Thinkpads Forum

Anyone have any of these lying around in New or close to New condition (that is: no play from the hinges)? I'm really cautious about the sellers from China, as I've read that the hinges are not OEM, cheap, and barely hold the lid up. There are used ones from France, and I don't trust thinkpad-parts.com anymore after they sent me a non-OEM Wacom stylus for my X220T.

In the long run, you might be much better off replacing the complete T61 display unit including hinges with one from a matching size T60. In fact, it is a straight swap, as i have verified for multiple 4:3 T61 units.

LCD display panels can easily be swapped between those units, so you could reuse your old panel in case the target T60 display unit has a broken or inferior one included. Also switching the keyboard bezel might be needed for minor but negligible cosmetic reasons, if you feel so inclined.

T60 hinges have never been prone to cracking like its T61 successor's apparently constantly do. Also, the T60 display unit looks very much nicer due to its symmetric display bezel and hinges (but to each its own).

Having replaced my 4:3 T61 lid assembly with one from a T60, I will never go back to the old one. I have handled quite a few T60 and T61 models (standard and widescreen), and can say that the casting quality of the hinges is much better and do not loosen as fast as those in T61 models. Also, the LCD plastics are higher quality, and nothing beats the feel of the magnesium lid vs the plastic-on-magnesium lid of the T61.

I will admit that the lid is slightly weaker and more prone to getting marks on the screen from the keyboard if objects are placed on top of it.

I was reading about that and seriously contemplating if I should go about the swap. Thank you both for the advice. It is what I will likely do.