Ideas on how to decrease the weight of the x60s even futher

[tyanlion]

Is it possible to decrease the weight further by using a 1.8 inch hd ? does the notebook has 2 mini pci slots? one for the wireless and the other for another adaptor? can i the remove the other minipci and keep the wireless? Can i remove any unnecessary Communications Daughter Cards (CDCs) like the modem? how abt the laptop lcd can i change it?? like use the new type of low power lcd coming up for the Asus notebook?? Using one piece of ram instead of 2?? btw using 2 pieces of ram does it lower battery life??

[dorin]

why in the world would you go to a 1.8' hdd?! that is the only bottleneck for x40 and x41(otherwise great machines!)
try the ultralight lcd, guess is the only thing you might fell a "considerable difference" otherwise modem, one ram stick i dont think you will even reach 100g alltogether!

how heavy is your x60s?!

[Turbo Audi]

The best way to lighten up an ultra portable is to start lifting weights.

[dr_st]

Throw your X60s into the dumpster.

Weight problem solved.

Some people are crazy about weight, but counting RAM sticks and miniPCI weight is downright ridiculous.

(Sorry for being overly harsh and cynical)

[tyanlion]

Just wondering how low i could push the weight, the x60s to me is still pretty heavy. At first i was amazed at the engineering to me it was really the perfect laptop light, long lasting and powerful. I carry it around everywhere, when it comes to a computer system i am kinda sort of a prefectionist i won't stop till everything is perfect. when i saw the thread on CPC i was thinking: hey how much stuff do i really need on this thing anyway, maybe i could keep cutting stuff out here and there , see if i can push the weight down bit by bit . Its already at 1.2-1.4 kg right i was thinking it could be possible to cut 1/3 of its weight. Is there any site that actually mods their thinkpads btw?

Btw i didn't know the x41 s used 1.8. are they really that slow? How abt the new 1.8 hds are they better??

[smvp6459]

Are you using the slim line 4-cell battery?

[Turbo Audi]

To be serious for a moment...Are you using the 8 cell or the slim 3 cell (I think) battery?

I use my 8 cell, but I used the smaller one for awhile. With the small battery in the notebook was so light it was in danger of falling off my desk in class when I got up quickly, or sat down and nudge it by accident. It weighs merely 2.8 lbs I believe. pianowizard knows the exact weight of it, thanks to his scale at Brown University.

Still get almost 3 hours out of it with wireless on. My 8 cell acts as an anchor, its too [censored] light!

[pianowizard]

tyanlion, does your X60s have a regular or ultralight LCD? The latter is 0.2 lbs lighter. By using one instead of two sticks of RAM, you save another 0.015 lbs.

I think the AC adapter is lighter than even the slimline battery. Have you thought about removing the battery and using the X60s plugged in all the time?

Some ultraportables do away with fans to minimize weight but I wouldn't recommend doing that to your X60s.

Turbo Audi, your X60s with two sticks of RAM and the slimline battery weighs 2.89 lbs. With the 8-cell, it weighs 3.46 lbs.

[smvp6459]

To be serious for a moment...Are you using the 8 cell or the slim 3 cell (I think) battery?

There are three internal batteries the X60s can use:
4-cell "slim line" (prismatic) = .44 lbs
4-cell "enhanced capacity" (cylindrical) = .57 lbs
8-cell "high capacity" (cylindrical) = 1.05 lbs

There's also a battery that attaches to the docking port
4-cell "extended life" = .82 lbs

[GomJabbar]

The best solution is to follow Turbo Audi's advice in his first post on this thread.

If that solution is unacceptable to you, I suggest you drop that boat anchor you've got and get the following.
http://www.oqo.com/

[pianowizard]

If that solution is unacceptable to you, I suggest you drop that boat anchor you've got and get the following. http://www.oqo.com/

My solution was getting a Dell Axim X51v PDA. An OQO or Sony UX would be better but are way too expensive.

[smvp6459]

My solution was getting a Dell Axim X51v PDA. An OQO or Sony UX would be better but are way too expensive.

Yeah, a PDA with WiFi and an external keyboard might be your best option if your computing tasks require minimal screen real estate and processing power. Plus, the battery could last for days.

[tyanlion]

The best solution is to follow Turbo Audi's advice in his first post on this thread.

