Thinkpads Forum

Hello all!

I'm a university student in the United States, studying Computer Science and Business.

I come to the ThinkPad world from a MacBook Pro (late 2008 model: the machine that I loved to hate, but, in hindsight, served me valiantly through High School) and a HP ENVY 17 (lasted 6 mos. but died prematurely from a MoBo failure--HP replaced it but I needed a machine ASAP so that's my younger bro's now).

But there are a few older ThinkPads--a T61p now running an aftermarket battery/x25m SSD/32-bit Windows 8 Pro (primarily to keep compatibility with my BMW coding programs) and it FLIES--although it also BAKES with the t7300, a middleton BIOS and penryn isn't out of the question.

But I also have an 11-year old T30. Cosmetically, it was almost entirely flawless--it led a very cushy desk-centric lifestyle. The battery still runs the computer for an hour-90 minutes. The hard drive is a bit flakey and the front RAM slot is dead, but I'm going to try and re-solder the pins. But having tremors in my hands makes that somewhat difficult, so I'm going to see if I can find someone to help me

I threw Windows 7 Professional on the machine (DreamSpark is pretty much amazing), upgraded the processor to the 2.0GHz P4M, and threw in a 1GB stick of Komputerbay RAM (hopefully will be able to get 1.5GB with that front slot working! I have 2x 512 sticks lying around).

I wrapped the computer in an automotive-grade Oracal Matte-finish vinyl, a gorgeous metallic matte-blue color. I was going to go down the painting route, but I wanted to see what this vinyl looked like (I'm considering a whole vehicle wrap in the near future).

All in all, I would give myself a C for this execution. I wasn't patient enough, and I didn't test the material on the thinkpad rubber prior to applying (dumb, dumb mistake). Without any adhesion promoter, I had to scrap a large chunk of my first try (wasting a LOT of vinyl, leading to cutting corners at the end ) in order to scuff up the rubbery thinkPad finish.

I still need a sanding block to smooth out some of the corners, but for a "fun" machine, it's decent. I might try it again in the near future if I'm adventurous.

I'll post some pictures up later tonight.

But if anyone needs to refinish their ThinkPad and doesn't want to paint it, then a satin-black vinyl would be the perfect solution for a close-to-OEM finish.

But, on that note, I DO have access to a soft-touch matte paint finish on the interior of BMWs (feels like Lenovo but w/o the metallic) and Nextel paint (metallic like lenovo but with a slightly different texture) so I might try that in the near future too...I'm thinking of trying the saddle brown!

Hi Rollinstone157,

I am dying to see the result of your efforts! I have no experience in wrapping but I am willing to try. There is a forum member on a BMW forum that vinyl wrapped their M5 (e60) and it looks really good.

John

Hi, I'm also very keen to see how this looks, as I have got some Carbon fiber film laying around, which I'm thinking of applying to one of my laptops. Already got it on my phone.

All -

I was too bothered with the way that it looked, I KNOW I could have done better. So I took it all off, without taking any pictures, sorry

I now have access to a paint booth, so I've ordered some BMW Interglagos Blue Metallic Paint, and I'm going to paint this sucker. it's totally broken down, going to start the multi-stage sanding soon, and then I will be absolutely neurotic about the painting.

I absolutely love this color, and I know with patience and time, I can definitely achieve a perfect-quality finish.


But, because I feel bad about not delivering on the laptop, I thought I'd show you what I did with my leftover Di-Noc Semi-Gloss CF:

IMAG0088 by RobStone, on Flickr

Aw, I don't think a Thinkpad will go nice will that blue :/
Anyway, your choice


What's that thing you wrapped in CF?


Here's my phone which I covered in CF

Cola wrote:Aw, I don't think a Thinkpad will go nice will that blue :/
Anyway, your choice


What's that thing you wrapped in CF?


Here's my phone which I covered in CF

Well, I still have time to change my order! What color would you go for?

And it's the cover to my TI-84! The thing turns heads!

Well, I'd say a thinkpad is made black/red, and should stay black/red!

