Thinking about collecting vintage ThinkPads - any recs?

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califas · #31 Post by **califas** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:38 pm

I guess USA models or models that wouldnt be too dificult to find on ebay

Saw this listing for a S30 but the bidding is insane

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

JHEM · #32 Post by **JHEM** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:56 pm

The WorkPad z50 Mobile Companion running Windows CE!

95% sized keyboard, about the same as the one in the X40.

Instant on. Eight hours runtime. CF socket.

Width: 260.0 mm (10.2-inches)

Depth: 202.0 mm (7.9-inches)

Height: 26.5 mm (1.0-inches)

Weight: 1.206 kg (2.66 lbs) battery included.

The X20: 11" x 8.9" x .98"-1.2"

Regards,

James

epbrown · #33 Post by **epbrown** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:10 am

The ultimate is probably the PC110, which is smaller than a Toshiba Libretto. Japan-only issued palmtop with 486-33Mhz cpu, but you could get a lot out of them - some people got them running Windows 95 even. And they ran on rechargeable camcorder batteries - couldn't beat that for price and availability. I did loathe that little keyboard, though.

Emanuel

#34 Post by **BillMorrow** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 6:29 pm

for my little museum i would like to have one of each..

but for using it i would prefer an X40..

whizkid · #35 Post by **whizkid** » Fri Dec 24, 2004 3:53 pm

I am getting back my 750P this weekend.

Screaming 33MHz 486DX, 4MB RAM, 170MB HD and a 2.88 floppy. 10.4" gray screen and had a wireless pen. The screen folds over and down again so it's kind of tablet-convertible. The battery would run for five hours full tilt. What a machine.

It came with Microsoft's Windows for Pen Computing 3.1 (what, you say?) and Microsoft's handwriting recognizer that was pretty OK. Then IBM released their own recognizer that took 4MB of RAM but was much better.

I only barely had it on the 'net way back when... mostly used it to dial into BBSes and terminal servers (text ones).

I want to run either FreeDOS or a tiny Linux on it.

#36 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:26 pm

A few ThinkPad's I'd go after for a collection would be:

PC Convertible: Not a ThinkPad, but it's Grand Daddy
ThinkPad 700/700c: First ThinkPad Availible
ThinkPad 755CD: First laptop CD-Rom
ThinkPad 755CX: First Pentium Laptop
ThinkPad 560: First Ultra-portable
Any Power Series Laptop: The're just so odd, they have to be a collectors item
ThinkPad 760 (any): For those who get nostalgic about the good ol' days of IRQ hell
ThinkPad 750: Flew on Space Shuttle
ThinkPad 760ED or XD: Made history at the time as being the fastest computer ever to be used in outter space
ThinkPad 350c: Nothing special, but the first ThinkPad I ever owned, so I like it, and it has the nicest keyboard I have ever used.

shartley · #37 Post by **shartley** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:30 pm

A Few I Have:

Thinkpad S30 (gloss finish)
Thinkpad 235 (233 Mhz) (Also have a Toshiba Visionbook Traveler)
Workpad Z50
Thinkpad 600E
Thinkpad 701cs (with 133Mhz board upgrade)
Thinkpad T22 (upgraded with 1Ghz processor)

What I would like to have for a collection:
Thinkpad 220
Thinkpad 230cs
Thinkpad 555 (model with built in bubblejet printer)
IBM Chipcard
IBM PC110
Thinkpad Mosquito (miniature model of the 701cs)
Thinkpad 510cs
Thinkpad 360pe
Transnote

Rob · #38 Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:55 am

If anyone is interested, I just saw a 750P on ebay. All the accessories too. It ends in 13 hours. I think it's cool, except it would just sit around in my house gathering dust.

If you're the only bidder, you can get it for $30. Just search 750P.

Rob

PS - I'm not selling it, it just seemed like a rare piece to me. It's a precursor to the X41 Tablet!

whizkid · #39 Post by **whizkid** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 9:40 am

I have one. I put Linux on it and use it as a print server. Slow as molasses in January (and I'm not even from Missouri). If you can get Win3.1 or Win95, it will work with the tablet.

Interesting? Sure, but 64 gray levels, 18:1 contrast ratio and 640x480 make it not fun.

And if you're looking for bargains, I got a working 750C for $5.

Didn't the 360PE have a pen and color?

#40 Post by **BillMorrow** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:45 pm

shartley wrote:A Few I Have:

Thinkpad S30 (gloss finish)
Thinkpad 235 (233 Mhz) (Also have a Toshiba Visionbook Traveler)
Workpad Z50
Thinkpad 600E
Thinkpad 701cs (with 133Mhz board upgrade)
Thinkpad T22 (upgraded with 1Ghz processor)
Transnote

the z50 was nice..
i still have some new parallel printer cables for that model..

ibm sold millions of 600 series thinkpads.. a very successful thinkpad..

you need to upgrade the display in that 701 to the TFT display..
i have a bunch of them.. some museum quality..
had a fellow who wanted one for HIS collection, but i have no idea what to ask for one..

the real precursor to the X41 tablet is, i think, the transnote..

one really rare thinkpad is the powerPC thinkpad..
model 860 is the one i have..
another rare one is the 755CDV..

saw some 730T's on ebay the other day.. $35 more or less.. that would also make a good addition to any collection..

i wish i had one of the S30's.. too bad they were never a US model..

i guess i should list the thinkpads in my "stable"
750C
755CDV
701C (about a dozen with at least 2 museum quality)
860 (PowerPC)
Transnote
770X
570
760ED
760C
560

Rob · #41 Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:14 pm

There was a 755CDV on ebay as well. It ended this morning.

