Just brought Z60m back to life

[Wind]

Hi,
I have not been here for couple of years, back now:smileyhappy:
I have couple of X31, T43 (2Ghz, currently not working), T60 1.86Ghz SSD 3GB RAM, T60p 2.4Ghz SSD+mechanical hdd and just finshed (almost) Z60m 2.13Ghz 2GB RAM with Intel330 SSD+Seagate Momentus 750Gb.
I am not IT specialist and Linux is totally new for me.
I love Z60m for its build quality, sturdiness, it stays cold no matter what, works beautifully with Linux Mint 16-super fast for old laptop.
I will (maybe) try to push it a bit to 2.4Ghz or so with that thin wire trick but not sure yet.
Can somebody help please re 2-3 questions:
- I want it to boot Mint instantly instead of stopping for several second to let me "press Think Vantage"...how to get rid of it ?
- I would like to use express card port, pe\robably for USB ports or USB+eSata...which card will work with Mint16 ?
- Is that possible to replace screen with very high resolution and top bright (eg from W500 or ...any suggestions) ? Which screen would you recommend ?
Thanks,

[RealBlackStuff]

The LCD could probably be updated to WSXGA+ (1680x1050) and possibly also to WUXGA (1920x1200).
Check e.g. the 15.4" T60 and T61 HMMs and specs for more details.
The Z60m is in reality a glorified T43 and is not compatible with T6x cable-wise (as well as different motherboard connectors).
You'd definitely need ATI graphics in your Z60m if you want a higher resolution.
And I'm not sure if you would be able to find a matching LCD-cable.
AFAIK the T43/Z60 has resolution-selection-points on the cable, whereas T6x has its resolution-info in an EDID chip.