Question about wires inside X61s (upgrading wireless)

[mazzer]

I saved $45 by downgrading from the Intel 4965AGN to the Thinkpad 11a/b/g wireless. In posts on this forum, however, a number of people claim that the Intel 4965AGN uses less power and thus generates less heat in the right palm rest area. But I've also read here that the Thinkpad card gets better reception.

I'm willing to give the Thinkpad card a shot for its (arguably) superior performance and see if the heat is something that bothers me. If it does bother me, I figure I can go out an buy an Intel 4965AGN and install it myself -- it seems to be available online for less than $45 anyway.

My questions:

1. I chose the UltraLight TFT with 2x3 UltraConnect II. Am I correct in assuming that I will have three antenna wires available (as opposed to just two) if I choose to upgrade to 802.11N? Will the third (currently unused) wire be conveniently located to the mini-PCI slot or will I have to go digging?

2. Is there any advantage to having the Intel 4965AGN card factory installed versus my installing it myself -- assuming I am relatively adept and don't break anything?

3. Considering what a huge issue the palm rest heat issue seems to be, has anyone tried installing another wireless card brand/chipset to see if it generates less heat? (Meaning another type of mini-PCI card, not a PCMCIA or USB dongle.)

Thanks!

[mazzer]

Can anyone give the first two questions a shot? Trying to decide if I should change my order or let it stand. Thanks!

[mfbernstein]

Yes, if you order the UltraConnext 2 x 3, you should get 3 wires. They should be reasonably easy to find (the X61/s internals are pretty clean).

If my switching from the 3945 to Atheros wireless on the X61 is anything to go by, upgrading is a pretty straightforward process, so you might as well do it yourself.

Locating an IBM-branded 4965 may take a bit of time though. They're still rather new.

[Antioch]

I can't guarantee that the third wire will be there, but someone else on the forum did the same thing you're proposing (except he wanted the N card). He said that the third wire was there since technically his machine was ordered to have the UltraConnect 2x3 antenna. So, it should be there.

I don't know if you can try a different WiFi card in there. I believe it has to be a lenovo card or you will get an error on bootup (atleast, that's what happens with the WWAN miniPCIe cards.

[mazzer]

What makes a card a Lenovo card? Will a 4965AGN I buy somewhere else work (like from the link below)? Or do I have to buy it from Lenovo?

http://www.google.com/products?q=4965AGN

[roblim]

I have the Intel 4965AGN in my x61s and the right palm rest is only slightly warmer than the left side palm rest. Nothing to complain about. I can't compare it to the x60 series which garnered many complaints about this issue but I have to say that but for reading the posts about the warm palm rest in this forum I probably would not have noticed it at all.

[Antioch]

Yes, I read a very thorough review that compared the operational temperature of 4 different WiFI devices on the X61 with an IR Temp. gun. The Intel 4965AGN was the coolest.