Thinkpads Forum

pianowizard wrote: Thanks Sri for taking the time to get those images. I looked at the R60 and R50p HMMs too and analyzed those diagrams closely, but they are so simplified that it's impossible to tell if the connectors are the same or not.

Not a problem, PW. I had a look at R50/R60 HMMs too, and if you see carefully, you'll notice that in the T4x/R5x panels the LCD connector is located more closer to the left hinge compared to the T60/R60. Even if the connectors have the same part numbers (which is not the case), I don't think we can physically attach them because of the above difference.

Here are the pics:
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/R50.JPG
http://plaza.ufl.edu/psrivats/R60.JPG

The pictures aren't that good, but it looks like a T60 flexview has the same connectors as R60... true? And does something like that physically fit? (as in the thickness)

snessiram wrote:The pictures aren't that good, but it looks like a T60 flexview has the same connectors as R60... true?

That is True. Panels are interchangeable between T60 and R60.

I know i said the opposite in another post, but seeing what lenovo has done now had got me thinking -
They used IDtechs from the T42p/T43ps in the latest and last generation of T60ps. IDtech went out of busines in 2005, i.e. it is not a special order from Lenovo for a custom panel.
That must mean they have changed the LCD cables manually on their remaining stock to fit it with a T60 which has the different cable position.
If you can find such a cable - which i believe will be hard - you can put a flexview from the R5x, T4x generation into your T6x, R6x.

You can also count on it being a normal T60/R60 cable being fixed to the LCD, but i wouldn't count on it. Especially since BOE-Hydis does not publish their pinouts.

By the way - the cable is not fixed to the LCD other than at the top of it. You can pull it slightly to the side and not harm anything, but you can't pull it enough to accommodate a t60/r60 position

Then again, you'll also need a different inverter. On the backside of the inverter PCB the status bar LEDs are positioned... A funny and time consuming mod if you've got the cash and willing to give up on all warranty.

Troels, Are you sure that the IDTech panels used in the 2623-DDUs on sale a while back belonged to the T4x era?

If that is indeed the case, I think it should be possible to do the mod - we just need the T60/R60 cables then since Lenovo cannot have changed the motherboard for this 2623 model alone, and hence the cable connector has to be the same as other T60 models.

gator wrote:Troels, Are you sure that the IDTech panels used in the 2623-DDUs on sale a while back belonged to the T4x era?

I recall people saying in the 12-page 2623-DDU thread that the 2623-DDU has the same panel as the T42p.

pianowizard wrote: I recall people saying in the 12-page 2623-DDU thread that the 2623-DDU has the same panel as the T42p.

I gotta read more about the panels and the connectors, I remember someone checking with a T42p and a T60p and said it is not possible. Let me see if I can find that thread.

edit: I give up. I am not able to locate that thread. Maybe I remember things wrongly

Gator, I claimed so at one point ... or i think i did, because i can't find my post regarding that either anymore.
EDIT: Found it: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=39365 but it was probably not what you were looking for...

Yes, i'm quite sure it only belonged to the T42p and T43p. I have not personally opened it up to check that it says IDtech on the back, but others have confirmed the part no directly with Lenovo.

Other than that there's a post from
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 4&start=30

where JohnDrake says that they are trying to convert some T43 1600x1200 screens. The IDtechs were not compliant to "Restriction of Hazardous substances", so my guess is that Lenovo continued selling the BOE-Hydis in states and countries requireing this by law.... and sell the IDtech elsewhere. It was probably the only way they could culfil orders at the time. It's just a guess.

Thanks for the update Troels (btw, your pics in the T60 UXGA thread is awesome, esp the last two pics).

I just had a detailed look at the HMM, and it seems to be that the LCD cable is connected to board of some sort behind the LCD. I have never opened a LCD display, so I might be 100% wrong here ... PW, since you just replaced an LCD yourself, can you tell me whether there is a board?

It appears to me that it is just not a case of different cables, but these boards as well ... I have no idea whether we can use the T4x "boards" (if there are any) in the T60 or vice versa.

gator wrote:PW, since you just replaced an LCD yourself, can you tell me whether there is a board?

Hmm, I don't remember very well. I just remember a slit on the back of the LCD into which I insert the cable. This connection is quite loose, so one needs to stabilize it with adhesive tape (I think that's what the HMM instructs), which is shockingly inelegant.