If that solution is unacceptable to you, I suggest you drop that boat anchor you've got and get the following.
http://www.oqo.com/

Omg!! thats the stuff but wait it ain't a thinkpad .

ALL X60s are not created equal!!!! SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS!! i did some searching last night and i realised that i did not have a UL lcd.. wtf 25% weight reduction + 25% more brightness. I have the 1703 model sighh.......

btw does anyone know what the models stand for

1702 (seems to be the model that comes with the UL)
1703
1704
??

And is it true that the japanese x60s are lighter than the rest of the world's x60s??

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2701

search Japanese in it.

Oh yeah btw i have the 8 hr and normal 4 cell battery i was thinking of getting the slim 4 cell but on the account of not having a ul screen i don't think it'll matter anymore.

Yes i was thinking of just carrying the charger instead of the battery packs it was lighter. but if i am on the move this might pose a real problem

[tomh009]

You can find details on all the X60s model differences in the tabook:
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pcinstitu ... tabook.pdf

[tackat]

Why would you want to go for a 1.8" HDD if you could save the weight of the HDD and run your OS from the SD card reader

[nogen]

Why would you want to go for a 1.8" HDD if you could save the weight of the HDD and run your OS from the SD card reader

Is this possible? I have tried looking around the bios for options that lets you do this, but without any luck.
Would be great to get rid of the (almost) constant HDD humming.

[pianowizard]

And is it true that the japanese x60s are lighter than the rest of the world's x60s??

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2701

That was the plan, but I don't think it actually happened. I just went to Lenovo's Japanese site and the lightest X60s is 1.30 kg (2.87 lbs), the same as the X60s with regular LCD that we have in North America.

tyanlion, have you looked at the Fujitsu Q2010? It's only 2.2 lbs and has a 12.1" widescreen with 30% more pixels than the X60s. For people extremely picky about weight, Thinkpads are certainly too heavy.

[lev]

If you do all of these, you'll save a bunch of weight, at the cost of a small amount of inconvenience.

• Remove the battery and just have a spare AC adapter available at each location you use the laptop. They're only $30 or so.
• Remove the fingerprint reader (after disabling it in BIOS)
• Remove the keyboard and have a spare USB keyboard available at wherever you use the laptop, or use your bluetooth mobile phone for typing, or use dasher with the trackpoint buttons, or save some weight, ditch the trackpoint and use speech recognition software
• Remove the hard drive and boot from a USB device, or set up a PXE network boot
• Remove the wifi card if you don't use wifi, remove the modem if you don't need it
• Remove the speakers and microphone (will need to use a soldering iron to remove the mic) and use your bluetooth phone or headset for sound in and out
• Remove the screen and use text-to-speech screenreader software
• Remove the remaining components from the case, and keep them wrapped up carefully in an antistatic bag inside some bubble wrap. The case is quite heavy and this will save a lot of weight, but you'll have to be careful how you carry the loose system board, however, the next point deals with that....
• Since you're now at the point where you're communicating with a bare X60s board, via a bluetooth headset and speech-recognition/text-to-speech, why not go the next logical step and just leave the system board at home, where it will be safe from bumps and scrapes, and have it hooked up to your telephone line (you'll have to reattach the modem card), and just call your X60 from your cellphone whenever you need to do a computation.
• To save further weight, don't carry a cellphone, just sign up for a 1-800 calling card, and talk to your bare X60s system board from any convenient payphones while you are out and about.

To be a bit more serious, I don't think you can remove anything from the X60s that will make it significantly lighter, without making it a significantly less useful device. There are smaller lighter machines out there, but they compromise on computing power, screen size, not having a full-sized keyboard, or on durability (sony vaio are lighter, partly because the case is much flimsier).

The really practical things I've done since getting my X60s are:

• Get a few spare chargers, so I can have a charger at home, at the office, at my girlfriend's, etcso I don't carry chargers around.
• Get a very lightweight laptop bag -- most bags weigh more than the laptop. Eg I have "lenovo carrying case - backpack", part no 40Y8603. It's very comfortable, has room for the laptop plus pens, an A4 pad and a folder, and a couple of textbooks, doesn't scream out "i'm a laptop bag, please steal me", and best of all it only weighs 1.3lb, and I got it for $30 (usually its about $50). The messenger bag version weighs 0.2lb less. I don't think you'll find a lighter bag with padding. If you're very careful, you could just use a grocery bag, I suppose.
• Carry around less other junk. Since getting my X60s, I've become a lot more ruthless about not taking bits of paper, books, etc, "just in case". You can always keep electronic versions of documents on your laptop, so you don't need to carry the paper versions. Carrying one unneccessary document with you will far outweigh the weight savings of removing a SODIMM or replacing the HDD with a 1.8" version.

