How long should I expect a T42 to last?

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wearetheborg · #1 Post by **wearetheborg** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:01 am

Ignoring HDD failures, how long should a T42 last?
Put more concretely, what is y such that 90% of T42s will be working in year y without failure (not taking HDD failures into account)?

pianowizard · #2 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:37 am

It depends on how you use your T42. The T42 has a high failure rate among users who like to pick it up by one of the palmrest corners. But as long as you don't do that, don't drop it onto the floor, and treat it nicely in general, the T42 (or any other laptop for that matter) should last at least ten years.

sugo · #3 Post by **sugo** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 7:02 am

My 3 years old T42 with stock motherboard and display still works like new

dcouzin · #4 Post by **dcouzin** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:48 am

wearetheborg: It depends on what you mean by "failure".
At 2 years my T42's USB 2.0 failed, requiring motherboard replacement. At 2.5 years, its LCD backlight is close to failure. If "failure" means cause for sending to the repair shop, then I doubt your number y is more than 2 or 3.
You can try conducting a poll in this forum, but the population could be biased toward recognizers of failures.

wearetheborg · #5 Post by **wearetheborg** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:17 am

dcouzin wrote:wearetheborg: It depends on what you mean by "failure".
At 2 years my T42's USB 2.0 failed, requiring motherboard replacement. At 2.5 years, its LCD backlight is close to failure. If "failure" means cause for sending to the repair shop, then I doubt your number y is more than 2 or 3.
You can try conducting a poll in this forum, but the population could be biased toward recognizers of failures.

That is scary. So the why do people pay $500+ for used T42s ?

pianowizard · #6 Post by **pianowizard** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:27 am

wearetheborg wrote:That is scary. So the why do people pay $500+ for used T42s ?

Some people believe that they use their laptops properly, so that their $500 T42's will last long enough to justify the purchase.

Domain · #7 Post by **Domain** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:30 pm

How long does a typical backlight last, anyway? I've got a T43 and have always wondered this.

agarza · #8 Post by **agarza** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:42 pm

If you take care of your laptop there should be plenty of years to service. Having owned 3 Thinkpads in the past, none of them had got dead, I sold only my T30 in replacement for a new T42p.

I'm 1 year now with my T42p and by far pretty happy (though I'd like a new T61p)

Melvyn · #9 Post by **Melvyn** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:03 am

My T42 bought in 2005 has 1 year in my hands and has warranty until august 2008. So, I don't expect any failure until... let's say: 2010

schmaud · #10 Post by **schmaud** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:46 am

It all depends on the usage.

-The backlite will last as long as on any other laptop, my IBM i-series is still fine( 8/years)
- some minor plastic cracks will apear, e.g. I have one between the touchpad keys.

What seems to fail freuqntly on a t42:
- COMBO-drive, I have my 3rd in 3 years, but they are 30 euro on ebay...
- heatsink connection of the graphic card. This happens more likely if you have some torsion stress on the main board ( picking the system up on an corner). This likely never occurs if sitting always on the desk.

cheers

ralf

PS: And you likely will need a new trackpoint-cap every year or so

gunston · #11 Post by **gunston** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:44 am

yeah,
should last for ten year

#12 Post by **GomJabbar** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:21 am

I wish I could give a good answer to your question. The backlight in my first T42 lasted just over 2 years (it failed in March of this year). The backlight in my older 600E is still going strong. On the 600E, I replaced the display with a used one when I cracked the original display. This was about 2-1/2 years ago.

How long should I expect a T42 to last?

How long should I expect a T42 to last?

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