I have a few T60s, some built from portions of other T60s. I plan to keep using them until somebody starts making 4:3 screens again. No major Linux problems, some minor video sluggishness, possibly due to the older video drivers available for my slightly older distro (RHEL5.4 clone); possibly also due to a 2048x1536 screen, causing more time to render.
The T60 docking cradles suck. Which is sad, because docking cradles are a good way to reduce wear on the ethernet ports. The AC adapter socket is on a pluggable cable, so if that wears out it can easily be replaced. Much better than laptops with the AC adapter socket soldered to the main board - a significant source of stress. Regards the T61, there is a known flaw in the manufacturing - poor chip attach inside the graphics coprocessor, which means that over the years many of the chips will come loose and the video (internal and external) stops working. Unrepairable - there is no source of replacement graphic coprocessors, and replacing large surface-mount modules is close to impossible. There were problems with some of the T30s, where the second memory socket would fail. Again unrepairable, not quite so catastrophic since a 2GB SODIMM will fit the other slot. I don't know about other recent Thinkpads, but most have extensive communities online. A warning - most Thinkpads can have passwords enabled for the BIOS. It can be very difficult to discover or remove these on a used laptop, and in some cases renders the main board useless. Never buy a used Thinkpad unless you can see the BIOS Config page (depress F1 during boot) and you can research the model number and BIOS version. Surprisingly, items like CPUs, screens, backlights, etc. are replacable - though most repair shops can't do it. Screens can be swapped from other brands, the cable connections are surprisingly standardized, though you may need to reflash the EDID info with a Windoze program, "powerstrip", so the BIOS will recognize it. You can also swap out the whole main board, but if there is a limited lifespan part soldered to it, the replacement main board will probably have the same problem (and cost too much). Before buying any used laptop, use google to find out about other people's experiences. If you see the same flaws cropping up over and over, this may be a manufacturing defect, limiting the lifespan of every unit made. Thus, 2007 manufactured laptops may outlast 2011 manufactured laptops, if the 2011 laptops are flawed. Sadly, many wearout flaws don't become common until after the warranty expires. Keith -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected] Voice (503)-520-1993 KLIC --- Keith Lofstrom Integrated Circuits --- "Your Ideas in Silicon" Design Contracting in Bipolar and CMOS - Analog, Digital, and Scan ICs _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
