How unreliable are x32s?

[Outatime1989]

I just bought an x32 (2673-M4U) from ebay in great shape, for 190 shipped without ac adapter, battery, or hard drive. It came in great shape, it looks almost new with no cracks and very few scratches on the case. Ive been reading here that they have problems though and i cant seem to find a thread that summerizes all the common issues with them. so far ive noticed the fan always seems to stay on at least low i had to mess with the power utility to get it to go off but thats the only probem i have with it. Im very careful with how i hold laptops so i hopefully wont have to worry about stress cracks since i pick them up from both sides. I love how small and fast these machines are and i hope i can expect years of service from it. Is there anything i should expect though?

[qviri]

From my own experiences (with an X31, which should be all but the same):

- keyboard bezel tends to crack on either side. Unfortunately this affects subsequent structural integrity a bit, at least in case of the right edge. Much less likely if you don't pick up the laptop by a corner or the front in general. This is probably the most common issue.
- the battery is often a bit wobbly. Not a problem once it's sitting on a surface.
- keyboard gets shiny, not sure if this would bother you. Still works fine, just feels/looks somewhat different.
- I'd suspect the LCD bezel on the inside might be cracky, though that might be more prevalent in X20 series due to the design. Shouldn't affect structural integrity.
- CF cover is pretty easy to lose if you're not paying attention. Luckily it doesn't fall out by itself.
- I've had the rubberized paint peel off the RAM cover. Purely cosmetic.
- I've managed to break the flaps covering the dock connector, though that was my own fault for excessively twiddling with it. It's a pretty thin plastic strip, so not impossible to break.
- standard deal with losing rubber feet
- LCD latches don't look super strong, though I haven't had a problem personally

Things I haven't experienced myself or heard of being issues:

- GPU separation like in the T40 series
- RAM slot problems a'la T30
- hinges giving out like in the X20 series.

[mpcook]

I've had no problems with my X31's and X32 except yes I lost the CF tray. Never had any cracks in the plastics. I have a couple that had slightly loose batteries, they would jiggle a bit. I put a folded piece of paper in the battery compartment to keep it tight. My X32 did run a bit hot. I found it ran a bit cooler if I kept the screen up when in the ultrabase. Never caused any problem though. Otherwise great machines, enjoy it!

Mike

[archer6]

I just bought an x32 (2673-M4U) from ebay in great shape, for 190 shipped without ac adapter, battery, or hard drive. It came in great shape, it looks almost new with no cracks and very few scratches on the case. Ive been reading here that they have problems though and i cant seem to find a thread that summerizes all the common issues with them. so far ive noticed the fan always seems to stay on at least low i had to mess with the power utility to get it to go off but thats the only probem i have with it. Im very careful with how i hold laptops so i hopefully wont have to worry about stress cracks since i pick them up from both sides. I love how small and fast these machines are and i hope i can expect years of service from it. Is there anything i should expect though?

I still have the X32 I bought new when they were released years ago. After spending a year on the road with me everywhere (plus flying frequently all over the globe), it still looks nearly new. I don't abuse or man handle my ThinkPads, thus as a result they've all been stellar. The shiny spots that develop on the keys are a sign that someone has actually used it, as opposed to let it sit and rot
What's wrong with the patina of aging? Its no different than my imperfect yet wonderful Coach leather briefcase. Smiles from the miles I say.
An X32... I love em! I use mine to this day. Enjoy yours!
.
Cheers...

[Outatime1989]

Thank you for the replies, the problems i was worried about were the motherboard related ones, but so far, in this thread, no one has had issues so maybe its not a widespread issue with these.

[dr_st]

Other than the crack in the left bezel above the PCMCIA slot, which is fairly common (had it on my wife's old laptop, and witnessed it on a couple of others, in addition to what is mentioned on the forum), I am not aware of any known faults of the series. And this issue itself seems pretty minor to me.

[vladis]

- lcd bezel ( bottom corners ) is not very strong, easy to make small cracks, the same about palmrest around keyboard

[Tasurinchi]

Other than the crack in the left bezel above the PCMCIA slot, which is fairly common

I broke the very same part when not paying enough attention.

Make sure you have one of those dummy plastic card slots to fill the hole. Otherwise I have not seen any issues yet. But I'm also very careful with my thinkpads...

[Outatime1989]

So motherboard issues arent common for this model? I have been going through pages of this forum and i found several posts of motherboards failing in x31s which is what worried me.

[ajkula66]

I had an X32 die on me out of the blue, all of a sudden, went to sleep and never woke up.

After all my tricks were out of the bag, it got to the Windows logo once, froze, gave a 4x4 (security chip) beep and that was the end of the game.

I've had dead X31 units on several occasions as well.

Then again, I really can't think of a ThinkPad - save the latest "`00" generation - that hasn't died on me at some point in time.

The issue with X31 and especially X32 is that you have full-blown CPUs working in a small shell with insufficient cooling and fan that's smaller/weaker than ones used on bigger ThinkPads. Discrete graphics are no help either. Lot of heat in small frame will eventually lead to serious damage. How soon is anyone's guess...

