Lenovo have opted to fix T61p with Nvidia GPU issue for free?

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/T61-and...ep-two-short-beeps-and-dead/m-p/216958#M46264

Is Lenovo offering free T61p repairs?

 

Cooo! That's very nice. Looks like Lenovo really cares about its customers, unlike many other companies out there.

 

Fault of the nVidia GPU again?

 

It's THE same GPU problem

 

I'd be pissed if I had a T61 and already got rid of it because of the nVidia issue.

 

Thanks for sharing my thoughts on this matter...

 

Very interesting. I am one of those people that got rid of their T61p. The machine worked great but I was not willing to risk getting a potential problem(though I never experienced one when I had it). I love my T500 with the integrated GPU though. The machine is super quite and I have not heard the fan ramp up once. Stays nice and cool and it turns out I am doing so much less with my laptop then I thought I would when I bought the T61p(ex: thought I would watch movies on it, which I don't, thought I would play games on it and I don't and I don't use Linux anymore. I will say though that the T61p's keyboard was rock solid and my T500's is not as good but both are nice to type on.

 

Is the replacement really free and does it cover T61?

So far no issues here but my warranty will be ending this winter.

 

i wonder if theyll let me get an integrated one.

 

it's being handled as a warranty issue regardless of warranty status.   shipping would be covered both from and to the customer.

it's too bad everyone sold their systems based on internet speculation.   the internet would lead one to think that this affected everyone when in fact the statistics have been relatively low when compared to the number of systems sold.

 

no.   system planars would be swapped 1:1.

 

I was about to say...you mentioned having sold one recently precisely because of this problem!!!!

 

Good thing I decided to keep mine instead of parting it.
Though what will I do now with a spare laptop....? (Just got my W510) =P

 

Get it fixed and send it to me! Since it is a 'spare', you don't need to charge me for it.

I will pay for the shipping though!

 

Given the number of reported HP, Dell and Macbook Pro affected by faulty GPU, i think many people was edgy about this. No one wants to hold a possible future liability when they don't know what will happen down the line, especially when the manufacturer did not say, whether they would support the affected laptop with extended warranty.

I guess one could argue whether it is too early to do something about climate change until it is really upon us.

Maybe, the onus is on Nvidia to release some more information regarding the actual cause of the GPU problems, and which model number was affected.

When there is not enough forthcoming information, people tend to speculate.

 

so you sold yours because of the speculation?   i was under the impression that you actually had a problem with yours based on this post.   it sounds like you fell victim to internet guesswork.   that's unfortunate.

keep in mind that people tend to get out their torches and pitchforks online over the smallest of issues.   speculation always becomes exacerbated as a result.

sorry to hear you lost a good system over it.

 

I don't know that I'd call a repair for a known defective part that Lenovo should have stepped up to fix as other manufacturers like Dell, HP and Apple have done, a smallest of issues. Now that they are offering to repair these systems it seems a day late and a dollar short if you ask me. They should have done this two years when it became apparent in my opinion. Granted nVidia is the real bad guy here, but when you're trying to selling what's supposed to be a premium product, you shouldn't leave your customers hanging.

 

The issue with all the speculation too was that even nvidia didn't know the precise stats since OEM builds all differed. Although I suppose each OEM could estimate their own failure rates.

I do agree though that Lenovo should have stepped up to guarantee this from the get go.

 

problem is, the "statistics" one thinks they see online don't always match the true stats seen in the repair department.   you can step up and fix something that might be an issue or you can wait to see if it's actually an issue.   there's wisdom in each path.

let's not forget that lenovo have always covered systems in warranty.   it's not like those who actually had issues while in warranty were ever left in the dark.   the new policy simply adds coverage to out-of-warranty systems.   nothing else has changed.

 

Perhaps not the precise heat physics of each and every laptop config, but they didn't need to, the effect different heat physics had on each laptop config was negligible in differentiating the problem on the defective cores, since they were all defective, period. Regardless of a laptops config. Perhaps a cooler CPU would delay the failure of the defective GPU but that is not nVidia's responsibility to account for, it's there responsibility to take care of all GPU's, and all of them were defective.

 

Some people will use these machine and never have an issue. We will probably never know what the true numbers are as I doubt they'll ever release them. It may not be as bad some may think, but because we're speculating here, it could be worse too. One would think if it wasn't that bad they would have said so some time along the way. I've seen many more people with GPU failures on the R61/T61/T61p than the T60 or T400/T500. Granted that's a small sample, but it is worth consideration in the absence of hard data.

