I don't mean to boast how stupid and vicious I was, reather share this with the rest of the world as a testament to how tough thinkpads actually are. And that they are definately not indestructible.
First off, it was a half-refurnished, already beat up laptop when I got it. It had a exhaustive set of scratches on the top lid, a few sticker-marks from the times it was on window-sales, one broken USB port (the central plastic bolt was broken out - noticed that when it turned off after I tried to plug in a mouse) and a bunch of other maks showing how little was it cared for by the previous users. One thing deserving a separate mention was a thick lining of gray hair in the keyboard - as if someone shaved over the laptop not to clog the sink with the hair - and belive me, there was enough hair in there to clog a bathtub in a very ebarrasing way.
Now the scratches and laptop being beat up were a part of the deal and while I didn't even know where to begin explaining someone's gray beard stuck in the keyboard, the broken USB port was enough to get a replacement within the warranty terms. I reported that, but since I started my long list of complaints with some marks on the screen (uneven backlight, the screen was suppsed to be perfect), that was the only thing to be recorded, since the guy putting it down was busy at the time. I was still happy, since there was a mention in the warranty card that the laptop was to be replaced whenever there was one at the store that I would accept. Long story short, there weren't any, since all other ones they had were even worse then the one I got, so I got stuck with my laptop for a while.
Then the problems began.
First it simply became unwilling to start up, altough I've managed to get it to work by turning it off and on until I got the IBM Thinkpad logo and it started booting. Sometimes would simply start, other times it went as far as removing the battery and giving the lappy 5 mins. When it was on, it worked fine, for days even, since I've grown reluctant to turn it off, out of fear it wouldn't power up one day. So other then being a bit beat up and uncooperative on startup, it worked perfectly fine. For a time.
Then it started crashing, apparently after I dropped it one time too many - it crashed when I'd shake it a bit. A known issue with these laptops. Few weeks later, it was enough to tilt it a bit to make it crash. Still, with an external keyboard, as long as it was sitting on the table, it worked perfectly, until someone bumped the table that is. I was pretty desperate to have it replaced within the warranty by then (Except for my dropping it part, I was still supposed to get another one - would've said this one simply broke on its own). Unfortunatly, they didn't have any laptops at the store at that time, but said they're getting some in next two weeks and then it would be ok. Poor clueless bastards. In the meantime, I was stuck with a disabled laptop, confined to a table.
Of course that wasn't meant to last either, so a few weeks later, it began acting up on startup again - this time however, it would beep as if it didn't detect a monitor. Shaking it a bit helped at first, then I somehow figured out that bending it was a bit more reliable way of getting it to boot. This also worked fine for a time, but at some point it started to crash if the GPU was under stress - like when playing 3D games. Now the important part here is that in spite of the mobo being now cracked in a few places, the GPU being held in place mostly by the heat sink and the deformed chasis, the laptop was still perfectly stable during web browsing and other not graphically intensive tasks. Until someone bumped it that is.
The store I bought the lappy at was going through some trouble at the time, change of management and all. I managed to get a hold of the new boss and after a bit of complaining and warranty card waving he agreed to get me a replacement laptop in one or two weeks. That was well after the original warranty had expired, but since they were unable to supply me with a working laptop in time, that didn't really matter. Not after I started yelling at the guy.
In the meantime, the laptop kept getting worse. I figured out that since the GPU was coming off, pressing on the laptop just where the chip was located was bound to help. It actually did, after I shoved my knuckle a bit below the right alt key, the lappy booted up without problems, no bneding, shaking and yelling required. 5min later, my hand got sore and as soon as I stopped putting pressure on the laptop, the screen turned blank and the poor thing crashed. Upon startup attempts, it beeped the no display detected POST message. For a week, it was enough just to press it just hard enough and remove pressure gradually, and it would work.
Sometimes when it almost crashed, screen getting all messed up in pinkish-redish colors, rubbing the sweet spot would result in the laptop working as if nothing had ever happened - some proof that it was indeed GPU related. BTW neither did I belive that even possible when it happaned - always thaught that the slightest short or hadware error = magic smoke coming out of the computer, or at least a crash.
But then, I figured that it's necessary to keep pressure on the sore spot, so I rigged up something. Two vises holding down a metal bar that pressed a piece of folded paper onto the spot I thought was where the GPU was located. It didn't take long until a) the spot became limp, b) the whole laptop got bent. Little did I care, as long as it worked. And it did, even if compleately unable to even start without the apparatus, remained perfectly stable outside games. Even became a bit more resistant to shaking and bumping with the thing in place.
