Thinkpads Forum

I was visiting my university's surplus store today and stumbled across a 701c. I saw the little netbook and didn't know which IBM ThinkPad was that small until I opened it up. The keyboard did its classic *shooop* and I nearly fainted . It was really cool to see. Unfortunately, the machine looked like a small animal chewed on the front of the frame and one of the display hinges was completely destroyed. It wasn't sticky though, which surprised me.

I have found both of the quirky keyboard ThinkPads at this surplus (701c and 765d), along with countless other cool machines. So, if any of you guys are university students I highly recommend you try and locate your school's surplus, most large schools have them.

Was it for sale? How much was it?

I'm rather confused about machines like the 701c. In my experience, almost all of the ones you see in the wild look like they've been at the bottom of the sea for 6 years. Most 600s seem to look equally as war torn.

I do have a few which are in good condition but they're definitely the exception.

I think it's a sin to leave a crippled thinkpad out in the wild.

the 701s have the nickel cad battery, and when it leaks, it wrecks both the coating and the plastic around it. probably what the chewed looking part was, plastic that's flaked off due to a bad battery. hinges can be explained by abuse and brittle plastic.

either way, you should have bought it if it wasn't too expensive. at the very least you could part it out and sell the parts for some cash.

solidpro wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 11, 2022 9:45 am

Was it for sale? How much was it?

It was for sale, $10, I went back and got it lol.

astral wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 11, 2022 10:53 am

the 701s have the nickel cad battery, and when it leaks, it wrecks both the coating and the plastic around it. probably what the chewed looking part was

Spot on... went back and got it, looked inside, the battery was completely exploded.

Fix it, they aren't making any new ones.

Take it apart and list the individual items on ebay. The keyboard, screen, lid, hard drive, some of the undamaged boards, etc are all not only worth some pocket money but will go out into the world and help revive 3-5 other 701s.

If I find a machine which can't be saved that's what I do.

solidpro wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:32 am

Take it apart and list the individual items on ebay. The keyboard, screen, lid, hard drive, some of the undamaged boards, etc are all not only worth some pocket money but will go out into the world and help revive 3-5 other 701s.

If I find a machine which can't be saved that's what I do.

I work in the antique car business. While parting out rare and desired vehicles saves others in the herd, sometimes it's best to just make a list of everything wrong and pick parts from other parted machines. If the machine is COMPLETELY unusable then sure, part it out, but over the years I've seen some amazing machines parted out for few good reasons. I've always wanted to take a shot at fixing a 701 hinge, it seems very common and very challenging. If you're going to throw out the bad parts, why not try to fix it anyway?

solidpro wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:32 am

Take it apart and list the individual items on ebay. The keyboard, screen, lid, hard drive, some of the undamaged boards, etc are all not only worth some pocket money but will go out into the world and help revive 3-5 other 701s.

That's a nice way of looking at it. I think I'm gonna try to fix it up first, but this will be my last resort.