X61 with touchscreen (not tablet) DONE!
Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 9:26 am
After some trial and errors I finally managed to make a clean build of a touchscreen x61(s) (not tablet) assembly.
I will try to describe the process in details for those of you brave enough to go through this hustle
Few things to be considered first:
1. The touch screen kit I have used comes as a sensor film attached to a 2mm glass. The glass is not just glued to be solid, it caries some of the sensing stripes, so forget about detaching sensor film and using it only.
image
http://i.imgur.com/uAfVJmZ.jpg
ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-1-4-Wire-Res ... 3cd9c84295
2. The original x61(s) screen can be of two types: normal (FRU LTD121KC9B) and so called ultralight (FRU LTD121ECHB or LTD121ECHS).
The ultralight LCD
http://i.imgur.com/PYNzUAH.jpg
ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171402218720?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
Besides being lighter the ultralight screen is generally thinner, but the plastic border around the LCD brings its thickness back to the normal's thickness though. Another key difference is that the controller board on ultralight is at the bottom while on the normal screen it is on top.
3. The back cover and bazel of ultralight and normal models look similar externally but internally there are differences.
4. The hinges of ultralight are short while the hinges of normal display go until the top.
image
http://i.imgur.com/EsKocU5.jpg
For the build I used the ultralight screen and normal screens back cover, bazel and hinges.
Here is why:
1. Ultralight screen can be easily modified to be thinner on top. The back cover + bazel assembly allows more thickness of screen at the bottom than on top. Using LCDs with controller at top is not possible without heavy modifications of back panel.
The top is actually the most troublesome part so having the screen as thin as possible is the key to fit in.
2. The touch glass adds some essential weight to the whole assembly, so having a lighter LCD and stronger hinges is important.
3. Despite that the backpanel+bazel of ultralight and normal screens do look similar, the internal difference are essential and the simplicity of ultralight screen is compensated by a more massive attachment points on its bazel.
This leaves no space for fitting the more massive glass which is a bit wider and longer than the LCD screen itself.
The build
So before trying to squeeze all the staff into the back panel the following modifications have been done:
1. Removed the touch panel connector as it was too thick. I soldered 4 thin but strong wires. the wires need to be quite strong to
survive screen open-close through a hinge.
original connector
http://i.imgur.com/g20V9L1.jpg
soldered wires
http://i.imgur.com/KImCBWs.jpg
2. I cut the borders of the LCD to make it narrower. The result is 2-3.1 mm instead of 4.2mm. I left some thickness in some places to prevent pressure marks by LCDs back touching back panel.
borders to cut
http://i.imgur.com/ptyMEUe.jpg
how to cut
http://i.imgur.com/I7wWDTu.jpg
thickness before
http://i.imgur.com/4FYosc0.jpg
thickness after
http://i.imgur.com/TYYXtHW.jpg
3. Removed all rubber metal and plastic placeholders and gaskets from back panel and bazel. A lot of different pieces are being used to hold the LCD in place within the back panel. All these need to be removed because we are going to put in a different screen. New ones can be added later to fit the new LCD+touch assembly.
new placeholders
http://i.imgur.com/cWdr4Ix.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Jswblye.jpg
4. Now when everything was ready, I cleaned the inner surfaces and attached the LCD and touch panel with double sided adhesive film in several points at the corners.
There is no need for massive amount of adhesive. Few points are enough. Firstly because you will definitely detach and reattach it several times to find a better position for the screen (to be in the middle of the frame) and the touch not to show its stripes when bazel is on. And secondly, because the whole assembly will be so tight so the LCD will have no chance to change it's position inside.
The touch can be calibrated so its orientation is flexible. That said the connector of touch can be both from left or right side of the screen.
right (when looking from screen side)
http://i.imgur.com/wF3Xnn9.jpg
left
http://i.imgur.com/KImCBWs.jpg
The second is preferable because the stripes on touch are wider on left same is the bazel of x61.