The guy that was supposed to replace this laptop wasn't answering calls, while the condition of the laptop was getting worse by the day - to the point I used woodworking clamps to hold it down. Also, I had a bit of an accident with it, while cleaning up my desk. I sort of tripped and forced the lid down, straight onto the vises screwed to the sides of the laptop (that was before I started using clamps) - as a result I punched two holes in the screen, since the vises had sharp-pointed screws on the top side. In the days following that, the LCD did bleed a bit from these wounds, but otherwise displayed no problems - just some pools of dead pixels in top left and right corners of the screen. Some time after I clamped the lappy down, the HDD started acting up, at first simply showed a degrade in performence but with time...
Fast forward one week, I was running boot-and-nuke on the wrecked laptop, as I finally managed to get a hold of the guy from the store, had arranged to get it replaced. The drive was so beat up it made noises loud enough to be heard in another room - hi pitched squeeks of agony I suppose. Other then that however, the laptop still worked fine - booted liveCDs without any problems.
When I pulled out the limp wreck-of-a-laptop and tried to exchange it for a prefectly fine, almost-refurnished lappy, the guy's jaw dropped open. As well as he was versed in the art of keeping his cool, he managed not to ask WTF is this, reather asked me to power it up. I told him it doesn't quite work this well anymore. Also I insisted it was just laying on my desk and did all of it to itself. Well actually what I really said was more along the lines of it gradually braking down, all within the warranty period, the holes in the screen being the marks mentioned on the warranty card and all... Yeah... took over an hour of yelling and scaring customers out of the shop to reach some acceptable level of understanding with the guy... Which, all details irrelevant or to remain trade secrets, resulted in me getting the T40 I'm typing this on right now.
No, really, that's what happaned, that's why I asked about replacing a motherboard in a T40... Looking back on the horrors that met that laptop, it was as frustrating then as it is funny now. Maybe a bit more frustrating then that... Regardless, I belive my expirience to be the ultimate proof of endurence these laptops are capable of - while it should've - and most likely the majority of other laptops would've - died at the point it hit the ground, I managed to deny it its death for about four months. And when it would boot up it worked fine until the HDD died - or someone bumped the table.
First off, it was a half-refurnished, already beat up laptop when I got it. It had a exhaustive set of scratches on the top lid, a few sticker-marks from the times it was on window-sales, one broken USB port (the central plastic bolt was broken out - noticed that when it turned off after I tried to plug in a mouse) and a bunch of other maks showing how little was it cared for by the previous users. One thing deserving a separate mention was a thick lining of gray hair in the keyboard - as if someone shaved over the laptop not to clog the sink with the hair - and belive me, there was enough hair in there to clog a bathtub in a very ebarrasing way.
Now the scratches and laptop being beat up were a part of the deal and while I didn't even know where to begin explaining someone's gray beard stuck in the keyboard, the broken USB port was enough to get a replacement within the warranty terms. I reported that, but since I started my long list of complaints with some marks on the screen (uneven backlight, the screen was suppsed to be perfect), that was the only thing to be recorded, since the guy putting it down was busy at the time. I was still happy, since there was a mention in the warranty card that the laptop was to be replaced whenever there was one at the store that I would accept. Long story short, there weren't any, since all other ones they had were even worse then the one I got, so I got stuck with my laptop for a while.
Then the problems began.
First it simply became unwilling to start up, altough I've managed to get it to work by turning it off and on until I got the IBM Thinkpad logo and it started booting. Sometimes would simply start, other times it went as far as removing the battery and giving the lappy 5 mins. When it was on, it worked fine, for days even, since I've grown reluctant to turn it off, out of fear it wouldn't power up one day. So other then being a bit beat up and uncooperative on startup, it worked perfectly fine. For a time.
Then it started crashing, apparently after I dropped it one time too many - it crashed when I'd shake it a bit. A known issue with these laptops. Few weeks later, it was enough to tilt it a bit to make it crash. Still, with an external keyboard, as long as it was sitting on the table, it worked perfectly, until someone bumped the table that is. I was pretty desperate to have it replaced within the warranty by then (Except for my dropping it part, I was still supposed to get another one - would've said this one simply broke on its own). Unfortunatly, they didn't have any laptops at the store at that time, but said they're getting some in next two weeks and then it would be ok. Poor clueless bastards. In the meantime, I was stuck with a disabled laptop, confined to a table.
