T61 Video Failure...options?

I think the way it works is that Visa will try to get the machine repaired but if it is not possible(or economically sensible) then will refund your purchase price. This is highly variable though, as each card is different(AMEX, MC, Visa) and each card within each compnay is different(ex: Platinum vs Gold vs Bronze etc).
Call and find out.

 

Guys dont be a pansy if you got srewed. A couple of years ago Dell and Toshiba and HP (Lenovo repreived from this one as Thinkpad was still IBM) stuffed desktop CPUs into NBs. Lots of thermal meldowns and a class action lawsuit at least agaist Toshiba resulted in victory. I had a mobile CPU with an Nvidia card on a specialized notebook instead of a mass market one with the desktop CPU mismatch and had an extended warranty but I followed the case carefully. Similar to this case, manufacturers issued a BIOS "fix." This included mine. Despite that I had three motherboard replacements, fan always on etc. Following the last motherboard replacement the warranty expired and it conked out. I ran that thing in the lowest power state and it was still not good enough due to poor thermal design packing too much power into a small NB, etc. I'm not unconvinced it was the Nvidia GPU that caused all the trouble either. Manufactuers denied denied denied until the chickens came home to roost. I'm convinced the BBB is a good channel to use because it provides marketplace and reputational punishment which is important for any consumer company to avoid. This should be part of any PC company's internal strategy to sell high quality products and to correct problems to maintain the brand. When you get screwed it should not be a situation where you have to beg or negotiate for a resolution when the facts are widely known regarding the problem. So best course is to inflict punishment. If an auto company sold you a car that was defective would you take it lightly? What is the difference with a PC? Should be none.

 

This is why Laptop was renamed Notebook and there is a warning in most HP laptops saying that don't use the notebook on your lap for extended period of time.

If auto company sells you a defective car there is safety risk so under law they have to rectify it, so if their inbuilt speakers were defective, they don't have to repair it unless it is under warranty. While, electronics company does not have to rectify problems unless there is safety issue associated with problems. i.e. battery catching fire or adapter overheating, etc.

 

Applying the same thing ie logic to brands in auto, its also why MBZ is not priced the same nor does it have the same reputation for precision, quality, and customer service as Chevrolet. Not knocking Chevy just using them to distinguish brands. So where does Lenovo fall if they run away and dont stand behind their product.

 

if every other brand is offering extended warranty on the Nvidia GPU, then i don't think Lenovo can run away from the responsibility, it is matter of when Lenovo is going to respond to this issue, not if.

 

I have the extended warranty though Visa which will expire in March. My T61 has not failed (yet), but I am experiencing the same high GPU temperatures. Should I call Visa and raise to them the issue of the defective chipsets, or are they going to tell me that my computer is running fine and that to call them only when if fails?

 

That's dumb. Why should they help you when Lenovo is responsible. You can pursue if you are out of warranty.

 

The Lenovo warranty finished last March.

Of course I would call Lenovo if they still covered it, but since it's not, my only choice is Visa.

 

IMO you are better off inquiring when their is catastrophic failure rather than saying oh the temps seem high. Failure is definitive rather than subjective.

 

As I previously mentioned, the Visa warranty will finish in two months time. There is no guarantee that it will fail before then, in fact I think the chances are unlikely as my T61 has yet to show ANY signs of overheating stress. Eventually it will happen, especially since I use it very intensively, but it may be 6 months, it may be another year.

The Visa coverage expires in March, so if the video card dies in April, I'm out of luck.

 

Well let us know the outcome. I think you are between a rock and a hard place. Might be better to sell it if you are that worried. Best way to think about hardware is to estimate the cost per year of usage. That's how most people decide on their warranty coverage. Your utility out of your TP was expected to be say 2 years plus 1 year so 3 years. I dont know what that works out to dollar wise since I dont know what you paid for it. Either way you made that decision at the time of purchase and should have been prepared for it to stop working after three years.

 

I'll definitely keep everyone posted on what happens with Visa. I figure I have nothing to lose either way.

I'm not the type of guy who buys extended warranties and so far I have never regretted not doing so. My goal for this laptop was to last at least 4 years, and being a ThinkPad, I expected that it would function perfectly fine well beyond 4 years, but that it would just be out of date after a 4 year period. It's coming up on 2 years now and it's still running like I just got it. What alarmed me is the temperature readings, which I only decided to take a few days ago, something which I regret not doing earlier.

