upgrade z60m (intel 915) from WXGA+ to WSXGA+ ???

[Kieran Huggins]

I bought a z60m with an Intel 915 chip and a WXGA+ LCD a couple of years ago, and I really love it. The thing is this: I want more desktop real estate. I know things will be quite a bit smaller, and I'm totally cool with that.

On the Lenovo LCD parts site, the z60m lists a WSXGA+ panel as a replacement part, and I've found one for sale that matches the Lenovo part number. Is there anything I don't know about that would prevent me from changing form the WXGA+ to the WSXGA+?

I'm comfortable doing the labour; I've already installed the bluetooth daughter card. Also, drivers aren't an issue since I'm running Ubuntu. I guess I'm just worried that there might be unforeseen difficulties...

Thanks!
Kieran

[rek]

Yes, by most accounts it should be a fairly straightforward swap. All parts (cable and inverter) are shared amongst all screen types. The only possible problem may be if there's some hard-wired limitation with the integrated graphics, for which I'd be very surprised if there was..

Here's a recent discussion on the same subject:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=60444

[Kieran Huggins]

Awesome news, thanks! Would anything be preventing me from going to 1920x1200? There was no model offered by Lenovo with that screen, but it's available online (specifically for the z60m, even)

Also, this site rocks. Go thinkpad users!

[rek]

Awesome news, thanks! Would anything be preventing me from going to 1920x1200? There was no model offered by Lenovo with that screen, but it's available online (specifically for the z60m, even)

It'd be a riskier swap; there are more reasons why it might not work.

1920x1200 was an option on the Z61 series, but not the Z60:
Z60m: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 61370.html
Z61m: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 64257.html

Given the Z60 and Z61 use a different BIOS image, there is a possibility that the Z60 doesn't have support for such an internal resolution.

I haven't checked the HMMs to see if there is any difference in the LCD cables or inverters between the Z61 series WSXGA+ and WUXGA screens, and if necessary, whether a Z61 LCD cable would fit a Z60.

[Kieran Huggins]

sadly, it seems the Intel 915 ship doesn't seem to support LCD resolutions of much more than I have now

http://compare.intel.com/pcc/showchart. ... ture=en-US

I suppose most people who have upgraded have the ATI chip?

[rek]

If your machine has the 915GM (and not the GMS) all may not be lost.

Although 1680x1050 has one dimension that doesn't fit in the quoted 1600x1200 maximum, in terms of pixel count it is actually less, and as such the swap may still work (1600x1200 is 1.92MP, 1680x1050 is 1.76MP)

[Kieran Huggins]

wow - that's great news!

It seems that the only Intel graphics chips available for the z60m were the 915GM and the 915GML, so I appear to be GMS free.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Gra ... erator_900

It may even be better still... I found a blog post a few minutes ago that implies the chip can handle WUXGA after all. Running Linux seems to be required, but I am anyway

http://gondwanaland.com/mlog/2005/11/21 ... d-stretch/

I just may have a WUXGA thinkpad in my future!

[mathis]

Hey,
I was just wondering if you actually did replace your screen and if it worked. Am thinking about doing the same.
Hope I will be hearing from you

[Kieran Huggins]

I ended up selling the z60m to a friend and upgrading to an R61 with a native WSXGA display - he says he might upgrade the screen at some point, and if he does, I'll definitely post about it here.