Of course that wasn't meant to last either, so a few weeks later, it began acting up on startup again - this time however, it would beep as if it didn't detect a monitor. Shaking it a bit helped at first, then I somehow figured out that bending it was a bit more reliable way of getting it to boot. This also worked fine for a time, but at some point it started to crash if the GPU was under stress - like when playing 3D games. Now the important part here is that in spite of the mobo being now cracked in a few places, the GPU being held in place mostly by the heat sink and the deformed chasis, the laptop was still perfectly stable during web browsing and other not graphically intensive tasks. Until someone bumped it that is.
The store I bought the lappy at was going through some trouble at the time, change of management and all. I managed to get a hold of the new boss and after a bit of complaining and warranty card waving he agreed to get me a replacement laptop in one or two weeks. That was well after the original warranty had expired, but since they were unable to supply me with a working laptop in time, that didn't really matter. Not after I started yelling at the guy.
In the meantime, the laptop kept getting worse. I figured out that since the GPU was coming off, pressing on the laptop just where the chip was located was bound to help. It actually did, after I shoved my knuckle a bit below the right alt key, the lappy booted up without problems, no bneding, shaking and yelling required. 5min later, my hand got sore and as soon as I stopped putting pressure on the laptop, the screen turned blank and the poor thing crashed. Upon startup attempts, it beeped the no display detected POST message. For a week, it was enough just to press it just hard enough and remove pressure gradually, and it would work.
Sometimes when it almost crashed, screen getting all messed up in pinkish-redish colors, rubbing the sweet spot would result in the laptop working as if nothing had ever happened - some proof that it was indeed GPU related. BTW neither did I belive that even possible when it happaned - always thaught that the slightest short or hadware error = magic smoke coming out of the computer, or at least a crash.
But then, I figured that it's necessary to keep pressure on the sore spot, so I rigged up something. Two vises holding down a metal bar that pressed a piece of folded paper onto the spot I thought was where the GPU was located. It didn't take long until a) the spot became limp, b) the whole laptop got bent. Little did I care, as long as it worked. And it did, even if compleately unable to even start without the apparatus, remained perfectly stable outside games. Even became a bit more resistant to shaking and bumping with the thing in place.
The guy that was supposed to replace this laptop wasn't answering calls, while the condition of the laptop was getting worse by the day - to the point I used woodworking clamps to hold it down. Also, I had a bit of an accident with it, while cleaning up my desk. I sort of tripped and forced the lid down, straight onto the vises screwed to the sides of the laptop (that was before I started using clamps) - as a result I punched two holes in the screen, since the vises had sharp-pointed screws on the top side. In the days following that, the LCD did bleed a bit from these wounds, but otherwise displayed no problems - just some pools of dead pixels in top left and right corners of the screen. Some time after I clamped the lappy down, the HDD started acting up, at first simply showed a degrade in performence but with time...
Fast forward one week, I was running boot-and-nuke on the wrecked laptop, as I finally managed to get a hold of the guy from the store, had arranged to get it replaced. The drive was so beat up it made noises loud enough to be heard in another room - hi pitched squeeks of agony I suppose. Other then that however, the laptop still worked fine - booted liveCDs without any problems.
When I pulled out the limp wreck-of-a-laptop and tried to exchange it for a prefectly fine, almost-refurnished lappy, the guy's jaw dropped open. As well as he was versed in the art of keeping his cool, he managed not to ask WTF is this, reather asked me to power it up. I told him it doesn't quite work this well anymore. Also I insisted it was just laying on my desk and did all of it to itself. Well actually what I really said was more along the lines of it gradually braking down, all within the warranty period, the holes in the screen being the marks mentioned on the warranty card and all... Yeah... took over an hour of yelling and scaring customers out of the shop to reach some acceptable level of understanding with the guy... Which, all details irrelevant or to remain trade secrets, resulted in me getting the T40 I'm typing this on right now.
No, really, that's what happaned, that's why I asked about replacing a motherboard in a T40... Looking back on the horrors that met that laptop, it was as frustrating then as it is funny now. Maybe a bit more frustrating then that... Regardless, I belive my expirience to be the ultimate proof of endurence these laptops are capable of - while it should've - and most likely the majority of other laptops would've - died at the point it hit the ground, I managed to deny it its death for about four months. And when it would boot up it worked fine until the HDD died - or someone bumped the table.
