X41&X31 questions (and some personal comments about both)

[Tasurinchi]

Hi Everybody!

After being a lurker for about 2 years I decided to go actively and be part of this great forum! Kudos to the admin and everybody that contributes to this great site!

I'm proud owner of the Thinkpads shown on my signature and have a couple of questions:

For the X31:
I bought it 2nd hand, it came in pretty good condition. But some keys don't work as smooth as the rest. The up, right and down arrows and the "browse left", "browse right" keys get a little bit stucked when pressed. It's not that terrible but I don't think it will get better with the time. Does this mean an inminent keyboard change? Or is any other trick to fix those keys?

I've also realized that the notebook gets kind of hot, the fan is spinning most of the time and I'm just browsing and emailing. Is this normal for a X31?

As a side note, the PCMCIA slot was empty when I received the notebook and it looks like I grab the notebook uncarefully and broke the bezel between the shift and Caps-Lock key.

For the X41:
I'm following closely the SSD options to change the slow 1.8" drive one of these days. The cheapest option here in Switzerland looks to be the KingSpec drives, but I read very often about the issue with the controller. Does any of you have any news or have heard any rumours about new models?

- - -

It will take a while until I can make a fair comparison between my X31 & X41. My first feeling is that even if both are X series, each one has a very different "personality" and I'm very happy to have both. I will probably use more the X41 when travelling, but we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

I'm looking forward to reading your answers/thoughts!

Cheers

Tasurinchi

[sjthinkpader]

Welcome to go "active".

X31
Yes, the KB bezel has several weak spots. You can try some super glue to hold it together. You may want to clean out the fan so it can run cooler. Set the Power Manager to "adaptive" instead of "performance".

X41
There are several faster alternatives. The Samsung HS082HB, HS122JB and HS122JC are all fast HDDs. The Kingspec had finally came down to reasonable price and rumor an updated controller will have larger write cache. There are several other SSD alternatives with varying results.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&start=30

[Tasurinchi]

Thanks sjthinkpader for the quick reply!

Yes, I've followed several threads about new hard drives & SSDs and seen you have post a table with benchmarks (great job btw), but to be honest I've lost a little bit the overview and I would like to go for an easy plug & play solution.

The reason is that I have "two left hands" as we say in german and added some laziness from my side I want to skip the options using zif adapters, voltage regulators or things of that kind.

I've seen prices of SSDs have dropped indeed but I've read lots of different opinions about the KingSpec's performance. As long as my X41 drive, (even if slow), is not broken or overloaded I will just wait for a good offer.

I'm scared of opening my X31 to clean the fun (and break anything like I did with the bezel ), but I will give it a try one of these days...

Cheers

Tasu

[dr_st]

The fan of the X31 is exposed to the bottom. If it is clogged with dust you can give it a good dose of compressed air without having to open the notebook even.

As was said, the left part of the bezel on the X3x series above the PCMCIA slot is a known weak spot. My wife's old X32 was broken there, from normal use, as was another random X31 I saw once.

[Tasurinchi]

The fan of the X31 is exposed to the bottom. If it is clogged with dust you can give it a good dose of compressed air without having to open the notebook even

Oh! That's really good news for me... (actually I felt the hot air in my right hand so I should have realised that by myself, shame on me...)

Any comment about the kaputt keys? Will I have to look for a complete keyboard or may a clean up help?

Cheers

Tasu

[sjthinkpader]

... but to be honest I've lost a little bit the overview and I would like to go for an easy plug & play solution.

The reason is that I have "two left hands" as we say in german and added some laziness from my side I want to skip the options using zif adapters, voltage regulators or things of that kind....

There are solution on ebay such as this 120GB HDD assembled for you:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0460155198

The assembly is pretty simple and I have ZIF SSD made the same way.

[Tasurinchi]

There are solution on ebay such as this 120GB HDD assembled for you:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0460155198

That's look great for sure... I didn't know there are ZIF SSDs as well, I thought they were all either PATA or SATA. Thanks for the info!

[sjthinkpader]

Most of the 1.8 inch devices are offered in ZIF due to ipods. A few were offered in pins like the Hitachi (long side) and sockets like Toshiba and Samsung (short side).

In any case, the IDE-ZIF adapters are relatively easy to assemble with ZIF storage devices.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0458532743

[Tasurinchi]

My learning curve is getting steeper. I never paid much attention to the ZIF options. Thanks for the speed-training.

