Thinkpads Forum

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I searched everywhere I could think and only found one semi-conclusive thread.

When prowling the interwebs, I come across a lot of X60 Tablets, but I don't know how to tell if it's an SXGA+ without the seller listing it as such. I send PMs and ask about the screen resolution, but is there any other indicator, especially a physical indicator such as how it looks?

From what I've read you can't tell from the specs. Thanks in advance!

Assuming the seller/previous user have not changed the screen, it's pretty easy with Thinkpads. Get the 7 digit machine type number on the bottom of the laptop, click on the MTM link on the top page of this forum, and enter machine type number. The info returned is what was shipped from the factory. The machine type number can also be found on the first page of BIOS after hitting F1 to enter BIOS.

topramen wrote: but is there any other indicator, especially a physical indicator such as how it looks?

No.

From what I've read you can't tell from the specs. Thanks in advance!

The MTM-related advice as provided by Cigarguy is the most reasonable way of going about it...or you can post a WTB (want to buy) ad in the forum's Marketplace, it's free and you'll be dealing with people who know and love ThinkPads and are likely to be far more honest in describing them than someone on an auction site...

Cigarguy wrote:Assuming the seller/previous user have not changed the screen, it's pretty easy with Thinkpads. Get the 7 digit machine type number on the bottom of the laptop, click on the MTM link on the top page of this forum, and enter machine type number. The info returned is what was shipped from the factory. The machine type number can also be found on the first page of BIOS after hitting F1 to enter BIOS.

Note this doesn't tell you for machines where the model number ends with 'CTO' which stands for 'Configure To Order'.

What's the best way to convert an X61t to the higher res 1400X1050 display,
does anyone have the panels to sell?
Anyone have them with LED conversion?
Best way to find a donor on ebay?

I swap a X61T with L7700 CPU with an entire screen assembly from a X60T. No bubbling concern on a X60T screen. It's an exact swap and pretty easy. Of course I'll go further and reapply thermal paste (lots of work on X machines), clean everything up, upgrade to 4 GB memory and a SSD. I have 4 machines built this way of which only 1 did I bother switching the screen bezel. Personally I prefer the colourful IBM logo on a X60T lid over the X61T.

This can be done on the cheap. Average X61T on eBay is $80ish Cdn. Average X60T is $40ish. Lots of times I get it cheaper. The 3 of the old X60T with X61T screen assembly was sold in the local classified for $40. Full disclosure and details in my ad and in person. The last "excess" X60T with X61T screen makes a great print and file server running Linux Mint 18 Mate.

Cigarguy wrote:I swap a X61T with L7700 CPU with an entire screen assembly from a X60T. No bubbling concern on a X60T screen. It's an exact swap and pretty easy.

The best way to go about this IMO.

Are you saying that its easier to find an X60T with the 1400X1050 display?
Thanks for the tips.

Pete B wrote:Are you saying that its easier to find an X60T with the 1400X1050 display?

No.

What is being said here is that the 1st generation of these LCDs - as found in X60 tablets - are not prone to bubbling and leaking like the ones in X61T. These are, in truth, very different panels.

ajkula66 wrote:

Pete B wrote:Are you saying that its easier to find an X60T with the 1400X1050 display?

No.

What is being said here is that the 1st generation of these LCDs - as found in X60 tablets - are not prone to bubbling and leaking like the ones in X61T. These are, in truth, very different panels.

To clarify:

X60T SXGA screens are not bonded to the front glass the way X61T SXGA screens are. The X60T SXGA screens will not develop bubbles. The X61T SXGA screens will.

The X60T and X61T use identical XGA screens. Only the SXGA screens are different, and the only difference between the SXGA panels is in the glass bonding.

So, if you want to make an SXGA X61T from an XGA X61T, the easiest/most durable way is to swap on an X60T SXGA screen/lid/hinge all at once.

(of course, then you might want an LED backlight....

xiphmont wrote: Only the SXGA screens are different, and the only difference between the SXGA panels is in the glass bonding.

Not quite.

Panels found in X61T also have a protective coat (film) that tends to distort the picture quality at certain angles and is NOT removable.

ajkula66 wrote:

xiphmont wrote: Only the SXGA screens are different, and the only difference between the SXGA panels is in the glass bonding.

Not quite.

Panels found in X61T also have a protective coat (film) that tends to distort the picture quality at certain angles and is NOT removable.

If you're talking about the stock SXGA tablet panels, you're right, the stock -101 has a glass front with an antiglare coating, the stock -100 has an acrylic front with a simple frosted coating. The panels underneath are still identical though.

If you're talking about bare panels, the front film you're talking about is the front polarizer, which usually has an anti-glare coating built in. It's the single most expensive part of the screen (more expensive than the glass matrix!) And it's common for Chinese outfits that reclaim -101 screens with bonded glass to separate the adhesive with a chemical process that damages the polarizer. It's a simple matter of slapping a new one on, except good ones are expensive. Cheap ones cause color shifts at angles. I have a whole box of em.

It's hard to find glassless -101 screens with an in-tact, original front polarizer film. Another reason to get a -100.

xiphmont wrote:

ajkula66 wrote:
Not quite.

Panels found in X61T also have a protective coat (film) that tends to distort the picture quality at certain angles and is NOT removable.

If you're talking about the stock SXGA tablet panels, you're right, the stock -101 has a glass front with an antiglare coating, the stock -100 has an acrylic front with a simple frosted coating. The panels underneath are still identical though.

I was referring to the "assembled" product, as you've correctly surmised.

ajkula66 wrote: I was referring to the "assembled" product, as you've correctly surmised.

*nod*

FWIW, I don't like the 'coating' on the X60T SXGA screen either; it's not antiglare at all, just frosted. The best antiglare IMHO is on the XGA 'multitouch' screens, so I use XGA multitouch fronts on the SXGA screens.
(And, if you want it, the finger touch works properly on SXGA if you also swap the multitouch digitizer as well)