Defective video adapter?

[CoolRunnings]

<rant>
I just got a T42 and was elated with the build quality. I go to run 3dmark2003 on it and the system goes to a gradient screen and slowly goes to white and the system locks! I wondered if it might be a fluke so I tried some other benchmarks such as 3dmark2005 and Code Creatures with the same result! I tried running 3dmark2003's demo and right after the first scene, it locks and the sound repeats over and over but the display doesn't change...

I figure it's probably a software issue (odd on a brand new laptop with hardly anything else on it) so I get a brand new hard drive and do a clean install of XP Pro SP2 on it with absolutely nothing else. I load just the latest video driver (which I downloaded beforehand) and then load the benchmark. I try to run it and get the same behavior... I tried turning off the video power management etc. on the card with the same results. I made sure the machine was in high-performance mode using the battery meter. The laptop is not being overclocked and I have no intention of trying in the future. This smacks of either a cooling issue or a bad video adapter. The fans sound like they're working properly...

So here's where things get ugly... I called IBM support and the first guy seems pretty helpful and says a box will be here Monday to get it shipped to the depot and have the entire motherboard replaced. Monday comes and goes and no box shows up. I call back and they say "Oh that's supposed to be there Wednesday, not Monday." Great! Exactly what I needed... 3 days of wasted time. Today is Wednesday. No box. I call up IBM and there's no record of them saying they'll even ship out a box! I explain the whole issue over again and get told "well I can have it sent to the depot but they'll just check it out and say it's a compatiblity problem with your software and ship it back to you." That's a load of bull cause I've had a bunch of people run 3dmark2003 on T42s with the Radeon 9600 and it works flawlessly. This problem even happens in a clean install anyway!

Is this type of garbage normal for IBM support??? Does it usually take them almost a week to even get me a box? Does one normally have to fight with them over what is obviously a defective machine? If so, it's going to be a long time before I buy another IBM! I'm awaiting a call from a manager right now but what other recourse do I have? I'm outside of the 30 day return policy because I bought it through a reseller who go it back in December (it was still sealed in the box from IBM though and was brand new, not a refurb unit).

I really don't have time to wait weeks at a time for them to get me a machine that works... Does anyone know of a way to just get them to send me a brand new laptop that actually works? Sorry for all the ranting but I'm extremely frustrated right now and really need to just get this issue resolved without having to deal with incompetence and delays in the support department... Any suggestions would be appreciated! </rant>

[Leon]

don't have an answer to your problem, just a data point...... I have a T42, and when I ran 3DMARK last month, it would sporadically behaved in the manner that you mentioned......

[etherealtml]

use paragraphs please! thank you

[CoolRunnings]

Sorry... added paragraph markings. That better?

[CoolRunnings]

Has anyone else encountered this problem? If so, could you please post your system configuration and model and detail exactly what happened?

[dvorak]

You can try and write an email to Sam Palmisano's office, notifying of your displeasement about the warranty-service.
(http://www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/email-sjp.pl)
I did so myself (about a display related problem and not about bad warranty service) and I have been contacted, very helpfully, because I didn't even write my phone number but they looked it up on one of my warranty-receipts. They even sent a new display in my direction without me even asking for it, I'm rather pleased with the service.
I presume you just got stuck with some people that had a bad day, don't worry, you'll get the thing sorted out.

As for benchmarks, I ran 3dmark05 for the first time, at it crashed, then ran it second time and a third, worked, although giving me only about 700 points with my ATI-MR9600.

Edit: Clarified my reason to email S. Palmisano.

[Leon]

same here...sometimes when I run it, the system goes to a gradient screen and slowly goes to white and the system locks as described above...... most of the times I run it, it runs normally....