Thinkpad 365 powers on but no LCD. Worth buying?

[Thinkpad4by3]

Is the LCD not turning on a simple fix or requires replacing the LCD?

[danikayser84]

If the machine at lest turns on when plugged into VGA external monitor, then either the inverter, backlight or cable/panel is bad... keep in mind there were multiple 365 models (I believe DSTN mono, DSTN color, TFT color and 800x600 DSTN or TFT color) so getting a correct panel may be trouble... if it is the backlight that is bad, you can however replace the CCFL with one with a same connector and size (you'd need a 10.4 or 11.3 depending on your machine), I did so on one machine since I didn't want to buy a whole new panel

OTOH if it's not displaying anything when plugged to external monitor, then I'd suspect motherboard issues; you could feel free to ask the seller to try it on a external LCD before buying

[Thinkpad4by3]

If the machine at lest turns on when plugged into VGA external monitor, then either the inverter, backlight or cable/panel is bad... keep in mind there were multiple 365 models (I believe DSTN mono, DSTN color, TFT color and 800x600 DSTN or TFT color) so getting a correct panel may be trouble... if it is the backlight that is bad, you can however replace the CCFL with one with a same connector and size (you'd need a 10.4 or 11.3 depending on your machine), I did so on one machine since I didn't want to buy a whole new panel

OTOH if it's not displaying anything when plugged to external monitor, then I'd suspect motherboard issues; you could feel free to ask the seller to try it on a external LCD before buying

I actually wanted to replace the LCD regardless since I want VGA not SVGA.(if its a 365XD) Do you know if a 701C lcd would work in a 10.4" model.

[danikayser84]

I believe if the connectors are the same then the screens should work for the most part, you can check this list if necessary (I did have a 365ED with a TFT panel so it must have been a custom option on that model, but it also came with a 16MB base memory instead of 8MB)

[Thinkpad4by3]

I believe if the connectors are the same then the screens should work for the most part, you can check this list if necessary (I did have a 365ED with a TFT panel so it must have been a custom option on that model, but it also came with a 16MB base memory instead of 8MB)

1: Ive been on that TFT page so many times may as well be my HomePage.

2: Do you still have your 365ED TFT?

Im lookiny for a machine with little to no value with these specs:

CD-ROM
TFT LCD
640X480

Thats it. Doesnt matter how but I want that config.

Go on Youtube and check out "How to pick the best gaming laptop for MS-DOS games" by the 8-Bit Guy

These are rhe Thinkpads im looking at:

365CD (good config)
365CSD (TFT swap)
365ED (tft swap)
365XD (10.4" model 640x480 swap)
755CD (config good)
760LD (config good/ tft swap)

[ctg_s]

Despite what 8-bit guy says about screens larger than 640x480, some 800x600 machines actually have reasonable scaling. His video mostly focused on the Compaq LTE machines which do not have any screen scaling capability. On the other hand, machines like IBM Thinkpads and Pentium-era Toshiba's have a built in screen expansion capability that can be turned off and on with their respective setup programs (for Thinkpads you can use ps2.exe). The aspect ratio might be off depending on the game you play but you don't notice it as much when scaling graphical games and it's better than having black borders or a small screen. In fact, my go to for DOS gaming is a 800x600 Toshiba despite having several Thinkpads that are 640x480.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Despite what 8-bit guy says about screens larger than 640x480, some 800x600 machines actually have reasonable scaling. His video mostly focused on the Compaq LTE machines which do not have any screen scaling capability. On the other hand, machines like IBM Thinkpads and Pentium-era Toshiba's have a built in screen expansion capability that can be turned off and on with their respective setup programs (for Thinkpads you can use ps2.exe). The aspect ratio might be off depending on the game you play but you don't notice it as much when scaling graphical games and it's better than having black borders or a small screen. In fact, my go to for DOS gaming is a 800x600 Toshiba despite having several Thinkpads that are 640x480.

Ok, thats work looking at. I'm trying my luck on an eBay bidding on a STN Toshiba that I can swap with a TFT display. Fingers crossed. Good info to know. I'm guessing thats why Thinkpads cost so much in the compared to the rest of the market.