X220 display mod with 12.5" FHD IPS panel from Dell XPS 12 ?

[T41Tablet]

I too would be interested in modding my x220t with a better resolution screen. The low resolution is really the only (now that I bought a USB 3.0 express card for e10) bad thing about the machine.

Does anyone know if you can still use the digitizer and the replacement screen at the same time, I'm not 100% certain of the modularity of the display panel and the digitizer.

Also is there a guide apart from the Korean one? Does anyone know if this can be done without a BIOS mod as I would be hesitant to mod the BIOS with my daily driver machine....

Thanks

[McDonnell]

Good news to people living in China.

There is a seller on Taobao who now does this mod on X220 and X230. Besides doing the mod for you they also offer to buy a refurbished machine fit in the FHD IPS and then sell it to you for a reasonable price.

Seller: http://shop116423671.taobao.com/?spm=20 ... 6.2.OdPKgz

Refurbished machines with FHD IPS: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a23 ... t=5#detail


I'm living in China, so might bring one of those to my brother in Denmark next time I go home

Edit: If needed I might be able to help as Im fluent in Chinese and could talk to the seller and maybe even try to find out a method for international shipping to US and EU.

[wokawoka]

Good news to people living in China.
I'm living in China, so might bring one of those to my brother in Denmark next time I go home

Edit: If needed I might be able to help as Im fluent in Chinese and could talk to the seller and maybe even try to find out a method for international shipping to US and EU.

That's a great piece of news. Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
I would be very much interested in one of these modded machines. So it would be really interesting to know if the seller would be able to ship it here in Europe (personally I'm based in Germany at the moment).
Thank you very much again

[McDonnell]

The shipping itself shouldn't be a problem. What I'm worried about is the laptop battery, but if that's a problem it could just be send without battery.

My main concern would be the duty in Europe. I'm not sure how that works with a refurb laptop. Anyone with experiences?

[wokawoka]

The shipping itself shouldn't be a problem. What I'm worried about is the laptop battery, but if that's a problem it could just be send without battery.

My main concern would be the duty in Europe. I'm not sure how that works with a refurb laptop. Anyone with experiences?

During the years I've already imported different laptops, both when I was living in Italy and later here in Germany as well.
The battery was never a problem. But, of course, I always had to pay for the import duties, that's part of the game.

To tell the truth my main concern would be the language, how to properly communicate with the seller in order to get all the information like the real specs and conditions of the machine.
Other than that, I don't see other big problems

[McDonnell]

That won't be a problem I live 2 hours away from the seller and speak fluent Mandarin.

The shipping and the ordering I would be willing to help with.

Its quite easy to find Thinkpads cheap in China at good prices. I usually get them from a local supplier in Guangzhou who specializes in Thinkpads. Most of these Thinkpads come from Germany, Singapore, Japan and other places in EU. Its my understanding that they buy them from companys who previously have had them on a 3 year lease.

[sreviax]

That won't be a problem I live 2 hours away from the seller and speak fluent Mandarin.

The shipping and the ordering I would be willing to help with.

Its quite easy to find Thinkpads cheap in China at good prices. I usually get them from a local supplier in Guangzhou who specializes in Thinkpads. Most of these Thinkpads come from Germany, Singapore, Japan and other places in EU. Its my understanding that they buy them from companys who previously have had them on a 3 year lease.

hi mcdonell any updates..?

[McDonnell]

Hi Guys

Sorry for the delay, I have been on a business trip.

So to answer all your questions.

Can I buy a DIY kit and do this mod myself?
The seller offers DIY kits and I will try to get some info on that. The mod requires soldering the adapter to the mainboard, which might also require some skill. I suggest ordering a refurbed X220 instead.

Can you help me order an X220 or X230 with FHD?
Yes, I can help you with ordering, but you will have to accept below terms:

I will need 100% up front payment as the seller wants that.

I will arrange freight according to your wished, but any tax and duty that might be put on the package when it arrives at your destination, will be your own responsibility.

If I order these machines I can do some testing to see if everything works. However I wont take any responsibility if your machine breaks down after a month of use. I will be willing to help you talk to the seller, but I cant promise anything.

How should we do this?
I think the easiest thing would be to find out how many of us are interested and willing to pay for this X220 with FHD? Send me a PM with your email, the faster the better. Then I can call the seller Monday and tell him how many I would like to order.

When the seller have confirmed prices with me I will send everyone my bank info. Yes Im a stranger and you shouldnt trust strangers I guess the only assurance I can give you is that Im Danish and you can always trust Danish people

Looking forward to receive your emails on PM.

