T42 quality, or do I have an onion?

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schmaud · #1 Post by **schmaud** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 12:45 pm

Hi outthere.

I just upgraded from an i-1400 series to an T42 (2373FWG, 14 inch). Somehow I am not pleasently surprised by the quality:

1. the battery is half loose. Means one end moves back and for by ~2mm.
2. the keyboard on the right side is making noises and flexes a bit. basically the enter key and everything below.

Is this normal? If not: Any expierences if IBM will fix this on waranty?

in general the quality "feel"is not as high as i expected. i-series was entry level. But iam not convinced that the T42 will look as good as the i series in 5 years from nor ( exception: the screen/ screenhousing & hinges). i looked at a samsung ( x10+ is the store), and onestly my belief in IBM as a reference in notebook qulaity is seriously shattered.

However, the trackpoint is much better than on the old i-series.

Thanks for any input.

ralf

RS_003 · #2 Post by **RS_003** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:34 pm

I also have a brand new T42 (but it' s a 15") and you have a sanyo battery? I also have the sanyo one, it's known that it can flex like 2 / 3mm. Mine does too, but I don't really care.

The keyboard problem is also present here, only here the keyboard is silent, but it does flex yes.

I must say, my X40 is beter build

#3 Post by **RonS** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:39 pm

I guess a Lemon would be an Onion if it hurt your eyes.

1. You probably have a Sanyo battery, which have a reputation of being loose. Ask IBM to replace it with a Sony battery.

2. Search this forum for the term "Napkin". You'll see plenty of posts complaining about flex in the bottom right of the keyboard. My T42p had the same problem. It took about 5 minutes to fix following the instructions on this forum.

RS_003 · #4 Post by **RS_003** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:56 pm

RonS wrote:I guess a Lemon would be an Onion if it hurt your eyes.

1. You probably have a Sanyo battery, which have a reputation of being loose. Ask IBM to replace it with a Sony battery.

2. Search this forum for the term "Napkin". You'll see plenty of posts complaining about flex in the bottom right of the keyboard. My T42p had the same problem. It took about 5 minutes to fix following the instructions on this forum.

About that sony Battery?

Does ibm just replace it if i say its too loose?
And do you get to keep the old one? My sanyo only has 2 cycles right now.
So its a waste to let ibm threw it away

Leon · #5 Post by **Leon** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:00 pm

They WILL throw it away and it IS a waste. Either live with it, or out a little double sided tape on on the surface where the battery contacts with the laptop body and the looseness will go away....

tfan · #6 Post by **tfan** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:11 pm

How do I find out if my battery is a Sanyo or a Sony? The battery itself don't have any markings other than IBM.

I had a loose battery too, but wanted to double check..

RS_003 · #7 Post by **RS_003** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:12 pm

Leon wrote:They WILL throw it away and it IS a waste. Either live with it, or out a little double sided tape on on the surface where the battery contacts with the laptop body and the looseness will go away....

Well, I don't really care about it, so I will keep using my sanyo. But Its stupid of IBM to throw those battery's away...

What a waste

RS_003 · #8 Post by **RS_003** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:15 pm

tfan wrote:How do I find out if my battery is a Sanyo or a Sony? The battery itself don't have any markings other than IBM.

I had a loose battery too, but wanted to double check..

Well, mine does say sanyo on the bottem

Try searching on your serial number?

[dutch mode]
BTW: schmaud waar heb je de T42 gekocht? Ik woon nml ook in nl

Check anders ook even het T42 TUE topic @ tweakers.net PM me maar als je de link niet kunt vinden @ GoT

[/end dutch mode

]

tfan · #9 Post by **tfan** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:30 pm

[quote="RS_003"]
[dutch mode]
BTW: [b]schmaud[/b] waar heb je de T42 gekocht? Ik woon nml ook in nl

Check anders ook even het T42 TUE topic @ tweakers.net PM me maar als je de link niet kunt vinden @ GoT

[/end dutch mode

][/quote]

This is all very greek and latin to me..or should I say..dutch?

I am not the tfan you are looking for

DavidNY · #10 Post by **DavidNY** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:11 pm

You could wait just shy of the warranty term to call IBM for a swap

AtmosMan · #11 Post by **AtmosMan** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 5:45 pm

tfan wrote:How do I find out if my battery is a Sanyo or a Sony? The battery itself don't have any markings other than IBM.

I had a loose battery too, but wanted to double check..

Right click the battery icon in your taskbar (not the Battery Maximiser) and click Open Power Meter. You should see a battery with a box around it and a number above it. Click on that. The last piece of information is the manufacturer of the battery.

-Brian

sktn77a · #12 Post by **sktn77a** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 6:10 am

I have a Sanyo and a SONY battery. Both are loose in my T40 and both are snug in my T41. So I think it may be a case manufacturing issue with the T4x series rather than a battery manufacturing issue.

James314 · #13 Post by **James314** » Tue Feb 01, 2005 7:30 am

Firstly hello all, im new here so forgive me if i ask obvious silly questions! Is the Sony battery, aside from how well it fits, technically any better than the sanyo??

schmaud · #14 Post by **schmaud** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 6:45 am

Hi all,

thanks for the replies. Ypu are right is is likely a lemon and not a onion.
I am happy with the system performance, but still I am rather disappointed with the build quality.

I will see what IBM is doing about the sanyo batterie, and if I can get the Thai (?) keyboard. But later, since I am need the thinkpad to badly at the moment.

BTW: I bought the t42 off ebay germany, box was still manufacture sealed, but ~2month waranty was gone. however I paid 1300 instead of ~1700 from e.g. cyberport.

cheers

ralf

JHEM · #15 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:14 am

schmaud wrote:BTW: I bought the t42 off ebay germany, box was still manufacture sealed, but ~2month waranty was gone. however I paid 1300 instead of ~1700 from e.g. cyberport.

Ralf,

Welcome to the Forums. Is this a refurbished Thinkpad? Why was there only 2 months of warranty? The T42 was introduced in May of 2004 and the shortest warranty on these units was one year, with three years being the norm.

Regards,

James

stgreek · #16 Post by **stgreek** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:03 am

JHEM wrote:
schmaud wrote:BTW: I bought the t42 off ebay germany, box was still manufacture sealed, but ~2month waranty was gone. however I paid 1300 instead of ~1700 from e.g. cyberport.
Ralf,

Welcome to the Forums. Is this a refurbished Thinkpad? Why was there only 2 months of warranty? The T42 was introduced in May of 2004 and the shortest warranty on these units was one year, with three years being the norm.

Regards,

James

I think he means that 2 months of the warranty period had already passed, which I believe happens because the warranty starts when the distributor/salesman gets the laptop on their hands, or something like that.

JHEM · #17 Post by **JHEM** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:28 am

Yassou Greek,

stgreek wrote:I think he means that 2 months of the warranty period had already passed, which I believe happens because the warranty starts when the distributor/salesman gets the laptop on their hands, or something like that.

Aha. As usual, I took the more twisted road to arrive at my interpretation.

Efharisto,

James

T42 quality, or do I have an onion?

T42 quality, or do I have an onion?

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