Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

After a fatal coke spill on my T42p, I've decided to go with a new T61 (766417U). Some of the features that I would like are not available yet, so my questions is

1. Webcam, SD card reader & FDE drive (Full disk encryption) - Can these be retrospectivly fitted?
2. Will my HDD caddy that slots into the bay on my T42P fit the new T61?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Regards,
Nick.

1. I'm not sure what you are asking.
2. I believe the T42 HDD ultrabay slim caddy will fit the T61.

1. Webcam: requires disassembly of LCD lid / SD card reader: requires removal of motherboard / FDE: simply replace the hard drive.
2. Yes.

The T60/T61 caddy has hard rubber edge covers to improve shock absorbtion. The T42 caddy will fit the T60/61 although a bit loose. Or you may have to swap the edge covers as well to the T42 caddy.

1. Webcam: requires disassembly of LCD lid / SD card reader: requires removal of motherboard / FDE: simply replace the hard drive.

Do you know if disassembly of the LCD lid is something I could do myself without voiding warranty? I'm reasonably technical and have built quite a few PC's in my time. The webcam would really help in my biz and I just don't want to have to wait another few months just to have it already installed.

Any advice?

apollo46 wrote:Do you know if disassembly of the LCD lid is something I could do myself without voiding warranty?

The disassembly is routine, and there are no "security" stickers which have to be removed during disassembly.

Beware that the price of the new parts you will need will be considerably higher than the differential you would have paid if you had bought the machine with the features already built-in at the factory.

Concerning the 2nd hdd ultrabay adapter, the T4x uses pata while the T6x uses sata. Are the caddies exchangeable? The hard drives certainly are not. The format of the ultrabay slim hasn't changed, so the caddies will fit. But the electrical connectors won't fit - sata has a different plug than ata.

Edit: just noticed that the question is about T42/T43, which did have sata as well. So it should fit.

There are two different models of Hard Disk Drive adapter for the T6x line. One is SATA and the other is PATA.

So the answer is obvious: you need to buy the correct adapter for your hard disk drive (whether it is PATA or SATA).

The SATA adapter actually adapts the drive to the PATA interface which is what the media bay uses.

apollo46 wrote:

1. Webcam: requires disassembly of LCD lid / SD card reader: requires removal of motherboard / FDE: simply replace the hard drive.

Do you know if disassembly of the LCD lid is something I could do myself without voiding warranty? I'm reasonably technical and have built quite a few PC's in my time. The webcam would really help in my biz and I just don't want to have to wait another few months just to have it already installed.

Any advice?

Did you end up retro fitting a web cam to you T61 and if so, was it a 14.1 or 15.6" LCD? If 15.6" (like I have) could you help me with part numbers? thanks

I don't think you will get a response from him, since his last visit was in 2008.

As far as retrofitting a camera onto some widescreen t61 models, it should be possible, you will just need the necessary parts. If you want to retrofit the camera onto a 4:3 standard aspect ratio T61, then it will require drilling and a bit of hacking. Not worth it IMO since the camera quality is subpar at best, and the look will be messy. You are better off with a clip on aftermarket camera.