[tyanlion]

If you do all of these, you'll save a bunch of weight, at the cost of a small amount of inconvenience.

• Remove the battery and just have a spare AC adapter available at each location you use the laptop. They're only $30 or so.
• Remove the fingerprint reader (after disabling it in BIOS)
• Remove the keyboard and have a spare USB keyboard available at wherever you use the laptop, or use your bluetooth mobile phone for typing, or use dasher with the trackpoint buttons, or save some weight, ditch the trackpoint and use speech recognition software
• Remove the hard drive and boot from a USB device, or set up a PXE network boot
• Remove the wifi card if you don't use wifi, remove the modem if you don't need it
• Remove the speakers and microphone (will need to use a soldering iron to remove the mic) and use your bluetooth phone or headset for sound in and out
• Remove the screen and use text-to-speech screenreader software
• Remove the remaining components from the case, and keep them wrapped up carefully in an antistatic bag inside some bubble wrap. The case is quite heavy and this will save a lot of weight, but you'll have to be careful how you carry the loose system board, however, the next point deals with that....
• Since you're now at the point where you're communicating with a bare X60s board, via a bluetooth headset and speech-recognition/text-to-speech, why not go the next logical step and just leave the system board at home, where it will be safe from bumps and scrapes, and have it hooked up to your telephone line (you'll have to reattach the modem card), and just call your X60 from your cellphone whenever you need to do a computation.
• To save further weight, don't carry a cellphone, just sign up for a 1-800 calling card, and talk to your bare X60s system board from any convenient payphones while you are out and about.

To be a bit more serious, I don't think you can remove anything from the X60s that will make it significantly lighter, without making it a significantly less useful device. There are smaller lighter machines out there, but they compromise on computing power, screen size, not having a full-sized keyboard, or on durability (sony vaio are lighter, partly because the case is much flimsier).

The really practical things I've done since getting my X60s are:

• Get a few spare chargers, so I can have a charger at home, at the office, at my girlfriend's, etcso I don't carry chargers around.
• Get a very lightweight laptop bag -- most bags weigh more than the laptop. Eg I have "lenovo carrying case - backpack", part no 40Y8603. It's very comfortable, has room for the laptop plus pens, an A4 pad and a folder, and a couple of textbooks, doesn't scream out "i'm a laptop bag, please steal me", and best of all it only weighs 1.3lb, and I got it for $30 (usually its about $50). The messenger bag version weighs 0.2lb less. I don't think you'll find a lighter bag with padding. If you're very careful, you could just use a grocery bag, I suppose.
• Carry around less other junk. Since getting my X60s, I've become a lot more ruthless about not taking bits of paper, books, etc, "just in case". You can always keep electronic versions of documents on your laptop, so you don't need to carry the paper versions. Carrying one unneccessary document with you will far outweigh the weight savings of removing a SODIMM or replacing the HDD with a 1.8" version.

LOL wow that was quite comprehensive yeah i was thinking of buying 2 charges but i just don't think that's something i wanted do to. yeah i convert nearly everything i have into electronic form i have too all i carry around it the x60s + charger and books(a bit difficult to scan everything) as for having everything wireless. well i must as well use a server to do that. I want light weight but still there must be the good old thinkpad useability and durability.

I have tried fujitsu in the past. my exp with it is that its too hot and unreliable always breaks down. I bought the thinkpad cause it was the exact opposite of it. Plus the fujitsu laptop always gave me static shocks with its metal casing. Metal casing with laptop....big no no.

The thinkpad on the other hand has been well designed for useability they have thought long and hard about what a real laptop should be.

By the way won't the sd card boot up be real real slow??
I think if you wanted it that way only a thumbdrive boot up is really possible

[tyanlion]

You know the more i think about it a thumbdrive boot up is actually quite a good idea. OS will go a lot faster and aps is not needed plus the added security of having all your stuff on a thumdrive means that u can move around with the information easily instead of carrying a laptop.

