Thinkpads Forum

Hi thinkpadders

I have t61 type: 8897-CTO with 14.1" 4:3 screen and 2.4 ghz core2duo cpu.
My system board is dead. I did research about compatible system boards and found them very expensive(150$+). Can someone help me to find some compatible but less expensive one( maybe from some other model)? Let me know if you need more informations.

Thank you very much

Laptop motherboards are highly specialized and it would be very unusual to find one that works in another machine. It's also why they're expensive. All of the T61 motherboard FRUs are in the HMM. You might want to try searching them on eBay to see if you can come up with something less expensive.

Welcome to the forum!

There are three main reasons why the boards for conventional 4:3 T61/p units command a high price:

a) Your machine is not the only one that failed, not by a long stretch. These ThinkPads were affected by so-called "nvidia bug" (which also hit Dell, HP and Apple units using the same generation of graphic chips) and a number of them succumbed to this ailment. There's really no cheap/easy fix for the issue at hand, since it calls for replacing the GPU with a new one and a reballing station is required.

b) The Intel boards from the same machine size are a safe bet, and many people have come ro realize that, bringing the cost of the existing boards up. There were far less 4:3 T61/p units produced than the widescreen ones, and the boards are not interchangeable between the different sizes.

c) Quite a few people (including yours truly) are using the healthy T61 4:3 boards to build FrankenPads which are essentially a 15" T60/p frame with a FlexView LCD sporting a T61 motherboard...which, in many users' opinion, is "the best of both worlds"...

So yes, expect to pay a premium price for a properly tested, fully working 4:3 T61/p board. Unless you get really lucky.