Thinkpads Forum

I adore my 701c but it is too slow/obsolete to be used as my main notebook. Any ideas what I can do with it?

A few ideas to start off...
- Router/print server (But I have one already which works well and easily.)
- Travel (But I prefer to take my current notebook so that I have all my usual applications, Wifi, and speed.)

What else can I do with it? It is too cute to part with, and too cute to be sitting in a box doing nothing. Ideas?

If upgrades are necessary to make your idea work, please specify what needs to upgraded.

Well, my 760ED serves as my main notebook. Despite it's legacy status and meager 166mhz P-MMX (this is after I upgraded it) and 80mb RAM, it's 2 hour battery life, ability to hold two batteries, 20gb hard drive and XGA screen make it very competent for all of my schoolework, word and powerpoint documents, internet, e-mail and mp3's. I use this computer at school everyday when I'm away from my P-III desktop at home. I also use this as a WinXP remote access terminal for my desktop.

My 380ED has 80mb RAM and a 6gb hard drive, it serves for documents, backup and a remote terminal to use WinXP remote access on my desktop. It also gets used for lots of essays and speeches as it's keyboard is better than that of any other laptop I own.

My 760E is used by my classmate whom it's on long term loan to and once I get around to rebuilding the 380D, I'm either going let another classmate use it or I'm going to use it as a backup computer. I might also use it to experiment with Linux on.

My old trusty 365XD has been through hell and back and has a lot of battle scars. Using it mainly for a backup and travel with WI-FI card. Windows 98SE.
NOYK in Florida

I use my 365X for word processing (my main activity, I'm a writer), to check my e-mail, and to run a multimedia promo when I'm at a client.

My wife uses the 360 in her work as a Court Reporter (where the software is still DOS).

For your 701, you might want to start by considering which OS's you can run, and work backward from there...

DOS--you probably have no need.

WIN3.1--with an older version of Microsoft Office or Lotus Smart Suite, you could do basic office tasks, or play simple games (Solitaire, etc).

WIN95 -- maybe a stretch for your 701 ??? ... put as much memory in there as you can, and maybe it would handle WIN95 OK...

Linux -- I believe there are "light" versions which run on an older, lower-powered machine. This might be a good opportunity to learn about it, either as a hobby/learning experience, or as a pre-cursor to not running MS operating systems at some point in the future.

How much RAM does your 701c have? If it has 16 or more, I'd say the best setup for basic tasks would be a copy of Windows 95 OSR2 (a.k.a. Win95B) and Office 97. You could also throw on an older copy of Netscape (I have version 4.8 on all of my ThinkPads and it runs like a charm) as well as some older games from the day (MS Entertainment Pack, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom, Wolfenstein, etcetera) and maybe one or two other things here or there.

If your battery can hold a decent enough charge to use the computer away from an outlet for any legnth of time, you'd really have a nice setup with what I suggested.

Also, a while back, I guided another forum member through installing a wireless-b card in his 701 and he claims it worked but was excrutiatingly slow. With that in mind, I'll say if you want wireless, make sure it's a PCMCIA card you get, not CardBus and you'd probably be best off just using that wireless for e-mail. I think for wireless to really perfom somewhat repectably, you need to at least have a Pentium in your notebook.

I've been using my 365xd to monitor and datalog my cars eng computer (I've been tinkering with the cars software). It hasn't left the car for 3 years! It's been really reliable running win98, office 97, and few simple comm programs.

I've ended up with two 600X's. I won't be upgrading, unless I just can't get them to do what I need, and that probably means W2K. I am NOT impressed with X tra P utrid, and can't even get it to load reliably on my 600X's.

(I bet none of you can out-type most ANY computer in a work processor)

I have XP SP2 running on my 600E (4BU, 400mhz PII, 160mb RAM, 40gb HD) and it runs great, every bit as good as 2000 Pro if not better. I really enjoy the extra software support, shorter boot times and better multimedia (Win2K was alot slower and choppier with DVD playback than XP) with XP as opposed to Win 2K. Are you sure everything was set up right? 2000 is my favorite OS for any computer under 300mhz and/or with less than 128mb RAM but for computers with a fast enough CPU, I find XP actually runs quite nicely for me.

