IT CAME! IT CAME!

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#91 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:40 am

Plinkerton wrote:I don't think so, but you might get lucky. IBM usa is happy to send them out, but I don't know if they would send one to Canada. it seems IBM canada is not as willing to send them out, so your luck is probably limited their. Bill might be able to get you one.

They usually go for 30 bucks, so if youre willing to spend the cash, you will probably be able to get one much easier.

k3vb0t, I'm sorry to tell you, but as I expected, he like the Thai keyboard significantly better. Sorry!

just so i don't need to go seeking, please SOMEONE give me the part numbers and FRU numbers of the chinese and thai keyboards..

so that i can easily check and upgrade where needed for my customers..

thanks

Plinkerton · #92 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 3:56 pm

Rocketman, I was actually doing a search on google for "dead pixel" and I happened upon another site. I forget what it was. Anyway, it was a forum, and I was reading about a guy having problems with his ThinkPad. Another guy recommended that he email the CEO of IBM, and gave out his email. I did the same thing, and got a call back. The CEO didn't call me back, but someone up there did. It wasn't a customer care rep, it was someone who had the authority to authorize what she offered to do for me.

I called them back a minute ago, and left a voice mail. I'll let you know how it turns out.
------------------------------
Morrow, this is from a post earlier in this thread:
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I called IBM Canada..they say that they know nothing about the 08K5044 made in Thailand Keyboard...They can only replace with the regular keyboard..and that happens to be the 08K4986...I inquired and cajoled and finally ranted and raved and a supervisor will get back to me soon.
Oddly, that part # 08K5044 does not show up as a FRU part avaialble in Canada!?!? Huh???
------------------------------
That 08K5044 is the right number for a Thai keyboard, but as you can see, this person had trouble with IBM Canada and the Thai keyboard. Good luck.

#93 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:12 pm

k3vb0t wrote:
Plinkerton wrote:Thanks David. I pretty much expected another stuck pixel. It seems to be the way of life with ThinkPads. It's a shame that they can't nail the nice screens, but oh well.

it is NOT the "way" with thinkpads..!

having a stuck on pixel is, usually, quite rare..!

Plinkerton · #94 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:47 pm

Haha, I know. it's just starting to seem that way. I've had 2 in a row with them, and some other guy has had 4 in a row. It's pretty crazy. But i'm sure the fact that all of us with problem congregate here and talk about it makes it seem like there are more than there really are.

Honestly, I'd take a Thinkpad with 2 stuck pixels over most any other notebook.

We'll see what happens with replacement number 3...

#95 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:03 am

Plinkerton wrote:Haha, I know. it's just starting to seem that way. I've had 2 in a row with them, and some other guy has had 4 in a row. It's pretty crazy. But i'm sure the fact that all of us with problem congregate here and talk about it makes it seem like there are more than there really are.

Honestly, I'd take a Thinkpad with 2 stuck pixels over most any other notebook.

We'll see what happens with replacement number 3...

FWIW, i once had about 8 new T41p..
3 had stuck pixels..
only one each..
but three out of eight seemed a bit over the top..

i have a 23733UU right now with a single red stuck pixel that will either go back or be sold at a very low price..
in spite of the fact its red, it is not very obvious when using it..

lfeagan · #96 Post by **lfeagan** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:48 am

Sheesh, IBM seems to do so well on QC on everything but their LCDs. I wonder who on earth runs their QC checks for when they get in new LCD panels. They clearly need to inspect them better as they must be getting bad ones from whomever they buy them from and just not realize they are broken.

#97 Post by **BillMorrow** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 3:09 am

the panels are not "broken"..
these are just "how it is"..
i think stuck pixels are less frequent this year than several years ago..

Plinkerton · #98 Post by **Plinkerton** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 3:41 pm

See Morrow, I am one to agree with you, but then I am told otherwise. If it's just a fact of life to have stuck pixels and what not, I'd rather not deal with the problem of getting a new one, etc. I don't watch DVD's, and don't notice stuck pixels that often.

If you think that stuck pixels are less frequent now than several years ago, maybe that really is how it is. I'm willing to accept one pixel out of a few million that has a problem.

With my case, I'm still going to ask them to send me another one, while I get to keep my own. It's no skin off my teeth, no shipping for me, and no taking anything to the post office. If it's better, than I'll take it, if not, back it goes, and we'll have another statistic of 3 out of 3 for me having had stuck pixels.

