Scott Hanselman

Lenovo T61 - The Battery is too hot, run!

July 07, 2007 Comment on this post [12] Posted in Musings
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I swear I can break any computer just by being in the room. You do realize, Dear Reader, that these crazy message boxes and errors that I bring to you week after week are real, screenshoted from my own machines, unmodified. Some of these things are just unreal. Like, I have to look around sometimes for the hidden camera because I MUST be on TV.

Today, the IBM Craplet Message Center had these choice tidbits for me.

The next messages let me know a battery error is detected? What kind of error could that be? Did it suddenly STOP being a battery? Then, seconds later, "irreparable damage" was detected. Who or what service detected this? Not just regular damage, mind you, but irreparable damage.

Then, I'm told it's too hot. Hm. Feels find. No fever or anything. Either way, I removed it because I don't want my ThinkPad to explode like Alan Cox's did.

Best part: Notice the "Advertising" message from 14-Mar telling me to pick up some of these great ThinkPad batteries.

Message Center (3)

Welcome to my life. I hate computers some days.

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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July 07, 2007 4:31
Remind me not to let you borrow my laptop...you're having a bad hardware month...
July 07, 2007 4:48
Funny, I have the opposite problem - when I come into the room, computers suddenly start working. Doomed my initial career in QA. :)

July 07, 2007 5:18
First off Scott, love the new UI how freaking cool is it? It's like bad ass ninja coolness! HAHA!

Anyways man this got me thinking, I keep my laptop on the bed ALL the time and I guess I am just inviting a battery overheating catching fire to house event. I also keep it on the carpet, couch, wooden table, etc.

I wonder if it exploded while I am not home, that's just scary? What about people who dock these things and use them as their main computer? Most laptops pass power through the battery even when plugged in, I have tried taking battery out while plugged in and it won't even power up? I am guessing they use the battery as a type of UPS when plugged in to stabilize the power, but it also helps degrade the life of it which I think is their goal. I wonder what the sales figures are on batteries and if its anything in comparison to the printer world where most of their money comes in from ink catridges rather than the printers themselves.

I couldn't imagine it being a solid comparison but I have been jaw dropped before on things like this where I realize their profits come in from something rather ridiculous which offsets the cost of the actual big purchase.

Anyways keep the good posting up, later man! BTW have you looked into FIOS TV? I wan't to switch so badly but I am stuck with DirectTV's craptaculous yet expensive service... FIOS TV sounds freaking cool, plus in cost comparison to 97 a month for DirectTV FIOS TV was 75 a month, so thats 22 bucks saving but WITH HDTV AND an additional receiver AND DVR functionaliy. I only have DVR service with DirectTV which they are kind enough to charge me 15 a month for (why?), so yeah can't wait til my DirectTV contract ends.
July 07, 2007 18:47
First thing I did when I was using a Lenovo was to shut data message centre off.
July 08, 2007 2:41
But then you would never hear the wonderful messages that Scott descibes. I have the t62 for work, but haven't read the message center for quite some time. I'll be curious if this is a common ailment across the Lenovo line.
July 08, 2007 17:03
Hey,
I have the "IBM" Lenovo T60 and I hate it. I quote "IBM" because they no longer actually make the laptops. My tech support IBM friend tells me Lenovo is some company in China that has gotten rights to the Thinkpad brand the name.

I find my laptop to be a piece of crap. It has frozen on me countless times (just coming out of suspend mode). Also I find the support software to be unreliable and buggy. I have *completely* disabled all their software (with Autoruns!) and I suggest you do the same.

I recently noticed Dell has some pretty deadly laptops and I think I will try to push for one when it comes time ;)
Here
July 09, 2007 7:30
my ibm thinkpad x60 heats up like a crockpot that's about to explode at times. sigh.
san
July 09, 2007 13:40
My claim to fame back in the win95 days was walking past a line of pc's in the school lab ( I was late); and them blue screening in time with my footsteps for the first 6 machines then the whole room went blue.

No idea what caused the problem, but it certainly got a laugh and a free lesson :)
Dan
July 09, 2007 16:57
I find it interesting that the message just prior to the ones about your battery failing was an advertisement for new thinkpad batteries dated 3/14/2007.
July 09, 2007 17:47
I now understand why your wife doesn't want you tinkering with her computer. :-)
July 10, 2007 5:11
I do have a t60p, not sure why I said a t62, isn't that a type of graphical calculator? Anyway, I got the nice little marketing message about batteries, but haven't had any issues with them running hot.
July 12, 2007 22:59
As is traditional with rechargeable technologies, my Dell laptop now works for a maximum of 15 minutes in battery mode. Rather than concern myself with this inconvenience, I armed my car with a DC inverter and carry a power supply with me everywhere I go (with the laptop). At this point, the laptop's battery is really just a portable UPS.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.