How hard to upgrade graphics, T60?

[eric99]

Hi all. It's good to be back in Thinkpad-land after three years away. Just picked up a T60 on a great deal at eBay.

All seems well thus far. It came with Vista Business x64; I put Win 7 Pro 32-bit on it, right now it's installing hundreds of Windows Update patches. The specs are in my sig; more than enough for my basic needs, apart from the Intel graphics and max. 1024x768 resolution.

I don't care about gaming or high-end graphics performance, but it's frustrating that so many sites render in widescreen now that with 1024-wide resolution you have to scroll, and even then things don't feel right.

If I ran the world, those of us who prefer 4x3 for text would not suffer so. I do prefer 16x9 for watching movies or video, but that's not what I bought a TP for. For the few films I might watch on it I can deal with the screen edges being cut off, etc., but I grit my teeth when it impacts a normal website.

So I would like a higher resolution option---which there ain't with the Intel 945. I am not an expert on graphics and do not know how much money and effort it would take to upgrade the graphics on my T60. All advice appreciated. This is a great site.

Thanks much.

[rkawakami]

The two ways that I can see for you to upgrade the graphic capabilities on your laptop would be:

1) Swap the motherboard out
2) Mount the laptop onto a docking station that has the capability of using a separate video card

edit: Upon re-reading your post, if you are wanting a screen which has a larger pixel dimension, then you could swap out the LCD for an SXGA+ unit (1400x1050).

edit2: Not to inflict any buyer's remorse but I've recently obtained a T60p with a 15" UXGA (1600x1200) screen and ATI FireGL V5200 graphics as that's the biggest available.

[theterminator93]

With the 14.1" T60, you can upgrade the screen to SXGA+ (1440x1050); as far as graphics go you can upgrade to the Radeon X1300 or X1400, but in order to do so you must find a motherboard with this graphics chipset and replace your own with it.

[eric99]

With the 14.1" T60, you can upgrade the screen to SXGA+ (1440x1050); as far as graphics go you can upgrade to the Radeon X1300 or X1400, but in order to do so you must find a motherboard with this graphics chipset and replace your own with it.

Thanks for the two quick replies. I had hoped there was a way to install a video card without replacing the mobo. I think the risk that my fat fingers might hose things is too high to risk. Bummer---but not unexpected.

I paid $75 for the thing, and it works great apart from the low res, so I guess I can't complain....

[Neil]

Like Ray wrote... it's the LCD panel that is limiting you display resolution, not the graphics chip. But, at any rate, with the prices being what they are these days, it would be cheap and easy to just buy a ThinkPad with the LCD resolution you want, then sell this one.

[brchan]

To add, it is also possible to mount a 14.1" SHARP UXGA display into the system. All that is needed is to cut a certain pin and the unit becomes plug and play. That thread should still be around here. However, the panels are generally dimmer and the contrast is worse.