Lenovo fixed GPUs on machines under warranty as was their obligation. They did nothing above and beyond it. To come out two years plus later to extend the warranty seemed a little too late in my opinion since this has been at least a known issue for some time. If you want to be known as a premium brand, as I believe Lenovo wants ThinkPads to be, you don't leave your customers hanging on a known defect. All the other major players found a way to do it. I don't understand why Lenovo did not. That's my 2¢ anyway.

 

It's about time. I really don't have a stake in this aside from telling people about the benefits of Thinkpads and what kind of a company Lenovo is.

Lenovo preferred to whitewash the sudden graphic card death syndrome instead of being proactive. I say that even though Lenovo did right by me twice (once on the canceled T61p and then again with the W500 keyboard replacement). It stinks to say yet I firmly believed they put their immediate bottom line above everything. Also possible corporate fleet and corporate lease sales. The only OEM I remember being more closed minded was Apple, but that was only as long as they sold the MacBook Pros with 8600 GTs. As soon as they launched a refreshed model, they told everyone and their mother that their previous gen MBPs had a potential issue. I wonder if Lenovo will reimburse customers who paid for a new motherboard out of warrenty (like Apple, Dell, and Hp at least).

We'll never get hard statistics without lawsuits or a government investigation. Even then, I don't think it would be the clearest data. I'd point out the famous/infamous Inquirer articles claimed Nvidia changed the sodder and underfill for later production 8 Series GPUs. Some of Nvidia's cards left the factory without the death sentence they would have otherwise carried, but we will never know the exact numbers. Moreover, different laptop designs (ie Thinkpads apparently having vastly superior cooling systems than HPs) and different usage patters affected how the heat cycles stacked up.

 

Regarding my Thinkpads:

My R61, T61 and T61p never had the graphic issue when i used it, but my friends whom played alot of games and do a lot of CAD on their machines did suffer GPU related issues, it was fortunate that they all had warranties.

I sold my Nvidia equipped T61, T61p and R61, because i did not want to gamble on my Thinkpads, if i wanted to gamble on stability and laptop longevity i would have got the HP Dv series.

I like my Thinkpads and enjoy the experience of owning one of the most robust and stable laptop series ever made. So therefore i don't really want to sour the experience with machines that could fail due to possible intrinsic component problem.

Some of us had to speculate because none of the manufacturers were forthcoming with the exacting details regarding the GPU issues. Maybe in the future, manufacturers could release a bit more information regarding such issues. And we as consumers don't have to gamble on issues like this.

 

i owned a 15.4" T61p from august 2007 until mid-2008.   i used it with solidworks, autocad, 3dsmax, and almost the entire adobe CS3 collection.   it had 4GB installed -- which was rare at the time and i wrote this in an attempt to clear up the 32-/64-bit addressing misconceptions.   during that time it was discovered that some users with two SODIMMs were having problems playing games due to a bad resistor value on the system planar.

however...

i never had a single issue with my system no matter what apps i ran or how much memory was installed.   i pushed that system every day running CAD, rendering, and maxing out both the memory and CPU.   the fan ran constantly during the ~10 months i owned it.

according to the internet pundits, my T61p should have exploded right in front of me while doing nothing more than checking email.   reality would say otherwise.

i sold my T61p because i picked up a ThinkStation D10 and X300 in early 2008.   i had quickly outgrown the T61p and decided that migrating to a proper workstation and ultraportable made more sense.

in any case, i don't want to discount those who have actually had issues with their systems.   my point is simply to say that my personal system that i stressed to the 99% level never had any issues in the ~10 months i owned it.   there are other threads here with users matching my experiences.   i think it's unfair to speculate that all systems are definitely affected.   again, the reality is different, at least from my perspective.

 

Wait, for this extended warranty does it apply to any Thinkpad system that has the faulty nVidia Quadro chip equipped or is it for the T61p only? My Uncle has a Thinkpad R61 with the Quadro NVS 140m onboard (based off the faulty chip), it was bought 2nd hand quite cheaply (assuming the seller didn't want to gamble his machine as well) and at the moment it seems to be working fine.

He's generally a light user (no CAD, gaming etc.) so he doesn't push the GPU to the limits but if Lenovo decides to cover systems that has the GPU fault regardless of warranty status then I have to give kudos to them.

 

It was posted in a thread about T61ps, but I imagine Lenovo will clear things up and offer it on the lesser, 8400GT based chips.

I forgot about the faulty dimm slot on some motherboards. I do find Lenovo's response to that whole faulty part recall stands in contrast to what went on. Lenovo seemed to be pretty vocal that they screwed up and replaced motherboards. Their website knowledge article identifies exactly what part numbers were affected. Perhaps its the secrecy of the whole Nvidia thing that frustrates me. Two different problems though: the planar problem was fairly immediate if you had particular usage patterns/system config while the graphics card issue is more or less latent. It's sort of hidden and only becomes apparent over time.

