Thinkpads Forum

Hi everyone im new. I recently got an awsome 600x. and just had a few questions.

First, its the 600x with the 450mhz pIII. Whats the highest i can upgrade too?

Second, the battery on this is brand new, and im hoping to keep it healthy as long as possible. To preserve battery life, are there any tips to know? Should i take the battery out if i plug it in? etc..

Third, the only thing i would hope to improve on this machine is the color depth. Im running winXP Pro, and 24bit is the highest setting it allows me. I heard that 32 bit is possible using linux, but is it possible on any version of windows?

Lastly, i tend to open and close this laptop a LOT. (Open it, work for 10 minutes, close it for 5, open it again.. etc..) which setting wears out the laptop less, standby or hibernate? I use standby cause its quicker, but i dont know if thats good for the machine.

I thought about making seperate threads, but i figured this way is better. Hope you can help

Do you have the latest drivers for the screen? That's what determines color density if the hardware will support it (if Linux will support 32 bit that indicates the hardware will). While you're on the IBM site (www.ibm.com, then support and downloads after putting in Thinkpad 600X) make sure you have the latest BIOS. That may affect the screen also.

Check the sticky topic on upgrading the 600 series. My understanding is that 500 MHz and below don't support Intel "SpeedStep" processors and won't work at the rated speed. I think a 750 MHz processor will work (for example -- I don't know if there is a 750 MHz P3 module), but will run at a reduced speed, something around 600 MHz, because the motherboard doesn't support SpeedStep. That's why a 500 MHz 600X is a good bit cheaper than a faster one -- it can't be as easily upgraded.