Thinkpads Forum

Ok,I've just bought my first thinkpad on Ebay,a 600E in nice condition,and I really like the feel of it but it looks like I'm going to have to replace it pretty soon as it exibiting the symptoms of a dying lcd backlight (red on startup).So,my question is,what should I replace it with?I really like the 600 series and I'm hoping to find something with the same build quality (I love the rubberized coating)but hopefully not the same lcd/battery life problems that seem to be common with what I have now.I'm thinking maybe a x20 or 570 series?Any help would be very appreciated,thanks alot

-Kelly

aitrus1 wrote:I'm thinking maybe a x20 or 570 series?

Kelly, welcome to the forum.

I owned three X20's and one 570E. Both are very beautiful, but neither one is as well built as the 600 series. They also don't have internal optical drives. I think the best option for you would be the 600X, which is virtually identical to the 600E except that it's slightly more powerful. I've owned two 600E's and one 600 and all three had perfect displays, so I think you just got unlucky. I believe that one of our moderators, rkawakami, has a few nice 600X's for sale, so you should contact him.

Hello,thanks for your help,what has your experience been with the battery life of the 600x series?There seems to be alot of people saying that the batteries die prematurely on these.Thanks again

-Kelly

600/600e/600x owner:
1. battery life--new "Hong Kong" battery working good
2. how about find a junker 600[-ex] with good lcd,
and swap? SFAIK every 600 model uses the same lcd,
the swap is not difficult.

enjoy yr nice machine

It is not true that every model 600 used the same display. The model 600 came in (3) display sizes, 12.1", 13.3", and 13.0". The model 600E and I believe the 600X only came with the 13.3" display.

I changed out a display lid successfully on a 600E before. I have some information on what to look out for (gotchas) when disassembling a 600E in the following post.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 821#128821

You can probably find used 600E display lids on ebay for a good price (that's where I got mine). You could also try the following service to have your backlight replaced. I have not tried these people, but I did run across their website awhile back.
http://www.moniserv.com/doc/laptopscreen.html

I have a 600E that is showing signs of needing a new CCFL...

Here's a link with disassembly-reassembly pictures from someone with a 600E who replaced his own backlight... if you're at all handy with tools- I found it with google, don't remember what my search parameters were, good thing I saved the link:

http://personal.bellsouth.net/d/r/drsen ... index.html


If you think you might try this, it might be a good idea to save his web pages... no telling how long the link will be up.

aitrus1 wrote:what has your experience been with the battery life of the 600x series?There seems to be alot of people saying that the batteries die prematurely on these.

My first 600E's battery died suddenly one day. And I never used the battery much, like 30 minutes per year. I owned the second 600E and 600 for only several days each, so I can't comment on their batteries.

But it doesn't cost much to replace these batteries, like $45 for a new one. If you really like the 600 series, don't let this minor flaw discourage you from buying one.