How to build an advanced FrankenPad

[ThinkDan2004]

Hey ThinkPadders,
I was thinking (ThinkPad) whether to build an advanced FrankenPad. I was thinking whether the advanced FrakenPad works well with these materials:
A 15" QXGA Display,
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU,
IBM Thinkpad T60 and T61 motherboard,
Windows Vista.
I do not know whether the Intel GMA Graphics can handle both the Aero Theme and the QXGA Resolution LCD.
I need your advice and experiences with the great beast,
Thanks

[ajkula66]

Hey ThinkPadders,
I was thinking (ThinkPad) whether to build an advanced FrankenPad. I was thinking whether the advanced FrakenPad works well with these materials:
A 15" QXGA Display,
Intel Core 2 Duo CPU,
IBM Thinkpad T60 and T61 motherboard

All of this has been done numerous times. The biggest problem that you'll run into is finding a real QXGA panel in an acceptable condition without spending a small fortune.

Windows Vista.

Why? I'm not a Vista hater, but W7 is a better OS on just about any level imaginable, and will be supported for a longer period of time.

I do not know whether the Intel GMA Graphics can handle both the Aero Theme and the QXGA Resolution LCD.

Yes to both.

I need your advice and experiences with the great beast,
Thanks

You may want to do some research on the forum, because the subject matter in question had been discussed ad nauseam.

Essentially, find a planar of your choice, flash Middleton's BIOS, grab 8GB of RAM, SSD and a newer wireless card, put everything together and call it a day.

[ThinkDan2004]

Thanks! But what about if someone goes scientifically 'mad' and installs a 4000x3000 4K XGA Resolution Panel?

[wujstefan]

Well, the mentioned mad scientist will have to kidnap a LCD production centre and terrorize its staff with a peeled cucumber to make a 15,1" 4:3 lcd for him.

[ThinkDan2004]

Well, the mentioned mad scientist will have to kidnap a LCD production centre and terrorize its staff with a peeled cucumber to make a 15,1" 4:3 lcd for him.

So funny. Thanks for your advice!!!

[wujstefan]

Well all in all we have to live with what we have T6x series offers quite a lot of upgrading, and quite a lot of modding possible. And this has been written on a heavily modified T601fL.

[RealBlackStuff]

Why not go to the extreme and put in a T70 motherboard?

[Hans Gruber]

At this point in the life of a Frankenpad. You either buy a Frankenpad or buy a T61 and mod it with Middleton bios add a nice wifi card, SSD and 8GB of ram with a T9300 or better CPU and call it a day.

On a side note. I have a mint T61 that came with either a T8300 or T9300 CPU with perfect hinges and a keyboard that doesn't look like it's been touched. It has the worst screen resolution 1280x1024 and the screen has the best colors of all my T61's. Makes no sense, it was a mid 2008 production. It was a CTO T61 which probabaly explains a lot.

[ThinkDan2004]

Wow! 1280x1024 is a 5:4 aspect ratio resolution. But some scientific genius out there managed to squeeze it into a 4:3 display with no pixel or refresh rate errors. To me, anything higher than QXGA can make someone go 'blind' due to the amount of pixels.

[RealBlackStuff]

I have a mint T61. It has the worst screen resolution 1280x1024 and the screen has the best colors of all my T61's. Makes no sense...

Makes no sense, indeed! Because that resolution was 1280x800...

[ThinkDan2004]

Was it a widescreen 16:10 ratio? or standard 4:3?

[TuuS]

When it comes to choice of motherboards I believe the best option with perfomance, reliability and price is the new NOS IBM motherboards with nVidia nvs140m graphics. These are brand new in sealed IBM boxes and have an updated version of the GPU chip that isn't likely to fail like all the production models. I sell them in the forum marketplace both alone and as a complete frankenpad kit. As fo the OS, vista is very similar to windows 7 as long as you have service pack 2 installed and updates. I also have some used copies of windows available for very reasonable prices, from $20 for Vista SP2 with disc and COA or win 7 pro for $39 shipped with disc and COA. I also have some X9000 cpu chips which are the fastest chip you can put in one of these without major modifications to the motherboard. As for the LCD, unless you know what the QXGA screens look like and really want one, I'd recommend going with UXGA which are brighter, or go all out and get one of the screens with factory LED backlight and member "RealBlackStuff" can modify your inverter and cable to make this nearly a plug n play swap then you'll get an even brighter screen, but the QXGA sceens are well known to be dim. For indoor use in low light condition they are ok, but definitely dim even by standards of the era they were manufactured.

[ThinkDan2004]

I agree with you. QXGA has twice the resolution but gradually gets dimmer.

[Frobe70]

With higher resolution than QXGA I can't use small icons and smallest text size in Windows.
I love my QXGA panel even if it is dim.
At home I use my FrankenPad 90% of the time, but for travelling I use T430s or T440s.

[ThinkDan2004]

I agree with you. But this is a QXGA panel:
https://www.google.com.ng/url?sa=i&rct= ... 4766546104

[wujstefan]

Honestly I like UXGA better.

Why?

Because I love retrogaming, and 1600x1200 is twice 800x600 in both dimensions, so full screen with old games on such resolution looks marvelous ^^