 

Kudos to Lenovo for finally taking the plunge and replacing the boards. Now, the question is, should I send my T61 in or forget it. I never had any issues with the GPU in the 1st place....

 

No reason to send it in if you have no issues at the moment. In fact, they wouldn't fix it in the first place.

 

@ Lead org - Lenovo would just replace the MOBO with the same one with another of the same GPU with the faulty material, right?

 

#$%^$#

...excuse me, but I've just bought the post warranty to get my dead T61p fixed (I didn't bother calling them first to do a waste-of-time diagnosis thinking they'd probably just give me a ridiculously expensive quote for the repair), and now I am reading this about them replacing the mobo free of charge. How very stupid of me. I guess no chance of a refund?

 

You have 30 days, I think:

http://www.lenovo.com/services_warranty/us/en/ThinkPlus_Warranty_Services_agreement.pdf

 

according to Mark_Lenovo not all machines are eligible for the free fix, there is a specific model number and failure that qualifies for the repair, in which case the post warranty is still a good idea.

You should always get warranty for as long as possible. All my newer thinkpads have at least 3 years warranty, it is only 100 odd dollars per year for a piece of mind... it is like getting car insurance, you may never know when you would use it, till something happens.

 

It's unknown. That's what Dell and HP users claimed happen to them (if HP Lies is any indication). Mobo fixed but the new graphic card would die again. I imagine that if someone were persistent enough and got their machine fixed 3 times (for the same problem) Lemon Laws would start to come into play. I will reiterate that at some point Nvidia shipped 8 Series cards that were redesigned to not die. Whether Lenovo got any is not publicly known. For all we know, you'd be looking at a parts lottery.

 

OK, thanks. So it just looks to be the luck of the draw and the problem can repeat again. I read quite a few people had this GPU dying problem but I don't know the numbers. I will say though that I sleep much better at night after having sold the T61p.

 

no one would know how many apart from their own management team. However, Thinkpad have lower failure rate then most of their competitors, due to the better heatsink design, which helps to decrease the overall failure rate.

 

I do believe the wonderful Lenovo cooling solution is why it seems like discrete T61's and T61p's are less prone to this. I'm sure Dell and HP outsold Thinkpads, but I'm not surprised at all that the 8 Series problem was first discovered on HPs. HP can't design a heatsink and fan combo to save their life.

I do remember in my odyssey to get a T61p in August 08 (into September, hahaha) that one of the customer service people said they had supply issues with the motherboard. Make of that what you will.

 

"unfounded speculation" is what i'd make of both of those.

T61p planars will be fixed so they don't return.   lenovo aren't in business to waste money on systems acting like boomerangs.   boomerangs aren't profitable.

planars were in short supply at that time because a TON of orders came in for T61p systems and demand far exceeded supply.   this happens quite often when combining a JIT production model with new system releases.

 

Good news for us T61p owners! My warranty ran out a couple of months ago and this will give a little piece of mind.

 

Guilty cause I and everyone else has had to read tealeaves. One thing's for sure, the speculation seems to be more accurate than the official story coming out of Nvidia and the OEMs...

 

Cancel the Easy-Bake Oven. The T61 gets covered.

 

As ConnectDon have said the T61 with Nvidia GPU is also included in the free repair coverage.

 

i cant wait. my t61 is going back for a new lid, hinges, gpu, and some plastic panels! my brother will put it to good use.

 

the memory issue only affects one particular motherboard type of the T61p, so not all T61p was affected, and those people whom had the problem got a motherboard replacement to fix that issue.

T61 is NOT affected by the DIMM issue.

 

just a hobby..... i don't work in IT industry nor did i do IT when i was in Uni.... i am a Chemical process engineer by trade.

 

Haha... that is a good one...

 

I got a T61p with the Nvidia GPU issue. It happened to me a few weeks before Mark_Lenovo's post and I already got a new laptop .

 

so where is your old T61p?

 

You're late to the party. LenovoBlogs did that a few years ago with another ThinkPad fan. See:

http://lenovoblogs.com/connections/?p=32

Unfortunately, the link to the picture that went along with that article is broken, but, I found a copy of it. Steve's large collection of ThinkPads was a sight to behold. Check the attachment to see for yourself!

 

I still have my T61p, but I purchased a Dell XPS 16, and I'd rather not go through the trouble of attempting to return a new perfectly working laptop. Dell would probably give me a hard time, and rightfully so. Although I guess there is nothing wrong with having a spare T61p.

 

Just curious, did anyone call Lenovo about this issue and if so, how did the call go? The only person that I saw that called said that the Lenovo support person was not aware of the problem or Mark_Lenovo's post, and was therefore not willing to perform a free repair.

It would be nice if there was some sort of reference code or something more straightforward.