Plus none of the hitachi clicking noise!!

Would i save power if i ran on a thumbdrive instead of a hd?

Plus you can boot the os on another computer(look at ms guide for booting windows on other computers for more info).
Unfortunetly, a thumdrive doesn't have enough space. Hmm but then with 4 gb windows + office........1 gb ........... actually it might be quite possible but i would have to do without songs and stuff.... i could live without that.

[pianowizard]

[*] Since you're now at the point where you're communicating with a bare X60s board

How about leaving the computer at home and at work and transfer files with a USB flash drive? That's what I do, between my Dell Inspiron 6000 at work and T60 plus Dell Dimension B110 desktop at home. I worry less about getting mugged on the street, too. The USB drive I use has 4GB, so that's usually enough for all the files that I need to transfer.

I have tried fujitsu in the past. my exp with it is that its too hot and unreliable always breaks down. I bought the thinkpad cause it was the exact opposite of it.

You have several other options. Sony's X505, 1.8 lbs with 10.4" XGA. Sony's G1, 1.97 lbs with 12.1" XGA. Sharp's MM20, 2.0 lbs with 10.4" XGA. The X60s no doubt has the best quality, but these other ones are much lighter.

[gunston]

The best way to lighten up an ultra portable is to start lifting weights.

Yeah, i have made an appointment with my GYM Supervisor for Heavy Weight Lifting.
Training Period: 3months.

After all my X60s will become an Extreme Ultra Portable...

[lev]

[*] Since you're now at the point where you're communicating with a bare X60s board

How about leaving the computer at home and at work and transfer files with a USB flash drive? That's what I do, between my Dell Inspiron 6000 at work and T60 plus Dell Dimension B110 desktop at home. I worry less about getting mugged on the street, too. The USB drive I use has 4GB, so that's usually enough for all the files that I need to transfer.

... or leave the USB drive at home, and transfer the files using ftp or scp. And that way you don't have to decide in advance, which files to put on the drive on any given day, since you can access any of them you need.

You can always shave extra weight off, by being creative

[lev]

LOL wow that was quite comprehensive yeah i was thinking of buying 2 charges but i just don't think that's something i wanted do to. yeah i convert nearly everything i have into electronic form i have too all i carry around it the x60s + charger and books(a bit difficult to scan everything) as for having everything wireless. well i must as well use a server to do that. I want light weight but still there must be the good old thinkpad useability and durability.

Well, if you were serious about saving weight, you'd buy multiple copies of all the books (or take buy 1 and take 1 out of the library), so you can have one copy at home, one at work, etc, and not have to carry the books around. Or you could pay a couple high-school students to scan your books for you one weekend, if you find the scanning too much trouble.

[tyanlion]

[*] Since you're now at the point where you're communicating with a bare X60s board

How about leaving the computer at home and at work and transfer files with a USB flash drive? That's what I do, between my Dell Inspiron 6000 at work and T60 plus Dell Dimension B110 desktop at home. I worry less about getting mugged on the street, too. The USB drive I use has 4GB, so that's usually enough for all the files that I need to transfer.

I have tried fujitsu in the past. my exp with it is that its too hot and unreliable always breaks down. I bought the thinkpad cause it was the exact opposite of it.

You have several other options. Sony's X505, 1.8 lbs with 10.4" XGA. Sony's G1, 1.97 lbs with 12.1" XGA. Sharp's MM20, 2.0 lbs with 10.4" XGA. The X60s no doubt has the best quality, but these other ones are much lighter.

yeah but the idea of not changing your os anywhere u go is nice

[stylinexpat]

Is it possible to decrease the weight further by using a 1.8 inch hd ? does the notebook has 2 mini pci slots? one for the wireless and the other for another adaptor? can i the remove the other minipci and keep the wireless? Can i remove any unnecessary Communications Daughter Cards (CDCs) like the modem? how abt the laptop lcd can i change it?? like use the new type of low power lcd coming up for the Asus notebook?? Using one piece of ram instead of 2?? btw using 2 pieces of ram does it lower battery life??

You could just do what I did and buy one of these..
http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/handhelds/ ... 88p,00.htm

It does the job for me when I am travelling abroad and need to do some simple work. Even has Skype,MSN and a Phone in it