SXGA+ on a X60s (non tablet)

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aceo07 · #31 Post by **aceo07** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:17 am

I'm very interested in seeing how this progresses in the future. It'd be great to get SXGA+ or even SXGA into x6/x4.

lightweight · #32 Post by **lightweight** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:33 pm

1) Awesome. Like others, I'm impressed with your skills and balls in getting this working!

2) It's super interesting the linked Japanese x6 with SXGA+ only sold for 70000 Yen (~$650). I cannot seem to be able to search closed auctions with Yahoo -- anyone know what the going rate is for used x60/x61 in Japan?

3)

I used Boe-hydis HV121p01-100 .( You can not install Hv121P01-101 on x60s as though you can get a higher resoultion. HV121P01-101 is little thicker than HV121P01-100).

Price of HV121P01-100 (A1 Grade) is a $230USD per 1000 units.
( B1 Grade is a $150 ~ 170USD per 1000units . )

Group buy?

AvalonXIII · #33 Post by **AvalonXIII** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 2:37 am

lightweight wrote:1) Awesome. Like others, I'm impressed with your skills and balls in getting this working!

2) It's super interesting the linked Japanese x6 with SXGA+ only sold for 70000 Yen (~$650). I cannot seem to be able to search closed auctions with Yahoo -- anyone know what the going rate is for used x60/x61 in Japan?

3)
I used Boe-hydis HV121p01-100 .( You can not install Hv121P01-101 on x60s as though you can get a higher resoultion. HV121P01-101 is little thicker than HV121P01-100).

Price of HV121P01-100 (A1 Grade) is a $230USD per 1000 units.
( B1 Grade is a $150 ~ 170USD per 1000units . )
Group buy?

No need:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid ... Categories

lightweight · #34 Post by **lightweight** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:21 am

microwave,

Just a bump from one of many members looking forward to your BIOS and cable modification instructions. With WWAN I think you have the perfect laptop. <3

meumar · #35 Post by **meumar** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 3:09 pm

a bump from me too b/c I am very interested in this..........

If I had an SXGA+ in my X61s I would keep it forever!!!

Has anybody else tried this mod?

miketl · #36 Post by **miketl** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:25 pm

It looks like some sort of coverage may be going up on Lenovo's site soon, because there's some pics of a modified X61s on their Flickr photo stream.

I wonder, how does this affect the weight of the X61s?

#37 Post by **erik** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:39 pm

that's my X61s. i'll go into detail on the project once we post the blog.

overall weight is nearly identical since the digitizer and writing surface get removed from the hydis panel.

gunston · #38 Post by **gunston** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:48 am

erik wrote:that's my X61s. i'll go into detail on the project once we post the blog.

overall weight is nearly identical since the digitizer and writing surface get removed from the hydis panel.

waiting to hear good news from you soon !

gunston · #39 Post by **gunston** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:41 am

erik wrote:that's my X61s. i'll go into detail on the project once we post the blog.

overall weight is nearly identical since the digitizer and writing surface get removed from the hydis panel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenovophot ... 8/sizes/o/

how come your X61s keyboard came with the conventional Blue and Red strips.???

what part number is that???

#40 Post by **erik** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:41 am

there is no part number for that keyboard. it's a japanese layout NMB that i modified to accept the trackpoint buttons from my spare X300 NMB.

this is a better image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenovophot ... 9/sizes/o/

i also added the "soft touch" palmrest (like found on the current X300/X301 and former 600 series) from the japanese 15th anniversary X61s: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lenovophot ... 7/sizes/o/

unfortunately it didn't come with the label so there's a gap where it says "Xseries".

miketl · #41 Post by **miketl** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:03 am

Wow, can't wait to hear more, erik. Can you also talk briefly about battery life difference with the new panel? And if a custom firmware is required, will one be made available?

Congrats on the successful mod!

#42 Post by **erik** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 9:12 am

my SXGA+ X61T got over 5 hours with the 8-cell battery so i'd imagine the X61sxga+ should go about the same. next time it goes off of a/c i'll make note of the times with the 8-cell and slim 4-cell.

a custom firmware is ideal. that's what i'm running. you could use an X61T BIOS on an X61s with a few features disabled, but you can't use the tablet BIOS with a regular X61 due to thermal design issues. the tablet BIOS will kill bluetooth and docking and will give an extra yellow bang in device manager next to the wacom digitizer (which doesn't physically exist but the BIOS says it's there).

#43 Post by **erik** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:04 am

the blog just got posted for anyone interested: Mad Modding: Project X61sxga+

gunston · #44 Post by **gunston** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 8:04 pm

amazing project

nexx · #45 Post by **nexx** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:06 pm

Man... this is art...

Erik, let me know if you decide to sell this laptop, or maybe create some lcd kit with cable to sell to others install on his/her x61s...

Man... I which I could transform mine on sxga. That would be the perfect laptop...

I'm typing on my x60s now.. hell which I could buy some kit and replace the screen and cables...

meumar · #46 Post by **meumar** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:52 pm

Wow that is so cool - thanks for sharing your work.