My guess is that I will wait a little bit more for SSD's. Saw today that some local vendors here in Switzerland have started offering the Trascend SSDs, so far the only option to get any SSD was always Ebay.

Set the Power Manager to "adaptive" instead of "performance"

I was checking the BIOS (v 3.02) ) and could not find anything similar. I adjusted some settings for the AC power settings and the Battery settings. I have to do some research and check if I can handle the fan or power settings from Ubuntu.

Cheers!

[sjthinkpader]

The ThinkVantage Power Manager is only for Windows. There must be similar utility for Ubuntu.

[Tasurinchi]

I feel lazy today to search for it, but I'm also sure there will be something...

I have another question regarding the AC adapter, I was working yesterday with my both TPs side by side and was wondering if I could use the X31 adapter in the X41 or viceversa.

The X31 AC adapter says:
Input: 100V, 50-60Hz 130 VA
Output: 16V 3.36A

The X41 AC adapter says:
Input: 100-240V, 1.5A 50-60Hz
Output: 16V 3.5A LPS

On the other side the "problematic" keys are slowly driving me crazy. Is this a sign of inminent trouble? Any trick or hint how to repare them?

Cheers...

[sjthinkpader]

The AC adapters are interchangeable.

As for the sticky key issue, try removing the key cap and clean the pantograph assembly. If you have good enough dexterity, you can remove the pantograph assembly from the metal holder, wash it and assemble it back.

[Tasurinchi]

Will try, thanks (hopefully I won't break anything)

That's good news about the AC adapter! I'm happy that at least I will be able to use the X31 one when I'm carrying my X41, which being bought in Japan came with a different connector plug than the Swiss one.

Going back to fan control software. I found "Thinkpad Fan Control" software for Linux. I have to study it yet but after the installation looks it's working ok. (The hint came from the Linux discussions in this forum)

Time to go sleep! Cheers

Tasu

[Tasurinchi]

As for the sticky key issue, try removing the key cap and clean the pantograph assembly.

I have to ask a very rookie question, I think I should first remove the keyboard from the TP, right?

[sjthinkpader]

Removing the KB from the computer would be safer but you can remove key caps and pantograph assembly without removing the KB.

[marYn]

Hi Tasu,

it seems we have almost similar notebooks (I have X31/1.5GB RAM/320GB at home and D630 in exactly same config as you have in work

Regarding X31 temperature - I'd suggest to try undervolting. Download and install Thinkpad Hardware Control. If you undervolt your CPU by 0.25V, it should work fine and temperature might drop by 10 degrees C. Also your cooling fan will be much more quieter and will remain more time switched off.

My current voltage (maybe it might get lower though):
Multiplier / voltage for PM 1.4 Banias.
6 0.78V
8 0.828V
10 0.924V
12 1.036V
14 1.116V

Gruß,
MarYn.

[Tasurinchi]

Download and install Thinkpad Hardware Control

Is there any versions for Win7? I recall not finding anything but I will sure check again. Thanks for the hint!

Btw, with Win7 the TP seems to run a little bit cooler, or maybe I got used to the noise

Cheers

[marYn]

Is there any versions for Win7? I recall not finding anything but I will sure check again. Thanks for the hint!
Btw, with Win7 the TP seems to run a little bit cooler, or maybe I got used to the noise
Cheers

I have tried Win7 but I felt the graphics performance is quite slow. THC was working quite fine on it but refused to start automatically. I had to do that by myself every start. Maybe installing it as a service would help but it's not possible in the free version.

[Tasurinchi]

Well, I did not find any big differences between XP and Win7 in terms of performance. My impression is that Win7 is a tad faster, but it's my personal observation without benchmarks or scientific methods... (I use my TPs mainly for browsing and movie watching, nothing very complex)

I'll try THC one of these days..

Cheers

[vitalous]

My X31 must run cool as the fan rarely ever comes on. I got a Transcend SSD from Newegg for it and now feel much better about it getting knocked around. It's not as fast (throughput) as a spinning HD, but it having a Banias and such a small screen, I would never try to do any real work on it. Handy for downloads!

I like this little TP, but can't imagine Win7 being responsive on it.

