Thinkpads Forum

desktop space.

I am looking for a notebook computer close to the size of the X series - that is a 12.1" screen but with an optical drive built-in. I found a 13.3 Thinkpad 600X 650MHZ Pentium III. I have not seen the 600X in person. I have seen the X31; and I like it alot; and have seen the 14" T40 which I find rather big in both screen size and desktop real estate taken up. How does the 600X compare in size to the X31?

Harry,

The 600X falls right between the two machines. It's slightly larger overall than the X31, smaller than the T40 and approx. .5" thicker than both. Having the optical drive in the machine is a benefit you pay for in that the 600X weighs almost 2Lbs more than the X31.

The 600X's 13.3" XGA display is more comfortable on the eyes (at least mine) than the 12.1" XGA display of the X31, although both are vivid and sharp.

FWIW, the 600X has what is universally considered to be the best keyboard ever put in a laptop. Accessories and parts are widely available and, with an easy processor upgrade to a PIII 850MHz, MAX RAM of 576MB and a HS 7200RPM HD transplant, the units are all the computer most people actually need for word processing, surfing the web and email.

With the optional Ultraslimbay battery installed a 600X will give an honest 4.5 to 5 hours of runtime.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

James

The only other downfall to the 600* series is the dreaded short-battery-life problem.

...with an easy processor upgrade to a PIII 850MHz, What is the dreaded dead battery problem

I know that you can replace a board to up grade to the PIII 850MHZ but I could not locate such a board. I only found a 700MHZ. Other then Ebay where can you buy this board to do the upgrade too.

Second, just how long can you run the notebook on battery? Or what is the dead battery problem?

Wow! Am I getting into this like a custom computer maker myself. But for the differences between 650 and 850; it will make a differences but not that much. Upgrading the HD and memory will be more in turns of speed!

Does anyone else supe up their 600X and how much did it cost and how much faster then the original configs was it? For example, booting XP took how long in the orig and then customized.

Does anyone else supe up their 600X and how much did it cost and how much faster then the original configs was it? For example, booting XP took how long in the orig and then customized.

I like to know also the speed differences. It only a FSB of 100MHZs but with a 7200rpm it would seem much faster then the 4200rpm that comes standard issue. I love to get one already assembled. I will look in the wanted ads here to see if one been put up for sale!

Harry,

The PIII 850MHz MMC-2 CPUs are very difficult to find.

I have a handful of PIII 800MHz CPUs that I'm using to upgrade some 600Xs along with 7K60 HDs and maxing the RAM at 576MB. I have standing orders for these machines with some newspaper and wordsmith friends who won't give up their 600 series keyboards.

Drop me a PM or email if you think you might be interested in one of these machines, but I warn you that I get top dollar for them.

Yes, there's a mini-PCI slot in the 600X, it's used by the modem card.

I usually suggest that clients purchase a 3COM a/b/g PC card with the X-Jack antenna for their 600X. When not in use the antenna is retracted and the card is turned off, which extends battery life.

Speaking of which, with the Ultraslimbay battery installed you can get an honest 4.5 to 5 hours of runtime.

Regards,

James

I am a little confused on the regular 600X battery and this ultraslimbay battery. What is the differences between the two and how are they used in conjunction with one another?

How can I tell the differences when I go and buy a replacement battery?


I read that a full charged 600x last around 3 hours! Right or wrong? That is using the windows XP management under the one level below full 650mhz setting.

The regular 600X battery is the same battery that every 600/E/X series uses. It snaps into the bottom of the machine.

Next to that is the UltraSlimBay. It can hold quite a few different things.

Here's what I have around the house:
- A "weight saver" bezel to keep things from falling in (I never use it)
- DVD-ROM drive that came with one 600X
- CD-ROM drive that came with another 600X
- Floppy drive
- UltraSlimBay battery

You can also get a Zip drive, LS-120 or CD-RW drive for that bay.

To use the UltraSlimBay battery, you just plug it in and power on. Under XP it's another ACPI power device. On other OS's you need to install IBM's drive bay driver so you can enable warm-swapping.

The 600X will discharge the UltraSlimBay battery first, then the main battery, and charge the main battery first, then the USB (woah, really bad acronym) secondary battery. But, when the machine is in standby or hibernate, the charges of the two batteries will equalize. I think one charges the other.

You really can get six or seven hours of use, if you don't use WiFi and keep the screen brightness low. I can easily get four hours of high brightness and WiFi and sometimes five hours.

Well I got now to batteries for the 600X. One brand new IBM original manufacturered one dated in 2003 and the one with the 600X which seller claims holds a "full charge". I probably not going to use it for like 8 hours straight but I like to see how the one that came with the notebook last! Lithion batterys I heard should not be run down completely before recharge? NiCad that what you need to do - which I have in my power equipment!