As for vintage computer uses, things have changed for me since my last post, I have a 600E as my main laptop. I acutally use it more than my much more powerful Athlon just because the notebook formfactor makes it more convenient. My 560X goes with me to school every day (except when I need the 600E) because it has a good battery and is less likely to get stolen. The 380ED is on loan to a friend and the 760ED and Toshiba Tecra 700CT are toys.

zz28zz wrote:I've been using my 365xd to monitor and datalog my cars eng computer (I've been tinkering with the cars software). It hasn't left the car for 3 years! It's been really reliable running win98, office 97, and few simple comm programs.

What car do you have? I've been thinking about doing some programing on my '94 Trans Am, but have never gotten to it. One thing nice about the older notebooks is that they all have a serial port

EDIT: Nevermind... I think I figured it out from your screen name.

I use my 730TE as a drawing tablet. I hand-draw stuff on it in paint and then ink them on a color PC.

I use my tweaked 310ED primarily as a MIDI sequencer and to a lesser extent as a music recording platform and audio-format converter. I have done my best so far to max out the CPU, memory and audio setup so that it works fine for real-time playing with a few simultaneous instrument and effects plug-ins. The laptop does not have enough CPU and memory to function as a complete sequencing/mixing/recording/production workstation all by itself, but it works fine as a sequencer when hooked up to a separate mixer, hard-disk recorder and other hardware. I can then feed recordings back into the laptop to convert them to WAV, MP3 and other convenient formats.

Aside from music stuff, I have recently started playing around with using dual operating systems on it such as Windows 98 SE with small Linux distros like [censored] Small Linux and Puppy Linux. I just want to play around a little bit with Linux and learn what it is all about without having to mess up the newer home or work desktops. The 310ED works perfect for that.

I use my 240X as a glorified portable hard drive/PDA.

I am a long time fan of "Portable Applications" and PDAs as ways to have my most useful tools and files available. However found the space/speed/cost of "flash drives" and the functionality/compatibly of PDAs is too limiting for me.

The 240's small size/weight make it very easy to tote about and its 500MHz/PIII process is fast enough for most all the work I'm likely to do away from my desk(s). When I need to do heavier work I "share" files and run (portable) applications from the 240X's hard drive (e.g. MP3s, PortableFireFox, etc) with the desktop PC via a network connection on dedicated NICs (100Mbit networking is faster than USB2 on a "network" with only two nodes).

This way wherever I go I've always got all my stuff (URLs, reference materials, utilities, etc) with no need to "sync" between computers and a means to use them when I'm not connected to a "modern" PC.

I optimized my 701c and I *still* take it to lab meetings sometimes because of its size and weight. Taken care of, the 701c is a pretty good Thinkpad to have, smaller than most without sacrificing a full size keyboard.

christopher_wolf wrote:I optimized my 701c and I *still* take it to lab meetings sometimes because of its size and weight.

My 701c has pride of place, spotlighted on the fireplace mantle in my family room.

Regards,

James

James:

My 701c has pride of place, spotlighted on the fireplace mantle in my family room.

A lovely shrine No doubt next to your Airborne Special Ops Museum Coffee Mug

Kyocera wrote:A lovely shrine No doubt next to your Airborne Special Ops Museum Coffee Mug

So, it WAS you outside the window the other night!

I guess it's time to remount the Starlight scope on the Barrett and suppress some Special OPs nightcrawlers.

Regards,

James

I use my 701c to post messages like this one

I have a 701c that I'd like to get working if I get the time (teacher/coach, father of a potty-training 2 year-old, and soon to be newborn daughter).

I also have a 760c that the aforementioned 2 year-old likes to bang on when Mom gets on her A30 and Dad gets on his T23 at the same time. If you're going to train them, at least get them something nice to start on.