John

[sjthinkpader]

I had ran Win7 on X30 and it did ok, off 8GB CF cards. And ran WinXPP on 32GB Transcend SSD on that same X30 also. I think X31, Win7 on Transcend SSD should run ok.

[Tasurinchi]

but can't imagine Win7 being responsive on it

Well, Win7 runs ok in my X31 (see details below in my signature)

And with ok I mean I can browse the internet, watch videos and download my fotos not so much slower than my Dell D630 from work, or my desktops at home (a Core 2 Duo and a Core 2 Quad).

My 0.02 cents

Cheers

[keithsketchley]

I find that lint builds up under the edges of the keys, might be able to carefully scrape with flat toothpick of plastic tooth pick (type with a short piece of floss on the other end), otherwise lift keycap carefully.

[Tasurinchi]

I find that lint builds up under the edges of the keys, might be able to carefully scrape with flat toothpick of plastic tooth pick (type with a short piece of floss on the other end), otherwise lift keycap carefully.

Thanks for the tip!

I didn't have time to sit and repair the keyboard yet, but in the meantime, I've realized that some keys are not so sticky anymore. Maybe from normal use? Maybe the previous owner spilled whatever in the keyboard? Or maybe the keys got sticky due to some transport problem? I have no clue... Fact is they don't stick so much anymore... It's not in perfect state but less annoying than at the beginning when I got it.

I'm still following eBay for a cheap new X31 keyboard and will post any news here...

Cheers

[Tasurinchi]

Another issue I completely forgot to mention...

The previous owner of my X31 left the hard drive caddy without the screw that attaches the caddy to the bottom of the TP. I just realized that some days after I bought it, when I changed the legacy drive for the WD in my signature.

I've put another screw I had from my desktops PCs, it's not perfectly fitting of course, but I thought it's better than having nothing at all.

Am I right? Or is it better not to have a non original screw? I don't know if it's worth buying a new caddy, in eBay I found that the transport costs are normally the same or higher than the caddy itself...

Cheers

Tasurinchi

[schen]

I've found that the security screw is virutally a non-issue. I put them in if I have them, and don't worry about it if it's not there without ever suffering an issue with the HDD loosing connection.

On a general basis, I think the attitude I would take is that if the "correct" screw is available, use it, but would definitely not put a screw in that might cross-thread the bushing and mess it up.

[p78]

Download and install Thinkpad Hardware Control

Thinkpad Hardware Control is actually Notebook Hardware Control with the Thinkpad Fan Control add-on ( http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=466541 ) , right ?
(sorry but I am a little bit confused and I'd like to know what this THC is ? )

[Tasurinchi]

I think the attitude I would take is that if the "correct" screw is available, use it, but would definitely not put a screw in that might cross-thread the bushing and mess it up

Thanks! My screw got in (and also out) without problems, but I will take it away soon if at the end it's not necessary.

(sorry but I am a little bit confused and I'd like to know was this THC is )

I'm also quite confused... So far did not installed anything at all, I prefer to have a warm right hand rather than screw up with the software.

[qviri]

I like this little TP, but can't imagine Win7 being responsive on it.

Another vote -- I'm running Windows 7 Pro on my 1.4 GHz, 1 GB RAM X31 and it is definitely responsive. Granted, I do have a spinning rust drive that can pump out 40 MB/s.

[Tasurinchi]

Hi Guys

I've successfully repaired the sticky keys of my X31! Following some tips in this forum, I detached the keyboard, took away the sticky keys and just put it in the kitchen sink under hot running water for a couple of minutes.

I let it dry till the next day. Wife's hairdresser helped a bit too

I took some photos of the process, sorry for the low quality, but my simple camera has a very simple flash and no good macro objective.

Not easy to spot (apart from the dirt), but you'll see above the left arrow key, that the white plastic cap has some brow spots on the right. Looked like someone spilled coke or caramel ice cream.



The same from a different perspective:



After the "shower", keyboard was clean and it's working like a charm as I'm typing this. No sticky keys anymore.

I took the opportunity to check the fan as well. I thought it may be dirty, but as you can see it's in perfect condition:



I always built my own desktops, but this is the first time I open a notebook so I was very excited. It won't be anything new for the experts users in this forum but I wanted to share my photos and experience!

Thanks to everybody for the help, hints and tips!

Cheers

Tasurinchi

Edit: Moderators: please add the PIC warning in the topic tittle. I don't know how to change it, thanks!