My T43 (1st Thinkpad!!!) has just arrived---few questions.

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hootpie · #1 Post by **hootpie** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:42 pm

First, thanks for reading through this and posting a helpful reply

It's finally here (the FDA, UPS, and Lenovo figured it out finally!).

This thing is built qiute well, but there are a few things I need to verify as unique problems or common to the T4x laptops:

1) The DVD-RW when ejected (read: open so I can put a CD/DVD in it) droops and actually touches my desk. There is also a pretty big gap between the top of the physical drive and the casing and I can move the DVD-RW drive up and down quite a bit in there. I'd say there's about a 1/4" gap.

2) Relating to the above, the case flexes there a lot. The corner piece between the DVD-RW drive and the right part of the keyboard can be depressed quite a bit until it hits the actual DVD-RW drive. I'll borrow my gf's camera to take some pictures to help clarify later.

3) The right wrist rest area makes a clicking noise and depresses if I press down on it fairly lightly (a little bit harder than I press the keys). The left wrist rest area does not do this at all (no noise, no depression).

4) The portion of the laptop between the keyboard and LCD (flat black panel) seems loose.

5) The fan is strange. On battery power with power management set to "maximum battery life" (fan noise level at t
he minimum), the fan noise is quite noticeable and ALWAYS on. On A/C power set to "maximum performance", the fan noise is the exact same as on battery power/max batt life and is also always on.

All I'm doing while the fan is on the whole time is listening to music, chatting and browsing on Firefox. Nothing too strenuous. The laptop doesn't get warm at all and it's blowing COOL air. It's not a dealbreaker, but it is strange.

Maybe I'm being too picky, but I've heard that Thinkpads are rock solid. The case flex, the problem with the DVD-RW drive and the various flexing and clicking is worrying me. I wanted the venerable IBM build quality I heard so much about!

Am I being too picky? Should I try to get a replacement (and wait another 3 weeks) T43? Should I try to get it replaced with a T42?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Here are the specs in case you don't know them:

266875U
14.1" SXGA+
2.0ghz
80gb 5400rpm
512mb
Atheros WiFi
Fingerprint Reader
Bluetooth
DVD-RW
3year warranty
64mb x300

Champ · #2 Post by **Champ** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:51 pm

slight flexing normal. you can grab a Thinkpad by the corner and it'll be structualy sound unlike most laptops that would snap off after a while.

hootpie · #3 Post by **hootpie** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 7:53 pm

Champ wrote:slight flexing normal. you can grab a Thinkpad by the corner and it'll be structualy sound unlike most laptops that would snap off after a while.

What about the rest of the problems?

mysbca · #4 Post by **mysbca** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:27 pm

1) That's normal. It is less than an 1/8" of an inch, not a 1/4".

edit: I mean the 1/8" gap is normal, but not the sagging drive.

2) The flexing is normal.

3) Under the right wrist rest area is the hard drive. I don't hear clicking noise on mine though.

4) Don't know about this one. Mine is pretty solid. How is it loose? It is a continuous piece of plastic around the keyboard, except around the volume/power button area.

5) That is the the normal fan operation that some people are complaining about on the T43s.

hootpie · #5 Post by **hootpie** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:33 pm

mysbca wrote:1) That's normal. It is less than an 1/8" of an inch, not a 1/4".

2) The flexing is normal.

3) Under the right wrist rest area is the hard drive. I don't hear clicking noise on mine though.

4) Don't know about this one. Mine is pretty solid. How is it loose? It is a continuous piece of plastic around the keyboard, except around the volume/power button area.

5) That is the the normal fan operation that some people are complaining about on the T43s.

Thanks for the reply

Does your DVD-RW drive sag and touch the surface its on when opened?

The part that is loose is to the right of the power button. It's not the panel that houses the access ibm/volume buttons, but the piece that is continuous. Just to the right and above the power button (above the PrtSc/NumLk/Pause buttons) it is loose. I can jiiggle it up and down a lot and side to side a little bit.

#6 Post by **K. Eng** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:34 pm

In my opinion, everything is normal except 1 and 3. I've never seen the optical drive tray droop enough to touch the desk, and the righthand palmrest shouldn't be clicking out of the box

mysbca · #7 Post by **mysbca** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 8:40 pm

hootpie wrote:Does your DVD-RW drive sag and touch the surface its on when opened?

No, my CDRW does not sag that much. Also, the part around the keyboard does not move.

hootpie · #8 Post by **hootpie** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 11:32 am

^ That doesn't make me feel any better lol

DIGITALgimpus · #9 Post by **DIGITALgimpus** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 11:35 am

My DVD-RW does the exact same thing... not quite to the desk, but pretty close.

My old A31's CD-RW was exactly the same.

