take a minimum of 15 days to ship.

Sweet!! Nice to hear that some things haven't changed under the new ownership, although we should remember that IBM will be continuing to provide support services for five years under the sale agreement with Lenovo.

Two things to bear in mind with this exchange. One, the unit might be a refurb. Not really likely, but it is possible. Given the "15 days to ship" timeframe though, sounds like you'll be getting a brand spanking new Express model.

Two, in the past the warranty was not usually reset with the exchange, i.e. if there were a year remaining on the T30 warranty, there'd only be a one year warranty on the replacement machine. As the 2687 models are three year warranty machines this isn't likely to happen, but it's something you'd want to check online via model and serial number as soon as you receive it.

Congrats,

James

Merlyn_3D · #17 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:39 am

JHEM wrote:
Merlyn_3D wrote:Well, I got an emai this morning bright and early. They're replacing my T30 (as seen in sig) with a T43 model 2687DTU. I'm so happy!!!! They told me it would take a minimum of 15 days to ship.
Sweet!! Nice to hear that some things haven't changed under the new ownership, although we should remember that IBM will be continuing to provide support services for five years under the sale agreement with Lenovo.

Two things to bear in mind with this exchange. One, the unit might be a refurb. Not really likely, but it is possible. Given the "15 days to ship" timeframe though, sounds like you'll be getting a brand spanking new Express model.

Two, in the past the warranty was not usually reset with the exchange, i.e. if there were a year remaining on the T30 warranty, there'd only be a one year warranty on the replacement machine. As the 2687 models are three year warranty machines this isn't likely to happen, but it's something you'd want to check online via model and serial number as soon as you receive it.

Congrats,

James

You're absolutely right on both counts. 1) it is a new machine, the lenovo rep told me herself (yes they are all lenovo now, but it's the same people same policies) and 2) she told me my warranty was about to run out but she'd extend it 60 days to cover anythign that might be wrong with the new machine. She also sent me contact information to buy an extended warranty from their sales department.

kchung · #18 Post by **kchung** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:57 pm

The first thing I would do when the T43 arrives is check it's warranty status on the IBM Warranty page. Unless Lenovo is really slick and disables the standard warranty on the new machine, the T43 model you listed has a 3 year standard warranty.

I also noted that the T43 you listed is 15" 1400x1040 screen - was your T30 a 15" as well?

Let us know when you get the new system and if the warranty only goes as long as what is left on your T30 or if you get the full 3 years.

Merlyn_3D · #19 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:57 pm

Nope my T30 was 14", I don't think they made a 15" version of it. I was told, however, that the 14" screens were a longer wait than the 15" ones, so I gladly accepted a 15"

jhong · #20 Post by **jhong** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:52 am

beware of the T43 - 2687DDU ...

... after the 38th day my T43 had blue screen then lost video ... so i called IBM ... they gave me a local authorized support ... APEX computer in Cerritos CA .. they replaced the motherboard and then when i tried to restore to factory default .... AccessIBM cannot update because the machine type is invalid ... on top of that APEX did not put the back the casing right, screws were loose ... there is something buldging at the top the on/off switch ...

is lenovo using low class parts(motherboard dead in less than 2 months)?
And why are they trusting poor authorized service centers? ...

i called customer service then they told me that i should have sent it to the IBM depot where technicians are employed by IBM... ( are they blaming me for agreeing to go to an authorized service center? )

I bought a thinkpad because they are known for their reliability. I guess I was wrong ...

I hope you guys wont have the same frustrating experience that i had ... I could have just bought a dell ...

Merlyn_3D · #21 Post by **Merlyn_3D** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:34 am

jhong wrote:beware of the T43 - 2687DDU ...

... after the 38th day my T43 had blue screen then lost video ... so i called IBM ... they gave me a local authorized support ... APEX computer in Cerritos CA .. they replaced the motherboard and then when i tried to restore to factory default .... AccessIBM cannot update because the machine type is invalid ... on top of that APEX did not put the back the casing right, screws were loose ... there is something buldging at the top the on/off switch ...

is lenovo using low class parts(motherboard dead in less than 2 months)?
And why are they trusting poor authorized service centers? ...

i called customer service then they told me that i should have sent it to the IBM depot where technicians are employed by IBM... ( are they blaming me for agreeing to go to an authorized service center? )

I bought a thinkpad because they are known for their reliability. I guess I was wrong ...

I hope you guys wont have the same frustrating experience that i had ... I could have just bought a dell ...

Personally, I would trust depot repair 100x more than some authorized repair center I've never heard of.

jhong · #22 Post by **jhong** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 8:51 am

you are correct ....

btw they removed the 2687DDU from the website ...

there are only 6 express models left to choose from ...

So my T30 is sent into depot repair for the 3rd time...

So my T30 is sent into depot repair for the 3rd time...

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