Thinkpads Forum

Well, it has finally happened. After 6+ years of nearly 24/7 on-time, my 14", 4:3 T61MB in a T60 chassis, 1400 × 1050, finally died. At least the display backlight. It went red and a couple days later went black. I Originally got the Intel video 4:3 T61 motherboard for a Frankenpad build that never happened. I had a dead high res T60 14" chassis so swapped it in. Modified bios, T9300? 2.5GHz, SSD. I am running Linux so swapped the drive into a NVS140 wide screen T61 and am still running.

I like the small form factor of 14" 4:3 with good vertical screen space. But the wide screen is not too bad for now.

I do have several more permanent solutions, but not sure which route to go. These are some parts I have available.

2x 15" 4:3 T60 machines (I may also have a high res LCD screen available, but both are currently only XGA)
1x 4:3 Intel T61 motherboard with T9300 (I think that is the cpu) with modified bios
15.4" WS T61 NVS140 (I am using this now)
15.4" WS T61P (very busted up plastics, but I could swap the MB and screen into the chassis I am using now)

I also have a couple W500s with locked bios that I could salvage with bypass hack that probably is intense as any of the other mods I would be doing.

What routes would you take to get a nice quality T61 or better back into play with these parts?

Thanks in advance.

It seems to me that your LCD has gone bad due to backlight failure.

If you like the 14"/4:3 size, just get another screen or an entire LCD assembly. Someone on this forum must have one sitting somewhere.

FrankenPadding is your next best option if you don't mind the bulk of a 15" system.

Other than that, get a T410/420 for less than $100 and enjoy, presuming that you're OK with their screen ratio(s).

My $0.02 only...

Maybe a LED backlight mod? Too bad Xiphmont doesn't reply to LED kit emails anymore.