Who here has the oldest (actively in daily use) Thinkpad ?

Good day,
I just got to thinking, who here has the oldest Thinkpad that they still use everyday ??
Mine is old according to technology standards (I still use my T61 everyday for the past 2 years), but I know that some of you probably still use a T43, T42, etc.
I plan on using my T61 for another 4 years, or until she dies. I LOVE my T61, and would not trade it for any other laptop.
My X301 I bought for use when I travel. So far I've used it a handful of times, but it is NOT my everyday computer.
So, lets hear it, who still uses thier Thinkpads bought 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. years ago ?

 

My brother in law still uses my T42. It was purchased in October of 2005. Never had a single problem with it and still runs like a champ.

 

Why do you use T61 more often than your x301?

 

T40. Coming up on 7 years. Waiting to retire it with a W510...afraid it may have to go another 7 years at this pace.

 

X30. It has been (and still is) my main computer and it follows me everywhere.

 

Mainly becuase of the bigger screen. That and after taking the X301 with me on several flights, and carrying it around a lot, my T61 feels like a BRICK lol

That, and my X301 only has 64GB of memory. However, I could get an external hard drive, but I don't want to go that route.

 

My dad has a company-issue T60 bought shortly after launch, that's still going strong (with a hard drive replacement). After all the abuse it's been through, though, I'm almost surprised it still works

As another option, you could purchase a relatively-inexpensive ($22 after rebate from Fry's a while ago) 16GB SDHC card to keep in your card reader for the files you don't always have to have with you, and don't need the speed of the SSD (I put my music collection on mine). I've found it to be a cheap, convenient "external drive".

 

Cool program, I just downloaded it.
My T61 has 2136 for the Power On Count , and 3991 for power on hours.

 

Look at my sig
IBM ThinkPad R40 (yearly 2003). Still working solid (Ubuntu 9.10). My current programming project is being solely done on it.
But, guys, you wouldn't believe how much did this system withstand. I was letting it OFF 1-2 nights every 3-4 months. Was playing all major games from 2000 to 2006 (all that could run at low-to medium at least ).
Zero hardware failures.
IBM == respect.

 

I used a T40 for 5+ years myself (right up until I got my x200). Great computer and it's still in the service of a friend. I plan on using my x200T at least another 3 or 4 years.

 

Wonder if it can run through Linux WINE as I'd really like to know those stats...Might even install XP just to check it... Nice prog.

 

Wow, good for you The screen on my R30 from 2001 died last year (some time after the plastic around one of the hinges cracked), even though the machine was treated with care throughout its life. I still keep the 30 GB HDD alive on my server.

 

Isn't the typical life of a lcd less than 5 years.

 

@Dansari
Yeah, I remember those R30s. Worked in IT back then and our company was on the edge supplying ThinkPads to all users.
After seeing the performance and durability of those lappies, I decided to grab one for myself.
Good old times...

 

T30 would be the oldest, if i can put everything back together again. But right now my T41 is the oldest Thinkpad that still runs 24/7 everyday for the last year or so.

 

Normally, - yes! But that's and average and I've seen many machines beat that limit by a few years.
Do you think it's a good idea to make a retro review?
I can supply pics and maybe even videos. Run some tests...
Doubt it would interest anyone though...

 

Nope, your T41 was out 4 or 6 months later than my R40.
You probably have 1.6-1.7 GHZ, mine is 1.5 and that was the top of the line when it was released.

 

the T41 was 1.4 ghz Pentium M Bania.... i upgraded it to 1.7 ghz Dothan.

My T40 with the 1.4 ghz Pentium M Bania still works, but the fan has been playing up, so i have dismantled it and tried reconditioning the fan.

 

The Pentium M frequencies for T41 were 1.4, 1.6 and 1,7.
R40 had Pentium M 1.3, 1.4, 1.5(mine) and late 2002 - 1.6.
R40 and T40 were out before T41, as you know.
What GPU does your T41 have?
Mine is Radeon 7500. You have either 7500 or 9000.