5. The wires are led to the right hinge and the hardest part begins. The fitting is real pain, but it is doable. most problems arise with fitting the glass between the hinge bars so that the touch stripes are not visible under the bazel.
There is no direct description on how to do it right, its just a matter several tries. Eventually I managed to find the best position.
http://i.imgur.com/i38CPV7.jpg
It is important that the screen and touch lay as flat as possible, otherwise you wont be able to put the bazel in place.
left side
http://i.imgur.com/UELWkPc.jpg
right side
http://i.imgur.com/a3xjcy3.jpg
After some struggle I managed to close the bazel almost perfectly. The top right corner has a 0.4mm gap, mainly because the wwan antenna cover on the side has a little play which allows it to come forward under pressure.
I believe This is possible to fix if the wwan antenna cover is glued to its place on the back panel prior to the installation. Nevertheless, the gap is very small and wont bother unless you are such a purist freak as me
To be continued ...
(USB connectivity)
Spoilers
http://i.imgur.com/rIawF8m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4s0Qq7E.jpg
Few more things...
1. SXGA+ will not fit without modifying the back panel. I know, I have tried that
The problem is that the back panel loses its strength once cut and can be easily broken. The new plate to cover it must be properly attached to provide the necessary strength.
here are some pics
http://i.imgur.com/6tl3knJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/71eRj9r.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1kUyrb2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JpVTHRI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/PhnFYyN.jpg
No SXGA+ LCD or X61 backpanel has been injured during the experiment (they were already dead, I swear)
2. Knowing Chinese sellers there is no guarantee that the kit you order will be exactly the same as mine (bought about a year ago) or even the one in their sale's pictures. So ask them questions in advance. On aliexpress I have seen similar kits with detailed measurements.
3. There used to be a thinner version of touch kit that consisted only from the film and no glass. They were calling it film-to-film. I tried to find one but all the sellers that had it listed said that it is now out of production. It was said to have 0.3mm thickness versus 2.0mm available now. If you manage to find one than even an SXGA+ touch mod can be easily done.
4. The screen assembly will be on sale soon. I need to finish with USB connection and do some tests.
Cheers
I will try to describe the process in details for those of you brave enough to go through this hustle
Few things to be considered first:
1. The touch screen kit I have used comes as a sensor film attached to a 2mm glass. The glass is not just glued to be solid, it caries some of the sensing stripes, so forget about detaching sensor film and using it only.
image
http://i.imgur.com/uAfVJmZ.jpg
ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-1-4-Wire-Res ... 3cd9c84295
2. The original x61(s) screen can be of two types: normal (FRU LTD121KC9B) and so called ultralight (FRU LTD121ECHB or LTD121ECHS).
The ultralight LCD
http://i.imgur.com/PYNzUAH.jpg
ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171402218720?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
Besides being lighter the ultralight screen is generally thinner, but the plastic border around the LCD brings its thickness back to the normal's thickness though. Another key difference is that the controller board on ultralight is at the bottom while on the normal screen it is on top.
3. The back cover and bazel of ultralight and normal models look similar externally but internally there are differences.
4. The hinges of ultralight are short while the hinges of normal display go until the top.
image
http://i.imgur.com/EsKocU5.jpg
For the build I used the ultralight screen and normal screens back cover, bazel and hinges.
Here is why:
1. Ultralight screen can be easily modified to be thinner on top. The back cover + bazel assembly allows more thickness of screen at the bottom than on top. Using LCDs with controller at top is not possible without heavy modifications of back panel.
The top is actually the most troublesome part so having the screen as thin as possible is the key to fit in.
2. The touch glass adds some essential weight to the whole assembly, so having a lighter LCD and stronger hinges is important.
3. Despite that the backpanel+bazel of ultralight and normal screens do look similar, the internal difference are essential and the simplicity of ultralight screen is compensated by a more massive attachment points on its bazel.
This leaves no space for fitting the more massive glass which is a bit wider and longer than the LCD screen itself.
