WTB: X24 in working or near working condition, will consider X22-23

[twisting_edge]

NOTE: There's been a lot of traffic in this thread, but no action. I am still looking as of 7 Oct 2015.
I'm looking for an X22-X24 with wireless. Even if junked, I'd be interested in buying it (I just need the lid/screen assembly).
I am willing to pay cash (Paypal), or trade. You'll probably get a better deal in trade: I'm willing to trade a fully functional X61 with 2 Gb of RAM for a decent X24 in running condition.
(I'll edit the title and remove this message once I am no longer looking.)
[end edited section]

The title pretty much says it all, the rest is in the sig (I'm not actually a junkie).

I'm playing a sort of computer limbo (dance contest where you try to get under an ever-lower bar). For what I need to do (inner loop algorithm development), even the X32 is far more machine than I need. I accidentally grabbed the wrong X40 once when I headed off to a conference, and spent four days with a machine that had only the base 512Mb of RAM and no SSD (I was not lugging the flight deck - a.k.a. the W530 - around all day). The X40 ran ubuntu OK, but not great.

I think I can get by in 640Mb (once I throw in an SSD to speed the load times, which is really the only place the x40 had a problem). The X20-21 maxes out at 320 Mb, and I don't feel I'm ready to try that, yet.

BTW, that X32 is in near-pristine condition. I've read the X32 was a very limited model, only a few months of production before it was discontinued. [edit: while it true I read that, about 25% of the X3* models I've seen for sale are X32s - I've come across a lot of old hardware looking for an X24 with wireless]. I might be willing to trade it for the right X24. It's a terrible trade for me in terms of either performance or collectibility (zero interest on my part), but neither is the point. I'm more than willing to trade one of my X61's for an X24.

If you think about it in terms of performance, that last trade verges on the downright scary.

[dmdsoftware]

No idea why you would be interested in a X24. What benefit is it to you? I'm lost at the logic.

I had a ton of X20-X24, but maintaining them is useless as the components are expensive and become more costly as time goes on. Less for more cost.

I'm lost at your point about SSD. Did they ever make PATA SSD disks? I see it as pointless as the bus is nowhere near capable of providing enough transfer. And if they do exist, they were definitely highly specialized and, thus, grossly expensive.

[Temetka]

Yes, PATA SSD's do indeed exist.

The better option would be to get an IDE to mSATA adapter and mSATA SSD. That way it would be usable in another machine should the OP wish.

As to why he wants an X24. He wants one, does it really matter why? If he wants one and is willing to purchase it from a forum member, that is his call.

[twisting_edge]

Not only do I want one, I'm willing to trade a fully functional X61 for a working X24. As I pointed out myself, from a performance standpoint, it is several orders of magnitude from making any sort of sense.

And yes, I'm also willing to pay cash, within reason. You'd probably do better with a trade, though.


[edit to remove redundant clause]

[dmdsoftware]

If the OP is serious, I may be able to offer him a X24 + X23 + X21 in exchange for a X61. I would have to confirm the state of these systems, etc, since they are in storage. I may be able to salvage one battery (there are multiple batteries, but how many are functional at this point, perhaps one, which was brand new and never used, depending on if it 'stored well'). Like hard drives do, they don't age well, so all the HDs are dead, but I had some late-model PATA drives (I think they were 40GB 5400rpm) that are undeployed (never used other than testing) and working when tested a month ago.

I have spare parts that I can include. For example CMOS batteries tend to die on machines this aged, and I'm willing to bet if I plugged in these three, I'd be lucky if 1/3 had a working CMOS battery. I have a bag of X2* CMOS batteries in storage as well.

Let me know if you are interested, if I should spend some time on Monday collecting and examining from storage. I wouldn't mind freeing up storage space.

[dmdsoftware]

Yes, PATA SSD's do indeed exist.

The better option would be to get an IDE to mSATA adapter and mSATA SSD. That way it would be usable in another machine should the OP wish.

As to why he wants an X24. He wants one, does it really matter why? If he wants one and is willing to purchase it from a forum member, that is his call.

I just wanted to confirm his expectations

[twisting_edge]

For the record, I'm definitely serious and set a PM on this.

[Bibin]

The IDE to mSATA adapter is the only good option for solid-state storage. There are PATA SSDs, and all of them have problems. None of them will support TRIM.

[twisting_edge]

I haven't heard back from dmdsoftware on his systems yet, so it looks like this is still an open offer.

It's a great trade: a fully functional X61, no real damage, outer case scuffed with normal wear, 2GB RAM (have to check the HD size) for an X24, preferably with wireless. I'll also pay cash, but, as I said, you're going to get a much better deal in trade. It would be embarrassing to pay much more than $30 for an x24. (OK, it would be embarrassing to pay more than pocket change, but there it is.)

