[Tfug] Lenovo ThinkPad T40

[Claude Rubinson]

On Sun, Mar 11, 2007 at 01:54:32AM +0000, Earl wrote:
> Does anyone have any comments on this computer, good or bad?
> 
> I have a chance to get a used one for a fairly reasonable price.

I have a T40 and absolutely love it.  Takes Debian pretty flawlessly.
Only a couple of problems:

- the USB2 controller has a reputation of going bad.  I've only got
  USB1 working on my machine.
- modem requires a proprietary module (slamr) but it works pretty well
- BIOS has a builtin whitelist for miniPCI wireless adapters but it's
  trivial to disable this check.
- You'll need to disable APIC in your kernel config or the machine
  won't completely shutdown.  (I believe that this is still the case
  but am not 100 percent certain.)
- It's a bit large for plane rides.  Whenever I'm on a plane I wish I
  something a bit smaller.

I'll also note that I've experienced intermittent lockups when
suspending (APM) and I haven't been able to track down the problem
yet.  It almost certainly has to do with the kernel config.

I think that those are the biggest problems.  On the plus side, the
LCD is beautiful, the keyboard is phenomenal, it's light, and -- given
what I've put mine through -- nearly indestructible.

Claude