I definitely want to try this... I think I may give it a try over christmas.

lightweight · #47 Post by **lightweight** » Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:14 pm

best laptop in the world

#48 Post by **erik** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:44 pm

earlier today i had the postmaster weigh my X61s and it came out to 2 lbs 13.60 oz (2.85 lbs or 1.29 kg) on an official postal scale. this is with the SSD and 4-cell prismatic battery installed and the modem removed. it's safe to say that the tablet display is only a fraction heavier than the standard display (i'd guess it's about one ounce more at the most).

AvalonXIII · #49 Post by **AvalonXIII** » Sat Oct 25, 2008 8:23 pm

@Erik

I think I have a very good idea of who provides the bios and modding instructions to you (hint: he's in the same thread)
So, do you mind translating it for the rest of us

#50 Post by **erik** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:25 am

it's no secret who it is. at least five posts above mention his name. the catch is that leo is not releasing the BIOS publicly and i've promised to him not to redistribute the copies that i have. he made my BIOS for me and sent it via email so there's nothing to translate.

as i said above, you could use an X61T BIOS on an X61s but neither bluetooth nor docking will work. i've personally tested this myself. an X61T BIOS cannot be used on an X61 as it will have thermo problems on a santa rosa processor or completely brick the planar on penryn models.

regarding assembly instructions, i was never given any. i figured everything out on my own from hours of trial and error. leo gave me a few pointers via email on the display cable but never anything specific on exactly how to modify the rest. i know for a fact that my method is different than his in many ways. on top of that, i added my own mods like the X300 buttons, modem delete, and the soft-touch palmrest -- all three of which i've never seen done anywhere else.

right now i don't have the free time to build a how-to manual detailing the jumper harness, LCD modifications, MIMO antenna modifications, and display cover/bezel modifications necessary to make this work. it's 8~10 hours of labor just to do the mods if you know exactly what to do, longer if you don't. instructions would take longer than that, especially since i didn't take photos at every step.

unfortunately, i also don't have the time required to manufacture this as a pre-packaged, bolt-on mod as some have suggested i do. this mod costs around $450~725 in raw parts alone depending on whether you start with standard or ultralight LCD frame, antennas, bluetooth, etc. add to that 8~10 hours of labor and it would quickly get expensive.

(edited for clarity)

AvalonXIII · #51 Post by **AvalonXIII** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:09 am

@erik

If that is true then I tip my hat off to you. I'm looking for the ultimate ultraportable and it looks like yours is the dream machine I have always wanted. Too bad I can't ever get my hand on it. Enjoy it, good sir, and remember that there are tons of people envy you on the side

#52 Post by **erik** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:00 pm

avalon - it's 100% true.

on a related note, please post any questions about this mod in public. i keep getting PMs from new users asking basic questions which could benefit others if posted on the forum or blog.

thank you.

rhema83 · #53 Post by **rhema83** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 2:23 am

I really envy you, sir. You have the ultimate working machine IMHO(sounds like BMW talk, doesn't it). I wish I have the resources to dedicate to such a rewarding project.

Have loads of fun with your uber-X61s!

aceo07 · #54 Post by **aceo07** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:54 pm

Hope someday that this could also be done for an x40. My x61t is just too heavy to be really portable. The x61t is a sweet machine, but the x40 is so much smaller and lighter... just lacking the sxga+.

Very envious.

toshiro · #55 Post by **toshiro** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 4:04 am

i'm very interested to do this with my X61..
it will be my dream machine..

erik, can i ask you several questions regarding the lcd cable?

thanks

#56 Post by **erik** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 11:50 am

sure... ask whatever you want.

toshiro · #57 Post by **toshiro** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:25 pm

hi erik,

for the cable pin mapping, i got the mapping table from here:
http://www.51nb.com/forum/tid705915

i have another question regarding the lcd frame.
in your blog you mentioned that you taped the hinges to the modified frame because threaded mounts is not exist in the modified frame.
my questions are:
1. is it possible to create the threaded mounts? make some hole to the frame?
2. if it is not possible, will the tape strong enough to handle the frame and lcd?

thanks

#58 Post by **erik** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:32 pm

there isn't a way to create threaded mounts in the modified LCD frame. tape works perfectly fine as long as everything is aligned properly. my display is solid and cannot move whatsoever. i used 3M 5mm wide double-stick tape to hold the hinges to the LCD, then wrapped kapton tape around the outside to keep everything together.

toshiro · #59 Post by **toshiro** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:41 pm

thanks erik... now the picture is getting clearer...
the only missing part is the modded bios..
i wish leo is online and can respond to this thread...

#60 Post by **erik** » Thu Dec 04, 2008 12:43 pm

i'm still waiting to hear back from him on my last email. we keep in good contact but he is very busy with his day job.

btw, i've sent you a PM regarding your X61.

SXGA+ on a X60s (non tablet)

erik, this is art!

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