Sending my T40 in for service...

[OldSpooky]

Anyone who's been following the ThinkPad T40 threads has probably seen my posts concerning audible electrical noise from my T40. The T40 is hands down the best notebook design I've seen in a long time, so I opted to keep it. However, I am sending it back to IBM so they can have a look at it.

Customer service has sent me new AC adapters and new batteries, but they have not stopped the buzzing noises that occur under the following circumstances:

1) large file transfers (several MB) over a network causes electronic twittering
2) using the blue scroll key in large text files or webpages causes static like noises
3) notebook makes high pitched noise when in standby on battery power

IBM customer service claims they do not know about this problem, and few people have posted about it on the IBM customer service boards - I am guessing that my T40's board is somewhat defective.



At least I have this Dell XPS T450 to hold me over for now.

 

[mocca]

Oldspooky, I have the same problem and I believe EVERY T40 have the same noise problem. The difference is that some people might not be able to hear it (especially older people). I also hear the faint buzzing noise when put the T40 under standby with battery power as well. But it is very low. I have to put my ear next to the air vent to hear it. Nothing to worry about IMO. AFAIK, Dell I4xxx, I8xxx, D800, and D600, COmpaq Evo n610c, n620c also have this problem (and their noise level are much higher than that of T40.

Mocca

 

[OldSpooky]

I also hear the faint buzzing noise when put the T40 under standby with battery power as well. But it is very low

I don't have to put my ear to the machine to hear it. I can hear it if it's on my desk and I'm sitting down or if I'm carrying my T40 around And the other noises are very obvious - I think most people would be able to detect them (especially the scroll thing).

I'm going to see what IBM can do about it - I just want to make sure this isn't a sign of impending system failure.

 

[caltrinity]

Please keep us posted.

I still have not heard back from a tech supervisor at IBM.

-caltrinity

Originally posted by: OldSpooky

I also hear the faint buzzing noise when put the T40 under standby with battery power as well. But it is very low

I don't have to put my ear to the machine to hear it. I can hear it if it's on my desk and I'm sitting down or if I'm carrying my T40 around And the other noises are very obvious - I think most people would be able to detect them (especially the scroll thing).

I'm going to see what IBM can do about it - I just want to make sure this isn't a sign of impending system failure.

 

[mocca]

Sorry to hear that the noise is rather loud in your case. I'm pretty sure that both T40 I got (I didn't test the first one very carefully before sending it back so I don't really know about the noise) have noise problem but the noise level is very low. Please keep us posted when you get your machine back.

Mocca

 

[OldSpooky]

Airborne picked my T40 up today, and IBM says it will take 5-7 regular days to look at, so I'll post an update next week.

My Dell D600 did not make noise in standby, although it had an extremely noisy AC adapter. Maybe my ears are very sensitive compared to most people - I don't know. What I do know is that my Latitude CPi never made wierd noises.