<<< I'm gonna make a review in a few days with pics.

 

I have a 600X that I use regularly. I did put a new hard drive in it. The screen is definitely a little dim but other than that, perfect.

 

You still use a laptop with PIII

 

Dual P3 use to be an awesome desktop machine .

 

OK, mine is a baby compared to most here but I tried that soft, CrystalDisk, and ran it:

PowerOn = 6358
Power On Hours = 10066

Given it is 'only' 30 months old, this machine has seen a lot and fully deserve its workhorse nick. Sure, I have lost a few plasticky bits during that time, due to various torture treatment I gave it, but 30 month on, with a 90% full HD, it does not heat up, and the fan is still as silent as ever.


Funny enough I read someone talking about 'her', mine is a 'he' lol!

I have used Acers, Dells, HP and Tosh. This T60 is my 1st and only ThinkPad and this is the 1st lappie to last over 12 months for me so you can imagine what I think about it...
Havind a PC that NEVER fails you is an unbelievable thing and given the time spent on it, ThinkPads are, in my eyes, the cheapest lappies ever!

£1000 for 30 months is £1 a day!!! Yes, just £1 a day to help me run my business...

It is however time for replacement and I am gutted with Lenovo's current screen proposal! I will dearly miss my T60 format and resolution, widescreen ain't for me :-(

 

@Aikimox T41 and T40 all had the ATI 7500 GPU.

 

I still have my T60p, unfortunately I'm getting BSOD memory errors now. I ran memtest86 for 12 hours with no errors. I think the systemboard is now dieing. Luckily my warranty is good until 2011 but this will be the third time sending it in. With my G73 being RMA'd it's bad timing.

 

The T60p does run hot with the T7xxx CPU and ATI FireGL combo.

 

I bought mine before the T7xxx was released. It's a T2500.

 

Wow, it's very cool to hear everyone's "oldest running thinkpad" story !
And, for the person who wanted to make some reviews of the older models, I say sure, why not ! That would be very neat !

 

Nope, m8 and you could google it before saying so. I worked with all early IBM TPs (sysadmin in 3Com) back then starting from R/T 30s.
T40 - had both Radeon 7500 and 9000
T41 - same

R40 had 7000 or 7500 (I had to make a huge effort to find the 7500 as it has 32MB and It was a minimum for a few demanding games of that time)

In addition, I gave my old R30 to a friend of mine and now I'm trying to find out if the beast is still fine. Probably not....

 

I'm running an extinict breed here. It doesn't qualify as an oldest by any means. But it's a dead series.

I'm running a Z61T hoping to get a t410 sometime in the future. I love the size and shape. I've been in love with the 14.1 screen since I first saw it and how skinny and strong it is.

 

my family has a T23 and X32 in service every day.   the T23 is slow but works perfectly for what it's intended to do.   it stays on 24/7.   the X32 serves as a netbook.

my X61 is the oldest system i personally own.   before that it would have been an s30 but i finally sold it because it never got used.

 

T23?!! Wow, that's a winner!
I was lucky to see them a few times in 2001. but you're very lucky to have one at home.
Congrats!

 

600X predates the T23, by quite a bit. Or maybe you meant the system's a winner, not that it wins by chronological date.


My brother has my old 600E still in service, using it weekly, if not daily, for car diagnostics. Work was upgrading from 600E/T22s running NT 4.0 to X30s running XP...so I picked one up in 04. It was built in 98, if memory serves me correctly.

P2 366, 192MB RAM, Stripped Windows XP Pro, and a 20GB hdd. Its battery is shot, it's on its 3rd hard drive, 2nd keyboard.


My oldest Thinkpad is the W510, which I received 1 month before I got the X201. I don't think they're in the running.

 

You should make a review 100% as it's probably the oldest lappie out there (I wonder if anyone still has the first 600? ).
Were there any hardware replacements? If the screen is from 98 I'd very much like to see some pics!

