Turning my 14" t60p into a 15" with flexview. Possible?

[2Mourty]

A few months ago I bought a 14" t60p off of ebay. I replaced the rattling fan and everything works great. Problem is I can't stand the screen. It is horrible, just horrible compared to my r51 sxga+ flexview screen.

I was wondering if I bought a 15" base, keyboard, and screen assembly if it would be possible to transport my motherboard into a 15" case and transport my flexview from the r51 to the the t60p. I have worked on the inside of laptops for years so if it is possible then I am not daunted at the work load.

Awesome forum 2nd one I have ever joined besides VOGONS.

[Backslashnl1]

You will also need an interposer card, which makes a 14" motherboard fit in a 15" machine. See picture, right cirkle: http://home.concepts.nl/~pc125480/t61_m ... 43_red.jpg
You don't have to buy another keyboard.

I don't think you can use the r51 display... To be honest, it will be far more easy to sell your 14" t60p and buy a T60 with flexview already installed, or 15" T60 unit and a HV150UX1-101 UXGA panel.
But if you really want to do this by modding, you will need:

- 15" base + keyboard bezels
- 15" flexview display + LCD bezels
- interposer card
- UXGA inverter (FRU = 42T0079)

[TuuS]

I acutally have exactly what you need listed in the forum marketplace, a 15" T61p w/o systemboard, drives and such. The idea was for someone to but a T61 board in it, but you could put a T60p board back in it just as easy, or easier actually.

However wouldn't it be easier to just buy a complete 15" and sell your 14"?

[Johan]

@ 2Mourty: Welcome to the forum!

As Backslashnl1 points out you will (obviously!) need a "new" 15" base with associated palmrest plus the 15" LCD. You can resuse all the parts from your 14.1" T60p... for more information about the parts, and how to take apart T60 ThinkPad's (and, equally important: How to successfully get them back together again!), the following references may be of help; first the Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad T60/p (for 4:3 format LCD's) and the online parts document: System service parts - ThinkPad T60, T60p (for 4:3 format LCD's). Moreover, see the Lenovo ThinkPad T60/T60p Notebook Lenovo Service and Support Training DVD (which you can also download as an ISO). In addition, the Hardware removal and installation - ThinkPad T60, T60p; movie index will give you easy access to various short "How-To" videos.

I tend to agree with Backslashnl1 that it might be easier and cheaper simply to get an used 15" SXGA+ FlexView/IPS T60 (perhaps a cheap one, with a dead motherboard?), and then "transplant" your current 14.1" mobo to this, rather than getting all the necessary parts one by one. From time to time MINT condition 15" SXGA+ FlexView/IPS T60's surface at the forum.thinkpads.com Marketplace so hang around there for good deals - with members who know what they are selling (in contrast to the many people on eBay). You may of course also put up a "WTB" (Want To Buy) or "LF" (Looking For) advertisement at the Marketplace... it's entirely free!

If considering buying an used T60, you may want to check the I’d suggest to review the “check-list” in the thread Would u say that a used T42P is reliable ? + Things To Check (most of the things mentioned there apply to T60/p’s as well, including the FlexView/IPS LCD ageing effects of various kinds... I'd strongly recommend to check in particular the LCD before buying using e.g. Dead Pixel Buddy).

@ Backslashnl1: Just of curiosity; I notice that you have "overstriked" your Dream ThinkPad (the T61 mobo in a 15" 4:3 T60 frame with an UXGA FlexView LCD); why is this?? Would you say that this is no longer an interesting Dream ThinkPad to, well, dream about? Thanks for letting me know if I shall start dreaming of something else!

Johan

[TuuS]

@ Backslashnl1: Just of curiosity; I notice that you have "overstriked" your Dream ThinkPad (the T61 mobo in a 15" 4:3 T60 frame with an UXGA FlexView LCD); why is this?? Would you say that this is no longer an interesting Dream ThinkPad to, well, dream about? Thanks for letting me know if I shall start dreaming of something else!

Johan

I was wondering the same thing... looks like you removed your T61 board and went back to a T60... did it die on you? I can't imagine any advantage other then the T60 being a far more common part.

[ajkula66]

Let's not forget that you'd likely have to flash the EDID (if there is one to begin with) on your R51's LCD to get it to work in T60...

Not worth it IMO, not in today's subdued ThinkPad market...

[Backslashnl1]

@Johan and TuuS: Well, I had stability issues with my T61 config (see also the T61 random shutdown topic). I could not fix it, seemed to be caused by a faulty motherboard. I searched for T61 motherboards on eBay, but the cost around $400, which is insane. Complete T61 units are around the same price level.

