Thinkpads Forum

Hi All
I've seen a Thinkpad X220 which is in pretty nice condition, and am thinking of buying it. There is one issue ... the DisplayPort connector appears a little damaged.

This might not be a deal breaker for me, but can anyone give any guidance on whether it is feasible to repair this? Are suitable replacement sockets available@ I have soldering etc. skills.

Thanks, jon N

Would you consider using it with a 4337 docking station ($12 on ebay)? There are two DP lanes going from X220 into the docking station, you can use same power adapter between the machine and the dock if you want to. For a stationary setup at home a dock looks ideal. To be honest I never ever used DP outputs on my Thinkpads.. I think. Indeed the dock does slightly obstruct the vents of the main fan but in practice that's okay, not much of a problem.

So I suppose you could use the said damage as an excuse to drive the price down a notch.. Otherwise if you do need the port I'd suggest to look for another X220, these machines are not rare.

On the other hand the port is probably sold somewhere on TaoBao or AliExpress, but you'd need to find it.. And then hold your soldering gun by the right end!.. These days I probably wouldn't try doing the job without a soldering station and this "syringe" for sucking molten solder.. I just checked an X230 motherboard.. Well with my nearly absent skills that'd probably be a 50/50 chance of replacing the port or killing the mobo %)

P.S. could you please fill out your location in forum profile?

Hi there, thanks fro the reply

I do actually already have a docking station, and (like you) am unlikely to use the display port; it's more a question of my aesthetics than anything else.

Could you maybe share a photo of the DP scoket area on your X230?

Thanks, Jon N

PS: I've updated my profile; I am in the UK where X220s, especially in VGC, are not as commaon as in the US, I think.