Upgrading the X300/X301's display

[sebileis]

Hello everyone! I recently got ahold of an X301 (LOVE this machine, I wish Lenovo still had laptops like this) and overall while it is a very solid laptop, the display is lackluster. I am wondering if anybody knows of potential upgrades for this machine, particularly of the AFFS/IPS variety. I found a few odds and ends leading to a potential upgrade here: viewtopic.php?t=119764 , but am wondering if anyone has had luck since then or knows of a better panel to use or an easier way to pull this off. Any info is greatly appreciated!

[axur-delmeria]

Have you tried contacting 600X, the owner of that X301? The only other recourse is to contact 51nb directly or through some intermediary.

[sebileis]

Have you tried contacting 600X, the owner of that X301? The only other recourse is to contact 51nb directly or through some intermediary.

Just sent a PM his way. Hoping for the best!

[RealBlackStuff]

If anyone had found such a screen, it would have been made public here.
Due to the lack of a reasonably priced replacement, I got rid of my one X300 and four X301 machines, the last one went out only in December last year.
I do like Thinkpads, but I'm not a collector.
As things went, I rather bought SVP machines to make some money selling them after removing their passwords.
The oldest ones I still have are two T23 machines.

[sebileis]

If anyone had found such a screen, it would have been made public here.
Due to the lack of a reasonably priced replacement, I got rid of my one X300 and four X301 machines, the last one went out only in December last year.
I do like Thinkpads, but I'm not a collector.
As things went, I rather bought SVP machines to make some money selling them after removing their passwords.
The oldest ones I still have are two T23 machines.

Well, sometimes people come across really cool stuff and don't feel like sharing them with the community, so I figured I would ask. I may try to contact the person who made the post I mentioned, to see if he can get me in contact with the people who did the cable mod for him. I would love to put a better screen in this thing.

[600X]

I'm not as active in the forums anymore so I missed this thread. I already replied to your PM.

I wish this mod were more widespread. It's been years since I've been in contact with the nb51 modding scene. I believe they still do X301 AFFS conversions. I don't believe any of them will ever leave China again. Shipping and transferring money is very difficult. Unless you have an inside man, you can basically forget about this mod.

The screen on my X301 AFFS died some time ago. I've been meaning to get a replacement screen but never got around to it. In any case, the screen itself has never really been the issue. There are plenty available on eBay. I initially made the mistake of assuming that you need to remove the frame to make it fit. Theoretically I was right. But any attempt at frame removal just ended in a destroyed screen. So modifying the lid and squeezing the unmodified display in there is the best choice.

The real magic lies in the cable. Theoretically you just need to find someone who can solder/create high quality cables at microscopic sizes. The ThinkPad modding community is great. But this is a very specialized job.

If you are seriously interested in committing to this mod, I will happily go back through my old notes and find the plans to build a new cable. It will be up to you to find a master cable soldering person though. If you can get the cable right, you can get the mod to work. I would love to see more people do this mod.

[sebileis]

I saw your message, I was never able to get a reply from RMSMajestic. I would love to try this mod if I could get ahold of the right parts, but I also don't want to risk destroying a screen or the X301 itself. Maybe I'll just wait for 51NB to make their own mod for this machine....

[600X]

Just for archiving purposes, here is the link to the original X301 AFFS modding thread: https://forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=vi ... id=1149097

Leokim would be the guy to contact. I've also saved these in Wayback Machine just in case.

This thread documents just how complicated and difficult this mod actually is: https://forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=vi ... id=1650720

At one point his cable works but shows 8bit colors. I was stuck at the same step in 2014/2015. el-sahef and I could never figure out what the problem was but I guess the problem and solution to it are described in that thread. Wish I could read Chinese.