It's type 7675-7KU, but it may not have the original HD (nor RAM) in it. I just looked that number up, an LO!, this machine that I use to get on my office wireless at work doesn't have a card in it, according to Lenovo's records. Must be some powerful mojo in this machine (or the prior owner put a card in it - it probably already had antennas).

Just to be sure I logged on to the NYT with it. It works. No media slice, though: that is also listed in the specs from Lenovo's records.

I think the battery works, too. I doubt it will hold a charge past 30 minutes (at most), but I remember it worked when I got the machine this past April.

[theterminator93]

I've got one... I've been reserved about saying so because I'm a slug when it comes to letting anything I've had for a little while go... very nice shape, fully functional, recently replaced LCD screen; battery holds a short charge, ultrabase included; no internal wireless but I have a CF card B adapter with working WPA capable drivers for it installed...

[twisting_edge]

I've decided the internal wireless is more of a "must have" than I originally thought. I knew the antenna wouldn't be present when there was no wireless (unlike later models), but evidently the lid itself is different as well, so you can't string the antennas through the lid (I was a little hesitant on that one in any case).


On the plus side, the simple PATA SSD for my X32 finally arrived on the slowboat from China (funny how that old expression has taken a new, more literal meaning), and despite the hardware's inability to keep up, the inferiority of PATA SSDs and all the other contraindications, it cut the boot time by more than half, possibly as much as 75%. I've got a boot time under 15 seconds, at a guess, which counts for a lot in a commuting laptop. Overall performance seems improved, too. It was acceptable before (just the boot time was annoying), so now it's fine. So, yes, I do think I could live with an X24 pretty easily.

[edited to add] Note: the boot time is indeed about 15 seconds (more like 12), but that's after the post. It's 20-25 seconds total.

[Dekks]

PATA SSD's are indeed mince, better way is a mSATA and a IDE adapter. My X30 runs quite happily on that.

[twisting_edge]

I'm still looking for a decent X22-X24 with wireless. I'm much more open to the X22 than I was.

I bought a junked X22 (no wireless) on eBay, mostly for practice taking it apart (I'm much more likely to break things the first time, before I know where everything is). But it runs Ubuntu just fine. I popped the old HD from my X32 into the junked X22, and it booted right off. I found that a bit surprising. That disk is a dual boot, and the X22 also booted Win7 just fine, although it wouldn't take a higher resolution (stuck at 800x600 - 1024x768 was an option, but it wouldn't accept that setting).

The X22 booted Ubuntu faster than my X32 did with that exact same disk, which leads me to wonder if there's something wrong with the X32. (Alternative explanation: a lot of the drivers are incompatible, so it resorted to built-in defaults, although I'm pretty sure unix doesn't work that way. A more plausible explanation might be that the default drivers don't check to see if the hardware is working correctly, and so don't wait for some sort of response. It's all just speculation on my part, though. Third possible explanation: that disk is originally from an X22 or compatible, was dropped into the X32 by the prior owner when the original died, and there's some kind of sub-optimal emulation going on in the X32's EIDE hardware. Who knows?)

This X22 has something wrong with the plastic cover around the keys, which has dissolved and is about as tacky as somewhat used packing tape. I got a small patch clean with a great deal of scrubbing with alcohol, but it's not feasible to do that to the whole cover. It's almost as if the plastic had been exposed to a strong solvent, like toluene, and allowed to dry. If anyone has experience with anything similar, I'd appreciate any tips.

As an aside, I'm very pleased with the purchase overall, despite the bizarre plastic issue. The machine isn't really usable, but neither was it stripped: it has 640Mb of RAM, an apparently brand new battery (weird), and a CD player in the media slice UltraBay. Blast from the past: the slice has a built-in 3.5" FD as well as the UltraBay.

The screen also has a 1/4" white band down the middle. That might be a simple matter of messing with the ribbon cable, but probably not. It really isn't very usable. I'm still happy: the battery alone is worth about what I paid for it, the memory and media slice (not that I really wanted one) make up the shipping.

Now all I need is a decent X22-24 to put all these wonderful parts in.

[JaySol24]

Saw your X24 post. I have one but there is no onboard wireless. Add'l. detail available if you can't find an X24 with the wireless built-in as you want. BTW, been occasionally visiting this site for years, last visit was likely several quarters ago. Visited today briefly. Saw your post. Registered.

[iwait]

I have one x24 but I don't want to sell or trade it. It has one mini-pci slot usually have a modem, modem/wi-fi combo or moderm/Ethernet combo card in it. A 802.11g or even 802.11n card can be installed in this slot. I had replaced the original one with a atheros b/g card. And I had fix an error code (1802? can not re call after so many years) after google for it.

And I don't know is it proper or not, I found this recently on ebay maybe just for your need.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181882171079?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
I'm not advertising for anyone, just spot this when searching for the models I want.