Thinkpads Forum

Hi All,

I am thinking of upgrading my T61 with:

1, WWAN HSDPA Support
2, Replacing with SSD HDD

For 1: I have heard that some T61 comes with SIM card slot, some people said they are next to battery compartment but I can't find it. Just want to know if there is no SIM card slot then that means I can't just put a WWAN mini PCIe card into my Thinkpad?

For 2: I am hoping to replace my current 120G 5400rpm HDD with SuperTalent UltraDrive GX 128G MLC, but I saw a huge post regarding to SATA 1.5Gbps limitation on T61 series laptop, did anyone heard of this issue?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=399772

Thanks in advance

Can't speak to your first question but on the second question.... It is true that the T61 interface is SATA 1 (1.5Gbps). Few, if any, mechanical drives exceed this speed from a practical standpoint so it's probably not an issue with these. However, you would need to know the burst and steady state speed of your SST to see if it would be limited by the T61 SATA 1 interface speed. Consensus is that you will see a significant increase in speed with the SSD over the mechanical drive but you might ultimately be limited by the interface speed.

coz what they said on the other forum is T61 actually supports SATA2 Transfer rate, but lenovo...

istudio wrote: For 1: I have heard that some T61 comes with SIM card slot, some people said they are next to battery compartment but I can't find it. Just want to know if there is no SIM card slot then that means I can't just put a WWAN mini PCIe card into my Thinkpad?

The SIM-reader is available separately. Just get one and install it, it plugs in to a connector on the mobo, and the SIM card slot is then available under the battery. You will probably need the wwan antennas also, a kit including everything needed is available. See T61 system service parts from Lenovo's support site for the part numbers. Hardware maintenance manual contains the installation instructions for both.

istudio wrote:Hi All,

I am thinking of upgrading my T61 with:

1, WWAN HSDPA Support
2, Replacing with SSD HDD

For 1: I have heard that some T61 comes with SIM card slot, some people said they are next to battery compartment but I can't find it. Just want to know if there is no SIM card slot then that means I can't just put a WWAN mini PCIe card into my Thinkpad?

What I did for (1) was :
1) buy Lenovo branded HSDPA card off ebay (unlocked)
2) buy the T61 sim card slot and the T61 WWAN antenna kit (FRU numbers will depend on whether your T61 is 14" or 15").
3) install these components. You need to tape pin 20 of the HSDPA card if it is not the MC8775. The antenna kit requires some stripping of the LCD back panel.

Have fun.

ahlip wrote: What I did for (1) was :
1) buy Lenovo branded HSDPA card off ebay (unlocked)
2) buy the T61 sim card slot and the T61 WWAN antenna kit (FRU numbers will depend on whether your T61 is 14" or 15").
3) install these components. You need to tape pin 20 of the HSDPA card if it is not the MC8775. The antenna kit requires some stripping of the LCD back panel.

Have fun.

Thanks for the info, Nihan & Ahlip. My 14" widescreen T61 Product Code is 7664-15M which i think the FRU for the SIM slot will be 42W2498. Btw, do i have to buy a lenovo branded HSDPA card or any Sierra MC8775 will be fine? Is there a way to find out the FRU of the WWAN antenna kit, it seems it's not listed in Hardware service manual (may be i have overlooked). Stripping the LCD back panel should not be hard i guess, As I have just replace the motherboard by myself 2 months ago (my silly brother spill a full glass of water onto my laptop and fried the mobo). Lastly, will there be a light for indicating WWAN activity like the bluetooth & WLAN?

Thanks for the help much appreciated.

istudio wrote:
Thanks for the info, Nihan & Ahlip. My 14" widescreen T61 Product Code is 7664-15M which i think the FRU for the SIM slot will be 42W2498. Btw, do i have to buy a lenovo branded HSDPA card or any Sierra MC8775 will be fine? Is there a way to find out the FRU of the WWAN antenna kit, it seems it's not listed in Hardware service manual (may be i have overlooked). Stripping the LCD back panel should not be hard i guess, As I have just replace the motherboard by myself 2 months ago (my silly brother spill a full glass of water onto my laptop and fried the mobo). Lastly, will there be a light for indicating WWAN activity like the bluetooth & WLAN?

Thanks for the help much appreciated.

42W2498 is the same SIM card slot I got.

I bought the Lenovo Ericsson F3507g which is the newer card, capable of 7.2Mbps speed with dual antenna and more widely available (not to mention cheaper) on ebay. I only needed to tape pin 20 to get it to work.

The official BIOS whilelisted card is the older Lenovo Sierra Wireless MC8775. There is 1 guy on ebay currently selling at US$199. If you want to use the cheaper generic MC8775, you need to flash your thinkpad with the Zender modified BIOS.

LED light for WWAN is there and should work with Lenovo branded cards. You will however need to purchase the clear plate kit to replace your current LED indicator light cover. Mine haven't arrived yet.

PM me if you want pictures of the installation.