My 2002 ThinkPad is finally dying

The CMOS battery died. I replaced it and it still doesn't remember time and date.

I can boot it up, it gives me the error code, I press F10, enter date and time and it finishes booting.

I remember a post a looooong time ago about buying refurbished computers at NewEgg.com and someone mentioned a brand to choose and/or a brand to avoid.

Searching for NewEgg didn't do me any good because there are too many posts with that mentioned, and I haven't found the magic combination of search terms.

All it needs to do is sit on stage, display WordPad and Encore documents and if necessary play mp3 files. In other words, I don't need much of a computer.

So does anyone know what vendor(s) to get and/or what to vendor(s) avoid at NewEgg?

I definitely want ThinkPad, their reliability is awesome and on stage that "Eraser Head" (Track Point) works better for me than the glide thingy.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=50010418%2050001302&d=refurbished%20laptops&Order=PRICE

Thanks
Notes
Thanks.

I have no experience with NewEgg but I do have a lot of experience with TigerDirect's refurbished computers as I have order a number of them, both laptops and desktops, for friends and family. Only once was there a problem and TigerDirect immediately replaced it. I would not hesitate to order one for myself from them.

If all you're talking about is displaying docs I would use that tablet you just bought with one of the Android gig management apps. You can import docs by taking a pic of them with the tablets camera or save them as pdf's. Biab does that with charts. Other docs can be saved as pdf using a pdf print driver.

Bob

Bought my refurnished Dell laptop there 3 years ago. It's still running strong. I've always been on the Dell bandwagon though.

Thanks.

Mario: TigerDirect is a good company and I've done business when them in the past, but they don't have any used ThinkPads on their site now.

Bob: I tried the tablet thing once and having the keyboard separate from the screen allows me to call up the next chart in about 2 seconds near the end of the song I'm playing so I can go from song to song seamlessly. Besides if my other computer breaks, it has to play the mp3 files and again, I go from song to song seamlessly when the dance floor is full

Steve: Thanks for the vote of confidence

I'm using it now. I turn on, it takes a much longer than usual time to get past the IBM/Think/Pad screen, then goes to the DOS-like configuration page. Enter date and time and the computer finishes booting up.

I did replace the CMOS battery, which is the usual culprit when this happens, with no luck, so something else might be wrong.

I put this ThinkPad on the stage in 2002. It's worked tirelessly, week after week, bouncing on a keyboard stand, riding in the hot van and then either playing on a quay over a salt water lagoon or an overly air-conditioned venue.

17 years of service is good for a computer. I actually feel bad about retiring it. It's like an old friend.

I had another 2002 computer that I replaced in the early Win7 days. The hinge started giving me trouble after a drop. Replacing the hinge on a computer that had been out of production for that many years was more expensive that buying a new one. So I got another ThinkPad, this one Lenovo as IBM quit making them, and it's still cranking.

So I think I'll go back to NewEgg tomorrow and see what I can find. I like the small screen of the older laptops and the pink eraser head in the middle of the keyboard is a must.

Thanks again.
Notes

Well I pulled the plug on an old Win7 ThinkPad from one of NewEgg's Premium Sellers. It has a year parts and labor, free return if defective, and if I just don't like it I can return it for a 15% restocking fee.

It's supposedly in "A" condition which is only sight wear, and we'll see.

For $160 I figured it's worth the chance.

All it has to do is display Wordpad files, play MP3s and be able to handle an old edition of Encore which has worked on every computer I've had from Win98 to Win10.

It'll never go on the Internet, and any apps not essential to running the required functions will be removed.

My 2002 still works, it just doesn't keep time and needs a reset while booting, so I'll keep this as my spare.

I'll try to keep the thread alive so it doesn't get too buried, so I can report on what I find when it arrives, hoping the info I share can be helpful to others.

Insights and incites by Notes

Can't beat that price. Hopefully it's a little newer than what you're replacing.

