ThinkPad Sticky - Please Read Before Posting

THINKPAD STICKY
Hello, welcome to ThinkPad Sticky and the Lenovo forum in general. If you’re here, it means you’re probably a prospective buyer of a ThinkPad or already an owner. The ThinkPad Sticky is intended to be a short concise collection of useful information and links related to ThinkPads. We’re not too snobby, Lenovo notebook owners are certainly welcome as well.

Hardware
ThinkPad Tabook
The ThinkPad Tabook is a list of most available pre-configured ThinkPad models. The Tabook contains hardware and software information on each ThinkPad model by machine type. If you are looking for information on a particular model or would like to know which ThinkPads have what you need, here it is.
ThinkPad Parts Lookup
You can find out what parts were used to make your ThinkPad using the parts lookup. Which keyboard did I get? What LCD brand? You can find all this information and much more using the parts lookup.
ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Manuals
The ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Manuals are an in-depth guide to the hardware on your ThinkPad. They will instruct you on how to completely disassemble your ThinkPad should you feel the need. The ThinkPad Hardware Maintenance Manuals are great reference when replacing or upgrading parts on your ThinkPad.
Service and Support Training
You've just committed your Hardware Maintenance Manual to memory. Who hasn't really? But you're still a bit new to the world of notebooks and little skittish about taking apart your expensive ThinkPad. Lenovo's Service and Support Training website contains videos, along with lots of other stuff about your ThinkPad, documenting how to complete each procedure of the disassembly process. Everything from adding memory to replacing the LCD is covered. Most importantly, it shows how to put it back together. The site has information dating back to the Core Duo based ThinkPads. It's another great ThinkPad resource for those willing to poke around a bit.

Buying
Price Protection
If you find a lower price within 21 days after your purchase, you can call to get a price match done.
Price Quotes
Do everything you would do when ordering excepting when you get to the last page, do not submit order and select "Convert to Price Quote" instead. Save the Price Quote order number and present it to a customer service rep within 30 days to convert the price quote into an order.
Estimated Ship Dates
You've just purchased a new ThinkPad. The next obvious question is when will I get it? When you ordered your ThinkPad, you should have received an estimated ship date from Lenovo. If not, you can log into your account on Lenovo's website and find it or call. The estimated ship date is Lenovo's best guess of when your notebook will ship from the factory. Lenovo tends to be conservative in their estimates of the ship date. The vast majority of buyers get their notebooks before the estimated ship date, but if a part on the notebook you've just ordered is low in stock or out of stock, you will wait. Your two choices are to cancel and re-order with a part that is not low in stock or wait. Lenovo does not allow changes to your order. You may only cancel present order and place an order for a new machine, which will put you at the back of the line.
Return Policy
If for some reason your new ThinkPad purchase has not worked out to your liking, Lenovo does allow you to return your ThinkPad for 21 days from the invoice date. However, once your ThinkPad ships, you will be assessed a 15% re-stocking fee regardless of whether or not it has been opened. Unless you are extremely charming, which knowing you seems unlikely, you will not be able to get out of paying the fee. Please keep this in mind before plunking down your hard earned money. You can use the link above to read the return policy for yourself.

Warranty
ThinkPad Warranty
The link aboves goes to the Lenovo warranty web page. You may read your warranty if you like. Depending on when your machine was purchased, you may have differing warranty coverage. There are links to all the different warranties. There are three types of warranty service: Mail-In, On-Site and ThinkPad Protection aka Accidental. They seem fairly self explanatory, but use the link for more information if needed. Most ThinkPads are sold with one year of depot warranty(Mail-In). If for some reason you decide you would like to upgrade your coverage, you may do so at anytime while your ThinkPad is under warranty. However, you are only allowed to upgrade your warranty once. If you upgrade it to three years, you cannot upgrade it again later to five years. ThinkPads are eligible for up to five years of warranty service, though accidental coverage is limited to four years. Here's a link to the Warranty Service Upgrade (WSU) parts list.
ThinkPad Warranty Status
You can look up the status of your ThinkPad warranty on Lenovo's website. ThinkPad warranties are unlike other notebook warranties. They follow the machine, not the buyer. No registration or proof of purchase is ever required.
International Warranty Service(IWS)
Some ThinkPads are sold with IWS by machine type. You can use the link above to determine if your machine has IWS coverage. IWS provides warranty service and repair in countries outside where your ThinkPad was purchased. The link also gives contact information for the applicable country, where the warranty is valid, if your machine has IWS. If you are buying a configure-to-order(CTO) machine directly from Lenovo via their website, the machine type is listed towards the top of the configuration page, right under System Components. It might say ThinkPad R500 2714 for example. The 2714 is the machine type, which you can use to look up the IWS status using the link. If you're buying a pre-configured/top-seller model you can consult the tabook or use the IWS look to ascertain its IWS status.
NOTE: IWS coverage is determined by the machine type number (ie: 7450) and not the model number (ie: CTO, 68U, B7U, etc.).

Miscellaneous
Windows 7 Installation & Drivers
Problem while attempting a clean install of Windows 7 on your ThinkPad? Search this thread and see if the issue occurred and solved before.
Employee Purchase Program (EPP), Contractor Purchase Program (CPP) and Shareholder Purchase Program (SPP)
EPP, CPP and SPP are Lenovo pricing plans that allow Lenovo/IBM employees, contractors and stockholders to purchase ThinkPads at substantial discounts. If you're eligible for one of these programs, congratulations. You're probably going to get a great deal on a ThinkPad. What is not acceptable is to post asking for EPP/CPP/SPP access, posting of access codes or the discounted pricing available through these programs. All such posts/threads will be deleted forthwith.
Software and Recovery Media
ThinkPads do not come with Recovery Media. They must burned from your ThinkPad, which we would highly recommend you do shortly after receiving your machine. Put the recovery discs in a safe place too. The recovery discs are not a Windows disc, but will restore your machine to its factory state. All the software for your machine, which would include the drivers and applications installed on your ThinkPad, are located in the SWTools folder on C:\ drive. We would recommend promptly making a backup of this as well. If for some reason you didn't make the recovery discs or a copy of the SWTools folder like we told you, you can go to the ThinkPad Driver Matrix to download all the apps/drivers for your ThinkPad.
Search First, Then Post
We've tried to be comprehensive as possible without being too long winded in our sticky. However, issues will arise that have not been covered in the sticky. We would recommend you search first before posting. Chances are if you are experiencing a problem or have a question, someone has already posted on the subject. There may already be relevant information posted pertaining to your concern(s). There are other forums on NBR like the Software or Accessories forums, that offer a wealth of information on laptops in general, though are not ThinkPad specific.

You may have noticed that the search function here at NBR is, well, let's just say it's seen better days. If the search function is not providing the results you need, search engines like Bing and Google can pick up the slack. You can use the templates below to search NBR via Google or Bing and get better results than using NBR's search tool. Just enter the template text before your search term and it will search the appropriated forum:

Seach the entire NBR Forum: site:forum.notebookreview.com [ Insert Search Term Here]
Search IBM/Lenovo Forum: site:forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm [ Insert Search Term Here]
Search the IdeaPad/Essential Forum: site:forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential [ Insert Search Term Here]
Seach the Edge, X1, X1x0e, & SL/L Forum: site:forum.notebookreview.com/thinkpad-edge-x1-x100e-x120e-sl-l [ Insert Search Term Here]


If you feel there is something we have forgotten, please feel free to shoot me a PM. Keep in mind we try to keep the sticky short to make the information as usable possible.