My $0.02 only...

[Outatime1989]

are X32s any better than X31s in this regard? Ive read that the dothan is supposed to run cooler than the banias so is it less common for the X32s to fail?

[ajkula66]

First, the ratio of X32 units in existence is probably 1:50 when compared to X31. This was a last-moment-late-model, extremely expensive when new, along with being available for a short period of time. Therefore, reliability comparisons will be anything but reliable.

These machines simply don't offer enough breathing space to either Banias or Dothan. It's really that simple.

If I were to buy one of these again, I'd be undervolting it. Severely.

Having said that, X32 is my second favourite X series ever. The whole "Alfa Romeo" concept of having a ridiculously powerful small machine with a screaming fan (mine had a 755 CPU) is as charming as it is obnoxious...

My $0.02 only...

[Outatime1989]

is there a way to modify the heatsink to cope with the heat better?

[ajkula66]

Heatsinks on mostly any X series are a joke.

I haven't tried modding any of them and wouldn't attempt to. YMMV.

As previously stated, undervolting with NHC would be my preferred course of action.

[dr_st]

I don't know whether the heat issue is as severe as George portrays it... Granted, I've only had one X32 with a 1.8GHz Dothan (well, actually it was never mine, it belonged to my girlfriend). But it lived in the household for 3 years and never had any heat problems (we eventually sold it to upgrade to the X61). If anything, the X61 runs noticeably hotter and more annoying (but that is mostly due to the stupid palmrest design and the location of the wireless card, not the CPU).

The fan did get whiny near the end of it, and IMO, it could use a new fan. I agree with George that the fan being weaker may lead to more wear-and-tear, and you have to monitor your fan activity, and the CPU temperatures, to notice any potential problems and fix them before any damage can occur.

If you look at the specs, the X3x aren't that much thinner than the 14" T4x units... 25-30mm vs 26-31mm. The difference in thickness between the 14" and 15" T, or between the T and R is much more pronounced. You must remember that X3x weren't as thin and light as later X series installments, which can be a disadvantage or an advantage, depending how you have your priorities set...

IMO, they are very nice units, and offer a good balance of portability and functionality.

[mini_g]

I've had one die on me, my father's (X32 @1.8GHz), but am thinking that it may be a BIOS or chip solder issue, and am kicking around the idea of "jump starting" it via a dead board or doing the candle trick on all of the major chips due to how it's acting.

My own (X32 @2GHz) currently has a hardware/firmware(?) issue of where, at random points, Ubuntu 9.xx hardlocks or kernel panics and Windows XP encounters a BSOD when I have no external wireless network adapter available or am using the eth0. The eth0 can be disabled in the BIOS, but yet this issue is encountered.
Arch Linux isn't encountering it though, so I'm happily residing under this distro's banner. I needed the extra 25GB's that Windows and / were using for my home partition anyways.

I've owned and have used mine as the main machine for easily ~24hours+/week since July '08. My father's was used from Sept. '08 'til about Sept '09 and was used as a FedEx Express driver's GPS unit, media center, and more. His practically lived in the UltraBase X3 while it was running and mine has lived in the UltraBase X3 or Port Replicator II for much of the time while in use.

I might also make mention that mine was purchased from BobA and his was via eBay.

As for "modding" the heat sink, I noted that the removal of the OEM thermal pad and replacement with thermal grease helped it. Can't say how many, if any, degrees it dropped, but I vaguely remember it running hotter before I switched.

[misfit]

I've had one die on me, my father's (X32 @1.8GHz), but am thinking that it may be a BIOS or chip solder issue, and am kicking around the idea of "jump starting" it via a dead board or doing the candle trick on all of the major chips due to how it's acting.

[snipped]

Ok, I know that this is an old thread but "candle trick" has got me intrigued and Google isn't being my friend.

Anyone care to explain? TIA....

[mini_g]

Ok, I know that this is an old thread but "candle trick" has got me intrigued and Google isn't being my friend.

Anyone care to explain? TIA....

I must thank you so much for bringing this up! Sadly my own X32 is pretty much dead now (am using my X20 due to the X32 hardlocking after ~20 minutes @2GHz) and this might help me with my desktop's board as well. ^_^

The technique can be explained at the following links:

The one that all others are based off of: http://geektechnique.org/projectlab/726 ... epair.html

http://laptopscomputers.co/hp-laptops-c ... g-alcohol/

More can be found in this search: http://duckduckgo.com/?q=macbook+candle+reflow

Sorry for the short reply. Am on my phone at the moment.

[misfit]

Sorry for the short reply. Am on my phone at the moment.

<snipped>

Thanks a lot for the links, I should have been more thorough in my searches.

Cheers,

[mini_g]

Thanks a lot for the links, I should have been more thorough in my searches.

Cheers,

No worries! I used the wrong query at first and missed it. Many hands do make light work.

'Tis also the least I can do for your offering me an option to my using a heat gun and infrared thermometer to toast it (Neither of which do I have or can afford.).

Thank you again and best of luck!