Had Thinkpad for two weeks, now what?

[Puggy]

Ok, so i've had my 2373 Q1U for two weeks now.

-No dead pixels. Gorgeous screen.
-China keyboard, no thai )-:, but almost no keyboard flexing.
-3dMark 2001 9513 Score. (I don't know what other benchmark software there is...)
-Tested all I/O ports, and everything is fine.
-Batery is nice and tight.
-Fingerprint reader works fine, except that I still have to try several times before it identifies me...

The basic questions are:

1. Is there some stuff I should try before my 30 day limit passes by?

2. I read somewhere that you can get a "Restore CD Set" from IBM before the 30 day limit.

3. Do they also send manuals? I got some with my package, but are there any more?

4. Should I go for the Thai keyboard?

Anymore suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[sugo]

1. Run the thinkpad for a week without turning off. It should survive this basic test.
2. You can burn Recovery CD set from your T42.
3. Nope. There is hardware maintenance manual available for download. And there's always this forum as a live manual.
4. If you are happy with the keyboard you have it might not be a big deal. Some people find the tactile feedback on China keyboard inferior and not as quiet as the Thai.

Have fun with your new toy

[Puggy]

1. Run the thinkpad for a week without turning off. It should survive this basic test.
2. You can burn Recovery CD set from your T42.
3. Nope. There is hardware maintenance manual available for download. And there's always this forum as a live manual.
4. If you are happy with the keyboard you have it might not be a big deal. Some people find the tactile feedback on China keyboard inferior and not as quiet as the Thai.

Have fun with your new toy

Excellent info. Thanks for responding so soon.

[CoolRunnings]

You bet! Try running 3dmark2003 and 2005! See how they run... www.futuremark.com

[Puggy]

LOL! I spoke a little too soon. Just found two stuck red pixels. One in the middle upper margin, about 1.5 inches from the top, and another about four inches from the bottom left corner and 1 inch from the left.

I'm hoping they'll just go away, even though they're not really annoying.

[Leon]

don't let a couple of pixels spoil your fun.....

[Puggy]

don't let a couple of pixels spoil your fun.....

The good thing is that they're really small pixels. I once had a 15" Compaq at 1024x768, and the pixels were BIG. I had a couple of stuck pixels and they were really noticeable.

I just noticed that the battery is a little loose too.

Oh, well. Nothing is perfect...

[fargusmax]

My battery, a Sanyo, is a bit loose, but coming from a craptastic Dell previously, its locked pretty tight. Therefore, I will probably get a Sony when I need a second battery, but not until then.

Rob

[Leon]

some double sided sticky tape, (the kind that's a little thick), between the battery and the Thinkpad will solve tis if it bothers you (I didn't bother with mine), ... make sure that BOTH your locks underneath are locked.....

[IR0NMAN]

I suggest that you reinstall Windows from a clean, original version; not the one that comes preloaded/restore disc. Your system will be much more responsive! After only 2 days, it really annoyed me that explorer was lagging so I borrowed WinXP retail from my friend and installed it using my CD key

Now everything is much more smoother and I erased the hidden partition. Just make sure you burn your ethernet drive on a CD before reinstalling WindowsXP, reinstall,then go on the ibm web site and download all the necessary driver.

[davidlg16]

you borrowed ur friend's xp retail and used ur own key?

i thought you can't use the TP key cuz it's only for oem.

I tried install with my xpp retail cd and the TP key didint' work, so had to restore everything, slipstream the i386 and sp2, then use this disk to install with TP key.

[dvorak]

My battery, a Sanyo, is a bit loose, but coming from a craptastic Dell previously, its locked pretty tight. Therefore, I will probably get a Sony when I need a second battery, but not until then.

Rob

I would suggest you go and ask IBM to replace it, the difference from Sanyo and Sony is rather large, the latter still moving a tiny bit but doing it extremely softly, no clicking sounds anymore when the machine is on your lap.

[davidlg16]

can i ask for a replacement battery say 6 months into my TP w/o IBM giving me any trouble or do I have to ask for the sony now when my TP is only one week old?

David

[Leon]

Whether or not they "give you trouble" has little to do with whether you do it now or later. Your battery is warranted for 1 year. However, IMHO, returning an expensive item like a battery for this small problem is less than ethical, drives up costs, and is damaging to the environment.

[K. Eng]

The battery problem is so easy to fix that it is not worth going to the trouble of getting a new battery and returning the old one.

Just tape some thin foam to the top of the battery and you won't have anything more to worry about

[Puggy]

I suggest that you reinstall Windows from a clean, original version; not the one that comes preloaded/restore disc. Your system will be much more responsive! After only 2 days, it really annoyed me that explorer was lagging so I borrowed WinXP retail from my friend and installed it using my CD key

Now everything is much more smoother and I erased the hidden partition. Just make sure you burn your ethernet drive on a CD before reinstalling WindowsXP, reinstall,then go on the ibm web site and download all the necessary driver.

Is this a common thing to do?

Why would explorer "lag" with the pre-existing windows installation?

Do you mean "ethernet diveR" instead of "ethernet drive"? And how would I go about doing it? The burning to a CD thing.

Thanks for your tips!

[Puggy]

some double sided sticky tape, (the kind that's a little thick), between the battery and the Thinkpad will solve tis if it bothers you (I didn't bother with mine), ... make sure that BOTH your locks underneath are locked.....

Excellent advise. I'll sure try it.

thanks!

[sugo]

Reinstalling windows is definitely not something everyone does. I don't think there is such a need for most users either.

I did that just because I don't use any of the IBM applications (yup not even battery maximizer, only display/ACPI/UltraNav drivers) and I am very picky about what goes into my system.

I don't see a strong point reinstalling windows and reloading all the IBM apps.

Making a Windows XP CD out of your hard drive is always a good idea though.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=3827

[Puggy]

Reinstalling windows is definitely not something everyone does. I don't think there is such a need for most users either.

Oooh, I get it now. Thanks for the tip.

I'll probably leave my install alone. What I'll probably do sometime is remove the hidden partition.

[davidlg16]

returning an expensive item like a battery for this small problem is less than ethical, drives up costs, and is damaging to the environment.

i paid some serious $$$ for this thing and would like it to fit like it should instead of moving in n out like a p.o.s. dell

The battery problem is so easy to fix that it is not worth going to the trouble of getting a new battery and returning the old one.
Just tape some thin foam to the top of the battery and you won't have anything more to worry about Smile

I understand it's easy to fix it with some double sided tape, I just really don't like the idea of fixing my brand new TP with some double sided tape when it's supposed to look/work flawlessly.... which was the main reason i bought an IBM.