 

Still have a T21 from 2000 that works just fine apart from a dimming screen.

 

i have a 600 with a PII 233 sitting at home in its original box with all accessories.   it still works minus the battery.   since it's not in daily use, i can't count it here.

my first ThinkPad was a 701c that i bought new in 1995.   for all i know, it still works.   i wish i still had it.

 

The first Pentium M was released not in 2002, but in March 2003. So your R40 is not really much (if any) older than my ThinkPad X30, which I bought in September 2003.

 

So guys,
Let's open a new category/subforum for retro-reviews !
I bet it would be fun!
Pics/videos/benches/etc.
Let's show some respect to our old little friends, and for the many years of service they provide us.
What do you think?!

 

You're right, went through my records. My system was purchased in summer 2003. My bad. Have to edit the sig.
Thanks for correction.
+1 rep.

 

This thread makes me smile, it's good to know older ThinkPads are still running strong to this day. Personally my oldest ThinkPad would be the R50e, while I no longer have it in my posession now i'm still quite fond of it. I was browsing through my old photos and found some images of my R50e to my surprise.



Probably the oldest ThinkPad I encountered is when I working in a bank back around 2002 for work experience, a guy was still using I believe a Thinkpad 380 because it had Windows 3.11 Workgroups as its OS while everyone else in the bank was using a mixture of NT 4.0 and Windows 2000.

I'm still pinning some good hopes on my already 3 year old T61 which is now my main system. It would be great if people can share some images of their Thinkpads to see the (minor) comparisons of machines from the IBM era to that of now.

 

That's great!
Ok then, I'm gonna make a review today with pics.
Let's share the good memories!

 

My dad was given a 380XD from work when it was obsolete and I used that for typing papers in high school. This was if he was using the home computer. I used it up until senior year of high school, so it saw "several times a week" usage up until mid 2004. What would that be, 7 years of service? It had Windows 98, Office 97, and a Pentium 1. It still works and is floating around my parents' house. Unless my cousin has it still.

I like the X series, but my needs require something with a little more power I had wanted a Thinkpad when I was going to college, but price+no decent (in my eyes) graphics card made me choose elsewhere. I will never choose consumer grade stuff again.


I'm aiming for 2014 replacement of my W500 hahahaha

 

Very true.
As they say "I'm not that rich to buy a consumer grade stuff"

 

Still have an old 390E and an A20m both still in service.

A20 runs W2Kp
390 running an old distro of Debian Linux

I may not use them every day but they are pretty darn handy for doing network troubleshooting and firmware upgrades and such as they have the precious OLD RS-232 serial port natively

 

I'm a CS grad student, and for some work in robotics, we use a thinkpad 360cs !
Its not my main machine, but I do work on it daily and I sure use it a lot, it runs win 95 with the Original HD and all
(we did however improvised a battery for it).
In addition, we have a few bigger guns here: thinkpad 365x, 570, T21 T22
T23 X21 X20 A20p A31 A31p and all of these are in working condition and in every day use!


My main machine by the way is a T61p which I'm planning to upgrade to X201s

 

Serial to USB for switch configuration .

 

You don't need much more if you run Linux, it's only because most people use Windows they need to upgrade to faster hardware because Windows is so bloated.

 

You can even run newest linux versions on pretty much any hardware.
My R40 runs Ubuntu Karmic very smooth, boot times are even faster than those of the M17X (W7).

 

I have a R40 that is on 24/7 it's my main laptop. I upgraded it with 2GB RAM, 120 PATA SSD, BLUE RAY, and a 32GB CF on the PCMCIA slot.
I love the 15" 4:3 screen, it's totally silent on idle, the fan rarely kicks, and runs very cool.
I also like the old design with battery on the front side so most of the connectors are in the back side, leaving the left and right sides free of cables, it also has the hard drive on the left side leaving the right palm rest very cool.

 

What CPU and GPU does your system have?
Looks like we have similar systems.