That 750P on ebay came with everything... software, booklets, even the original packaging.

But, I did see a free 760XL on craigslist, but someone got to it before I did. I bought a 701C off ebay. It's in great condition, except it for a few scratches, missing the PCMCIA cover, and the left latch doesn't line up. Too bad I snapped off a part of the bezel by accident.

I'm also going to get my 770ED back from my parents, and I recently bought a T43. I never thought about having a laptop collection until I was at this site.

So I'm hoping it will stay with these 3 computers, though I've always liked the 760-series cause it was the first laptop I wanted. By the time I could get a laptop, the 770 was out, so that's what I ended up with.

Rob

#42 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:52 pm

If you still want a 760, I think there's one for sale somewhere in the for sale forum. It's been posted for a few days now so it might be to the middle or bottom of the first page or somewhere on the second.

My personal collection is now two ThinkPad's, down from the five or so I once had. I have my 760ED-U3A which I modified the heck out of the instant I got it and the 380ED. If I get around to cleaning my closets ever, I think i have enough parts to build one or two 760E's from scraps.

EDIT (09/21/05): My personal colection, hopefully, should be up to three ThinkPads when the 380D I ordered arrives later this week.

Rob · #43 Post by **Rob** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:34 pm

I'm trying really hard not to start buying old Thinkpads. But I just think they're are some really cool ones. I know they'll all just end up sitting on a shelf though. It would be cool to have them running a period OS, but they'd really just be shelf queens. It was an impulse, but I put a bid on that 750P. I figure I can always sell it for what I pay for it.

Rob

shartley · #44 Post by **shartley** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:12 pm

Just added a Thinkpad Power Series 850 to my collection! It's an interesting machine. So far I've been able to get AIX up and running but that's about it. If I can get a PPC version of linux running on it I might even use it.

bhtooefr · #45 Post by **bhtooefr** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 10:09 am

Hmm...

My old thing is almost a museum piece

Anyway... I want to get my hands on a 700C, just for the sake of owning one of the first ThinkPad laptops ever. (Note that I said ThinkPad LAPTOPS. The 700T came before either the 700 or 700C, but was a slate-style tablet, not a laptop. I hate slates.)

whizkid · #46 Post by **whizkid** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 10:36 am

I bought a working 750C off eBay for $5 (and $25 shipping), so the 700C should be just about free.

epbrown · #47 Post by **epbrown** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:20 pm

whizkid wrote:I bought a working 750C off eBay for $5 (and $25 shipping), so the 700C should be just about free.

Speaking of this, in a burst of nostalgia I placed a bid on an old Thinkpad gadget I remember admiring but never actually seeing - the IBM TV Tuner pack. These used to go into the floppy bay of the 36x/75x laptops. If I win, I'm buying an old 7-series just to see it work

Emanuel

#48 Post by **AlphaKilo470** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 10:52 pm

I wonder if the TV tuner accessory would work on a ThinkPad 760 as the connector should be the same. If so, then that'd be the ultimate upgrade for my old aging laptop as I've already performed all other possible upgrades on the thing.

epbrown · #49 Post by **epbrown** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 11:10 pm

I checked my old IBM maintenance manuals. It works with every 7xx-model up to the 760 (I'm checking to see what model is the newest it will work in) possible. I guess the connectors didn't change until the 770.

That might be a good collecting philosophy - to get every available accessory for a specific model. Some of them are pretty rare. I think I've got everything you could get for the 600X.

Emanuel

440roadrunner · #50 Post by **440roadrunner** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 2:56 pm

Don't know if anyone's still reading this old thread, but I "sorta" have

An old 360PE (pen) and interesting little variant on the old 360 series, where you can swivel the display around on a sort of gimble mount, and fold the display flat, facing up, on top of the keyboard, and of course use a touch pen on the screen.

Another little interesting toy I've got is a "PCradio." this thing, unfortunately, "smells" because of a house fire. It has a reduced size keyboard, which makes it a pain to type on, and operates on a ROM chip--data is outputted via flash cards or laplink. It is supposed to have a built in strip printer (mine is missing), and I have the huge, clumsy, add on unit which basically does nothing more than give you serial /parallel ports. It had a built in cellular phone for data link. Obviously build for "field" use.

Before the fire, I also had an NEC "Ultralite" another little laptop operated entirely off of a ROM chip, It think the storage RAMdrive was 2mb.

And of course, a 360xx, a 360XX upgraded to about a 755--90mhz, and a 600X

epbrown · #51 Post by **epbrown** » Fri Nov 04, 2005 3:04 pm

I remember the 360PE - it didn't sell very well back in the day. Odd how many times IBM tried to popularize the tablet pc, now that I think about it.

Emanuel

Thinking about collecting vintage ThinkPads - any recs?

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