USB 2.0 Upgrade

[fleamourian]

Hi

Anyone carried out the above? Has anyone got a link for actual hardware needed.

Cheerz

[schen]

Pretty much "can't" be done since that's something in the chipset of the MB. Usually as part of the South-bridge. You can always use a PC Card solution like my Adaptec USB2.0/Firewire combo card or whatever you can find on easy in the "Hong Kong special" of that week.

[ambientscape]

Hmm....doesn't anyone knows of a Pentium III laptop of that time....equipped with USB 2.0? None of it I known off.....

[rkawakami]

As was pointed out in another thread I just saw within the last two days, the X31 has USB 2.0 ports, as well as the T40. Granted, both are P-M machines but is there a particular desire that it has to be a P-III?

[ambientscape]

As was pointed out in another thread I just saw within the last two days, the X31 has USB 2.0 ports, as well as the T40. Granted, both are P-M machines but is there a particular desire that it has to be a P-III?

Well....I was just curious of the USB 2.0 technology developed during the P-III time era. Perhaps.....it had not been developed yet......

[rkawakami]

I believe USB 2.0 was standardized around the end of 2001 so there was a possibility that a late-model T23 system could have used it, if it had been designed-in early enough in the development cycle. Most likely the production line was already being turned off for the T23 for other models. It's too bad, since that is the only thing I miss in the T23.

[ambientscape]

I believe USB 2.0 was standardized around the end of 2001 so there was a possibility that a late-model T23 system could have used it, if it had been designed-in early enough in the development cycle. Most likely the production line was already being turned off for the T23 for other models. It's too bad, since that is the only thing I miss in the T23.

I was thinking if the T23 were equipped with USB 2.0, the life cycle will stretch till today. No doubt it will be the best seller of all vintage P-III laptops out there!

[fleamourian]

According to Lenovo website compatible memory for the T20, T21, T22 has to be of the PC100 SDRAM 144-pin non-parity SoDIMM 100MHz 512MB format/variety. Now I have to admit I'm not up to speed with my computer speak, anyone have an idea on price?

[cinemafia]

I use a generic, 2-port USB 2.0 PCMCIA card (from one of the Hong Kong eBay sellers) for my T20. It works great, though I accidentally mangled the little power pass-through cable for it.

According to Lenovo website compatible memory for the T20, T21, T22 has to be of the PC100 SDRAM 144-pin non-parity SoDIMM 100MHz 512MB format/variety. Now I have to admit I'm not up to speed with my computer speak, anyone have an idea on price?

As far as the T20, it can use up to 256MB sticks, and they MUST be the harder-to-find-and-therefore-more-expensive kind with 8 smaller chips on each side, rather than 4 bigger chips. I lucked out and bought one of my sticks from a guy on Craigslist for $20; but paid $40 for the other through eBay. Of course, considering Crucial sells them for $75 each, that's still a deal.

[schen]

I believe USB 2.0 was standardized around the end of 2001 so there was a possibility that a late-model T23 system could have used it, if it had been designed-in early enough in the development cycle. Most likely the production line was already being turned off for the T23 for other models. It's too bad, since that is the only thing I miss in the T23.

Apparently the T23 wasn't even that close, since even the T30s didn't have USB 2.0 either. You have to jump all the way up to the T40 to get that (much to my consternation). But like I said, when I really need the faster throughput, I run things through a USB 2.0 PC Card.

[rkawakami]

<snip>... anyone have an idea on price?

eBay prices for 256MB PC100 modules has been hovering around $40-50USD lately. Figure at least 50% more than that if you get them from a retail channel. 512MB PC100 low-density modules do not exist, nor could they be used in the T20-T22.

Apparently the T23 wasn't even that close, since even the T30s didn't have USB 2.0 either.

Quite true. I was only going by the standardization date of USB 2.0. I don't know if the chipset manufacturers had a jump on the specs, nor do I remember exactly when they were first made available. The T23 and T30 had some overlapping production dates. The last 23s were offered Aug 2002, the first 30s were available May 2002 (data from tawbook.pdf).