Thinkpad T61p - to buy or not to buy...

[toad]

For the princely sum of €400 I could possibly buy this refurbished:

NOTEBOOK IBM THINKPAD T61p CENTRINO PRO T7700 2,4GHz

Some specs:
sda - 160 GB
RAM 2.048 MB
optical drive DVD± RW
15,4" display
Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 2,4 GHz mit Mobile Intel PM965 Express
10/100 LAN
Bluetooth
Gigabit LAN
IEEE 1394-Firewire
Modem
USB 2.0
Wireless LAN
Type 6458-5KG
Serial number L3B5649
GPU Nvidia Quadro FX 570 256MB

Now the thing, the shop states that the hinges for the display are not at their best... Is this common/normal/serious? I once had a Toshiba and it suffered from this to the point of being unusable I am also warned that the eject thingy for the optical slot does not retract fully. If this is just a problem of the optical drive itself I am not too bothered, if however it is part of the machine itself this is not so hot.

Any pointers seasoned T61p users can throw in my direction?

Many thanks...

[Harryc]

Stay away from the Nvidia Quadro FX 570 256MB, they are prone to failure.

[toad]

Stay away from the Nvidia Quadro FX 570 256MB, they are prone to failure.

Cheers, Harryc. Just what I didn't want to hear

So I searched the forum for the GPU and found nothing negative. Could you expand on your experience?

Oh, and many thanks in advance!

[Harryc]

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/new ... 84-g86-bad
The 570M GPU is a G84.

[toad]

Wow, that IS bad news. I've had my T41 conk out on me - GPU as well, new mobo, the whole lot. I take it the only remedy for a faulty GPU on a T61p would require a new mobo as well...

[toad]

So, am I right in assuming that the only safe T61p is one with an ati gpu?

[Harryc]

The T61P did not come with an ATI GPU.

[toad]

Hm, perhaps I misread something somewhere...

But I am confused. I checked all T61ps on ebay - they all appear to have either the 570 or a 570M chip. Essentially I'd like to know which make/model/chipset/whatever one should go for on a T61p. Being a newbie when it comes to GPU chipsets I'd also be keen on where to get chipset info from. Surely not all T61ps are essentially throw away models?

Any pointers much appreciated!

[Harryc]

Surely not all T61ps are essentially throw away models?

Any pointers much appreciated!

In fact, they are all throw away models as far as I am concerned. If you want a T61 (non-P) then that's a different story. Then you are looking at the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (GMA X3100), integrated in a GM965 chipset or the Nvidia Quadro 140M. The Nvidia 140M is a bad choice for the same reason the 570M is. Personally I'd look at T400 or T410's.

[jdhurst]

The other side of that coin is that I have a T61p that I have had from new. It comes with the Core 2 Duo T8300 64-bit CPU, and the NVidia Quadro FX 570M discrete graphics adapter. I purchased a 4-year warranty with it and I have had no need to use it. The machine is very reliable and is a cool as a cucumber.

It came with Vista and a 200Gb hard drive and now sports a 500Gb 7200-rpm hard drive with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

The machine gets hard daily use (although I treat any computer kindly) and it works in any situation. ... JDH

[Harryc]

I agree with jdhurst that if you can get a warranty on a T61P then go for it. Since the Op was not mentioning a warranty as an option, I advised against it, but hey I am just one persons opinion .

Edit:

Type: Model: Serial number:
6458 5KG L3B5649

Status: Expiration date: Location:
In warranty 2010-10-10 FINLAND

Warranty service upgrades & maintenance services Warranty service upgrades and maintenance services

Description:
This product has a three year limited warranty and is entitled to parts, labor and on-site repair service. Service is available Monday-Friday, except holidays, with a next business day response objective. Many parts can also be delivered to you using the Customer Replaceable Unit (CRU) method.
======================================================================================================================

Ok, so the 3 year warranty expires in October of 2010. See if you can get an extension. If you can, then this machine might be OK for you.

[toad]

Wow, where do you get all that info from??? I am flabbergasted!

So it has warranty until October. Great. I suppose I _could_ go for it and shake it about until it breaks. Hopefully before the warranty expires. Thing is, will they replace it with the same GPU which three or four years down the road will die once more?

Sorry to whine, I'm once bitten, twice shy here after my T41 experience. And I do subject the machines to quite some movement and abject environmental conditions...

EDIT:

Okay, if they do replace it with another GPU I will go for it

[scillyisles]

We have 5x T61p all with the FX570M chip - no problems on any of them.

[toad]

We have 5x T61p all with the FX570M chip - no problems on any of them.

Question that comes to mind: are they in what I'd call a stable environment like an office i.e. you don't move them around that much and temperature doesn't really drop below 20 degrees C?