Thinkpads Forum

I'm looking to start from scratch on building another laptop. My last 2 attempts panned out terribly (sob). I am looking for P4 thinkpad "base" unit, something I can piece together.

If you have a complete motherboard and base plastic (no lcd required, no peripherals) that is in good working order, please let me know. (Ultimately, I'm trying to build a portable didital audio recording system)
If it can boot to external monitor, that is fine for now. I'll add what I need to it later on.

I'm open to any models that are P4 - 2.0+ GHz compatible.
Something that I can upgrade the cpu later on.

Preferred (wish list) specs:
P4 - Centrino CPU, will settle for P4M 1.6 and up
1 - 2 Ghz ram capable
16 - 64 Mb Video
Firewire port
compatible with thinkpad dock (2631)
14.1" LCD



thx
please quote prices with shipping (to canada)
please email your replies basscleff@gmail.com

basscleff wrote:I'm looking to start from scratch on building another laptop. My last 2 attempts panned out terribly (sob). I am looking for P4 thinkpad "base" unit, something I can piece together.

If you have a complete motherboard and base plastic (no lcd required, no peripherals) that is in good working order, please let me know. (Ultimately, I'm trying to build a portable didital audio recording system)
If it can boot to external monitor, that is fine for now. I'll add what I need to it later on.

I'm open to any models that are P4 - 2.0+ GHz compatible.
Something that I can upgrade the cpu later on.

Preferred (wish list) specs:
P4 - Centrino CPU, will settle for P4M 1.6 and up
1 - 2 Ghz ram capable
16 - 64 Mb Video
Firewire port
compatible with thinkpad dock (2631)
14.1" LCD



thx
please quote prices with shipping (to canada)
please email your replies basscleff@gmail.com

Actually the P4M cpu will not result in a Centrino system. Centrino means the laptop has an intel chipset + intel wifi + Intel Pentium Mobile CPU.

Also not many IBM Thinkpads have firewire. I think the R series has it.

GL as I too am trying to build a laptop from scratch.

It sounds like you are looking for something like an A31/pThinkpad or an R32. Both of which have both a P4M and IEEE 1394 Firewire. Some models had firewire and some didn't, you would have to check something like the tabook.pdf or tawbook.pdf to be sure.

basscleff wrote:I'm looking to start from scratch on building another laptop.

Search eBay for an A30p Thinkpad.

Even though it's only a PIII-M based unit, it's got everything you'd need for a portable studio including built-in Firewire, dual Ultrabays for massive storage capability and a 15" UXGA-IPS display.

You don't need the horsepower of a P4 processor based system for recording duties, the ability to have three internal 100GB (or larger) HDs is much more important.

If you feel that you absolutely must have a P4 based system, then you want to search for an A31p which can be upgraded to a 2.6GHz processor and 2GB RAM. But it will cost more than twice what an A30p would sell for.

Regards,

James

thx everyone for the advice!. I've got my eyes on ebay for something similar.
I do prefer the p4 based cpu for better audio processing "plugin" support.