Thinkpads Forum

Ok, been away for a while but I need some parts and I've always had a good experience here.

Anyway, so I've had this baby since I bought it new from Lenovo in early '08 and it's always treated me right because I've always treated it right. Basically nice treatment/care, an upgrade to 4 GB of RAM, and basic cleanings to include a fan removal and cleaning attempt (unsuccessful).

Tech specs:
T61
8891-CTO
4GB RAM (user upgrade)
64 bit Vista Ultimate (This is going to be changed fairly soon, likely to Windows 7)
Hitachi HTS722010K9SA00 80GB HD
Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M

Now she's starting to show her age and I want to fix a few things that have been on my todo list.

To-do (in order from most to least important):
1) The right hinge is failing/has failed. The lid opens and stays in place but has quite a bit of play in the location. The case around the hinge that is failing is also being stressed and will probably crack/fail if I don't correct things soon.
2) Despite the fact that I'm attempting to use TPFanControl in Manual mode and full speed, the laptop is running hotter than I remember it running when it was new. There's also much reduced airflow out the left hand outlet when the fan is spinning. This is despite my removal, cleaning, and subsequent re-installation of the fan unit with new thermal compound on the chipsets.
3) That 80 GB HD is getting a bit tiring because it's just kinda small, plus at 4 years old I'd feel a bit better with an upgrade.
4) Ditto for a RAM upgrade from 4GB to 8GB.

So, a set of hinges and a fan for sure with the option for the RAM/HD on the table as well.

I'd also be interested in hearing about anything I may not have thought of/considered that would be neat to own/upgrade. The more interesting/obscure the better because, while competent enough to open up a laptop and do a few things, I'm not as keyed into the whole Thinkpad scene as most of you folks are.

Also, my wife has a Thinkpad as well (7658-CTO running XP IIRC) and I may be interested in some upgrades for it as well. She just uses it for academic stuff while she's finishing up her PhD. I wonder if that RAM I have will fit in hers if I get mine upgraded to 8GB. Hrmmmm....

Oh, so you know I'm not interested in power cords/bricks or extra batteries, I'm good on that front. And I already have a docking station and travel CD bezel for mine as well. Beyond that anything goes.

Thanks for your time, let me know if you have this stuff and what the price and shipping would be and I'll be in touch.

Hi,

I have everything you could possibly want for these models. Genuine original hinges that aren't worn out are extremely rare, but I do have a pair. I'd definitely NOT recommend buying new ones, nearly every new hinge I've seen are cheap knock-offs and don't fit well, but I have some used ones that are still tight, so that's your best option.

I also have the base (lower cover) you're looking for and can include the metal frame with it if you like. If your hinge is badly damaged and is causing flexing of the lower cover, it's very likely you have a cracked frame and I'd be glad to supply that as weel as the cover, and a discrete T61p fan. Your nvs140m system might have the T61p fan already since it's a Penryn system, from what I've seen most built in 2008 had the better fan, but since it sounds like yours is failing, I can provide one that's well tested, or you can replace just the fan if your certain your heatsink is working properly.

I don't have any of the 4gb ram chips, they were never used in production and I can't get them any cheaper then anyone else, so no point in stocking them, but I'll help you find a good price if you like. You can indeed use the ram in your wife's T61.

I also have every plastic part on both models, most in excellent condition. On the 14.1" widescreen I even have some of the rare options like the 4in1 card reader, webcam, 1440x900 screen, intel turbo ram, intel pro wifi "N" cards.

Send me a PM with a list of everything you want and your location and I'll give you a price and shipping estimate.


edit: since you are interested in interesting upgrades, it is possible to upgrade your 14.1" standard T61 to a 15" with IPS flexview screen. This would require a 15" T60 that you'd "gut out" all the electronics and use the ones from your T61. This might be more expense/work then you're considering doing, but the 15" T60 screens are so much nicer that many of us consider the T60/61 frankenpad to be the ultimate thinkpad. This type of mod requires some cutting of the T60 frame, and loss of your dialup modem, but is otherwise pretty straightforward.

If you were to consider this, I have some brand new 15" IPS flexview (nos) screens for only $60 (regularly $150 and retail over $200).

Hey thanks for the reply, a few questions and comments come to mind.

TuuS wrote:but I have some used ones that are still tight, so that's your best option.

Awesome, thanks for the rundown. That sounds like the direction I want to go.

TuuS wrote:I also have the base (lower cover) you're looking for and can include the metal frame with it if you like. If your hinge is badly damaged and is causing flexing of the lower cover, it's very likely you have a cracked frame and I'd be glad to supply that as weel as the cover

I haven't taken anything apart to get a better look but I was hoping to get away without replacing the covers or any plastic trim because none of it is damaged *except* where it's splitting near that one hinge. Something similar to what is seen here. I can set aside aesthetics and go with a dab or two of epoxy if needed. Unless I'm overestimating the cost of the replacement trim, which I guess we can talk turkey about via PM. Or if I'm misunderstanding how that part fits into the grand scheme of the hinge assembly. The same goes for the frame I guess. I'm wondering now if I should just go ahead and take it apart to get a peek and maybe identify what needs replacement because it sounds like up to 3 pieces could be involved: hinge, frame, and trim (lower cover). That frankenpad you mention below is sounding better and better if they all three are hosed.

