R60 9457-7HU Upgrade Questions

[philipcjohnson]

I am contemplating a processor upgrade (from T2400 to T7600) and a display upgrade (from 14.1” XGA 1024x768 to 14.1” SXGA+ 1400x1050) sometime in the future. Are better options available such as a UXGA display that are viable? What would be involved beyond just swapping the hardware?

Are there any specific suggestions regarding a replacement for the CDRW/DVD optical drive?

What would be involved in putting a fingerprint reader into this laptop?

Are any specific wireless upgrades possible?

What other upgrades might be worth considering as future possibilities?

A hard drive upgrade (from 60GB 5400rpm HD to 500GB 7200rpm HD) and a memory upgrade (from 1GB to 4GB, only 3 of which will be available) are already in progress.

Thank you everyone.

[RealBlackStuff]

There's no UXGA for a 14.1" model, only SXGA+. Just swap out the panel itself.

There are newer CDRW/DVDRW drives, A.K.A. DVD Multi drives.
AFAIK there is also an (expensive) option of a BluRay drive, bit this is a rarity.

For an FPR you need a new palmrest with FPR built-in, then install the proper software drivers.

Wifi-N is available in newer wifi cards.

Bluetooth is about the only other option left, if you haven't got it already.

[philipcjohnson]

Thanks for all the good info. Would you happen to have the FRU number for a WiFi-N card that is supported in a R60?

Found the Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (FRU #’s 42T0865, 42T0867, 42T0869,
42T0871, or 42T0905) but the the R60 is not listed as a supported system.

Also saw the card mentioned on ThinkWiki and after reading the article my interpretation of it was that the card may not work in my R60 9457-7HU.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_PRO ... ss_Adapter

...Wifi-N is available in newer wifi cards...

[RealBlackStuff]

Any of those cards mentioned will work, as do the Intel 5100N, Intel 6200N and 6300N.
Those last two are 1/2 size cards and need a 1/2 size adapter to fill the gap.
They will run fine even with only 2 antenna wires.
You may need a modified BIOS to allow for non-approved wifi cards, otherwise it will throw an 1802 error.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=101628

[ZaZ]

The Blu-ray drive will work as a storage medium, but not for Blu-ray playback.

A SSD or Momentus XT might be worth a look for the hard drive.