Thinkpads Forum

I know this is a really old laptop.

I've searched on Google and there seems very little information about this laptop when compared to the 600 series.

What can I do if anything to upgrade the CPU and the hard drive?

Will adding a PCMCIA flash memory card be beneficial?

I think the fastest CPU you can put in there is a Pentium 133. I know a Pentium 120 will work since that's what mine came with from the factory. Upgrading the processor in this computer is not easy.

If you have a good partitioning program (like Western Digital's Data Life Guard Tools), there's essentially no limit on hard drive size. I put a 6 gig in mine, and for WIN98, that's plenty of space. Since I don't think the machine is fast enough for a later operating system, a drive of this size may be all you need.

I have used a PCMCIA "drive" in mine (using a CF memory card in a PCMCIA-to-CF adapter) and I didn't notice much difference. I put the swap file on there, hoping to speed things up a bit. A newer faster hard drive makes a bigger difference.

I bought my hard drive here: www.compuvest.com

Thank you for the reply.

Just to be sure I understand what you are saying.

It is better to get a bigger hard drive than to buy memory that works with the PCMCIA slot?

Does the WD software work only with WD drives?

I think the answer about a larger drive vs. a flash memory card depends on how much more drive space you need, and how much you enjoy tinkering with hardware.

Adding a larger drive requires tools, patience, and perhaps the need to play with the pins on the back of the drive... plus the partitioning software. Then re-installing everything on the new drive. Not a terrible job (but lenghty), but you can get all the additional space you need.

Adding a flash memory card is much easier. It consists of getting the adapter, inserting the memory card, and plugging into the card slot. For me, with WIN98SE, it was automatically recognized as a hard drive with a new drive letter, and it worked perfectly from the start. I think the largest easily available memory card is 4GB (?)

I do believe Western Digital's software works with all hard drives, but I am not positive about that.

Excellent! Thank you.

It seemed from reading your original post that you were saying that getting a larger hard drive was better, but now I see I was mistaken.

Be careful. I looked into this myself a while back and it seems a CF card will *not* work "Just like another hard drive" - They will wear out! I know how strange it sounds, but the CF drive will apparently die after about 6 months (?) of being used like a hard drive!

New technology may fix this problem soon (if it hasn't already) but if I were you I'd watch the Marketplace forum for hard drives. Also, IBM sold 1 gig 1 inch hard drives called "Microdrives" in a CF package. The're cheaper than CF *if* you can find them, and they last longer. I have also heard of hard drives in a PC card.