t42 questions - and dead pixels...

[ehd]

Alright well my T21, after a bit over three years decided to die on me.. it started making clicking sounds and after rebooting it just died and isnt detected by bios anymore, its a physical problem, something to do with its heads or something.. it can spin but it won't start up. Anyone know of any cheap recovery places? Costs like 1500 at the places I've asked around... I have like 3 years of photos in it =( I know I don't backup and I was thinking well this laptop has been really reliable... I've left it on for like half a year once... Anyhow, I'm in need of a new laptop (as I don't have a desktop... borrowing a cousin's g4 12" powerbook..) and I was looking into the T42.

My first question is whether or not the hard drive that comes with the T42 will work in the T21? I'm asking that cause I know its cheaper to buy hard drives separately than to upgrade it on the IBM site. If not I think the 60GB upgrade seems okay. Second I was wondering about the 15" and 14" debate. The 1024x768 was rather limiting in my last 14" on photoshop and flash.... So I'm really considering the 15" but I do know that both can have the radeon 64mb.. but I imagine 1400x1050 on the 14" is quite small and perhaps straining on the eyes?... I like the value of the FVU notebook that everyones praising here, (its less then 1500 on the EPP website) but I find it rather limiting as I can't upgrade the optical drive to dvd burner or upgrade anything else for that matter. Fourth I was wondering about battery life differences, for 14" and 15"... I've browsed thru this forum and didn't really find like solid comparisons but I know that I can customize the 15" on the EPP website with a 9 cell battery (which I can't change the the FVU). And I guess the final question is whether the people who have the fingerprint ID find it actually useful... seems like a cheesy overpriced gimmick?

Anyways, so right now I'm considering this customized laptop from the EPP website from the Build Your Own section... and I find it kind of odd that there isn't a 64mb radeon 14" one there... but anyways this is what I have, for a bit under 2000 before tax (but shipping is free).

1.7ghz pentium m centrino
512 mb ddr (one-stick)
15"sxga ips display
60gb 7200rpm hdd
64mb radeon
that BG wireless and bluetooth
dvd-rw drive
9 cell battery

this does not have the 3 year warranty (should i worry about that??) just the base 1 year warranty. also i was thinking if the t43 is coming out would that bring down the t42 prices... anyone know if the t42 dragged the t41 price down the second it came out? any help/recommendations/advice/arguments are welcome! thanks! =]

oh-oh and how's half life 2 on this thing.. hehe i haven't played 3d games in like years cause of the 8mb card on the t21...

[ehd]

how does ibm deal with dead pixels? are they easily exchangeable? or is it acceptable to them?

[Marc_G]

Hi Ehd-

Condolences on the drive failure. This is a lesson in the importance of frequent backups.

Drives that come with the T4x series (9mm drives) will work in the T2x series (9 or 12.5 mm drives). But the 12.5 mm drives won't fit in the T4x computers.

Marc

[K. Eng]

Here are my recommendations:

0) Buy the 3-year warranty. It costs a bit more ($200 perhaps) but it is well worth it. My Thinkpad had a system board failure after 18 months and if I didn't have the 3-year warranty I would have been out $450 or so.

1) the 15" FlexView at 1400x1050 will be excellent for photoshop work. I've seen one in person and it is much better than my 14" display.

2) Dead pixels - if you buy direct from IBM, there is a 30 day period where you can return the machine for any reason whatsoever. If you get a screen with bad pixels, you can just send it back.

Alternatively, consider buying a ThinkPad from Bill, the admin of the site (Bill@ThinkPads.com). For a fee ($100) he will cherry pick you a ThinkPad with a perfect screen.

[sktn77a]

Also, try a 2.5" external USB enclosure ($15 on pricewatch) - put your old drive in it and you may be able to get all your old pictures off. Just because it won't boot doesn't mean it can't be read.

[ehd]

i actually tried the usb enclosure.. it just spins up, ticks, spins down, and repeats over and over.. i feel like everytime it ticks im losing data =x

[BillMorrow]

try some HDD DATA recovery utilities..

this one sounds good:

**************
HDD Regenerator 1.42...

Ability to detect physical bad sectors on a hard disk drive surface

Ability to recover physical bad sectors (magnetic errors) on a hard disk
surface

Ability to create bootable regenerating diskette to start the regenerating
process under DOS (the option is supported by Windows
95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/2003). The diskette can be used if you cannot start
the regenerating process directly under Windows or if you cannot boot your
computer to Windows (no operating system is installed on your computer or
the operating system is damaged)

Ability to start the regenerating process directly under Windows (the
option is supported by Windows 95/98/ME)

Hard disk drive is an integral part of every computer. It stores all your
information. One of the most prevalent defects of hard drives are bad
sectors on the disk surface. Bad sectors are a part of the disk surface
which contains not readable, but frequently necessary information. If your
hard drive is damaged by bad sectors, it is not only becomes unfit for
use, but also you risk losing information stored on it.

If you suspect that your hard disk drive is damaged and contains bad
sectors, you have difficulties to copy data from your disk, your operating
system is unstable or you unable to boot to Windows altogether - dont rush
to throw out your disk and dont think that your important information is
irretrievably lost. Take advantage of HDD Regenerator - the unique program
for regeneration of hard disk drives. HDD Regenerator will regenerate your
hard drive by magnetic reversal. As a result, not readable damaged
information will be restored. With all this going on, the existing
information will not be lost!

HDD Regenerator regenerates hard disk drives exclusively at physical
level. It ignores file system and can be used with FAT, NTFS or any other
file system, and also with unformatted or unpartitioned disks. During
regeneration, the disk structure is not changed and the existing data is
not affected.
************

sounds to me like any damage that CAN be done (by letting the drive run for an hour) HAS been done..

like, how many hits with a hammer can a waterford crystal wine glass TAKE before it is totally smashed..?

[ellinj]

I just got a new 14" T42 from IBM EPP, It has one dead pixel in the lower right corner. stuck on red, is it worth sending this back or am I likely to just get another dead pixel. I am thinking about ordering another and send back whichever is better.