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http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Hardware_Specifications
In order to search for the information you need, simply hit ctrl+f (or command + f on a macintosh), type in your search word, and your web browser should bring you right down to the information you are looking for
Im hoping this thread/post will be a one stop place too look to find out all you need to know about some hardware aspect of the thinkpad. I hope others will see this, add the little bit of knowledge that they know and eventually we will have one great thread, with everything explained (Everything that we can explain). For the most part im hoping for this to be a hardware thread, because most thinkpads don’t differ on the software side, but software information is also welcomed.
the format is as follows:
Bolded header with terms that often refer to the same subject
text explaining the catagory
Operating system, OS
Windows xp professional for every thinkpad. A backup partition can help restore the os, and it has a small linux install if you don’t feel like using windows at all (its very limited though)
Display, Screen, TFT, resolution
Screens differ in size from 12”, 14.1” up to 15” on thinkpads. The larger the screen, the larger the max resolution. While the 12” screen only has a max of 1024x768 resolution, think about it, its only a 12” screen, that’s small. However, most if not all of the thinkpads can display a higher max resolution to an external monitor.
Video card, graphics, gpu, sxga, uxga
The vid cards on the thinkpads range from integrated, all the way up to 128mb firegl video cards.
Processor, cpu, chip, Pentium m
95% of the thinkpads use a Pentium m as its processor, a few lower end ones use Celerons, and some monster ones use regular Pentium 4’s. while the raw speed (Ghz) of the Pentium m is much lower than the Pentium 4’s, its been said that a 2ghz Pentium m behaves like a 3.4ghz Pentium 4 (multiply the Pentium m’s clock speed by 1.7, and you get its comparable speed. Its speed comparable to amd’s cpu ratings, 2800+, 3500+, 4400+, and its speed comparable to a Pentium 4. 3.4ghz, 2.8ghz, etc, etc)
Ram, memory, ddr2
Most thinkpads have 2 ram slots. Sometimes 1 ram slot is soddered into the motherboard, and you cannot change that ram. You can however insert a stick of ram into the other slot (with a miximum ram stick size of 1gb). Ibm sells extra ram that you can put in the thinkpad (and people are almost always advised to put more ram in it) but it costs around 200$. You can easily find ram from bill, or some other online retailer for around 100$ (and it works just fine in the thinkpad. Just make sure you get the right speed, and the right type of ram).
Hard drive, HD, storage
The types of hard drives used are 2.5” and 1.8” drives. The 1.8” drives are limited to 4200 rpm’s and only 40gb or 60gb in size (that is their current limitation at the time this arcticle was written). The 2.5” drives can range from 4200 rpm’s up to 7200 rpm’s, 30gb up to 100gb. You can buy a larger 2.5” hard drive and use it in your thinkpad easily. Some people swap out the 5400rpm hard drive that their thinkpad comes with, put in a 7200 rpm drive in, buy an external enclosure for the 5400 drive, and use it as an external usb hard drive.
Optical device, optical bay, CD, DVD
The x series notebooks don’t have an INTERNAL optical bay. An optical bay is just a cd/dvd reader or writer. You can buy external usb ones that work great, or you can have one in your ultrabay (a docking station for some thinkpads).
Audio, speakers, sound
Thinkpads come with 1 to 2 speakers (1 on the smaller x series thinkpads, 2 on all others).
Communication, lan, wan, wifi, wireless, Bluetooth
It is standard for thinkpads to come with a modem, 1gb Ethernet (a wired networking RJ-45 port), an infared port, a wifi card/antenna (a/b/g, or just b/g) and sometimes a bluetooth card. There are 2 or 3 different wireless cards that thinkpads come with (each thinkpad comes with just 1, but there are 2 or 3 different types that ibm/lenovo COULD use).
Battery
Thinkpads typically have two different batteries, a 4 cell, and something like an 8 cell (a 9 cell in some of the t series thinkpads). A 4 cell is typical, and the 8/9 cell is the heavy duty one that sticks out the back of the thinkpad a little bit (about and inch or so out the back). battery life can give you 4-8 hours of thinkpad use depending on how you have it throttled back (if you have the cpu turned down, the screen brightness turned down, etc)
Keyboardkaplanfx wrote: The T Series has 2 stadard lithium-ion battery types, either a 6-cell which is flush with the unit and typically gets about 4-4.5 hours on a new battery, and the 9-Cell which sticks out about an inch from the back and is said to get up to 7 hours on a new battery. In addition there is a lithium polymer battery that can be swaped into the ultra bay for even more power. With my new li-poly battery I was able to get about 2.5 hours in an attempt to max it out.
The keyboards for the thinkpads are either chineese, or thai. Some people prefer the feel of the thai keyboard better.
I have just touched on the things I know for sure. If you know/see some things I didn’t state, or stated incorrectly, I would like it if you could post the correction, so that I or a moderator could make the needed change.