My previous laptop is a fragile Dell Inspiron 600m, I used it very intensively for almost 4 years and it still functions fine. It's just outdated and slow.

I will definitely be disappointed if my fragile Dell Inspiron outlives my ThinkPad. At the same time, I know this isn't a ThinkPad-specific issue, but an Nvidia issue. I definitely will not be getting a laptop with an Nvidia card again, from now on it's either ATI or integrated.

 

Yes, Nvidia should be penalized in tthe marketplace.

 

They would have been in the hole for twice as much as they had in the bank at the time that they released the defective GPU's, if they had to fully reimburse every affected or eventually affected GPU's.

 

If they reimbursed everyone in the marketplace that had an affected GPU including the cost of the rest of the motherboard/graphics, shipping, handling, labour, etc..... they would have been probably up for something like 10 billion dollars.... and bankrupt eons ago...

 

Anyone replaced your motherboard with Intel graphic chip? I am still at graduate school and I rely heavily on my Thinkpad. Mine is still working but I cannot afford if it died when I need it. Kinda regret I bought T61p with quadro FX 570M. Which is better: sell mine and buy a new thinkpad or just replaced the board with Intel graphic chip? Hope I don't have to spend much money.

 

I would sell it and get a new one. Laptop motherboards are expensive and you will be putting money into a old machine.

 

Aussies dont understand the concept of insurance? lol.

 

Insurance does not cover poor design and manufacturing, if it does then insurance company would be out of business. Insurance company is not a charity, all the insurance cover they offer are based on risk management and probability.

 

Hey guys- can anyone chance my dad's T61 on GPU failure?

Here are the specs (purchased March 2008)

Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4 ghz, 800 Mhz FSB , 3MB L2 Cache)
4096 MB G.Skill DDR2-667 with heatspreaders ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231165)

NVIDIA Quadro NVS140m with 128 MB GDDR3 VRAM

He doesn't turn it on and off that often; but when he does; it usually stays on for a long time. He often leaves it on and it auto-sleeps, and when it's on, he's usually watching video. What do you guys think?

 

I don't think he's in that much danger.

And we're not all guys.

Renee

 

Haha I know that this isn't a forum with only guys; but I meant it in a plural sense...

Thanks though... I just don't want him to have a lemon waiting for him one day soon; he tends to keep his Thinkpads for a long time (i.e before his T61 he had a T23.........)

 

i sold mine T61, R61 and T61p with the nvidia GPU for the sake of NOT getting burnt by a failing GPU, so you may want to consider the same. Many of friend's T61 with Nvidia GPU have started failing, and getting replaced through warranty, but the depot don't stock the motherboard on hand, so they are in for a 2 months wait, like i did for the motherboard (Intel integrated GPU, but the headphone plug was loose). And I had to loan out my spare laptops to two of them.

 

Well at least you had an army of Thinkpads..... . If my dad's T61 fails, the next in line is a T23...

 

I agree with Lead_Org. Sell it. Thats what I did with my T61p.

 

??

Mine died over the holidays and I got it replaced within the normal 1 day ship 1 day repair time frame last week...

 

I don't think there's much you can do to significantly increase/decrease your chances of GPU failure. There have been people on NBR who never game or tax their GPU who have reported GPU failures.

Obviously, the best way to prevent a dead machine from GPU failure is to sell it and pick up a new Thinkpad, but of course there are financial considerations. If your Thinkpad is still under warranty, though, it should not have too tough a time selling.

 

we have different depot system in Australia, don't worry i have many evidences to back up on how bad the depot repair is.

My T61 came back with a scratched screen, cracked LCD bezel, Cracked top case.... it is going back to depot for the third time in 3 months (i have only had the laptop for 3 days over that time period). While, the T60 came back disrepaired, damaged palmrest, damaged bezel around the keyboard........... the palmrest wasn't even fitted to the laptop properly when they send it back.... Obviously QC took a holiday.... T60 have been depot the third time in the last 4 months, to fix a fan, but everytime it came back, they have to damage the laptop....... talk about incompetent.

I seriously want Lenovo to send me a couple of new Laptops, because i just couldn't take the shoddy works any longer, everytime i got my T60 and T61 back, there is more damage then there is repair been done.

sorry for ranting..

 

Dude, is the repair shop ruled by a salt water crocodile?

 

no, instead they are ruled by the people whom service slot machines.......