Buying used t61p

[dejx]

Hello i'm buying used t61p and i have a couple of questions
specs: T9300 (2.5ghz), 2gb ram, 15" 1920x1200, nvidia 256mb

I would add ssd and extra 2gb to machine.

Now i have x61s but i have problems with overheating (especialy when docked on ultrabase) and using Thinkvision l220x (1920x1200) (picture phase gets screwed)

question 1: is overheating common with t61p (when docked and undocked)?

question 2: is there any common faulty parts i should be aware of? how do i test them. computer has still 3 months warranty and i'd like to repair it if something is _dying_
I've read about some problems with GPU and the repair is available only until march 2011

Thanks for your replies

[richk]

The March 2011 date is related to a policy where Lenovo will repair a machine that has a GPU problem even if it is up to 6 months AFTER the warranty expired. The GPUs do commonly fail, but that one has one of the newer motherboards (Penryn CPU) that makes failure less common. I haven't seen excessive heat-related problems, but a faster CPU always generates more heat than a slower one.

[CanadianWolf]

I've got my T61P almost permanently docked on an ultradock, and I'm not seeing much in the way of overheating...

Cores run around 45 degrees C and GPU around 60 C pretty consistantly.

[ajkula66]

Be aware that other users have experienced issues when referring to Lenovo's "extended" motherboard replacement policy in countries other than the U.S.

Personally, I'd just skip the T61p altogether and move to T500/W500 which are - in my not so modest opinion - much better units than any T61/p will ever be. Cooler-running and nVidia-debacle-free...

Good luck.