• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Just ordered a used thinkpad

Status
Not open for further replies.
yhelothar

yhelothar

Lifer
For $180 shipped no tax(best offer, which is now removed)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180485637378&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

1024x768 IPS screen, USB, multitasks, windows 7, runs UT2004 @ native res medium settings with detailed textures, slightly bulkier than ipad, 3lbs, 5.5hr battery life, remote desktop to my beast of a workstation at home on 25mbps upload FIOS,
yeah and I got my touchscreen too apple bitches.

BOOYAH!
 
Last edited:
I has an X40 (no twisty screen)

only thing that sucks is they don't take 2.5" drives. So I have mine running on a 16GB CF card, which even a fast one is slowish, kinda suck... You can get an IBM 60GB SSD for $200, but I can't justify it :-/

If you put on teh big battery it runs forever.
 
First thought... Why? I see it's an IBM Thinkpad X41 right? Google seems to show that's at least 5 years old. Don't think a 5 year old laptop is work 200 bucks.
 
Locut0s said:
First thought... Why? I see it's an IBM Thinkpad X41 right? Google seems to show that's at least 5 years old. Don't think a 5 year old laptop is work 200 bucks.
Click to expand...
I sold the 40gb 4200rpm drive for $70, got a 64GB SSD for $160... the thing loads photoshop in half the time as my 3.6GHz core2quad desktop with 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.

I think the only thing I can do on my desktop that's noticeably better than my 5yr old laptop is gaming. Ok maybe the occaisional times I do heavy photo editing too.
 
Colt45 said:
well, they were like $2k+ new, and it's still faster than an ipad, and tougher...
Click to expand...

Well I could be wrong about the year, though 4 or 5 years seems about right. Laptops depreciate in value even faster than desktops and I wouldn't pay 200 bucks for a 5 year old desktop now. I would say a good rule of thumb is that you are looking at paying twice as much for a laptop to get the same performance out of a desktop that is a $2000 laptop will probably perform and have the features of a $1000 desktop if you are lucky. And like I was saying they depreciate in value much faster.
 
Colt45 said:
well, they were like $2k+ new, and it's still faster than an ipad, and tougher...
Click to expand...

but it isnt, a 1.5ghz centrino is a dog slow processor.
its running windows, not a stripped down os which is the problem.
its ok for the price, but really its a years old laptop and performs as such.
 
Tablets still retain some value due to the supply and demand but I'm sure that's soon change.

But yeah, wonder what's to become of future computing prices. Seems like upgrading would be pointless unless you are hardcore enthusiast, which I bet most of OT doesn't even do (or anymore).
 
astroidea said:
I sold the 40gb 4200rpm drive for $70, got a 64GB SSD for $160... the thing loads photoshop in half the time as my 3.6GHz core2quad desktop with 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.

I think the only thing I can do on my desktop that's noticeably better than my 5yr old laptop is gaming. Ok maybe the occaisional times I do heavy photo editing too.
Click to expand...

W.T.F. I know laptop HDDs are more expensive but you can get a 300+GB laptop HDD nowadays for about that much! And a 1TB desktop drive for about that.
 
I had the exact same tablet PC. The model has a pretty annoying hardware defect that causes the mouse pointer to skip to the bottom left of the screen sporadically. It occurs randomly and is hard to replicate on-the-fly. It's been documented on various Thinkpad forums.
 
Locut0s said:
W.T.F. I know laptop HDDs are more expensive but you can get a 300+GB laptop HDD nowadays for about that much! And a 1TB desktop drive for about that.
Click to expand...

yea either it was a long time ago or he found a sucker, even older ide laptop drives are and have been very cheap for a long long time. easily spend less than 70 dollars for a new one.
 
0roo0roo said:
but it isnt, a 1.5ghz centrino is a dog slow processor.
its running windows, not a stripped down os which is the problem.
its ok for the price, but really its a years old laptop and performs as such.
Click to expand...
Remember that 1.5GHz Pentium-M is equivalent to a 1.5GHz Core2Solo, which is a helluva lot faster than netbooks that cost double, and especially the ipad that's about equivalent to a giant iphone. Plus don't forget that this isn't exactly your workstation, but an ultraportable, low power tablet.

And remember that software has not exactly scaled as quick as hardware has. Surfing the web, doing word processing, watching dvds, taking notes, doing light photoshopping isn't gonna be any quicker on an uberclocked i7 compared to a dinosaur Pentium-M. You just need an adequate amount of ram, which is cheap as hell, and possibly a hard drive upgrade if you want really modern performance.
 
Last edited:
chuckywang said:
I had the exact same tablet PC. The model has a pretty annoying hardware defect that causes the mouse pointer to skip to the bottom left of the screen sporadically. It occurs randomly and is hard to replicate on-the-fly. It's been documented on various Thinkpad forums.
Click to expand...

It's kind of a defect, but kind of a feature too. It happens because the trackpoint recalibrates to any position that it's been on for 3 seconds. So if you move your mouse at a constant rate up for 3 seconds, it'll calibrate that as the center, so that the real center would move the mouse down.
But it'd fix itself after 3 seconds of leaving the nub back at the center.
 
astroidea said:
nah that's one of the perks of buying a laptop with a rare 1.8" drive that's horizontally mounted 😉

here's mine that I sold.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320494775488&ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT
Click to expand...

Huh intersting. I still wouldn't pay that much but I see why it sold for that now.

