kalyan: Bye bye Thinkpad

Kalyan Varma (

kalyan) wrote,
@ 2008-02-21 22:46:00

Bye bye Thinkpad
I had made a quick trip up to North Karnataka for few days last week. On the 1st day of the trip, my laptop (Thinkpad T41p) screen flickered for a bit and after that just refused to boot up. I got back and gave it to the IBM service center for repair and have been keeping my fingers crossed as I just ran out of the 3 year warranty period.

Today they get back to me and say the motherboard is busted and they will charge me Rs 50,000 ($1200) for replacing it. Thats right, almost the cost of a new decent laptop. So much for being such a long Thinkpad fan.

Anyway I've asked some folks to check it up outside for me and to see if they can do anything about it. If not, its time for a new laptop. This is going to put a serious hole in my pocket.

(Post a new comment)

Try this
(Anonymous)
2008-02-21 08:27 pm UTC (link)

Hi Kalyan,
this is a typical issue with IBM think pads. After a while heating /cooling breaks some contacts of chips to the motherboards. Basically the Display chip set becomes lose from motherboard, and it apparently sits right below the f8 key. People have suggested reheating (with hair dryer etc) /re soldering to enable the contacts. Check these links from you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR8L3B3eDr0&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyoFuL0YRac
Good luck, Initially I thought it was a joke, but after reading the comments, looks like they were serious. It is worth a shot before throwing away the laptop. ..... Nagesh

(Reply to this)(Thread)

Re: Try this

chaibacca
2008-02-22 02:11 am UTC (link)

I agree -- looks like you're not the only one having that sort of issue with a Thinkpad. Here's another link covering it:

http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/01/31/replace-screen-inverter-fix-backlight/

Looks like there a a number of videos even in addition to the two posted above that demonstrate how to take it apart and repair it.

It does appear that the motherboard is expensive, but it sounds to me like $1200 is a bit of a gouge. Let me know if you want help pricing them from U.S. sources. I did see someone selling on on e-bay with a low starting price.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	mamtanaidu 2008-02-22 02:00 am UTC (link)
	Reading your post I'm accosted with deja vu.... My camera had an issue sometime back and the service center guys told me the motherboard is damaged. And it was going to take 22k to set me back, while the entire equipment costed me 28k... (Reply to this)

prashanthks
2008-02-22 02:54 am UTC (link)

Somehow I think these days products are rigged to break down immediately after their warranty runs out. My mobile busted just 2 months after the warranty expired. Luckily the repair didnt cost more than 500 bucks. Of course thats after I got some shocking comments that it wasn't repairable and such.

On a funnier note, my first mobile phone was this LG one from Reliance. It somehow slipped out of my pocket while I was in the gym and fell a good 1cm down to the soft wooden floor. Somehow this was too much for a phone that has fallen off the 1st floor earlier and it conked out. The guy at the service center said it would cost me 4000 bucks. Interestingly a new phone would have costed just over 2000 bucks at that time. When I decided to let them have the phone and said that I would buy a new one, they protested saying that it was illegal(Ha!!!). Finally they broke down and said that they will try to do something about it. After a week I got the mobo replaced by the same guys for free. :)

(Reply to this)

	skjaidev 2008-02-22 04:27 am UTC (link)
	You might want to confirm if it was the motherboard. The good thing about the IBM Thinkpad is that you can call up IBM and order just about any part if you know the part number and they publish manuals to help you do any maintenance yourself. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	skjaidev 2008-02-22 04:28 am UTC (link)
	Unless of course, you have a sub-conscious desire for a new laptop ... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	premkudva 2008-02-22 05:15 am UTC (link)
	> and they will charge me Rs 50,000 ($1200) for replacing it. Dumb bastards! (Reply to this)

	anilkumaras 2008-02-22 06:45 am UTC (link)
	Hey I had same problem with my motherboard. I know a guy in mysore who fixed it for 6k.This guy is good fixing up computer hardware, you can try before buying a new one. (Reply to this)

achitnis
2008-02-22 07:23 am UTC (link)

My personal feeling is that it isn't the motherboard.

Two years ago, I had a similar problem - 2 months after my 3 year warranty ran out. IBM said it was the LCD screen initially, then blamed the motherboard, then again the screen. In each case, the cost to fix was well over 30K.

I kicked up a horrendous fuss, and finally, they had another look at the machine, and it turned out to be a frayed rbbon connector. They replaced it (Rs.200) and that machine works great to this day.

There are third party repair people who take a more generic, unscripted approach to the troubleshooting process, I would check them out. Would be good if people could post some contact details for such places here. Unfortunately, the one place I have used in the past no longer exists.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	noelladsa 2008-02-24 03:32 am UTC (link)
	I need special training on learning this technique of kicking up a horrendous fuss (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	fox2mike 2008-02-28 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Oh, that's not too hard. Atul just becomes a 3 year old and cries till they do something to stop him from crying ;) (Reply to this)(Parent)

jbritto
2008-02-22 05:39 pm UTC (link)

Apparently, the IBM approach to repairing thinkpads is to keep replacing parts until it works.

This worked fine for me when they replaced the motherboard under warranty - but when the fan conked out a couple of years later (the dreaded 'Fan Error'), it cost me some 5k to get it replaced. They returned the old fan too, and it looked like a connector had come loose and they never tried fixing it.

I'm still a hardcore thinkpad fan. Loving the X61 I got at work, maybe you should get one. Admit it, you secretly wouldn't mind a new laptop :)

(Reply to this)

	Laptop (Anonymous) 2008-02-23 07:08 am UTC (link)
	Have you considered switching loyalty? Try another "brand" it may be better! (Reply to this)

deponti
2008-02-24 04:50 am UTC (link)

I would tend to agree with Atul, Kalyan. Alas, it does seem to work very often...kicking up this whole shindig of "NO! IT CAN'T BE! HOW CAN YOU DO THIS?" and frequently you will find that they climb down from the expensive branches of the repair tree...

I think it's now a free market in the sense that the repair people try to see how much of charges you will stand, and bargaining is the order of the day. Negotiation is the name of the game everywhere. When I get my vac repaired, my UPS serviced....I use a mixture of indignation, cajoling, and plain talk, and NINETY FIVE percent of the time the amount is reduced. So now I feel that it is always worth negotiating. At worst, one can only get a "no" and then one pays the amount and gets the repair done, or leaves the dead gadget and goes on to another one... but it IS worth asking once.

(Reply to this)

	teemus 2008-02-24 10:37 pm UTC (link)
	Time to buy The Real Thing (TM) - A MacBook Pro. (Reply to this)

	Hello! golden_lining 2008-03-08 06:53 pm UTC (link)
	Hi Kalyan, I'm Balu's friend and was introduced to ur blog by him as I'm very interested in the issue of wildlife conservation. Both me and my husband got a taste of your work from ur website - just amazing! - Anusha. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Hello! kalyan 2008-03-09 05:28 pm UTC (link)
	Hi Anusha, Great to hear that you are into wildlife too. Keep it up (Reply to this)(Parent)

jessewright8
2008-03-12 11:09 am UTC (link)

Hey Kalyan, I've bn following ur entries and photoblog for quite some time and just wanted to say thank u for ur dedication to just keep taking photos even though its ur passion! its so cool, ur my fave photographer. i live in australia and i'd love to do what u do when i get a bit older. Thanks for the inspiration :) How awesome is the wonder of nature and being able to capture it. c ya Jesse

(Reply to this)

Username:		Create an Account Forgot your login? Login w/ OpenID
Password:
	Remember Me
	English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…