Thinkpads Forum

I just inherited an IBM 600 that seems to have been er......modified.....

It's a 2645-45U, P II, 300mhz, but it only has 32mb and 2 G HD. It's running 98 right now, but with that kind of power, I doubt it'll run much more!

She seems to be in pretty good shape cosmetically, and boots up like a charm, once I got the video driver updated.... I've got interchangeable floppy and DVD modules that go with it that function great.

So here's the thing....I thought that I'd get at least 128mb to upgrade, maybe 256.... It all depends on whether the 32mb stick is in there for good, as I don't like to solder...(or saute', as it usually turns out in my experience).

Can I go ahead and pick up a 20 or 30 gig HD, or is that just stupid (and would it overheat)? I want to be able to put XP on this baby, and there's no way it would pass the spec test right now.

Basically, I want an internet appliance that I can pitch around downstairs when I don't want to sit up in my office ... But in your opinion, when does this computer stop being a fun project and becomes The Money Pit? Of course, that's all purely subjective, I guess, but if I can upgrade this thing to XP with a decent reaction time and good storage capacity, I'm up for it!

LYN

an addendum....

I flipped the back cover off the memory, and there are NO memory sticks in there. As you probably already know, the 32mb is just the system.

Guess there's nowhere to go but up!

Don't know about the 45au but on the 8au the memory cover is on the bottom, not the back

semantics....the bane of my existence.

Bottom, or back, if the unit is closed and you flip it over, there it is!

and no matter where it is, there's darned little memory. I'd forgotten how slow computers were.... My first laptop back in 1992 was a Toshiba Satellite Pro, and it had 32mb of RAM, and I thought it was SCREAMIN' fast....of course, that was 13 years ago....>sigh<

frangelica wrote:It's a 2645-45U, P II, 300mhz, but it only has 32mb and 2 G HD.

That's a great older 600 series machine, I used an 85U (NT version of the same machine) reliably for years.

You can max the RAM out at 288B with two 128MB PC66 sticks and, oddly enough for a machine of that vintage, it will take ANY current HD of any capacity. I've often had 60GB and larger HDs in mine in order to clone them.

Regards,

James

no kidding! I may actually really load this baby up.

I am pleased to say that I am actually sitting downstairs typing this on the net, wirelessly. Last night, I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get the wifi card installed; finally shut it down and walked away.

This morning, I get up, delete everything, start from scratch....same old stuff. Frustrated that the drivers wouldn't load up, I pulled the card out and BLEW, as hard as I could into the connector end of the card. Pushed it back in, instant recognition, 100% signal, life is grand.

No rude comments, I know what you're thinking, and I've already heard it around here.

It's working pretty darned well, considering that it's still got only 32mb of memory and less than a gig available on the hard drive! I'll wait to load it up till the bells and whistles get delivered....

Is there anything I should know about installing XP on this machine?

Any suggestions or ideas, keep 'em coming!

frangelica wrote:Is there anything I should know about installing XP on this machine?

Yes, don't do it!

W2K was the "sweet spot" for the early 600 series machines and would run reliably for months, often longer. I never saw a BSOD on any of my old 600s or 600Es under W2K that wasn't a direct result of operator error!

XP really wants a PIII processor as a minimum and the PII 300 in the 45U will result in the machine slowing to a crawl.

Regards,

James

I was seriously considering switching this to XP till your warning, but I've got to admit that I've been in 98 all day and it hasn't bothered me one bit. I'd forgotten how easy it was to navigate....

I am now backing away slowly from the XP discs, making the sign of the cross ....

Thanks!

PS...one more question and this one IS silly....is there any kind of empty caddy available to fill up the floppy/CD bay? I can see me taking this a lot of places that I hadn't considered, and I like to travel light...

How handy are you?
You should be able to make one from a Ultraslimbay battery thats died.

frangelica wrote:PS...one more question and this one IS silly....is there any kind of empty caddy available to fill up the floppy/CD bay?

Yes, there's a blank filler piece for the Ultrabay but they're pretty rare nowadays even though the early machines came with one from the factory.

One of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 74949&rd=1 would be handier to have and weighs very little without a HD installed.

Regards,

James

Both are great ideas!

In answer to Kev, I'm handy....but lazy!

I have a couple of blank plates from a 570 ultrabase.
They are the same shape as the 600 except for the little hook shaped latch on the bottom.
I'll send you one for a couple of bucks of so.

carbon_unit wrote:I have a couple of blank plates from a 570 ultrabase.

Not quite a perfect fit as they are thinner on the front.

Regards,

James

it's okay, I actually had a spare floppy module and I just took the drive out of it. Fits like a charm.

The CD player volume is low. I've gone into master volume and every other place I can find, and it still seems very low. I checked with headphones, and it's definitely the output, not the speakers that's the problem.

This little jalopy just has a great feel to it. The keyboard is so solid and silent... It's a lot heavier, but I'm already liking it better than the Dell Lat that my company gave me...even though that thing is around 4 lbs. Still, this TP is great! I can't wait to get the memory and the new drive installed. And I love the fact that I can use the infrared and sync up with my Ipaq. Yep, this is a fun little project! I may cruise eBay after this and see if I can come up with some more to work on.

frangelica wrote:This little jalopy just has a great feel to it. The keyboard is so solid and silent...

That "little jalopy", in its various iterations of 600, 600E and 600X, was the best selling, most successful laptop of all time among all manufacturers and is one of the more than three million that were sold during its production run!

The 600 series keyboard is, justifiably, legendary, particularly among wordsmiths, journalists, etc. The overall 600 series form, fit and finish was the ne plus ultra among laptops for years and served as the standard against which all other "business class" laptops was judged.

But, yeah, the CD, and especially DVD, sound level on playback sucked!

Regards,

James

I'm not sure whether this proves that I'm an idiot, or that I have excellent taste. Maybe both! >sigh< wouldn't be the first time that I've proved the former....

Quick question: on the back label it says "600". On the plate above the keyboard it says "600E".

Which is which?

Shame about the sound, but I don't plan on watching too many movies on it anyway. It's just a joy to use. Where the heck was I when this puppy was selling like hotcakes?

frangelica wrote:Quick question: on the back label it says "600". On the plate above the keyboard it says "600E".

The model number, 2645-45U, says that you have a 600, so it's possible that someone has changed the keyboard bezel at some time from a 600E donor.

What does the BIOS say is the model number? Could be a 600E MB in a 600 lower unit.

Regards,

James

Yup....600 wearing an E suit. This is a most remarkable little machine.

I can't get it to Active Sync with my Ipaq....turns out that it's not supported by 98, but I can live with that.

I can go ahead and transfer files TO the Ipaq with IR....but whenever I try to beam a file from the Ipaq to the Thinkpad, it fails. Boy, I hope that's the biggest problem I run into! I can always hook into it with the USB if I really need to sync...

Concerning installing XP on your 600e, NO PROBLEM......I installed XP on a plain 600 with a P2-233mhz with no problem. Granted is was no speed demon and I disconnected some "eye candy" but I had no problem. It's up to you. XP has all the drivers you'll need....Good Luck.....