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My first T601 build

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zod
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Location: Belgrade, Serbia

My first T601 build

#1 Post by zod » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:11 am

Yesterday I finally managed to find 4:3 T61 motherboard, so I decided to give it a try and make my own T601, based on T60 15" SXGA+ Flexview. First I tested the board, then applied Middleton bios, upgraded processor to T9300 and memory to 8GB, and used Micron C400 256MB hdd from my recently killed T61p. Final result is here:

Edit: less than 50Kb, but I got away with it this time.

Sorry about bad picture quality, my phone has mediocre cam. T601 makes my sorrow about T61p little less bitter, this display is just fantastic, looks even better then UXGA one I have on my T60p.
Last edited by zod on Sun Sep 09, 2018 5:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

axur-delmeria
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Re: My first T601 build

#2 Post by axur-delmeria » Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:19 am

Nice build! Flexview screens are so nice. :D
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

dr_st
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Re: My first T601 build

#3 Post by dr_st » Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:46 am

Rather awesome build. :thumbs-UP:

Flexview screens are great, the T60 is one of the best-designed and best-looking laptops in the IBM/early Lenovo era (although not all agree), and the T61 components with the Middleton BIOS really give it a nice boost in performance which was not there when the T61 first came out.

I totally see a T601 Frankenpad in my future, but for now the "plain" T60 I have is still going strong, and since I don't need it to be a primary, secondary, or even tertiary system, I do not experience the itch to Frankenpad it. :lol:
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

zod
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Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: My first T601 build

#4 Post by zod » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:24 pm

Thanks guys, I'm really flattered. It's not a perfect build, though, I will have to take it apart once again, because there is some strange tension under vga port, so i have to put something under front left rubber pad to keep the laptop in straight position, still don't know what's the problem. But this Intel based graphics is a bless, my cpu idles at 43-45 degrees, and it goes up to 75 under full load. My T60p is much hotter than that, and T61p was idling at 56-58 for both graphics and cpu, so this is by far coolest TP I ever worked on. Speaking of design, my favorite is T60 14.1" 4:3 model, don't like 15" that much. Also, speed difference between T60p, even with maxed specs, and this T601 is really huge.

dr_st
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Re: My first T601 build

#5 Post by dr_st » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:33 pm

zod wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:24 pm
Speaking of design, my favorite is T60 14.1" 4:3 model, don't like 15" that much.
Yep, the 14" is much tighter. The 15" is a bit weaker in terms of tolerances, and often has more creaky, flexing parts, loose hinges, etc. Still, it's one of the best 15" Thinkpads, and the Flexview to me is a nice enough bonus to prefer the 15" to the 14".
zod wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:24 pm
Also, speed difference between T60p, even with maxed specs, and this T601 is really huge.
That is also true. When the first T61 units with early Merom processors came out, the performance difference was marginal; but with the Penryn CPUs introduced during Santa Rosa refresh, with the appearance of 4GB DDR2 SODIMM modules which enabled 8GB, and of course the Middleton BIOS unlocking SATA2 speeds, it's like you gained a whole extra generation of performance!
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

zod
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Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: My first T601 build

#6 Post by zod » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:48 pm

I have used 14.1" SXGA+ T60 for a long time, besides being warmer than 15" models, it was perfect.

axur-delmeria
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Re: My first T601 build

#7 Post by axur-delmeria » Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:40 pm

zod wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:48 pm
I have used 14.1" SXGA+ T60 for a long time, besides being warmer than 15" models, it was perfect.
Makes me wish a 14.1" IPS/AFFS or PVA screen existed.
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

zod
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Re: My first T601 build

#8 Post by zod » Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:48 pm

axur-delmeria wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:40 pm
Makes me wish a 14.1" IPS/AFFS or PVA screen existed.
+1

dr_st
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Re: My first T601 build

#9 Post by dr_st » Wed Sep 05, 2018 3:49 pm

Heh. Back then everyone was wishing for that.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

ajkula66
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Re: My first T601 build

#10 Post by ajkula66 » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:51 pm

dr_st wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 3:49 pm
Heh. Back then everyone was wishing for that.
And we almost got there with that unicorn Hydis panel...
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

zod
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Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: My first T601 build

#11 Post by zod » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:12 pm

ajkula66 wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:51 pm
And we almost got there with that unicorn Hydis panel...
14.1" Boe Hydis exists? Am I missing something?

