Thinkpads Forum

I currently have a T61p with a WUXGA screen (1920x1200). I'm in the market for a Thinkpad w510, and will require a FHD screen (1920x1080) since they don't offer WUXGA.

I think I could save $$$ by buying a w510 on eBay with a lower-resolution screen and then upgrade the screen by purchasing an FHD screen separately and replacing the screen with this.

Anyone know if this will work okay, just replacing the LCD but using the original inverter?

Answering my own question...

I checked the parts list from Lenovo for the HD (1366x768) vs. the FHD (1920x1080), and the parts lists for the LCD screen are all the same except for the LCD itself. So, it should be safe to swap out an HD screen with a FHD.

Though, I guess it might void the warranty because these "must be installed by qualified technicians only".

My impression is that with some patience I can find a cheap W510 with an i720 cpu on eBay for under $1000. The cheapest W510 with an i720 and a FHD screen is about $1600. That $600 or so could be used to purchase a FHD LCD and, say, a 256GB Crucial C300 SSD.

Did you ever end up doing this? If so did you run into any issues in the process? I'm think of doing the same thing

Well I did it, for those that care. I found a FHD screen 100~ including shipping (great deal by the way) took about an hour an half to swap out the screen. and tada I have a new laptop with an FHD screen and it works great and is so much brighter!

rcepek please tell us how you did this. Where did you get the screen. Got a link? Did you have to replace the cable or any parts.

link: http://www.technutelectronics.com

Well I did my research on finding a screen, most of the screens I saw on ebay were OEM screens Not Lenovo parts. So My guess was that they would be the glossy screens (which I did not want and don't like anyway) So I started using Google.com and I found this company that had a new system pull of the screen (see link above).

When I got the screen it was well packed with about 50 ft of Bubble wrap in box the size of a server (haha) the Screen was literally a system pull it included everything except the outter case of the laptop, I mean the cables for it where there the webcam was still attached. all I had to do was swap the core screen itself.

For those of us who have ever opened our laptops and ThinkPads for that matter you completely understand and appreciate the service manual. The only problem and I don't want to say it was a show stopper was the following, Pay attention to how Lenovo has all the cables laid out in the mini raceways. (trust me on this one) I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to re-run a cable back through the motherboard chassis in 15 different ways until I found the right one (I think).

After everything was all said and done I powered the machine on and *sigh* crossed my fingers *sigh* - everything powered on beautifully and when Windows finally booted up. I can tell that this was a *New* system pull because my screen was super bright!!. ( I got lucky in finding this screen)

So I now have a ThinkPad W510 that I literally do not think I can upgrade anymore (see specs below)

Core i7 820 (1.73ghz)
16GB Ram
Primary Drive will be (by the end of week - if Crucial will ship it already) a SSD 256GB C300 drive, Currently I'm running a 500GB 7200RM Seagate Momentus XT (Hybrid-Flash Drive)
HD caddy with a WD 750GB 7200RPM Drive

Let me know if you need anymore info on this, I'd be happy to help out wherever I can

Rob