The old 7xx laptops are good to start with, especially for a kid because they are durable like none other. A good while back I was using a 760ED to finish up a PowerPoint while I was riding on a bus and the vehicle came to a sudden stop and the laptop flew out of my lap and made a loud thud as the laptop hit the floor on it's corner. the hard drive popped out of place and the keyboard opened up. After turning the computer off by removing the battery, putting the hard drive back and closing the keyboard, everything worked like normal and the computer had minimal wear.

So that's why you needed new bottom plastics!

My son bangs away at it without any visible wear and tear! The only down side is that the latches are a little too complicated for his little hands and he eventually has to have me open it for him.

Looks like my wife is changing her work, and won't need DOS any more. My plan is to do a clean install of WIN 3.1 on the TP360, and use keep it as an antique. I kept all the diskettes, drivers, and applications (including Lotus Smart Suite for WIN 3.1). It's a beautiful machine, totally tool-less, and there's something about the proportions of the case... IBM seems to have gotten it "just right."

i just got a wifi card for my 701c, looking into OSs at the moment

As a soundengineer my old 240 travels in my toolbox as a basic computor to hook up to various soundequipment (BSS Soundweb, Allen & Heath DR128, DR66, XTA's for example) Perfect for those applications actually

bplaut wrote:i just got a wifi card for my 701c, looking into OSs at the moment

Might I suggest W98 Lite?

Runs a treat on my 701c.

Regards,

James

None of mine really work any more.

755cx-> became flaky when I replaced the keyboard, crashes if you jiggle it. Also, the Windows 95 HD lost its marbles somehow. I had some ancient Linux distro on it which was still working (810MB drive). This was my main machine for 3+ years so I got my money's worth though.

240->Screen crapped out (notorious flaky connector). Horrible EZserv odyssey resulted in it not getting fixed. Problem is the tiny ultra-fine-pitch SMT cable header on the motherboard, looks near impossible to replace even with SMT rework equipment and skillz. I got some replacement motherboards off ebay but I removed the HD and battery from the 240 before sending it in and now I can't find them. I ended up getting a spare disk caddy from ebay as well, so I guess I could put in another HD (I have several around now) if I don't mind running with no battery (ok for a server, I guess) and go through with the MB replacement or just run with no screen. This was overall a bad experience, I bought it used for around $500, it worked for a while, then the warranty expired and it failed, I got very little use from it.

770->Hmm, I guess it works now. Display became unusable (gradual inverter failure), EZserv replaced just as the warranty was about to expire. Has some other minor probs but basically usable. I'd already upgraded the machine to an A20p. It needs EDO ram, right? I wonder where to get that. Crucial says get a life . Again this was my main machine for quite a while, got money's worth, might be a good machine for mom (basic word processing and email).

A20p->weird mechanical breakage of bezel near hinge, screen semi-separated from base. Machine was still usable (as desktop, not portable) as long as I didn't open or close it too often. Recently though I tried adjusting the screen angle and I felt something like a ribbon cable sliding out of a connector inside and the screen went dark. Again, got money's worth, I pounded hell out of the A20p for years. Probably not repairable without replacing mechanical parts ($$$). I transferred the HD and ram to a used A22p that I'd gotten from Craigslist for $400 which is what I'm using now.

Hey, what do you know, I have found a new use for my (nearly 10 year old!!!) ThinkPad 365XD - Since it has a serial port (Good luck finding one of those on a laptop these days) - it’s perfect for interfacing with older routers/switch gear and even some servers. The thing is so small people still think it's a new "ultra portable" model.
Prior to this, I used to run some database software, the machine was not that fast, but it did the job very well (until the authors of the program rewrote the code to incorporate CPU intensive graphics).

edit: outdated info - please remove this post

What kind of shows are available and how do you find them? I haven't really gotten into internet radio, but probably will since I think old radio shows are really interesting.

edit: outdated info - please remove this post

Thanks for taking the time to forward me the info. I see what you mean by the VCR thing; WOW that's late (at least for my poor old Central Time body). I'll have to give it a try.

So you just run a Line-Out from your TP to the VCR? There's gotta be some sort of digital solution to that time-shifting problem.