Homepage
Forum
Drivers
HMM
MTM
Feed
For Sale is my T601F Frankenpad, the traditional T60/61 hardware hybrid with a 15” T60 chassis and a T61 motherboard. It is in very good condition, with a bit of wear… but definitely presentable. There are some scuffs in the rubberized lid finish, and some more scuffing on the underside, but no gashes, holes, cracks or serious cosmetic defects of any sort.
If you’re interested in the world of Frankenpads and are interested in having one, but don’t have the time or ability to build one yourself… then this is a pretty nice unit that you can take advantage of. It has a number of party pieces you won’t find on other Frankenpads, and it’s got a TuuS supplied NOS motherboard… which means: NVIDIA graphics, but no pre-08/08 issue.
Picture Library: http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2426.JPG - Full picture of open laptop
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2430.JPG - Keyboard, Palmrest, inverter LEDs
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2434.JPG - Screen Lid Finish
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2437.JPG - Underside
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2438.JPG - Under the hood (Keyboard and palmrest removed)
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2443.JPG - Showing Windows 7 running on the machine, with basic stats visible on screen
http://www.medessec.info/m/Frankie/IMG_2446.JPG - Brightness comparison
Specs:
-Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000, 2.8 GHz Dual-Core
-8 GB DDR2-800 RAM
-NVIDIA NVS 140M(mostly related to GeForce GT 8500M)
-1600x1200 UXGA FlexView IPS Display
-Intel 5300 Wi-Fi Card ABGN, 2.4/5GHz
-Genuine Lenovo 9-cell Battery, Holds very good charge
The sale will include the laptop and a genuine 90W power adapter. I'm asking $800, with domestic shipping included. I plan to ship via UPS, packed and fully insured. International shipping depends on the buyer- we will have to negotiate price separately, and I will of course be open to other carriers. If you have any requests for shipping you can let me know. I am not selling this laptop on craigslist or ebay first off, because I want it to go to a new owner that I know will appreciate it and take care of it.
I'd recommend you buy a bigger HDD or an SSD separately- but I am willing to include a Seagate 160GB HDD with Windows 7 on it for testing purposes. If you don't want the HDD, I will take a bit off the price, but still leave the caddy, bumpers and HDD door for you.
I am also willing to remove certain parts, like the X9000 CPU, or the RAM if you wish to use your own and reduce the price.
----------------
Here's some more information for those interested, to help make your decision and hopefully answer any questions. Although, if you have any questions about the laptop, feel free to reply to the topic. Anything concerning a transaction please keep that to a PM.
Key points of this machine:
NOS NVIDIA motherboard/Cooling: Most Frankenpads are susceptible from the NVIDIA issue, or are delegated to use Intel graphics. The NVIDIA chip in this Frankie is a 2010 chip mounted on an extremely rare NOS board. This chip is not susceptible to the NVIDIA failure issue and has ran completely without problems or any remote sign of failure despite animation/3D design/gaming/image editing use over the past year and a half. No One-long two-shorts, no visual artifacting, no blackout overheating, no issues whatsoever. The cooling is done by a T61 cooling fan(I tried a T500 fan, but it didn’t fit as perfectly… and cooling wasn’t any different for the most part) that TuuS provided. I’ve also applied Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, and when running the computer- I use TPFC to monitor temperatures and fan speed.
Middleton BIOS: This Frankenpad also has the Middleton BIOS installed. Kind of a given for Frankenpads… every Frankie needs this modded BIOS. It allows for SATA 2 speed, helping SSDs, and adds the Windows 7 SLIC for Windows 7 activation.
Intel 5300: I’ve installed an Intel Wireless 5300 Wi-Fi card, with ABGN capability and 2.4GHz/5GHz spectrum connectivity. Runs cooler, allows for more stable connectivity and Wireless N capability. Main reason I installed it is to help latency, for online/LAN gaming.
1600x1200 UXGA Flexview: This display is not original to the 2007-YS3 T60 15” chassis and was removed from a T43p that suffered motherboard failure. I don’t have any pictures or exact recollection of the display type, but I believe it is the IDTech 42T0345. The screen is very bright and shows no flaws(polarizer damage, color tint, bulb dimming/flickering, dead pixels or lines)
8GB RAM: Because the T61 board doesn’t suffer the 3GB limit that T60s have to deal with- it’s possible for you to install up to 8GB of RAM which significantly helps with modern gaming, 3D design, Virtual Machine and programming purposes. It’s also possible to run RAM disks with the amount of space. However, 8GB of DDR2 RAM for only two slots can be a bit difficult to find, and expensive on its own. This KVR RAM was installed when the Frankenpad conversion was done, and has functioned with no problems for over a year.
Properly constructed Frankenpad: This isn’t a widescreen motherboard or any other compromised modification. This is a T61 4:3 14” board, in a T60 15” chassis, the correct Frankenpad to preserve the functionality of the Ultrabay, correct mounting of the HDD bay, fitting of the cage, matching I/O ports to the plastics, and preservation of the use of the docking port. It also has the ExpressCard/CardBus combo option.
History on the laptop: The laptop, upon reception was an entirely original Type 2007-YS3 Thinkpad T60p. It had the V5250 Merom board running a T7600, and an SXGA+ Flexview display, and didn’t require any serious refurbishment(cage replacement, motherboard, plastics). It was in excellent condition, however the keyboard had been polished to a light shine(probably spent all of it's life in an office being typed on) I bought it a new keyboard and a genuine battery, and used it in that state for nearly a year.
After some power-related issues and problems with the ATI driver on some of my games and Maya 2014, I elected to seek out Frankenpadding options, and I eventually got in contact with TuuS, who generously offered me an extremely rare NOS board. After taking reception of the board and a proper Frankenpadding kit, I converted the existing T60p chassis into the Frankenpad you see here. It initially was powered by a spare T7300, until I managed to get a hold of an X9000. After some testing, I decided to keep it in there.
The machine has mostly seen use as my secondary computer, and for an entire semester, my school computer. It has been carried in my backpack while bike riding and around campus. I’d use it at school for emails, web browsing, web development, typing/documents, and I also used it for 3D animation in my introductory digital animation class. After last winter, I started carrying my D900F to school instead, so I found much less use from the Frankenpad. All this year, it’s pretty much only seen occasional use as a spare gaming computer for guests/friends, and for hardware testing.
I’m in need of some extra funds to help finish college easier… and I feel like a Frankenpad this capable is a bit wasted as a spare gaming laptop. I’d love for it to go to a fellow Thinkpad enthusiast or someone who can find some good use out of this fantastic machine. It's been an incredible companion to me and I'd love for it to go to an owner who really needs something this particular, and this dependable. I'm pretty sure a few of you will really like some of the tidbit small things on this machine. If you look carefully in the pictures... when I converted it to a Frankenpad, I managed to find a T61p adhesive indicator strip for the screen bezel, and it fits in the T60p's perfectly. So this Frankie is branded as a "T61p".