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: My first T601 build

#12 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:35 pm

Zod, it is called a unicorn for a reason. It doesn't exist, but we all wish it did.
ajkula66 wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:51 pm
And we almost got there with that unicorn Hydis panel...
Hey, does the 13.3" 3:2 LCD on the Surface Pro with 3000x2000 resolution count for anything? Well, it isn't the unicorn Hydis panel, but it is the closest we will ever be. If 3:2 comes to the mainstream or at least the business sector, a 14.1" 4:3(ish) panel wit IPS and a deadly high resolution may be a thing. Hey, you can always hope. :)

Just curious ajkula66, what are your thought on the 3:2 panels, and are they "square" enough or is it still inferior to 4:3?
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

ajkula66
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Re: My first T601 build

#13 Post by ajkula66 » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:56 pm

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:35 pm
Zod, it is called a unicorn for a reason. It doesn't exist, but we all wish it did.
That's not quite true. The panel did exist, it just never made the mass production for whatever reason. Talk about paradise lost...
Just curious ajkula66, what are your thought on the 3:2 panels, and are they "square" enough or is it still inferior to 4:3?
To answer your question in a somewhat roundabout way: had the T25 sported a 3:2 screen - presuming IPS and some type of decent resolution - I would've bought it.
...Knowledge is a deadly friend when no one sets the rules...(King Crimson)

Cheers,

George (your grouchy retired FlexView farmer)

One FlexView to rule them all: A31p

Abused daily: T520, X200s


PMs requesting personal tech support will be ignored.

axur-delmeria
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Re: My first T601 build

#14 Post by axur-delmeria » Thu Sep 06, 2018 1:25 am

Thinkpad4by3 wrote:
Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:35 pm
Hey, does the 13.3" 3:2 LCD on the Surface Pro with 3000x2000 resolution count for anything? Well, it isn't the unicorn Hydis panel, but it is the closest we will ever be. If 3:2 comes to the mainstream or at least the business sector, a 14.1" 4:3(ish) panel wit IPS and a deadly high resolution may be a thing. Hey, you can always hope. :)
Does dual-channel LVDS have enough bandwidth to drive 3000x2000? If yes, maybe an LVDS to eDP converter similar to the one used in the T420/430 WQHD kit can be made to work on the T61. :twisted:

Can the Intel X3100 (or even the nVidia GPUs) drive that thing? :lol:
Planned Purchase: T480s i5-8350 FHD Touch
Impulse Buy: Thinkpad not named for safety reasons :lol:
RIP: X220 4291-C91 X61 7676-A24 760XD-U9E :cry:

storm-chaser
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Re: My first T601 build

#15 Post by storm-chaser » Fri Sep 07, 2018 10:30 pm

Just wanted to say thanks for posting this! Looks like a really cool project.

Definitely subbed
AMD Phenom II 965 @ 4.1Ghz, 8GB DDR3 1600, SSD
AMD Phenom II 960T @ 4.1Ghz, 8GB DDR3 1600, SSD
Lenovo T61p 15.4" - Core 2 extreme X9000 CPU @ 3.4Ghz, SSD
Toshiba Satellite A505D - 2.5Ghz, 4GB RAM, 80GB SSD

zod
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Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Re: My first T601 build

#16 Post by zod » Sat Sep 08, 2018 11:18 am

So I have opened my new T601 once again, lower casing flexing was caused by vga port screws, or to be frank, by my own stupidity, because it was me who forgot to unscrew them. I have also mounted new palmrest, new keyboard bezel and new display housing (well, not quite new but in much better condition than ones I had), so it's T60p instead of T60 now and it looks so good. New photos will be available soon, stay tuned. I'm very happy with this machine, it just performs great! Watching 1080p video on youtube, cpu temp is 66 degrees, it's like a dream come true :)
Last edited by zod on Sat Sep 08, 2018 3:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.

RealBlackStuff
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Re: My first T601 build

#17 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:09 pm

@zod:
hope you don't mind!
I have split this topic in "your T601" and "How to stick with Image Rules": viewtopic.php?f=31&t=127026
Please make any further image-related posts there!


Somehow these pictures of zod disappeared, here they are back again:

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