[McDonnell]

As mentioned PM me with your email if interested.

An estimate on prices will be:

X220 I3 2310m, no hdd and ram, FHD glossy IPS: 350 USD (not including shipping).

X220 I5 2520m, no hdd and ram, FHD glossy IPS: 400 USD (not including shipping).

X220 I7 2620m, no hdd and ram, FHD glossy IPS: 500 USD (not including shipping).

These are estimated prices and I might also be able to find some units with I5 2540m and I7 2640m what ever you prefer If you want RAM, HDD or SSD you can let me know on email.

[angguss]

I'm very interested in one of these, either an i5 or i7 model. I've sent you a PM.

[275o]

Very much interested, PM sent.

[JaredR]

How's this going with getting these shipped over from China? I'd love to get one to take to school with me instead of my W530 if I can get the cash together over the summer.

[DarkWingDK]

Just found this thread as i was searching for a replacement screen for a throw-away x220 i rescued

Would be awesome to get a FHD screen in it !!!

Have PM'ed for the DIY kit

[skyn3t]

Is anyone able to vouch for McDonnell? I'm very interested but I need some confirmation first xD

[Boggler]

Someone PM'd me regarding the status of modding a X220 tablet. I'll just post my answer here because I don't think every piece of information has been posted before:

I have only kept up to date with the german thread and there hasn't happened much. I only know that someone on 51nb produced another PCB and a very detailled instruction. And I think you can even buy fully modded Thinkpads or send yours in to be modded by them. I thought it would be fairly easy with the PCB but in some threads they talk about manual debugging (maybe that's not needed anymore though).
Some were planning on asking them to ship a few sets to Germany, but on 51nb you can only send PM's after a certain number of posts.

As I understand it they use the original LVDS PWM, one DP line and convert LVDS to a second DP line. Because they say that no mod bios is needed, I don't see why it shouldn't work with the tablet versions. Sure the transition of the digitizer can be a hassle, but if you do it carefully the worst that can happen is that you get dust or fingerprints between your screen and glass. As to the PCB it shouldn't be much of a problem. The tablet versions also use LVDS, so all you needed to do different is getting a long enough cable as the port is at another place. Then of course one also needed to do the debugging they talk about on 51nb. You can't use the same cable for a second reason: the tablet version has one extra pin (or the other way round). I actually used the wrong cable once and it blew fuse F6, so they are definitely not interchangable. If it is possible to use the original cable, it would be no problem at all.

Maybe I'm missing something though, as on 51nb even months ago people asked for tablet mods and none happened (to my knowledge at least).

[preid]

Has there been any updates on this?

Has McDonnell gotten back to anyone?

[jedisurfer1]

Also interested in this. Any long time user have any transaction with the user offering these services?

[whitelabel]

Hi guys! Is there any news about this modification? Did someone finally get it from McDonnell or some other sources?

I'm thinking about buying directly from TaoBao seller (on my own or using agent). However I'm still curious about the
usability of this mod.

Some information regarding the topic: http://boweihe.me/?p=1442

[preid]

Didn't hear anything back.

I did find that someone had modified the Linux Intel driver to get around the issues managed in that link: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.comp.fr ... ntel/66583. I run Linux on a X230, so I will definitely be buying the mod kit now (through an agent).

[preid]

Ordered the mod a few days ago through an agent. Had an email yesterday to say the item is out of stock.

[whitelabel]

preid

Thanks for the info! Have you asked the seller about availability of the mod in the near future?
Maybe they will restock it.

[preid]

Good news. Had a reply back from the agent to say that the seller will restock within 2-3 weeks.

[ctom]

I just wanted to report that I purchased two of the DIY kits from the taobao seller mentioned by McDonnell and was able to successfully install the FHD panel into my X220 i7. The kit consist of the IPS panel, two cables (motherboard LVDS connector to adapter board, eDP connector from panel to adapter board), and the LVDS to eDP adapter board. The installation is not for the faint of heart since it involves soldering the adapter board to components on the X220 motherboard. At the very least, you will need a temperature controlled soldering iron with a fine tip, a magnifier (I used a stereoscope), and experience working with surface mount devices.

For me, the results were worth the effort since it makes my X220 so much more useful to me. I had purchased it with the IPS screen with the intention of replacing my T60p/61 (modded with an 15" UGA LED panel) but the low resolution just wasn't enough for me (I do circuit design and PCB layouts on the Frankenpad). The X220 was relegated to web surfing and MS Office duties.

