Are Thinkpads still that tough? Stand on yours to prove it!

I think someone did an 18 wheeler over a ThinkPad, needless to say it did not survive.

 

Did you manage any T42/T43's? My first notebook was a T42 and it was a poor example of Thinkpad durability. Those machines had enough chassis flex that the graphics solder on the board began cracking. Surely you remember that. The T60 that followed was the first model with the roll cage. I also had a T60 later, and the roll cage was no marketing ploy.

 

Nope. My employer dropped IBM like a hot potato once ThinkPads lost the serial port, and went with Panasonic.

That's actually a problem related to lead-free solder and predates the T4x range by at least a generation. A3x series which you couldn't flex whatsoever suffered from the same issue.

Of course I remember it...I've only had a four-digit number of T4x units pass through this house and still own several...:hi2:

IBM did introduce the revised boards in the spring of 2005, but most of early T42s and pretty much all T41s were prone to this problem, as well as their R5x counterparts. T43s are deemed to be safe in this respect.

T40 was a 50-50 shot since the early Mexico-built machines still utilized leaded solder.

Heh...given the number of chassis broken by the fan exhaust under the left hinge on 15" models that I've encountered, I'd beg to differ.

Here's the deal: the 14" T4x range was "flexible", the 15" not really. However, thermal cycling was the biggest enemy of the T4x/R5x generation. That's why I always advised against letting these machines sleep or turning them off...those that ran 24/7/365 had a much better survival rate. Typing on one of them right now.

With the T60, 14" machines are much sturdier and 15" units crack easily, and it's the roll cage itself that gives in.

 

Do you mean this issue? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LudwYP2ZiTI

This issue also was solved later with an updated version of the structure-frame. as far as I know.

 

Yes. The one in Morgan's video is fairly mild compared to some that I've seen.

Yes to a degree. I've seen "late" machines with the same problem, though these might have been simply abused examples. Not to mention that the "fix" came very late in the model's production life.

 

ok back for an update to an interesting thread

with

an interesting but very true reply....

As another commenter said, water is fine

Another liquid substance ?!!

DANGER WILL ROBINSON !!

Much to my dismay I literally tried piss, as in 'pee', ya know... Urine

My drunk ass was unaware at the time thereof or morning after but I did do it with much regret.

I pissed and pissed all over my roommates Thinkpad.

Why ?! Speak to the Gods of Mordor or Mother Teresa's spirit cause I have no clue.

Long story short....my penis being the long btw.

*wink wink

Board fried, zapped at the power adapter connection, smelt a whole bunch too.

Ammonia doesn't quite get along with Motherboards well it seems.

It was my roommates T61p that I pissed on the btw and fried.

Great machine, FX570M too.

I know, throw them rocks....'ouch' !!

I have since replaced it.

Sigh...

 

This thread is full of anecdotes , unless there is a proper statistical analysis on the durability of thinkpad vs other brands, this thread is valueless.

 

The only statistics I've seen that directly address Thinkpads were published a couple years back by Lenovo and compared HP, Dell, and Lenovo business notebooks failure rate. Lenovo had the lowest failure rate (not surprising, as they commissioned the study) at 11% in 3 years, and HP and Dell were at 13% and 14% failure rates, as I recall. Considering a different study lists general notebook failure rates at between 16-25% in 3 years depending on brand, it is safe to extrapolate that business notebooks in general have a lower failure rate than consumer notebooks. However, the durability and superiority of Thinkpads specifically remains up for debate.

 

How about life with a person with Cerebral Palsy spasticity and more? We tumble, trip over our own feet. We're hell on laptops. Good thing I know how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. ThinkPads for me are plenty reliable and durable provided you get T, W, or X family machines. My machines take abuse many business machines do not, likewise in my business our physically challenged staff do as well. We use and buy lots of ThinkPads. Our track record with them is solid.