Remarkable Screen Quality on T30 and T23

[Sudevan]

In my ongoing effort to update all of the Linux OSs on my strike force of Thinkpad machines (I'd like to call it an expeditionary force, being an old colonial, but somehow that seems a bit too ambitious), I have now got down to the T23s and the one T30 I possess. These all have 14.1" XGA screens, and I was struck by how remarkably crisp and clean they look! Mind you, these are 2002 computers, so they are fifteen years old, and still going strong. The displays look almost as good as a Flexview in terms of the detail and the vibrancy of colors (I have been looking at several Flexview screens recently on my T43s). I wonder if there was something special about the XGA screens on these machines.

So far I have looked at a T30 and a T23. The T30 looks lovely but it seems a bit sluggish, the processor is a Pentium 4 (1.80 GHz). I was wondering if there is something simple or obvious I can do to speed things up a tad. I think PC-2700 and PC-3200 should both work, and some research shows that I can put 2 sticks of 1GB PC-3200 for a maximum of 2 GB of memory in the T30. Is that correct? Here are the details, just in case:

T30 2366-92U 14.1” XGA P4 1.80GHz 512M HD: 40G DVD/CDRW Mint 16 (Manuf. Date: 5/2002)

The T23 has two horizontal white lines running across the top of the screen, one extending halfway and the other, three-quarters of the way. Short of re-seating the LCD cable or changing the screen (could be the planar too), there isn't much I can try, and I'll try those things with the help of a friend who is a bit more skilled at such things. Not a huge deal, I have two other T23s that should be working fine. These are the specs on the T23:

T23 2647-HSU 14.1” XGA P3 1.20GHz 256M HD: 30G DVD/CDRW Zorin5.2L (Manuf. Date: 1/2002)

Just a progress report for those who might be interested. I love these older T series machines.

Sudevan

[rkawakami]

2647-HSU originally came with an SXGA+ (1400x1050) screen.

[Sudevan]

Thanks, Ray. Very interesting information about the T23. I must have had the wrong information, quite possibly. It's a shame that the screen is now getting those lines. Perhaps I can fix it by re-seating the cable. We'll have to see.

Sudevan

[brchan]

Reseating the LCD connections aren't too difficult, provided you have the HMM handy and take your time. Sometimes when you have only a couple stripes the issue can be the cable.

I have an XGA T23 and although the screen is sharp, colors and viewing angles are just average. I wonder what kind of panel your machine has.

[Sudevan]

Thanks, brchan. I will try the cable first.

According to Ray above, it has an SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) display. That is what the tabook says as well, so I was wrong in my initial description. And the bright screen, vibrant colours and crisp characters appear to bear this out.

Sudevan

[dr_st]

The T30 looks lovely but it seems a bit sluggish, the processor is a Pentium 4 (1.80 GHz). I was wondering if there is something simple or obvious I can do to speed things up a tad. I think PC-2700 and PC-3200 should both work, and some research shows that I can put 2 sticks of 1GB PC-3200 for a maximum of 2 GB of memory in the T30. Is that correct?

You could upgrade to a 2.4-2.6GHz P4-M, if you can find one. Upgrading RAM to 1 or 2GB can also speed things up (depending on your OS and usage patterns). PC-2700 and PC-3200 will work, but at PC-2100 speeds, so there is no advantage of getting the faster RAM, unless it's cheaper. Several years ago PC-2700 sticks were the best bang for the buck in laptop DDR, that may still be the case.

[RealBlackStuff]

Based on past experience I would advise against any CPU faster than 2.00GHz in a T30.
They develop extra heat, without delivering extra oomph.

If you go 2.00GHz (and up), also make sure to get the better "fan 2" 46P3132 / 46P2958.

[Sudevan]

Thanks you dr_st and RBS. Given your advice, I think a first step might be to add memory (maybe the full 2 GB, Kingston if one can find it) and see if the machine perks up a bit.
The next in my collection of machines I need to update and inspect are the three A series Thinkpads: A22m, A31, and an A31p. I've always had a fondness for them. And then, on to the 600s!

Sudevan

[Sudevan]

I stand corrected on the T30 screen. I looked up the MTM in the tabook (2366-92U). That, too, is an SXGA+, like the T23 I mentioned in my original post, which, as Ray pointed out, had an SXGA+ screen. Well, no wonder these screens looked so crisp! I am not sure why I thought these were XGA screens.

dr_st, I forgot to mention that both machines have Linux OSs running on them: The T23 has Zorin 5.2 Lite, very nice system for an older TP; and the T30 has Mint 16, which I updated fully yesterday. (The sudo aptitude -f command is a great way to repair broken packages -- I think I found that bit of wisdom here in the forum somewhere as well). I love Mint, and I'm beginning to like Zorin more -- I installed Zorin 12, the latest version, on one of my T60s and it runs flawlessly.

Sudevan

[axur-delmeria]

These all have 14.1" XGA screens, and I was struck by how remarkably crisp and clean they look! Mind you, these are 2002 computers, so they are fifteen years old, and still going strong. The displays look almost as good as a Flexview in terms of the detail and the vibrancy of colors (I have been looking at several Flexview screens recently on my T43s). I wonder if there was something special about the XGA screens on these machines.

Try installing the read-edid package (that's the Debian package name, other distros may name it differently) then run "get-edid" on a terminal with root permissions. With enough luck the LCD's part number will show up.

[dr_st]

dr_st, I forgot to mention that both machines have Linux OSs running on them: The T23 has Zorin 5.2 Lite, very nice system for an older TP; and the T30 has Mint 16, which I updated fully yesterday.

You did not forget to mention that; it's right there in your first post.

I just made a general statement. I do not know how much RAM is practically required for these systems and your workflows.

[Sudevan]

axur-delmeria, I will try that. But I am fairly certain it is the original SXGA+ display mentioned in the tabook for the MTMs I have. The part number may be useful, however, if I need to replace the screen on the T23.

dr_st, I suppose it's one of those senior moments. The irony is that I am a cognitive neuroscientist emeritus (still keep my hand in, in the lab) who specialized in the study of attention and memory! The joke's on me.

Sudevan

[FryPpy]

Try installing the read-edid package

Or simply read /var/log/Xorg.0.log. There is EDID dump/decode block here.