Thinkpad repair?

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  1. #1

    Thinkpad repair?

    I just bought a new thinkpad T42 8 months ago and like an idiot splashed some tea on it a few days ago. I took it to the thinkpad service center in Quarry Bay and their quote is 7789 HKD to fix, which is almost the price of buying a whole new computer. Do you think I would have any luck trying to get it fixed at Wanchai or Mongkok Computer Center for less money?


  2. #2

    Join Date
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    Should be easy to get a cheaper repair estimate but it may invalidate your warranty.


  3. #3

    Thanks for the quick reply! Yeah,i thought about that problem. it is a very good warranty, too, i still have over 2 years left on it. problem is i can't imagine paying that much to FIX a computer. is there any real difference b/w MCC or WCC? should i go to one over another? and does anyone know how these places usually operate (what's the diagnostic fee i should expect to pay, etc).


  4. #4

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    Some will check it out for free (but probably expect to recuperate from the repair). Does it have to go back to Quarry Bay or will an IBM dealer suffice? Mong Kok and Wanchai are similar. The latter is cleaner and less crowded.


  5. #5

    Co$t$ - "An Arm & a Leg"

    Well, the minimum fee at IBM service dept is $700 - and that's just to pass it over the counter - i.e. before they start to do ANYTHING !

    I'd suspect that the majority of their quotation covers the co$t$ of supplying a new mainboard - and the fitting of it.

    Yes, your potential bill would bring tears to anyone's eyes, but dropping conductive liquids on to a printed circuit board - compact or otherwise - is likely to cause a lot of damage - even more so if the unit had any power on it - and ever yet more so if the computer was working away at the time.

    You'd better tell us exactly what you get out of the computer NOW.

    Any display at all, or just expensive "Red Indian Smoke Signals"?

    Personally, I'd be most loath to hand over any IBM to the "Butchers of Wanchai" - that is unless you'd given up hope - and they offered a "No Fix, No Fee" deal.

    As a matter of interest - I have a T42 & a T60P, and my daughter has a T43 & T60P.

    I might be ready to relinquish my T42 which has multi-boot - 3 or was it 4 copies of XP-Pro & One partition given over to Vista --- if sufficient hard cash crossed my palm - and you'd have a lot of spares which you can use - like the battery, and {hopefully} the Hard Disk - and the LCD display - if you put your arm through the replacement T42. <Grin>.

    My T42 has had little use in all the time I've had it, and the only reason I'm considering selling it is that your need seems to be greater than mine at the moment.

    (Only) if you want - call me on 2577-5777 [08:30-22:00].


  6. #6

    I recently screwed up my T42 motherboard also but my 1 year warranty was out. IBM quoted me about $8000 to fix plus 2 weeks wait for the part to ship to HK. Not too worth it for a 2 year old laptop.

    So I ended up getting a T42p motherboard (refurbed) off ebay for usd$350 shipped to HK. Kind of risky but there are 1 or 2 dealers that sell IBM parts exclusively. Got the shipment and took it down to SSP to have it installed for hkd$200. I actually stood there and watched for the hour. Now everything is in working order....the only downside is that there is no more warranty after 90 days.

    I was quoted in Mongkok for a T4x motherboard with only a 32mb radeon 7500 for about $2500 plus installation. Which is about what I ended up paying on ebay...for a better board.

    Thinkpad t4x laptops has a very high failure rate on motherboards because the case flexes alot. It if weren't for the tea marks, IBM probably would have replaced it for you under warranty.


  7. #7

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    i had a simular problem with my T40 in which i had a total HD failiure as well as GFX card and MB about 2 days after the warrenty expired. the cost of fixing it was about 8-9k and they wouldnt give me a quote based on what needed to be fixed either which left the bill abit too open for me.

    it was therefore my decision to move away from IBM and i just bought myself an Asus F3JP for about 12k which has a 2 year warrenty and if there is a problem im told it can be fixed in 48 hours which was better than anyone else...

    and at the moment its been the best laptop i have bought, it can handle Photo shop for my digital stils and movies.

    so my suggestion.. look around perhaps IBM isnt the way to go anymore....


  8. #8

    Thumbs up IBM/Lenovo "T" model's **THREE YEAR** Warrantee

    I believe that the "T" series of IBM/Lenovo automatically come with a THREE YEAR warrantee. Certainly ALL the "T" models this family has purchased came with them when acquired via our daughter's University "Road Show" purchases. I seem to recall that the cheaper/smaller models only had a ONE year warrantee hanging on them, but cover for up to two years was a separate optional purchase.

    Anyway, I went down to the "Open your Wallet & let us help ourselves" Service Centre in Quarry Bay - and complained that the characters had disappeared on several keys of a just "Out of Warrantee" R40 I have - and got the relevant keys replaced for free.


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by insomniac:
    Thinkpad t4x laptops has a very high failure rate on motherboards because the case flexes alot. It if weren't for the tea marks, IBM probably would have replaced it for you under warranty.
    Yup, you can say that again. I've had my T41 motherboard replaced twice for this reason. Good thing it came with a three year warrany. Bummer that it's going to run out in six months.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by InstructerJames:
    it was therefore my decision to move away from IBM and i just bought myself an Asus F3JP for about 12k which has a 2 year warrenty and if there is a problem im told it can be fixed in 48 hours which was better than anyone else...
    My girlfriend had an Asus, and had some pretty nightmarish warranty problems on it. When my Thinkpad finally dies, I'm just going to replace it with another T series.

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