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How would placing two (or more!) Compact flash drives in my T40 laptop and using them as a striped RAID 0 compare to installing an equivalent (PATA) SSD? Is there some other thinking-further-out-of-the-box way of getting lightning-fast disk performance into a Pentium M-class laptop? [more inside]
posted by Orb2069 on Nov 24, 2011 - 7 answers

Why can't I get into the BIOS on this Thinkpad? Alternately, how can I get this machine working? [more inside]
posted by jessamyn on May 12, 2010 - 4 answers

Alternative to T61p? I'm looking for a laptop that is highly reliable, has a good graphics card and lots of storage. [more inside]
posted by Popcorn on Apr 26, 2008 - 19 answers

Should I/Can I get my Thinkpad repaired [more inside]
posted by sully75 on Oct 4, 2007 - 10 answers

I've got an old IBM Thinkpad G40 circa something like 1998 that runs Pentium II and I want to get it running as fast as possible while spending as little money as possible. [more inside]
posted by alon on Sep 10, 2007 - 8 answers

Is there anywhere in the Chapel Hill/Durham, NC, area where I can just show up and buy (or at least get a good look at) a Thinkpad X60 (or preferably, X40/X41)? [more inside]
posted by amtho on Jun 7, 2007 - 8 answers

Help me select the best cheap, lightweight, "travel" laptop for my needs, please. [more inside]
posted by nitsuj on Apr 11, 2007 - 16 answers

The battery in my IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad Z60t went out of warranty 4/29/07. When I woke up today, the machine says "Irreparable damage to the battery has been detected. Replace the battery with a new one." Is it really damaged? Could it be a broken sensor? Some kind of software glitch? Is this typical? Is there a better alternative to the $159 replacement?
posted by fourstar on Apr 1, 2007 - 15 answers

Dropped my laptop (IBM Thinkpad T42) from about 3 feet. It seemed ok for a week except that it randomly rebooted from time to time. However now it says it can't even load the operating system. I don't have a recovery disk. I don't have the original XP CD. I can't send this to a repairman because I have very sensitive information stored in files on the desktop. How sunk am I? [more inside]
posted by zaebiz on Nov 24, 2006 - 19 answers

I have a Thinkpad G41. About an hour ago, I (shut it off) packed it in a backpack-style case, and rode my bicycle to the radio station where I work. Upon arriving, I turn it on and the screen does not do anything at all. Everything else about bootup appears normal, except the total deadness of the screen (the light behind the TFT does not appear to come on). Also, there are (what I presume to be) BIOS beeps, one long two short. Googling produces this which informs me I have a "video adapter error". What do I do now? (This laptop is about a year old, I think it's out of warranty now... is it just doomed to become a server?)
posted by phrontist on Oct 27, 2006 - 14 answers

used old IBM power adapter on new IBM laptop. The voltage was the same, amperage was lower, but now the machine won't boot with a major Windows 2000 registry error. Am I frying my machine? [more inside]
posted by Parannoyed on Mar 1, 2006 - 8 answers

I've been happy with my IBM Thinkpad T21, but I want CD-RW, DVD and something shiny & new. I'm looking at an IBM TPad R40 model 2681 - Celeron 2.0GHz RAM256 HD40G CD-RW/DVD + 802.11B Wifi from a reliable online vendor. US 575. Will I regret the Celeron as opposed to PIII? [more inside]
posted by theora55 on Oct 29, 2005 - 14 answers

Help me with a laptop purchase decision? [more inside]
posted by pmurray63 on Sep 28, 2005 - 27 answers

Is it insane to want to buy upgrades for a new laptop? [more inside]
posted by tozturk on May 10, 2005 - 9 answers

Apropos of my earlier inquiry regarding a new laptop purchase, can anyone here fill me in on the possible consequences of IBM's sale of its PC division for IBM oweners? If I buy an IBM laptop now, am I setting myself up for possible doom as far as warranty coverage and tech support go? [more inside]
posted by foxy_hedgehog on Dec 3, 2004 - 4 answers

I have put a wireless card in my old ibm laptop. now the cursor jumps up the screen every time the transfer light blinks. this makes internet navigation rather difficult. [more] [more inside]
posted by clockwork on Jan 15, 2004 - 8 answers