I still have the cable that came with the original UXGA panel. I can take a closer look tonight when I am at home. I will also take a photo of it.

Hey Gator, check out these photos of the UXGA cable for my R50p:

photo 1

photo 2

PW, thanks for the pics. See discussion below.

Troels wrote:EDIT: Found it: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=39365 but it was probably not what you were looking for...

That was the one I was looking for! Thanks.

I was able to find the following two IBM links for 15" LCD service parts:

For T60:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62806

For T42:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 55304.html

Item #3 in the pics in these links essentially is the difference between the T4x and the T60 - the T60 is sessentially "straight" ane the T4x (or the R5x) ones "angled", as PW's pics above show too.

The part numbers for these service parts are as below:
T60 UXGA LCD cable: 91P6985/91P6983 (with/without bluetooth)
T42 UXGA LCD cable: 91P6858 (only one, BT cable has a seperate FRU)

Looking at the pics in the IBM links, it seems to me that the LCD cables connect to the LCD at different positions behind the LCD - the T42 is more towards the right side while the T60 is essentially "straight". Also the cables seem to be different as well, T60 has two versions with/without bluetooth while the T4x has only one. Upto this point, I'd side with the opinion that these are NOT compatible.

Either Lenovo used a special cable for the batch of the 2623-DDUs that were sold sometime back, or there is something else I am missing. Without looking at all three cables and thier pinouts - i.e. normal UXGA T60s, the 2623-DDUs on sale and the T4x/R5x (which we have from PW), it would be hard to come to a conclusion.

Maybe we can make a post asking pics of T60 UXGA cables and maybe we can compare.

I was able to swap a 15" SXGA+ Flexview IPS entire screen assembly from an R50 to an R52.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=44225

Therefore, for the fastest machine with the QXGA and no case modifications, you could use an R52 with ATI X300 64MB graphics and an Intel Pentium M Dothan 533MHz bus, 2.26GHz processor.

While the R52 is a newer model, I think the graphics performance would be somewhat reduced compared to the ATI FireGL T2 128MB graphics found on the R50 systemboard. But the CPU is much faster than the 2.1GHz/400Mhz bus Pentium M you could upgrade to in the R50p.

Plus the R52 might support more RAM?

For QXGA and speed, R52 - for QXGA and graphics, R50p.

(I guess I'm assumig that the ATI X300 can drive 2048 X 1536!)

Pianowizard, I have to see your new screen when we meet up, because I can't believe it, even after looking at the pictures! How can you look at that all day? My eyes would cry out in pain!

underclocker wrote:Therefore, for the fastest machine with the QXGA and no case modifications, you could use an R52 with ATI X300 64MB graphics and an Intel Pentium M Dothan 533MHz bus, 2.26GHz processor.

That's an interesting idea. Maybe I will buy an R52 someday just to try it.

The Spirit of X21 wrote:Pianowizard, I have to see your new screen when we meet up, because I can't believe it, even after looking at the pictures! How can you look at that all day?

I am out of town until June 26th. I will PM you a day or two after coming back to set up a time to meet. I will show you how I view six pages of MS Word simultaneously on this screen!

From what I've understood by now the r50p shares the systemboard with the t41p. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Since at least the systemboards of the t40/p t41/p and the t42/p (t43/p ??) are interchangeable, wouldn't the fastes possible maschine with qxga be an r50p with the systemboard of the t42p? (or maybe even of the t43p EDIT: that would also make it the loudest )

Just a theory here, If I had the money (to by an r50p + QXGA-screen) and the guts ( to take appart my t43p on warranty) I'd give it a try.

BTW, how much does one of those screens cost anyway?

DarkMark wrote:...wouldn't the fastest possible machine with qxga be an r50p with the systemboard of the t42p? (or maybe even of the t43p EDIT: that would also make it the loudest )

I stand corrected, DarkMark is correct. The QXGA LCD with a T43p systemboard and a 2.26GHz Pentium M CPU in any R50 (w/15" LCD) bottom case is the fastest and baddest QXGA ThinkPad you can build (without making modifications to plastics, hinges, etc.)

Screaming QXGA video, screaming CPU, and a screaming fan!

As a bonus, I think the T43 will support 2.5GB's of RAM. Just add Vista Ultimate!

underclocker wrote:The QXGA LCD with a T43p systemboard and a 2.26GHz Pentium M CPU in any R50 (w/15" LCD) bottom case is the fastest and baddest QXGA ThinkPad you can build (without making modifications to plastics, hinges, etc.)