SteveDC · #10 Post by **SteveDC** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 11:33 am

I'd just send it back for a refund and reorder. I do it all the time. I find that one out of three is fine on average. If Lenovo starts getting more returns they may tighten up on quality control.

denthorq · #11 Post by **denthorq** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 12:14 am

I don't want the fan being always on. So I returned mine for T42 and I love it. Very quite

hootpie · #12 Post by **hootpie** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:27 am

denthorq wrote:I don't want the fan being always on. So I returned mine for T42 and I love it. Very quite

Are there any other differences between the two? Were you able to get a comparable T42 for the same price?

christopher_wolf · #13 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:49 am

Just to be clear on this, the fan on the T43 does *not* always stay on; I have had my T43 for several months now and it hasn't been too loud or annoying in the slightest. Especially in the Library...it is pretty quiet. During boot up and for the first 45 minutes to an Hour, the fan is not spinning as far as I can tell. After that it revs up a bit, then goes back down for another hour and a half. It does not stay on all the time unless I have maxed out my settings and am plugged into the Mains. Even then, I am able to throttle down my usage if I need to...or unplug the Mains while I am under a heavy work load, then plug it back in to make it go away. Furthermore, I work in a pretty quiet environment...I have compared it to a T42, and they both come out similar with the T42 only being slightly quieter under a full load. There aren't any other issues that I know of, besides the 2010 Error, that is different between the T43 and T42

hootpie · #14 Post by **hootpie** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:53 am

Right now I'm sitting with the T43 on my lap. The fan has been on for over an hour now and is blowing cool air. I have the computer set to "maximum battery life" which is also the lowest "fan noise" setting. The fan isn't blaring, but it's loud enough that I can hear it even though I have the TV on.

I honestly can't remember if the fan has ever turned off. It seems to always be on regardless of whether I'm on A/C or battery, max performance or max battery life.

christopher_wolf · #15 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:15 am

Strange...my system is very similar to yours, except I have the 2915ABG Wireless Card; have you tried loading and unloading the CPU? I tried doing that several times...I noticed that when the CPU temperature drops below 55 degrees the fan stops or at least spools down for awhile. The only strange thing about it is the temperature response; it is as if the Control System has *very* sensitive feeback to the rate of temperature change. That seems to be the only explanation I can think up of since the T42 doesn't seem to either rev the fan up as much or as long as th T43. This could also be the cause of fan speed oscillations about a certain set point. It may indeed be that it is way too sensitive to a change in the Temperature and is trying to compensate via agressive PD Control. I still wouldn't send mine in for a T42 though

hootpie · #16 Post by **hootpie** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:26 am

If that was my only problem, I wouldn't care (I've had loud laptops before), but the case flexing bothers me a lot. A new thing I noticed is when the lid closes, the right portion near the lid release moves up and down quite a bit and squeaks!

christopher_wolf · #17 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:30 am

Hmmm...you mean the Right top corner isn't always flush with the lower chassis when you close it? Interesting...Don't all the T4X Series Thinkpads use the same Chassis?

hootpie · #18 Post by **hootpie** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 2:39 am

christopher_wolf wrote:Hmmm...you mean the Right top corner isn't always flush with the lower chassis when you close it? Interesting...Don't all the T4X Series Thinkpads use the same Chassis?

I think I failed at explaining that. When the lid is closed, the right front corner (right near the latch release) moves up and down a lot. It's flush, but it isn't a tight "seal" like the left side is. It moves up and down and makes a squeaking noise.

#19 Post by **BillMorrow** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:07 am

hootpie wrote:I think I failed at explaining that. When the lid is closed, the right front corner (right near the latch release) moves up and down a lot. It's flush, but it isn't a tight "seal" like the left side is. It moves up and down and makes a squeaking noise.

one latch release lever, two latch hooks..
are you sure both hooks are fully seated in the base unit..??

christopher_wolf · #20 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:12 am

Wow...I measured mine a few minutes ago with some calipers and a bit of thin folded paper I used as a wedge; I cannot get more than 2.3 mm movement from flush before I meet forceful resistance.

hootpie · #21 Post by **hootpie** » Sat Nov 05, 2005 3:17 am

BillMorrow wrote:
hootpie wrote:I think I failed at explaining that. When the lid is closed, the right front corner (right near the latch release) moves up and down a lot. It's flush, but it isn't a tight "seal" like the left side is. It moves up and down and makes a squeaking noise.
one latch release lever, two latch hooks..
are you sure both hooks are fully seated in the base unit..??

Of course!

My T43 (1st Thinkpad!!!) has just arrived---few questions.

Is my T43 normal and acceptable (for a Thinkpad)?

My T43 (1st Thinkpad!!!) has just arrived---few questions.

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