My X61s - Slow project thread!

[beko1987]

Hi!

I got given this the other week, a filthy looking Thinkpad X61s. Compared to the T43, it looks terrible!

https://flic.kr/p/2gSxvsy

Under the lid was no better either

https://flic.kr/p/2gSxvrm

Started to clean it up, and use a live linux to get it booted and see what's on it. Imagine my surprise when I saw an OCZ drive listed in the options... Bit odd, but pull it out and voila, an ancient SSD! That'll save me £20 on this

https://flic.kr/p/2gSxvpY

After a good going over with many baby wipes and a microfibre, it's looking pretty minty under all the filth!

https://flic.kr/p/2gSwFhE

https://flic.kr/p/2gSxvh8

https://flic.kr/p/2gSwFhE

I got LXLE linux installed which works very well. And having used the keyboard for a bit, will just find a return key for the board it has! However this also shows the main issue with this

https://flic.kr/p/2gSwFmC

https://flic.kr/p/2gSxvm1

Specs, happy with that RAM amount, i don't need 8gb in it for what I'll use it for!

https://flic.kr/p/2gSwFp3

Happy with this for a freebie! I've used it last night, and to write all this and it's a fine little thing, just like the X60 Tablet which is always nice to use!

Jobs to do:

Battery - one it has is scrap
Return key
New LCD (will probably just swap another XGA into it as their quite cheap for a new panel, and I've researched upgraded screens, it looks quite involved!)
A good stripdown, this thing is quite warm, warmer than the X60T

And that's probably all it needs!

[Krissharm]

Baby wipes are genius at cleaning almost everything.

What are you going to use it for?

[Droider]

That is a very nice freebie !

[dandreye]

In my opinion (and I've had several corporate ones in daily abuse over the last 20yrs, from T20 to X1 Carbon Gen6) this one is their best one ever built: those were times when build quality still mattered. Just flash Middleton BIOS to unlock SATA II for up to 300MB/s unless it's already done; the same BIOS will also let you upgrade the WiFi card to something more recent, e.g. Intel 6205 that's been tested in these laptops inside out by now. That particular OCZ SSD may not necessarily be a good choice though: there were big issues with those equipped with early SandForce SSD controllers slowing them down a lot although I haven't ever dealt with Agility 3 myself. The UK keyboard in yours is best as it has that fat vertical Enter key, which is almost impossible to miss (e.g. US keyboard has it horizontally oriented). The only nuisance is swapping CPU fan if ever required (got to take the whole MB out) but other ThinkPad models are no better at it anyway.