The build
So before trying to squeeze all the staff into the back panel the following modifications have been done:
1. Removed the touch panel connector as it was too thick. I soldered 4 thin but strong wires. the wires need to be quite strong to
survive screen open-close through a hinge.
original connector
http://i.imgur.com/g20V9L1.jpg
soldered wires
http://i.imgur.com/KImCBWs.jpg
2. I cut the borders of the LCD to make it narrower. The result is 2-3.1 mm instead of 4.2mm. I left some thickness in some places to prevent pressure marks by LCDs back touching back panel.
borders to cut
http://i.imgur.com/ptyMEUe.jpg
how to cut
http://i.imgur.com/I7wWDTu.jpg
thickness before
http://i.imgur.com/4FYosc0.jpg
thickness after
http://i.imgur.com/TYYXtHW.jpg
3. Removed all rubber metal and plastic placeholders and gaskets from back panel and bazel. A lot of different pieces are being used to hold the LCD in place within the back panel. All these need to be removed because we are going to put in a different screen. New ones can be added later to fit the new LCD+touch assembly.
new placeholders
http://i.imgur.com/cWdr4Ix.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Jswblye.jpg
4. Now when everything was ready, I cleaned the inner surfaces and attached the LCD and touch panel with double sided adhesive film in several points at the corners.
There is no need for massive amount of adhesive. Few points are enough. Firstly because you will definitely detach and reattach it several times to find a better position for the screen (to be in the middle of the frame) and the touch not to show its stripes when bazel is on. And secondly, because the whole assembly will be so tight so the LCD will have no chance to change it's position inside.
The touch can be calibrated so its orientation is flexible. That said the connector of touch can be both from left or right side of the screen.
right (when looking from screen side)
http://i.imgur.com/wF3Xnn9.jpg
left
http://i.imgur.com/KImCBWs.jpg
The second is preferable because the stripes on touch are wider on left same is the bazel of x61.
5. The wires are led to the right hinge and the hardest part begins. The fitting is real pain, but it is doable. most problems arise with fitting the glass between the hinge bars so that the touch stripes are not visible under the bazel.
There is no direct description on how to do it right, its just a matter several tries. Eventually I managed to find the best position.
http://i.imgur.com/i38CPV7.jpg
It is important that the screen and touch lay as flat as possible, otherwise you wont be able to put the bazel in place.
left side
http://i.imgur.com/UELWkPc.jpg
right side
http://i.imgur.com/a3xjcy3.jpg
After some struggle I managed to close the bazel almost perfectly. The top right corner has a 0.4mm gap, mainly because the wwan antenna cover on the side has a little play which allows it to come forward under pressure.
I believe This is possible to fix if the wwan antenna cover is glued to its place on the back panel prior to the installation. Nevertheless, the gap is very small and wont bother unless you are such a purist freak as me
To be continued ...
(USB connectivity)
Spoilers
http://i.imgur.com/rIawF8m.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4s0Qq7E.jpg
Few more things...
1. SXGA+ will not fit without modifying the back panel. I know, I have tried that
The problem is that the back panel loses its strength once cut and can be easily broken. The new plate to cover it must be properly attached to provide the necessary strength.
here are some pics
http://i.imgur.com/6tl3knJ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/71eRj9r.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/1kUyrb2.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/JpVTHRI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/PhnFYyN.jpg
No SXGA+ LCD or X61 backpanel has been injured during the experiment (they were already dead, I swear)
2. Knowing Chinese sellers there is no guarantee that the kit you order will be exactly the same as mine (bought about a year ago) or even the one in their sale's pictures. So ask them questions in advance. On aliexpress I have seen similar kits with detailed measurements.
3. There used to be a thinner version of touch kit that consisted only from the film and no glass. They were calling it film-to-film. I tried to find one but all the sellers that had it listed said that it is now out of production. It was said to have 0.3mm thickness versus 2.0mm available now. If you manage to find one than even an SXGA+ touch mod can be easily done.
4. The screen assembly will be on sale soon. I need to finish with USB connection and do some tests.
Cheers