Is it legal to sell an HDD with Windows and Office installed on it? I'm assuming you also gave them the keys. And or the original discs? Not that I have anything against pirating (I don't).
 
astroidea said:
It's kind of a defect, but kind of a feature too. It happens because the trackpoint recalibrates to any position that it's been on for 3 seconds. So if you move your mouse at a constant rate up for 3 seconds, it'll calibrate that as the center, so that the real center would move the mouse down.
But it'd fix itself after 3 seconds of leaving the nub back at the center.
Click to expand...

No it's an actual hardware problem. My father had a thinkpad from his college that had this problem and nothing would fix it. It's a known issue. The mouse will just go crazy and eventually become uncontrollable.
 
Locut0s said:
Huh intersting. I still wouldn't pay that much but I see why it sold for that now.

Is it legal to sell an HDD with Windows and Office installed on it? I'm assuming you also gave them the keys. And or the original discs? Not that I have anything against pirating (I don't).
Click to expand...

Hah that's why I mentioned, if you own this software, you may use it too.
But it actually didn't sell for much more than average price. I even saw a few go for a higher price than mine with a formatted drive.
 
Locut0s said:
No it's an actual hardware problem. My father had a thinkpad from his college that had this problem and nothing would fix it. It's a known issue. The mouse will just go crazy and eventually become uncontrollable.
Click to expand...

Nah, your father just had to let go of the trackpoint and wait 3 seconds.
It's annoying as hell, but I guess they couldn't come up with a better design?
Well that's what works for me at least, but I just read that it's possible that your trackpoint was broken. Here's what I pulled from some notebook forums..

TrackPoint drift is due to the autocalibration mechanism, usually.

If it senses that the stick is in a certain position for 3 seconds, it'll recenter the stick on that point. This is important, because heat and humidity can affect what forces the force sensing resistor sees.

The biggest cause of TrackPoint drift, is usually preceded by the pointer STOPPING movement. Then, when you let go, it shoots across the screen, then stops. This happens when you hold the stick in the same position... so it thinks it needs to recalibrate, and it does... but then you release, and it realizes it went out of calibration AGAIN, and that's when it stops. The cure for this is to make it so you can cross the screen in 3 seconds, preferably less, by increasing TrackPoint sensitivity and pointer speed.

The other cause is a defective TrackPoint - the self-centering mechanism doesn't work, or some other problem. If the first solution doesn't work, call IBM and tell them that the TrackPoint drifts randomly. They should send you a new keyboard.

As for Enhance Pointer Precision... that theoretically could help if you're right on the borderline of that 3 second mark, because a hard hit on the TrackPoint will cause it to bounce back a little if you have it on, causing you to have to go further. However, with that function off, I find using a TrackPoint (or another pointing stick without the inertial features) is like sliding on ice.
 
astroidea said:
I wholeheartedly concur. You can get a 32GB SSD for a few dollars more. But they still sell like hotcakes on ebay. :awe:
Click to expand...


main issue is that its years old. you don't know whats about to fail, you gotta go on ebay and might get raped for old parts. the battery, how much is replacement battery for such an old thinkpad? the 8 cell seems to go about 150 on amazon alone. never mind the fan/noise/delicate nature of twist hinge, 4.5lb+ esp with 8 cell battery, and it hardly makes it comparable to an ipad.

so you paid $200 for an old laptop, add 90 for the ssd(160-70harddrive sale excluding shipping/insurance)., add 150 for battery and you are up to $440 spent on an old laptop...so far. assuming you paid for windows 7 it goes way past an ipad.

so you see, its not quite the deal 😛
 
Last edited:
astroidea said:
Nah, your father just had to let go of the trackpoint and wait 3 seconds.
It's annoying as hell, but I guess they couldn't come up with a better design?
Well that's what works for me at least, but I just read that it's possible that your trackpoint was broken. Here's what I pulled from some notebook forums..

TrackPoint drift is due to the autocalibration mechanism, usually.

If it senses that the stick is in a certain position for 3 seconds, it'll recenter the stick on that point. This is important, because heat and humidity can affect what forces the force sensing resistor sees.

The biggest cause of TrackPoint drift, is usually preceded by the pointer STOPPING movement. Then, when you let go, it shoots across the screen, then stops. This happens when you hold the stick in the same position... so it thinks it needs to recalibrate, and it does... but then you release, and it realizes it went out of calibration AGAIN, and that's when it stops. The cure for this is to make it so you can cross the screen in 3 seconds, preferably less, by increasing TrackPoint sensitivity and pointer speed.

The other cause is a defective TrackPoint - the self-centering mechanism doesn't work, or some other problem. If the first solution doesn't work, call IBM and tell them that the TrackPoint drifts randomly. They should send you a new keyboard.

As for Enhance Pointer Precision... that theoretically could help if you're right on the borderline of that 3 second mark, because a hard hit on the TrackPoint will cause it to bounce back a little if you have it on, causing you to have to go further. However, with that function off, I find using a TrackPoint (or another pointing stick without the inertial features) is like sliding on ice.
Click to expand...

Well I'll take a look at the laptop some time and see if it can be fixed but I doubt it. We tried everything I could think of in trying to fix it including every combination of letting it sit and moving it around. The way it acted it was almost like there was a physical force forcing the pointer to the right or bottom of the screen. I've seen calibration issues before and this seemed a lot more random than that.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top