Thinkpads Forum

I found this: http://thinkwiki.de/Frankenpad#Umbau_ei ... 0-Board.29

My German is not too good ( read: nonexistent ) but I think they managed to swap a T400 mobo into a 14.1(wide) T61. If they managed to do that, wouldn't it also be possible to put the same T400 mobo in a 15.4(wide) T60?

After reading that article, it's way cheaper (and a HECK of a lot easier) to just get a complete T400!
This must have been done by someone with way too much spare time.
IMHO this whole conversion makes no sense at all.
I don't think a T61 14.1" widescreen is any better than a T400.

tipo33 wrote:I found this: http://thinkwiki.de/Frankenpad#Umbau_ei ... 0-Board.29

wouldn't it also be possible to put the same T400 mobo in a 15.4(wide) T60?

Not a chance in hell this will ever work, but you can put a 15.4 T61 board in a 15.4 T60, but I have about a dozen T61 chassis's, so if you wanted to do that, I could give you the proper part to do it with actual T61 parts very cheap so you'll end up with a real T61, not an upgraded T60, but it's definitely doable. A T500 won't work either, the video connector is different and the frames are much different too, so there would be way more work then it would be worth even if it could be done. If someone did manage to do it, it wouldn't be a T60 with a T500 board, it would be a T500 with a couple T60 parts, and would be just as pointless as the situation RBS describes.

I enjoy frankenpadding, but only if I end up with something better then either model, not something lesser.

assuming they are talking about a T400 14" WS model and T61 14" WS model....

I also fail to see the benefit of doing this

Even if this can be done (I've looked into it and it seems like the board and it's structure frame can be swapped between these models) you have to move quite a few other things because they are not interchangeable between the two models:
CPU chip
memory
heatsink (might as well move that over)
cd drive
with some slight modification you can swap the palm rest between these models if needed
card reader slot/device
structure frame


from what I can tell these parts are all interchangeable:
modem
wireless nic
HDD
battery
keyboard
keyboard bezel
bottom panel have the same physical layout/dimensions/openings
speakers

Are the screens (or lids) interchangeable?