Plink

jordi32 · #99 Post by **jordi32** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 10:52 pm

Pinkerton,

I am very surprised that someone called you back after sending an email to the CEO of IBM. I did the same thing since as you know I received four defective T42's in a row but no one called me or e mailed me back!!! I guess IBM is not democratic! But you know, I don't care anymore. I really do not want to deal with IBM direct anymore. As soon as I get my credit from IBM I will order from Bill. I think that if people ordered from Bill in the first place, they could save themselves from lots of aggravation and time wasted. I regret not having done it before. I would have had a fully working ThinkPad by now.

Jordi

Plinkerton · #100 Post by **Plinkerton** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 11:35 pm

I know what you mean jordi. I was actually pretty content with this T42, besides the pixels. I was happy looking past them. I talked to that lady again today, and asked her some questions she didn't know the answers to, so she is getting back to me. She hasn't blown me off yet though, so it still seems to be going okay.

I was trying to find out specifically if there would be no problem sending back the one they are sending me, if it turned out to be just as bad as the one I have now. I also need to find out about switching components and all that.

It seems like it will take a few days until they send me one out, but it doesn't matter, as I'm fine waiting as long as I have a computer.

I'll still keep you all updated.

jordi32 · #101 Post by **jordi32** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 9:59 pm

I got a call from someone at IBM today and he offered me a swap but he said that there was no warranty that the new Thinkpad would be dead/stuck pixel free. The good thing about the swap is that I would get to keep the defective Thinkpad T42 until I receive the new one. I think I am going to go through Bill though since he can cherry pick for me.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Jordi

lfeagan · #102 Post by **lfeagan** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 10:03 pm

I see....picking off cherries for you...eh?

Okay, its late and I am tired...just blurted that out

#103 Post by **JaneL** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:08 pm

And yet you still hit send. Please don't be crude.

Plinkerton · #104 Post by **Plinkerton** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 11:12 pm

jordi32, they won't guarantee anything for me either. I just figured, since I don't need to do anything for them to send me one, I might as well have them do it anyway. If the next one sucks too, I'll just keep the one I have.

Plinkerton · #105 Post by **Plinkerton** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 6:47 am

UPDATE:

They just send out my new TP on the 11th. It should come this week sometime I guess. I'm pretty much over the whole thing, but I guess if it's perfect, with no bad pixels, it will be cool.

Either way, it doesn't matter. I've grown to love the TP I already have. I'll let you all know.

Plink

I get Taurens · #106 Post by **I get Taurens** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 2:24 pm

All the best wishes to your new thinkpad, hope it turns out to be perfect!!

Plinkerton · #107 Post by **Plinkerton** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 3:22 pm

Thanks a lot. It's funny. I've gone thru so many changes of heart about this. I've wished at times, that when it arrives, it will have dead pixels, so I don't have to switch to it, and I can just throw it in the box and send it back, not worrying about anything.

I'm not positive as to what I'm going to do to switch all my stuff over. My thought has been to swap HD's before I even turn the new one on for the first time. I hope it works. If someone's done this PLEASE let me know, as I've heard no concrete evidence that this will work well.

Maybe I'll try the System Migration Assistant from the IBM website also. It seems to sound helpful.

Thanks,
Plink

lfeagan · #108 Post by **lfeagan** » Sun Nov 14, 2004 4:06 pm

Sweet Plink!
My new T42p shipped out on the 11th from HK too. I am super excited for it to get here and see how it looks, hopefully no dead pixels this time around.

/CrossesFingers

Plinkerton · #109 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:51 pm

HOORAY!!! THE SCREEN IS PERFECT!!! Thank you all very much for listening to my story. I now have a perfect T42 with NO DEAD PIXELS!!!

I can't believe how easy it was to swap HDs. I just swapped them before I even turned the new one on for the first time, and it's exactly like my other computer. Every setting, and EVERY little thing transferred over. The only thing I had to do was add this MAC address to my MAC filtering list on my Wifi rounter, and now all is good.

I've gotta say it though, having two T42s sitting next to each other, as cool as it is, is really bad for me. I am now comparing every tiny detail on them, and noticing more little "flaws" and what not. I'm stoked to have a nice screen though. I guess in the end it was worth the wait, though this new one will have to gain my trust like the other one has. No annoying red dots on the screen!

As long as this all took, I will now recommend IBM to everyone. At least they took the time and the effort to make everything right. I figured I'd be swapping keyboards, but this one has the blue bumpers also, which seems to mean that it's Thai, thought I do like the feeling of the other one better. The battery is good on this one also, and overall feels tighter everywhere else. My palm rest is tighter on this one also.