TuuS wrote:and a discrete T61p fan. Your nvs140m system might have the T61p fan already since it's a Penryn system, from what I've seen most built in 2008 had the better fan, but since it sounds like yours is failing, I can provide one that's well tested, or you can replace just the fan if your certain your heatsink is working properly.

Dunno if visuals help but I thought I maybe could recall how the heatsink/fan looked if I glanced at some others but I fear it may be the hair is too fine to split without looking into the machine itself. For what it's worth I remember it looking basically like either here or here. I'm thinking it's just the fan because I didn't have heat problems when the machine was new. What else could be wrong in the equation anyway? I'd honestly prefer to only fix the broken parts insofar as that's possible but maybe I'm unaware of some flaw from the factory or something.

TuuS wrote:I don't have any of the 4gb ram chips, they were never used in production and I can't get them any cheaper then anyone else, so no point in stocking them, but I'll help you find a good price if you like. You can indeed use the ram in your wife's T61.

Fair enough, I'm not too shy to head to Newegg or something, but I'll have to remind myself of the formfactor and try not to purchase anything that's not compatible with the motherboard or OS (which will be 64 bit of course).

TuuS wrote:On the 14.1" widescreen I even have some of the rare options like the 4in1 card reader, webcam, 1440x900 screen, intel turbo ram, intel pro wifi "N" cards.

That's my wife's model right? Not much of that stuff will be useful for her. I recall hearing mixed-to-negative things about the Turbo Ram a while back anyway. She'll mostly benefit from getting my old RAM but I may be ok with replacing her HD/fan as well, because they are beginning to fail as well I think.

It's funny you mention the screen. In the first week of owning hers she spilled a jumbo sized sweet tea on it. To her credit she did act as I had once informed her to do (immediately turn it off, unplug it, remove battery, and call me) but with one catch: while removing the battery she flipped it upside down and the tea got into the bottom of the LCD. Otherwise there would have been zero damage to the machine. As it stood she had vertical highlights that have slowly faded out over the years of her ownership. I'll see what the status of that is and maybe look into doing a replacement if it hasn't faded altogether.

usernotabuser wrote:since you are interested in interesting upgrades, it is possible to upgrade your 14.1" standard T61 to a 15" with IPS flexview screen. This would require a 15" T60 that you'd "gut out" all the electronics and use the ones from your T61.

Hrm.. that would be awesome. But, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you, doesn't that require a 15'' T60 case that I don't have? I guess it's worth considering because I've seen the Flexview screens on a few machines I bought here for my mom and a buddy of mine and it was pretty amazing.

TuuS wrote:This might be more expense/work then you're considering doing, but the 15" T60 screens are so much nicer that many of us consider the T60/61 frankenpad to be the ultimate thinkpad. This type of mod requires some cutting of the T60 frame, and loss of your dialup modem, but is otherwise pretty straightforward.

I don't mind putting in the work, the hardware manipulation I'm pretty good at and enjoy, but if it's going to be a PITA of driver-hell on the software side... blech, that type of hypothetical problem might be a deal breaker. Maybe we can figure something out because that would be pretty awesome if I can afford all the needed parts, which I'm thinking is not just the screen.

Reading back through all these threads makes me remember how much I wanted a SSD + storage drive setup at one time... *drool*

Here's some pictures of the hinge in question. The second picture has some horizontal lines on the cover near the midpoint of the crack, these are not other cracks. They are just where I scribed some lines in the surface for reference to see how if, and if so how fast, the crack was growing.

One

Two

Edit: URL to links, sorry thought that's how I put it up in the first place.

1st, Please convert these photos to links, they violate forum rules because of the size.

It looks to me that your hinge has either come loose, or (more likely) the lid support frame (rollcage) is cracked. Either way it has damaged your lid cover and bezel, but it's very likely you don't even need the hinge and if you're buying the lid cover and bezel, I'll give you a free lcd support frame with them.

We can discuss it further in pm.

Could also be that the actual hinge is cracked. The right hinge of my T61 looks EXACTLY like yours. I knew before even opening up the bezel that the hinge was cracked because I heard a metallic snap the day the hinge ended up looking like yours. Opened the bezel tonight and sure enough....hinge is cracked....the part that attached to the screen.

I had a feeling that was the issue and had ordered a replacement from eBay a week ago. And, as TuuS alluded to earlier on, the part that I received was of such poor quality (the second I opened the package I knew there was noooo way this could be an OEM replacement) that the screw hole was too big for the screw...it just slides in and out without holding.

Now it's time for me to send someone a PM about a replacement part.