My thoughts on the T22

[rossmosis]

A few days ago I received a T20 and T22 from a forum member, and since I only have one IDE HD I've only been able to play with the T22. A few things I'd like to mention about it (which I'm sure applies to a lot of other TPs)

-It came with the lid scratched up, some pretty deep scratches as well, (I knew about this before purchasing), but I used the MR. CLEAN MAGIC ERASER on it and it looks brand new! I was completely amazed at how well ALL of the scratches disappeared! I cannot recommend it enough for ThinkPad lids that are made of that material. It looks like I have two brand new laptops!

-I took out the original Intel mini pci card and put in one with wifi from my old Dell laptop. While the range isn't that good since there's no antenna, it works when its in the same room as the router, which is better than no wifi at all!

-I also put in another 256mb of RAM to max it out at 512mb. There's no possible way to have a 512/256mb combo? I'm guessing not but it's worth asking.

-Youtube works on it in standard definition, even when the RAM was only at 256/128.

-I'm hoping that I'm lucky with the screen as it has a red tint for about 2 or 3 seconds when it hasn't been started in a few hours. I've read that's a sign that something is failing, but it could last for a few weeks or a few years without problems.

[automobus]

You will find the answer to your question about maximium memory in ThinkWiki.
Maximum Memory

I had a desktop computer with a 440 and four memory slots; it could use a full gibibyte.

[rossmosis]

Well I tried putting a 512 stick in there and it didn't work, so I guess 2x256 is the max on a T22, which is fine with me as the 512 can be used in one of my other laptops.

The battery holds a charge for about a half hour, the one in my T20 holds one for about 7 minutes, which I'm happy about considering I was expecting them to be dead. I also received two original IBM 'dogbone' AC adapters, which are pretty neat.

The Thinklight is cool too, I didn't think it would have one or if it did, it would be burnt out. A cool feature that makes me wonder why more laptops don't have it beyond the T-series.

There's a local surplus of all the University items that sells hundreds of old IBM docks and port-replicators each week for a dollar a piece, so I'm going to look for a few of those too. A lot of them still have the keys included.

Anything else I should know about the T22? Cheap upgrades or maintenance? I'm just learning as I go and I'm having a lot of fun doing it

edit: How do you get the volume buttons to work in XP Pro SP2?

[CanadianWolf]

My laptop experiences has mostly been limited exclusively to thinkpads. T20, T22, T30, and now a T60 and T61p. The T6x's are quite recent for me, always bought them used. I've never had a more robust, feature rich, tough for medium abuse levels and stable for business series of machines. I bought a dell for one of my technicians, brand new, more ram, bigger HD, and he wanted the thinkpad back.

Some of the things i've learned...
My T20 laptop with a pcmcia wireless card did not survive an attack of coffee with cream and sugar.
A T22 can go from fully operational to 'Blink of Death' in 1 day for no apparent reason.
A T22 and T30 with a dead ram slot will still operate with the reduced ram.
My T61p 15" has survived a fall out of a backpack onto concrete, a little plastic broken, but electronically just fine.
My T30 that fails to boot because of the fan can be 'blow started'.
The keyboard light has been VERY handy, I dont understand why all laptops don't have this, as is the hot swap bay - brilliant!

With each T series laptop, I'd felt that THAT one was my favorite.

[Unknown_K]

T20/21/22 is stuck using PC100 low density and 256MB is the biggest SODIMM ever made for them. I think I have XP on one of mine and Win2k on the other (both with 512MB RAM). They look kind of fragile when you first get one, but they are actually pretty tough. I love the small size and litr weight, kind of like a newer 600 series. Also very easy to work on and the main batteries seem to last a while (have a few that work for hours).

Those machines are nice, but I think I like the T23 better (faster IDE port, cheaper PC133 RAM with 1GB as the limit).

[rossmosis]

So far I'm loving my experience on it and with the low price I paid for it I wont be too heartbroken if it dies on me. My next purchase for it will probably be a new battery, while the 30 minutes on the existing one was a nice surprise, that's not going to hold up well in a classroom or away from an outlet. I still need an IDE HD for my T20, the door/caddies for both of them are coming later this week.

[Unknown_K]

Ebay has the cover and sled for the T2* series cheap, under $5 shipped with screws.

[rossmosis]

That's what I bought, I saw that deal and I couldn't pass it up, I don't know what I'd do without ebay

[sarbin]

i loved my t22. it had a 1ghz cpu and the 1400x1050 panel. it was my first higher density screen and i've never looked back. the only problem i had with it was something of a design flaw i think. the original hdd was 12.5mm in height and left no air space above it. couple the heat from it and the cpu, which was max for the model, i think, and it would shut down occasionally shut down via the thermal protection circuitry. that hdd finally started the click-of-death rattle, so i replaced it with a new, 9.5mm height drive, leaving an air space and better in-case circulation, and i never had a problem after. in the end, my mother used the machine for a couple years after i moved on to an a31p.