Cola wrote:Well, I'd say a thinkpad is made black/red, and should stay black/red!

Well...I took your advice...and I have ordered an additional can of paint! This time, it's a color called "Hellrot", seen on the M5 on the left. I'm not sure what I'll end up using on this project, but I know I'll get good use out of both colors on projects!
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/attach ... ic_007.jpg

Wow, sweet! Please let us know whenever you've got any updates on one of these projects.

Cola wrote:Wow, sweet! Please let us know whenever you've got any updates on one of these projects.

Will do! The blue paint arrived today, and let me say, it's an INCREDIBLE color.

And major +1's to AutomotiveTouchUp, their paint is first-rate and the color match is bang on. If you ever need any high-quality paint for small projects, I would go ATU. Big projects I'll stick with paintScratch, only because it's not pre-thinned like ATU's...but SUCH nice paint!!

Colorware has been mentioned here before, and on Lenovo's blog, but I forgot to look at their TP paintjobs in some time. Lo and behold, they did a blue T61:



More pics:
http://www.colorware.com/galleries/images/122/large.jpg
http://www.colorware.com/galleries/images/123/large.jpg
http://www.colorware.com/galleries/images/35/large.jpg

Other ThinkPads (Under Brands/IBM/Lenovo):
http://www.colorware.com/imagegalleries.aspx

These are from when they actually sold a bestseller T61, but they also do models you send to them as well.

Ew, thinkpads just doesn't look nice without that matte finish

Cola wrote:Ew, thinkpads just doesn't look nice without that matte finish

I'll be honest, I kind of like the T60 with that blue! I wish they had done the DVD drive, wifi switch, and (with a matte clear coat) the enter key that new blue, but it looks kinda neat! Very Sager-y. But the top-notch paint job definitely helps things along.

Now I really don't know what to do...decisions, decisions!

Just an update:
I'm quite busy right now (I'm pledging a fraternity) but I've received both of my paints (Hellrot and Intergalagos Blue) and I think they're both great colors. I've also done a lot of sanding on the various pieces, and an idea came to me while I was sanding down the RAM and Wireless Covers...

See, they're both metal. And apparently, the T30 lid is metal as well. Which got me thinking...why cover up that beautiful metal? I have the tools and know-how at my disposal to get it to whatever finish I want--like a nicely brushed magnesium.

TL;DR I might go for something of an "iron-man" theme on this machine--red with brushed metal.

I'll definitely keep you guys posted as to what I decide to do, and I'll start posting some pictures soon! I'm sure my end goals will change as I continue with this little side project of mine, but It's still shaping up to be loads of fun!

Small update:

I've been extremely busy with pledging and school work, and have found little time to get into a paint booth to do any sort of spraying. But at least my school has a paint booth for students to use when the time comes!

I've done almost all of the rough sanding, and I'm moving my way steadily up the grits (80-->150-->250-->400) and then the primer will go down (sanded with 600 grit), then the color (sanded with 1000 grit before being hit with 1-2 more layers of color) and then the clear (will see 1500 grit, then 2000 grit followed by compounding and polishing).

This is looking like it's turning into more of a summer project.

any updates?

cheystar wrote:any updates?

Apologies, OP has not delivered . I totally disassembled the laptop again, including the screen. And then life got busy again. I'm taking summer classes at my university, and restoring some older Klipsch speakers in my down time.

I've thermal pasted and cleaned a few thinkpads since the last post, but that's about all I've done in terms of TP work. My enthusiasm for the T30 is definitely waning, simply because it's so old/not useful to me! I'll probably put it back together, but I'm not going to go crazy with painting it. I'll just go to the hardware store and pick up some black paint, and call it a day.

But I'm moving into a fraternity house next year, and if I can find a reasonably nice coffee table at one of the local thrift shops, maybe I'll build it into a table PC? Put Linux on it and use it as a basic info hub?

That blue !!! Wow ... looks very nice, just what about w and t ? it looks amazing, but top notch look been lost