wirelessless R50e

[erozsolt]

I just bought an R50e, with a 1.5 GHz Dothan processor, and I really like it for everyday use. I didn't understand that why was it cheaper than R51 or R50, but after some time I understood: there is no WLAN installed. I thought it is not a big problem, there must be some miniPCI slot to put a WLAN card in and it will be OK.

But this laptop is NOT wireless ready. I haven't opened it yet, but from hardware maintenance guide and from parts list, I assume there is no wireless antenna installed inside the screen border.

What do you advice me to do:
Open up the laptop and check for the wireless antenna?
or
Buy a PCMCIA card?

How about using a PCMCIA card? How much battery does it use? More than a built-in solution?

[JHEM]

Post the model number and we can tell you immediately whether or not it has a mini-PCI slot and the antennae already installed.

But a general rule of thumb is that most of the Celeron based R50e models aren't WiFi upgradable.

Regards,

James

[JaneL]

He could also read the FAQ paying particular attention to #1 and #9...

[MobileGuru]

I just bought an R50e, with a 1.5 GHz Dothan processor, and I really like it for everyday use. I didn't understand that why was it cheaper than R51 or R50, but after some time I understood: there is no WLAN installed. I thought it is not a big problem, there must be some miniPCI slot to put a WLAN card in and it will be OK.

A few other minor reasons include different cardbus controller and integrated video versus discreet. The "e" boxes are usually just pricepoint sweetspotters with less bells and whistles, but performance wise they are typically just as good as their non-"e" counterparts.

[erozsolt]

He could also read the FAQ paying particular attention to #1 and #9...

I tried to look up everywhere, but haven't find too much, because it is a European version numbers, and I think IBM site mostly supports USA version numbers only (for example driver download works but some other support pages don't).

So, my model number is 1834-9BG

I haven't find it in the reference guide, but the IBM support page lists all details (Pentium 715, 15", DVD/CD-RW, etc.)

[JHEM]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... sLookup.vm

Regards,

James

[erozsolt]

Dear JHEM,

Our apologies

Information for parts lookup was not found. Please click the browser back button and try again.

This is what I said.

But Quick path/Product support/Parts information works, but there is no specific information

Networking adapter options - ThinkPad R50e, R51
See the Hardware Maintenance Manual or the System FRU parts listing for your system to determine if the Mini PCI adapter card is customer replaceable.

So, could you tell me some other information about antenna and miniPCI avaibility of this laptop?


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[JHEM]

Sorry to tell you that after going through the HMM for your model, it doesn't appear to have the WiFi antennae installed although it DOES appear to have a mini-PCI slot.

Regards,

James

[erozsolt]

OK, I opened it up, and there is NO antenna and NO miniPCI slot, and just ONE PCMCIA card slot is working... I think I understand what e means.

[n3il]

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-58527

Found by entering your type/model into:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... edirect.do

Then choose Product Information -> Overview - ThinkPad R50e -> Detailed specifications

And yes, e = economy - but not bad for the price you pay for them...

[erozsolt]

Some R50e models have builtin WLAN some don't. So I don't understand and I think this page does not cover the entire range of R50e models.

Actually I am thinking about changing my model to a Celeron M 330 version with WLAN and than upgrading the processor to Pentium M.
Look at my other thread.