[rossmosis]

If I leave it off overnight and turn it on, it forces me to change the date and time as it is set to 1/1/1980, says something about the CMOS. Is the CMOS battery bad? Or is there a fix without replacing it?

[Neil]

You need to replace the CMOS battery. No way around it, but it's only a couple of bucks for a new one, so just do it.

[rossmosis]

Thanks Neil, I guess a CMOS battery will be my next purchase for it.

[Unknown_K]

Yea, no reason to skimp on a CMOS battery that is only a few dollars shipped from ebay. Not like you have to take the whole machine apaprt to install it either (just remove the main battery and 1 screw holds the battery in).

[rossmosis]

Exactly, I thought the CMOS would be located deep inside the laptop and was surprised when I saw it after I took the battery out.

[nom]

Hi,

How do you get the volume buttons to work in XP Pro SP2?

You will need the Power Management driver and the Hotkey Features to be installed.

regards,

Nom

[rossmosis]

Those keys are working now, but I have a problem with the battery. While it even holding any charge is great to me, the Battery MaxiMiser shows that it has only been through 38 cycles and the first one was in 2000. The battery was originally in the T20 but since I don't have an HD for it yet I put the better battery in my T22. Anyway, it shows that it has about an hour and a half left for about 15-30 minutes depending on what I'm doing, then it drops to 3% all of a sudden and says I need to connect to a power source. Is there anything I can do about this or is it just because the battery is 11 years old and can't hold a charge even if its only been through 38 cycles?

[Harryc]

... or is it just because the battery is 11 years old and can't hold a charge even if its only been through 38 cycles?

Bingo . Time for a new one.

[Unknown_K]

Batteries of that chemistry have a shelf life, they degrade wether you use them or not over the years. From what I seen cycle count by itself doesn't mean too much (unless it is 0 on a never used battery). Some people allways use their laptops on the power brick (only way to get full CPU speed) so while the battery isn't cycled it is allways charged to 99% which will reduce battery life more then constant discharge cycles on the go. It also depends on who made the battery cells (Sanyo or Panasonic). Finally when the cells do start to die you end up having some that will not charge at all and some that charge ok (not all fail at once), so the battery manager sees a specific voltage and assumes a specific amp/hr when inactuality one or more cells are dead.

I would save the old batteries incase you want to re cell one down the road (nobody will keep making new ones if there is no market and you will need a dead one to get it re celled). I guess it matters more for collectors then users who will just get a newer laptop when they can't use the old one anymore.

[rossmosis]

Batteries of that chemistry have a shelf life, they degrade wether you use them or not over the years. From what I seen cycle count by itself doesn't mean too much (unless it is 0 on a never used battery). Some people allways use their laptops on the power brick (only way to get full CPU speed) so while the battery isn't cycled it is allways charged to 99% which will reduce battery life more then constant discharge cycles on the go. It also depends on who made the battery cells (Sanyo or Panasonic). Finally when the cells do start to die you end up having some that will not charge at all and some that charge ok (not all fail at once), so the battery manager sees a specific voltage and assumes a specific amp/hr when inactuality one or more cells are dead.

I would save the old batteries incase you want to re cell one down the road (nobody will keep making new ones if there is no market and you will need a dead one to get it re celled). I guess it matters more for collectors then users who will just get a newer laptop when they can't use the old one anymore.

Very interesting! Whoever used it before me must've left it plugged in all the time for it to be this used and not cycled! I just wish that batteries weren't so expensive, ~30 for a "new" IBM T22 battery. I guess they really aren't all that expensive, but that's three times what I paid for the actual laptop! haha

[Unknown_K]

Generally I have to spend more for working batteries then I do for machines (except in very rare case when I get lucky on ebay).

[nikki605]

When I needed a replacement battery for my T21 several years ago, I got one from atbatt.com

Here is their T22 (Amstron) battery:

http://www.atbatt.com/product/4745/lapt ... 22/battery

~$54 is not a bad price. When I bought mine from them in 2006, it was ~$85, so their price has come down.

BatteriesPlus sells their Rayovac replacement for ~$80

[cadillacmike68]

I really like my T-series Thinkpads. I use a trio of T30s w/ XP (one currently dead for fan) and a T22 with W98. The T21 is a backup and my wife is set with a T61 bought new for her with XP on it.

T20 series can take a T30 battery but not vice versa.

AC adapters between T30 and T20 series are interchangeable both ways.

I have more HDDs and UB200 trays than you can shake a stick at ( actually only 6). makes it handy for archiving / backup.

There is a T61 bay tray that takes EIDE drives making it easy to swap between the T61 and the T30 and T20 series.

Great durable equipment all the way around. My T20 series were made in 2001 / 2002 and T30s were made in 2003 and they are still running!!!