hardware

Lenovo Thinkpad T61p Wont Start Up

It seems about once a month, I try and turn on my work computer, a Lenovo Thinkpad T61p, and it won't start. I hit the power button and nada, zilch, nothing. No lights come on, it doesn't even attempt to boot up. Then I go through the ritual of resetting the transitor (I think that's what this does....):



  1. Take out the battery

  2. Hit the power button 10 times in a row

  3. On the 10th time, hold the power button down for 30 seconds

  4. Put the battery back in and start it up!


So if you find yourself with a T61p that won't start, try the above steps and let me know if they work.


Update:Looking at the comments, it seems a lot of people are having the same problem. The solution sounds ridiculous, but believe me, it works. When I called the help desk at the company I worked for, and they suggested the above solution, I figured they were playing a joke on me. In the past two years I have to do this about once a month.

Posted In: hardware | 22 comments

Dell Photo All-In-One 964 Printer/Fax/Scanner

I bought the Dell Photo 964 Printer last February, as my old printer was, well, getting old. I have been pleased with it. It sends and receives faxes without a problem, and scanning and printing documents has been easy. It is nice to have the top loader when scanning multiple documents, and it also works for faxes. On an old scanner I had at a previous job, you had to lay each document on the scanner, scan it and then rinse and repeat, which was very time consuming for large quantities.

I am not a heavy user, preferring to stick to the digital world, so I have not explored some of the other features of the printer, such as managing fax lists, the OCR reader that lets you manipulate text from scanned documents, or printing images directly from memory cards. But all in all, I am very happy with the purchase – it is amazing that you can get a printer, scanner and fax for a little over $100 dollars!

Posted In: hardware, home office | 2 comments