Opinions on which X61 upgrade and/or mod path

[KP62]

Hi all.

I'm new to the community and will welcome your opinions and inputs on how I'll approach upgrading an X61 (7675-A36) I recently acquired.

Got an old HDD and installed 32bit Windows 10- (took almost an hour) and successfully flashed it with MIddleton's BIOS last night. It was a scary two and a half minutes as it was my first time flashing a Thinkpad.

A US keyboard, a new SSD and 8GB of ram are on the way. Cost of the DDR2 sticks is almost the same for what I paid for the X61.

So right now, LCD panel is showing its age, max brightness while on AC power is still a bit dim for me. Any known issues with the HV121P01-101 or similar panels being sold by kevin trade shop? Or should I just go with an LED mod?
Also, the palm rest gets extremely hot so I'll definitely look into removing the WWAN card and upgrading the WLAN later.

Thanks for your inputs.

[axur-delmeria]

The HV121P01-101 is an IPS LCD that can be found on the X61 Tablet. This screen requires an adapter cable on the X61-- the connector is the same, but the pinouts are different. If you plug this screen directly on regular, non-tabletl X61, it will short one of the 3.3v rails and blow a fuse on the system board at the minimum, or irreparably damage one or more of the following parts: the screen itself, the LCD cable, and/or the system board.

It has CCFL backlight like the X61's regular screens, so it won't be bright.

[KP62]

Thanks for the reply.

Might stay with the stock panel for the meantime then. The seller does include an adapter cable but I guess I'll need to verify if its wired correctly before I plug it in.

I'll do more reading on LED mods so I'll be ready when the CCFL in it fails.

I'll be giving this to my son, and when the parts come in I'll ask him to put them in himself.

He also said he wants to learn more about laptops and Linux. He got intrigued by it when he saw his grandma's old Compaq laptop from 2007 running on Mint.

[unixed]

The HV121P01-101 is a fine flexview but there is a glass cover which is directly bonded (glued) to it. As an aside that was a good idea to minimize the parallax error due to the different refractive indices of light in air and glass. In practice air bubbles developed in the glue layer over time. If the panel comes with the glass attached you cannot remove it without scratching or more likely breaking the panel and can't fit it in the X61 otherwise. If the seller has removed the glass without scratching the panel or found stock where the glass hasn't been bonded to it yet then you're very much in luck. CCFL is fine new. We've used it for years without problems and that doesn't suddenly change because LED backlights are available. You shouldn't use any LCD in direct sunlight, for the same reason they don't display the Mona Lisa similarly. If you must there's a high nit T400 purpose-built.

[KP62]

Thanks for the detailed info regarding the panel. That's something I can hopefully clarify with the seller. Sadly, Chinese translations for market platforms aren't the best, and some sellers aren't really keen on customer relations, but there are those who go the extra step.

Last year I purchased a replacement panel for my mom's Presario C500 (screen image was split into 4), and the seller from China was very helpful, He really wanted to be sure he was sending the right one. Sent him a picture of the old panel's model number, sure enough he said I clicked on the wrong model number from the options. The correct panel was a bit more expensive but he didn't ask me to cancel and re-order. So turns out he gave me a discount. Sadly couldn't find his shop listed anymore.

I'm still interested in doing the eventual panel upgrade down the line. Searched this forum and was able to find a link for the pinouts for adapter cable. I've downloaded it for reference so it will be easy to check if the cable was wired correctly. So happy a community like this exists where info is shared.

Stock panel will suffice for now... or until I get the itch to upgrade it. Will post pics when I do.

Cheers.

[axur-delmeria]

Note: the X61 Tablet has another screen, the Samsung LTN121XP01-- it's a PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment) LCD-- not as good as IPS, but still much better than the stock panel. The best part is that the protective glass layer is not bonded to the screen, but taped along the edges, making it easier to remove.

[KP62]

Thanks axur, will definitely put that panel in my list of options for to replace the stock screen. Will that panel also require an adapter cable?

I"m still waiting for the SSD and DDR2 sticks I ordered, and currently browsing the forum for info on a WLAN card replacement.

Will test performance and usability once I have set everything up on the OS side of things. Its currently back on the stock 120GB HDD with windows 7 ultimate. I'm a total noob when it comes to Linux but hey, never too old to learn something new.

[axur-delmeria]

Thanks axur, will definitely put that panel in my list of options for to replace the stock screen. Will that panel also require an adapter cable?

Yes, it will need an adapter cable. All the screens from the X61 Tablet require the adapter cable.

Will test performance and usability once I have set everything up on the OS side of things. Its currently back on the stock 120GB HDD with windows 7 ultimate. I'm a total noob when it comes to Linux but hey, never too old to learn something new.

I've installed Win 7 on a Sandisk 120GB SSD on an X61 I lent to my aunt a while back, IMO it's not as snappy (even with the SSD) compared to Linux.

[KP62]

Yes, it will need an adapter cable. All the screens from the X61 Tablet require the adapter cable.

I've installed Win 7 on a Sandisk 120GB SSD on an X61 I lent to my aunt a while back, IMO it's not as snappy (even with the SSD) compared to Linux.

Copy that on the cable.

How much ram was installed in the X61? Never knew that Win 7 would be so much more resource intensive than Linux, from what I've read so far 7 will be a better option than 10.

Just installed Linux MInt alongside the Win 7 Ultimate last night just to test dual boot and have a feel on performance differences.
Will toy with it a little more later tonight before I change the storage drive and increase the RAM.

[axur-delmeria]

That X61 had 4GB RAM. Win 7 SP1 x64 would consume slightly below 2GB RAM on idle with some CPU usage spikes and disk reads (probably due to the antivirus software).

Upgrading to 8GB RAM is too expensive for a machine this old.

[KP62]

That X61 had 4GB RAM. Win 7 SP1 x64 would consume slightly below 2GB RAM on idle with some CPU usage spikes and disk reads (probably due to the antivirus software).

Upgrading to 8GB RAM is too expensive for a machine this old.

Yup, 4GB DDR2 prices are so high. Seller cancelled my order btw. he might change the prices. original listing was for 5USD (300PhP) a stick.

[error_checking_coder]

Regarding the original question on kevin trade shop, it allows you to choose between CCFL vs. LED. I just got an SXGA+ screen with LED + Cable upgrade kit for $120. Will report back how that goes.