I bring two ThinkPads to the gig. One for a backup. I'm a "the show must go on" kind of a guy.

I do one-nighters and I make my living by gigging. Since I started using ThinkPads in 2002, I've had to use the backup computer twice.

1) The hard drive of the main computer started making mechanical noises, so I switched the USB cable to the second computer and finished the night. I replaced the Hard Drive the next day. Nothing failed, but I know a noisy hard drive can be a warning signal.

2) The CMOS battery on a 6 year old ThinkPad computer died. The CMOS computer runs the clock and probably some other background tasks, and the computer will not start when it is dead. I used the backup computer for the gig and replaced the CMOS battery the next day. $4.95 at Radio Shack - it's one of those little disk batteries about the size of a US nickel coin.

Not a bad reliability rating for 10 years of very hard computer use and abuse.

Notes


Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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