HDD Failure on T61p already???

Hey all, I've had my T61p for about two months now, and it has just suffered its first HDD failure. It showed there was no bootable operating system and did not do anything. When I powered the computer off and back on, the system started up like normal again. Needless to say, I'm pretty concerned at this point.

Anyway, I thought Thinkpad computers were supposed to be tougher than this. I have a Targus backpack and sleeve protecting my computer when I go around the area. Has anyone had this type of issue before? I'm thinking of giving Lenovo a call about this problem because this absolutely cannot fail on me at school. Any input on this is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Check to make sure the HDD is seated firmly.

 

Well, hard drives fail. Matter of fact...and Lenovo doesn't manufacture them. Seagate, Hitachi, Samsung, or someone else entire made that drive.

Things like this happen with hard drives.

I'd suggest you contact Lenovo and they'll send you a replacement drive ASAP.

 

I know these things happen. My HDD has failed many times on an old Toshiba Satellite, but this has happened years after I bought it. I've never had things fail on me after just a few months. In any case, I'll definitely check out the HDD and call up Lenovo about it.

Another observation - the left palm rest seems to be hot very often. I believe the video card sits below the surface of the palm rest, but I don't understand why it's this hot. I haven't played a game on the machine so far...so I guess this card is one of those defective ones nVidia announced awhile back. I'll let them know about this issue as well.

 

the first six months or so is when things will usually fail. i have seen this with hard drives several times. backup your stuff- because soon you may not be able to access the hard drive at all!

 

What 000111 said. You can't base your single experience and apply it to the thinkpad line in general. Sometimes there are harddrives in a batch that WILL fail much earlier. Overall thinkpads have good harddrive protection with the roll cage and sensor for drops. I tend to run harddrives for a few weeks straight before expecting any use out of them because bad drives usually go in the first few weeks (24/7 usage...or a few months with a laptop off and on) or after a long "normal period" of time.

Things do happen so it is wise to have backups.

 

You should check your GPU temperature. You need to download a program called RivaTuner to do this. My left palm rest feels warm...some might say it feels hot, but it is only 55C which is well within the safety zone for the FX570. You need to have some proof that it is running hot before calling Lenovo and complaining that your GPU is overheating.
Tim

 

Lenovo doesnt make the hard drives, and even the best models on the market wont hold up to some abuse. My sister killed the Fujitsu 120gb model in her T61 in about 3 months of use. My T60 drive under normal wear and tear has been working perfectly for 1.5 years, and I use it at home and work daily.

 

Engineers refer to the this as a "bathtub curve"--with high infant mortality, low adult life failure rate, and then a high old-age failure rate as parts wear out.

 

I don't think the GPU is in the left palm rest. When I took it apart, it seemed to be more towards the center of the motherboard. It should just be empty space, since that's where the Express Card/PCMCIA card reader is.

 

Yea left palmrest is card slots only. The GPU and chipset sit around the F/C keys.

 

My GPU temperature hovers around 60C when idling. I'm not sure if the room temperature makes much of a difference, but it is 70F over here right now and the laptop has been on for about 20 minutes. Is this within an acceptable range given the room temperature?