So, unless I update here with some bad news, I know have a success story. I'm not going to send the other one back for a few days, until I run the paces with this one, but all appears to be perfect.

Good luck lfeagan! Perfection can be achieved! I was getting skeptical there for a while. Apparently 3rd times a charm...

I get Taurens · #110 Post by **I get Taurens** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:22 pm

What a great ending to this story, I am so happy for you, and hope you enjoy using your thinkpad!!

lfeagan · #111 Post by **lfeagan** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 4:41 pm

Oh yeah!!! It (my T42p) came and has no (count 'em, ZERO) dead/stuck pixels. I win!!! I feel like I just beat Ken Jennings (the guy who won 74 astounding times on Jeopardy)

Man that guy is soooo 1337! And this notebook is sooo SWEET! SCHWING!

Plinkerton · #112 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:16 pm

WOOOHOO!!! We should throw a party to celebrate!!! A NO DEAD PIXEL PARTY! YEEEEHAAA!!!

GO KEN JENINGS!!! GIVE ME SOME OF YOUR MONEY!!!

lfeagan · #113 Post by **lfeagan** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:38 pm

LOL, yeah, too bad after he gives the Mormon church (and the govt) their share he won't have much leftover to give you.

Plinkerton · #114 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:41 pm

Oh yeah. I forgot about that... Crazy Mormons... No offense...

Is he off the show finally? Did someone beat him?

One thing I noticed, well, I think I noticed, is that the fan seems to run more on this computer. It doesn't necessarily seem to run any hotter or anything, but it seems to run more.

I've heard about this issue about the fan never stopping, but my other one never seemed to have this. Does anyone know what the consensus was about this issue? Was it a big deal? Was it fixable? It doesn't pulse or anything, it just runs.

Thanks,
Plink

rocketman · #115 Post by **rocketman** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 6:52 pm

When I was about to check for bad or stuck pixels on the T42 I received today I was sure I was going to find at least one. To my pleasant surprise there's not a single bad pixel, I feel like I won the lottery!
As far as the fan even when it's on it's not loud at all, so far it's a 10 out of 10 experience.

Plinkerton · #116 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 7:27 pm

Yeah, the fan on these things is so quiet, it's great, even if it's running all the time.

And you should feel lucky about the pixels. I got 2 in a row, and another guy on here got 4 in a row with bad pixels!

Seriouly, if they weren't willing to do a "hotswap", I wouldn't have gotten a new one.

edcard · #117 Post by **edcard** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:03 pm

Congratulations, no one should have to put up with bad pixels after paying so much. I know I would have returned my T42p if there had been any, but luckily it was pixel perfect.

I wonder what happens with your Windows XP license when you swap the hard drives. Isn't the license number tied to the particular laptop where XP was installed?

Plinkerton · #118 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:31 pm

ehh... I never thought of that. Hopefully someone can clarify. It has been such a blessing to be able to just swap HDs. I'm in the middle of midterms and papers, and all that crap.

I really hope there is no issue with that. I haven't told IBM that I swapped them, as I didn't want them to tell me I wasn't allowed to. I don't want to take the time to reconfigure everything, and reinstall all my stuff. What a drag that would be...

I don't want to deal with this anymore!

lfeagan · #119 Post by **lfeagan** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 10:36 pm

Yes, I was thinking about the whole have to replace keyboard if its Chinese and not Thai and the pixel thing. For those who buy a Thinkpad G or R Series, bad pixels and non-top of the line keyboards would seem reasonable to be par for the course based on their pricing. But for those who buy a T42p, they really shouldn't send out a single one for the price range they are in that have a bad pixel or a cheap keyboard or a battery that doesn't fit just right.

As far as the whole hard drives thing goes. I know IBM has some special deals with Microsoft. For example, MS actually requires you to have a Windows key and the Application key if you are going to sell a Windows based system in retail and you are an OEM corporation. IBM, on the otherhand, is not required to do this as they have special contracts with MS dating back to when they sold DOS to them long ago. I do believe that they all have some special agreements regarding how WPA works on their systems to make sure customers don't have issues with doing things like that.

Plinkerton · #120 Post by **Plinkerton** » Mon Nov 15, 2004 11:13 pm

Sweet. I hope you're right. I'm not gonna do anything about it for now. If it turns out to be a problem, I'll just raise some serious hell with IBM.

IT CAME! IT CAME!

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