And to be honest, I lost faith in the T61 hardware. With my T60p I never had stability issues. My wife has a T60 for over a year and never had stability issues. The price for a new T61 board + bad experience with T61 and good experience with T60 hardware made me decide to go back to a T60 config.

I am selling my T9500 cpu now and I think I can sell it for $130~150, which will almost cover my expenses with a total of $168 for the T60 items: systemboard (got it for $56), the T7600 (got it for $65), the PCMCIA card slot ($10) and a new magnesium frame ($37).

The T61 in a T60 body with UXGA FlexView was a nice dream, and if it runs stable, it is a lovely machine. Unfortunately I have not such an experience with it Looking back to it, it was fun to perform the mod and in the beginning I absolutely enjoyed the machine. But now, I'm very satisfied with my new maximized T60 config, running cool, pretty fast and stable with Intel graphics. This stable machine gives me more pleasure than the slightly cooler and faster T61 config, which occasionally shuts itself down when it feels doing so.

[Johan]

Let's not forget that you'd likely have to flash the EDID (if there is one to begin with) on your R51's LCD to get it to work in T60.

What George is pointing at here is also worth to keep in mind (if you had intended to use the R51 FlexView LCD in a 15" T60), so let me explain a bit more what the issue is: ThinkPad's of the T60-generation (and perhaps also newer ThinkPads; this I don't know, and it is also not very relevant in this context) had a so-called EDID chip on the rear of LCD. This EDID chip has to be there for this LCD to function in an e.g. T60; the BIOS of the T60 would simply check to see if the LCD was of the correct model. While an e.g. 15" T60 SXGA+ LCD panel would work if being mounted in a 15" R51, the opposite would not work (the R51 LCD in the T60), simply because of the missing or incorrect EDID (see this discussed e.g. in the thread Replaced T60 LCD Panel with OEM LCD. Having some issues). Also, if buying a non-ThinkPad LCD, which was of the same model as the LCD's used in T60's, the LCD wouldn't work in the T60 unless flashing the EDID with the correct information. The latter can however be done, as described in the thread T6x EDID database.

So, if you consider using a pre-T60 era ThinkPad LCD (such as a panel from an e.g. T4x/p or a R5x/p ThinkPad) in a T60, you need to be aware of the EDID-issue (search this forum for "EDID"). If you review the sticky at the top of this T6x sub-forum --> LCDs on T60/T60p - types, availability and other discussions in particular this post and the subsequent post later the same day by expert-forum.thinkpads.com member AlexeyTolstyh, this will explain how you can modify a R5x/p or a T4x/p panel for use in a T60... which was what George was pointing at (although very briefly). Bottom line? You can make your 15" R51 FlexView LCD work in a T60... but it will require some effort. Try, for fun, to search for new 15" T60 FlexView LCD's at e.g. eBay (FRU = e.g. 42T0325).

More relevant information in relation to your proposed project can be found in the threads Possible to swap R51 FlexView into a T60? and especially this post while you will also benefit from reading the thread R50p and T60/T60p LCD for T41p motherboard and Using T4x SXGA+ LCDs in T6x.

@ Backslashnl1: Thanks very much for sharing this... which is very valuable information indeed! I think based on this,expert-feeedback that I will have to re-consider my dream-project (Parts for the ultimate 15” T60 UXGA FlexView w/T61(p) mobo?).

Johan

[RealBlackStuff]

Johan, if there was an Oscar for procrastinating, you surely would get it!

Dream Project start date: Sat Oct 04, 2008 4:31 pm
Dream Project current date: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:31 am
Dream Project Status: still a dream...

That's 1209 days you have been delaying, WOW!

[rumbero]

That's 1209 days you have been delaying, WOW!

Well, the provided information has at least helped numerous other people, including yours truly, to actually realize that dream. In fact, judging by the amount of postings i found from different people on this site and the German thinkpad-forum.de site, it seems that lots of people did that already.

Concerning Backslashnl1's issues with his T61 Frankenpad issues, i am a bit suprised to read about that. I have built two such beasts a few months ago and use one of them as my everyday work machine without any issues, while the other is safely kept away as an emergency fallback. In fact, it has turned out to be a delight working with this hardware configuration, and i really wouldn't want to go back to a normal T61 or T60, nor even go forward to any of these shiny new Thinkpads.

[2Mourty]

Wow, thank you for all that information!!! It will take me a while to digest it all, but thank you for the quick response. Also thank you for answering my question as to why it would be difficult to use the r51 display on a t60p body.