Screaming QXGA video, screaming CPU, and a screaming fan!

Ohh, now I like that. And I want it. I'll really have to look into this.(and save up some money)

DarkMark wrote:BTW, how much does one of those screens cost anyway?

Not too bad. You can find one on eBay for $315US shipped. But you also need to get an inverter and an LCD cable, which cost another ~$50US shipped.

I received my second R50p from forum member rexr yesterday. Of course, it came with a UXGA screen, and I took a photo of this R50p sitting next to my first R50p:



The QXGA (left) has 170.7 DPI whereas the UXGA (right) has 133.3, so the icons appear much smaller on the QXGA.

I replaced the UXGA with a QXGA screen this morning. I plan to use one R50p at home and the other at work, and sell the Dell Inspiron 6000.

PW,

This is excellent! Congrats on the dual QXGA setup, I really wish I could see one of these in person.

Very awesome!

pianowizard wrote:Not too bad. You can find one on eBay for $315US shipped. But you also need to get an inverter and an LCD cable, which cost another ~$50US shipped.

Thats OK in my opinion.

Now those two machines really rock. Very inspiring.

Very nice thread, guys.

pianowizard - change the pointer scheme to Extra Large, and you should have no problems finding the cursor.

dr_st wrote:pianowizard - change the pointer scheme to Extra Large, and you should have no problems finding the cursor.

I tried that just two days ago while working on a Microsoft Word document. What I didn't like was that the pointer became small again when I moved it to the margins! So I just changed it back to the default size. I would rather have a consistently small pointer than a large but fickle one.

pianowizard wrote:I tried that just two days ago while working on a Microsoft Word document. What I didn't like was that the pointer became small again when I moved it to the margins! So I just changed it back to the default size.

You're right - I think it can be called a bug in Word (probably all of Office) - the additional pointer shapes disregard the system scheme, and it shouldn't be this way.

underclocker wrote:Pop a Pentium M 2.1GHz CPU, 2GB RAM and a 7200rpm drive in there and fly away.

Is 2.10GHz the fastest I can use because the R50p's FSB frequency is 400MHz, so that the 2.26GHz 533FSB processor is out of the question?

I doubt that more QXGA laptops will be made any time soon. So I I'll probably need to hold on to these two R50p's for many more years, and I should get the fastest processor possible for them.

BTW, the hard drives are already 7200rpm, though I will upgrade them to 200GB when the prices get cheaper.

pianowizard wrote:TW, the hard drives are already 7200rpm, though I will upgrade them to 200GB when the prices get cheaper.

That might be tricky -- both the Hitachi 7K200 and the Seagate 7200.2 are SATA only. Is someone making 200GB PATA drives?

tomh009 wrote:That might be tricky -- both the Hitachi 7K200 and the Seagate 7200.2 are SATA only.

Good point. I haven't seen one yet, but thought that it would be available eventually.

So, does anyone know if the 2.10GHz 400FSB Dothan Pentium M is the fastest processor the R50p can take? The R50p has the same architecture as the T41p, I think.

underclocker wrote:

DarkMark wrote:...wouldn't the fastest possible machine with qxga be an r50p with the systemboard of the t42p? (or maybe even of the t43p EDIT: that would also make it the loudest )

I stand corrected, DarkMark is correct. The QXGA LCD with a T43p systemboard and a 2.26GHz Pentium M CPU in any R50 (w/15" LCD) bottom case is the fastest and baddest QXGA ThinkPad you can build (without making modifications to plastics, hinges, etc.)

Screaming QXGA video, screaming CPU, and a screaming fan!

As a bonus, I think the T43 will support 2.5GB's of RAM. Just add Vista Ultimate!

I've searched the forums but can't find a definitive answer.. is there any way to have QXGA on a core2 duo model? (even if i have to start cutting the case up!)

pianowizard wrote:

tomh009 wrote:That might be tricky -- both the Hitachi 7K200 and the Seagate 7200.2 are SATA only.

Good point. I haven't seen one yet, but thought that it would be available eventually.

So, does anyone know if the 2.10GHz 400FSB Dothan Pentium M is the fastest processor the R50p can take? The R50p has the same architecture as the T41p, I think.

Actually i don't think it can take Dothan processors at all. My R50p has a Banias and i believe other processors than Banias are not supported. I am not a 100 % sure though...