How do you handle your old or outdated Thinkpads?

Hello, over the years, I bought about 8 Thinkpads. At this moment, 2 T61s and 2 T500s collecting dust.

I understand that some of you are really longtime Thinkpad fans. How do you handle your old or outdated Thinkpads?

Want to get some ideas. Thanks for any input.

Cheers!

 

Mine end up given away, donated or sold, depending on a number of things..

Yours are fairly new and would still sell OK on TPF in my opinion.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

 

TPF? What is it? Sorry about my ignorance.

Thanks.

 

Thinkpad Forums.

And pffttt. The T500 isn't outdated!

 

Agreed. For most people, these still pack more than enough horsepower, and are pretty-well-built machines, generally speaking.

 

I just sell "old" laptops as soon as I have a replacement.

No point in having this stuff collect dust and lose value.

 

Ah...but ThinkPads are like Rolls-Royces...they never lose value...

 

In that case, I have lovely, lovely T43 I'd like to sell you for the low, low price of $999.

 

Which ThinkPads? Also, some "designer" is wont to compare them to Porsche.

 

Wrong model...if you ever come up to the East Coast, you're welcome to stop by for a dinner and a look at my collection which includes quite a few T43-based units...:hi2:

 

Well, if you have a run-of-the-mill Silver Shadow (T23/42/60/) you aren't going to get much for it...BUT...a splendid S30/31 or G50 will bring a nice wad of cash, just like a coach-built Rolls would...

 

seems that you people had quite fun here

 

One of your old computers, MDDZ, is the model I just upgraded with Windows 8. I certainly wouldn't mind a new ThinkPad, but my T500 still serves me well and money needed for an upgrade can be better used elsewhere. That said, when I do upgrade, I will keep the T500 as a backup or give it away.

 

hmmmmmm...I will think about how to use my T500. The funny thing about my T500 is that my two T500s both make some noise in the fan area...Sounds like "dzhi, dzhi.....". How about yours?

 

Eh, I wish I had a collection of old Thinkpads. However, I did have an old Toshiba Satellite that died on me a few years ago, and I cannibalized it and the parts are now sitting in my closet, and I'm looking for something to do with it. If I can find a frame deep enough to hang the motherboard and stuff on the wall, that'd be great.

Also, more SC people? Neat .

 

It started a few months ago, getting progressively worse. I had the fan replaced, a quite inexpensive fix, perhaps $25 - $30 for the parts. You can probably do it yourself. I found instructions somewhere online. Problem solved; runs as quiet as ever.

They just don't make plastic like they used too!

 

:thumbsup:

 

Sounds like it's time for a new fan...or two...

Also some ThinkPad Fan Control...

 

My old T60p got put back into production today.

Some idiot cut a fat telco pipe and took down the phone lines in a large radius which included my wife's retail store. That took out her business line and the connection for the credit card point of sale terminals.

I had to rush up there and work my magic. Portable mifi and T60p = secure credit card terminal.

Don't discount when you might need a working notebook. That T60p did just fine today.

 

Sounds like some sweet weekend OT for your friendly cable splicers...

 

no plans on upgrading here. Maybe in another 3 years ...

 

Hey Broadus, I like your solution and desperately need your input. Where did you get your the replacement parts? Please help. The noise thing drives me crazy. Did research. Asked here. Went to Best Busy. But did not get anywhere. I am looking forward to hear your solution.

Cheers!

 

This is certainly a great use of old thinkpads. I will try to keep mine. Need to solve the fan problem first.

Cheers.

 

The Flexview display had a lot to do with it.

 

Judging from the responses here I think the word you were looking for here is fondle...

 

Sorry--I was out-of-town today.

I didn't do it myself, but a friend who is handy at this sort of thing did. Here are the instructions from Lenovo.

He ordered the fan with integrated heatsink through eBay from a supplier in Hong Kong. I'm not sure if it was from this supplier, but that's what the part looks like. That's a bit more than what I paid for it, but still not bad.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for all the info!

Have a good weekend!

Regards.

 

You're most welcome. Hope you get it fixed.

 

Issue a involuntary recall of IBM ThinkPads, too many horror memories fixing old T4x series ThinkPads. Only Lenovo please.

 

At least T4x were so darn easy to work on...don't tell me that it took you more than half an hour to swap the board since that's the only "repair" that one would actually perform on these...

To me personally, these were the most beautiful ThinkPads ever. Reliability of the pre-T43 models is a whole another matter...

 

And great keyboards too. My old war horse, my R60e, is running like a champ. I don't ask much of it, mainly office and internet type stuff, but I do like to bust it out for my reviews. You just can't beat that SXGA+ resolution. I did drop it and part of the LCD bezel came off, but it mostly collects dust in the guest room.

 

Funny you should mention that modded R60e of yours...

I've built a very similar contraption for my twin boys, including the same LG IPS panel that you have, a T7200 and 3GB RAM. Finally got to installing a SSD (NOS Crucial C300 128GB) and W7 on it last night...honestly, unless one is doing something graphics-intensive, that machine still feels pretty darn snappy. Of course, it won't even start Angry Birds...but as a glorified typewriter/browser/office assistant with a fabulous screen, it's pretty impossible to beat, especially at today's prices...and it feel well-built, although it was an entry-level model at the time...

 

Feel more than welcome to give them to me

 

That's pretty much how I use it. It's even faster using Linux. Mine boots in about seven seconds. Yeah, I think I paid about $200 or so for it and it often feels faster than my much newer Windows PCs. I thought about getting something newer, but where can I get the quality of the R60e with gorgeous screen for anywhere near the price? A newer machine won't offer me much in the performance department given the usage. Plus, I like the 115 pixel density with the 1050 vertical. I've had four R60s and they've been as good as the T with a lower price tag and quieter too.

 

A T500 old??? Geez, it's the most modern model I have in my collection

 

Ironically I find IBM models harder to service, there are many different sized screws with IBM models, they also have whole bunch of little bitty parts that really aren't necessary. Again I find Lenovo ThinkPads the easiest to service.

 

If it still meets my needs, I repair, upgrade and polish it. Even older ThinkPads like the 600X are still marvelous machines to use. The latter excels at office (impeccable typing experience thanks to best notebook keyboard ever) and is also suitable for listening to music, no matter if external or internal speakers.

My much younger X301 might be slipping into the "old" category, but with Windows 8, a new SSD and some bodywork (metal speaker grills) it looks as good as new and it can do everything my X220 can.

If I really just don't need it, I give it to family, friends etc.

 

Donate them to charity and take a tax write off if it still exists. Those T500 still have a good 3-5 years in them.

 

I suggest giving to a K-12 school district in need. You can never go wrong with supporting education .

 

I use my x41,x60t,x61t with flexview screen,t400 just like myother 10 laptops,watch korean music videos and doing somephotoshop.