Pros:

the supplied screen is beautiful - bright, no backlight bleeding around the edges, and no dead/stuck pixels. No image persistence as well.

the quality of the supplied parts are good - the panel looks new and the adapter board build quality is good.

I can finally use my X220 and retire my T60 Frankenpad!

Stable image - no flickering (similar mod for T420 had reports of instability).



Cons:

There is no supplied instructions with the kit and what was available online was not clear at all (and in Chinse only). I ended up blowing the backlight and LVDS fuses (F1, F2, and F6) on my first attempt.

The backlight control no longer works (it's set to a fairly high level). At this point, I'm not sure if it's an problem with my handiwork or if it is disabled by design.

Also not sure if this mod will impact the functionality of the docking station.

The top cover needs some rework to accommodate the new panel - some of the channels for cable management need to be cut away around the hinge areas.


Overall, I'm very pleased with the kit and will probably modify another X220 with my spare kit. Hope this helps and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. And no, I have no association with the seller...

[Tasurinchi]

Congrats to your modded X220!

I'm very envious of your ThinkPad I have to admit, having done the FHD mod to my T420s (which is a very easy one compared to what you did) I'm now really curious about how a FHD looks on a 12.5" machine.

I wish there would be a kit with an easier way to implement this mod for people that cannot solder at all (like me)

Would you mind posting some pics?

[jedisurfer1]

Nice work, does anyone know if this will work on an HP Elitebook 2570p? I have limited soldering skills would this mod be doable?

I just wanted to report that I purchased two of the DIY kits from the taobao seller mentioned by McDonnell and was able to successfully install the FHD panel into my X220 i7. The kit consist of the IPS panel, two cables (motherboard LVDS connector to adapter board, eDP connector from panel to adapter board), and the LVDS to eDP adapter board. The installation is not for the faint of heart since it involves soldering the adapter board to components on the X220 motherboard. At the very least, you will need a temperature controlled soldering iron with a fine tip, a magnifier (I used a stereoscope), and experience working with surface mount devices.

For me, the results were worth the effort since it makes my X220 so much more useful to me. I had purchased it with the IPS screen with the intention of replacing my T60p/61 (modded with an 15" UGA LED panel) but the low resolution just wasn't enough for me (I do circuit design and PCB layouts on the Frankenpad). The X220 was relegated to web surfing and MS Office duties.

Pros:

the supplied screen is beautiful - bright, no backlight bleeding around the edges, and no dead/stuck pixels. No image persistence as well.

the quality of the supplied parts are good - the panel looks new and the adapter board build quality is good.

I can finally use my X220 and retire my T60 Frankenpad!

Stable image - no flickering (similar mod for T420 had reports of instability).



Cons:

There is no supplied instructions with the kit and what was available online was not clear at all (and in Chinse only). I ended up blowing the backlight and LVDS fuses (F1, F2, and F6) on my first attempt.

The backlight control no longer works (it's set to a fairly high level). At this point, I'm not sure if it's an problem with my handiwork or if it is disabled by design.

Also not sure if this mod will impact the functionality of the docking station.

The top cover needs some rework to accommodate the new panel - some of the channels for cable management need to be cut away around the hinge areas.


Overall, I'm very pleased with the kit and will probably modify another X220 with my spare kit. Hope this helps and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions. And no, I have no association with the seller...

[ctom]

Tasurinchi,

I'm traveling on business right now but did secure a second X220 with the intention of installing another FHD screen. I'll document the process and will post photos later this week. I must say the new screen has really been transformative (in a good way!).

As to modding the HP, I really can't say without reviewing the schematics...

[RealBlackStuff]

Both those screens are eDP, if that helps.
The WF2 has eDP (2 lanes).

[rammo]

ctom,

if you had time to test the modded x220, are there any major differences in battery life and heat/noise? I'm interested in upgrading, but don't want to lose out on the great mobility

[ctom]

No, not really. I'm drawing about 15W with wifi and bluetooth radios on, running Firefox and MS Word. The backlight is probably a little brighter than I like but at this point, I have no control over that setting. With my 6 cell battery pack (62 Wh), I'm currently getting about 3:30 hours of run time.

[LastSilmaril]

Fwiw, this guy in Japan has developed his own kit for sale and is even taking orders for mods to be done. Appears to be a Japan-only dealy though.
I don't think I have the chops to do this myself - anybody here willing to do the mod if I acquired the kit via this guy or ctom's guy?