The one I'm replacing is so old it was made by IMB before even thinking about Lenovo.

I put it in service on stage in 2002. It still works, but I have to enter the date and time every time to get it to boot. I replaced the CMOS battery and it's still doing the same thing. So anything with something wrong is risky on stage.

If the newer one is broken, they say they'll take it back.

I like the narrow aspect ration better than the newer computers with the new ones that you can watch cinemascope movies on.

Notes

The new/old computer is arriving Tuesday, so I'll give a report when I get it set up.

I also have plumbers coming Tuesday to finish a job they started and needed parts for, so it might take a day or two to properly check it out.

Notes

PS: The plumber job is quite interesting. I have an old home with a cast iron pipe buried underground to a septic tank. Roots have been getting in for years.

One plumber said he would have to tear up the concrete floors to fix the pipe but I found a company who makes a thin epoxy pipe lining inside the existing pipe. Seamless and guaranteed not to leak or get roots in for the rest of my life.

Expensive but not nearly as costly as tearing up the floors.

They did have the job, needed a custom sized sleeve to saturate with the epoxy for the run between the kitchen and the main line, and it just arrived.

We now have what we call, "Fearless flushing!"

The refurbushed ThinkPad T500 arrived Tuesday.

It's spotless, the screen is bright and clear with no dead pixels, there is almost zero signs of wear, and it works like new.

It had a new version of Win7 on it, which I could setup without going on-line, and the only app I needed to install, Encore, went in just fine.

I had some off-brand AntiVirus software on it (Bulldog) that kept on asking me to choose the 90 day free trial every time it booted, but since I never plan on going on-line on a stage computer, I removed it. The only other boat-ware was Word Perfect Office.

It has a full year parts/labor warranty which I hope not to use, and it only cost me about $156.99 - shipping included.

It's been working a couple of days now, and yesterday it was on for about 8 hours continuously, so I suspect there won't be burn-in problems.

So if looking for a used computer, based on one experience, NewEgg gets a thumbs up.

The only nit I have is that it came with a black eraser head instead of a read one (no big deal), but it's a comfortable one.

Insights and incites by Notes

Notes,

Go to any store (DollarTree is a good one) and buy the brightest looking fingernail polish you can find. A drop or two should remedy your red eraser head blight.

My wife is vision impaired. I use a florescent orange fingernail polish to highlight common buttons on the microwave, cooking range, washing machine and clothes dryer.

Nice to hear the happy ending Bob! Hope it lasts a long time for you.

Thanks for the tip Jim!

I think I'll buy another to use as a backup for my aging backup.

They don't have any more T500s, but they do have a few T510s. I never bought on the T line before, The R's lasted until Lenovo changed the numbering system.

Does anyone know what the difference between the T500 and T510 is?

Thanks,
Notes

10

A quick glance at the Lenova support web site seem to imply the difference is batteries. One uses a nine cell battery while the other doesn't.

Got to agree with Steve. It looks like you got quite the deal.

Pack 3 New Original Trackpoint ( Soft Dome ) for Lenovo Thinkpad Laptop,NOT Fit For X1 Carbon

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074W3TR48/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_JHCODb0PC0M82

Thanks y'all,

At the price running around $160, I might buy two more so that (1) both computers on my stand are the same and (2) I'll have a spare.

I always carry a spare - just in case. I bought an el-cheapo Toshiba many years ago (Win8) and it is so sloooooooow that it's practically worthless. Fortunately I've never had to use it. I don't know what to do with it, but if I remember, it only cost about $300 for 10-15 years insurance, so it isn't bad.

I could give it away, but I hate to punish someone with it. Perhaps I could use it as external storage.

Bob

Notes, I have an extremely slow Lenovo laptop. This is the computer I take on trips so I can backup my camera photographs. That is its only function.

Bob, maybe you could hook up a TRS cable to your stereo receiver and use Windows Media player to convert it into a jukebox or media center controller.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Notes