Blue LEDs on Thinkpad T42p?

[andrey]

Just curious, has anyone replaced green LEDs (battery, sleep indicator, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc..) with blue ones on Thinkpad T41/42/43? If so, I'd be very interested to hear how feasable this "upgrade" is.

Thanks,
-- Andrey

[Kenn]

I can't say from an electrical/engineering perspective, but it's not hard to remove the LCD bezel and access the inverter or circuit board that the status lights are soldered onto. If you have experience actually performing this mod with other electronics, I don't imagine this being any different.

[TimWang]

Why don't they use blue in the first place? It would match the Thinkpad a lot better than green.

[Michael1980]

IBM = conservative design.
Blue led is too "modern tech" while green is just standard.

[christopher_wolf]

Well, this is just IMHO....

The last Laptop I had with Blue LEDs blew out on me pretty bad; it was an HP. Not to mention the number of Blue LEDs it had was fairly large and they couldn't be turned off...meaning, of course, that it sucked up quite a bit of the already-abysmal battery life. It had a Stript of Blue LEDs across the Top for the "Quick Access Buttons" that remained on *constantly*; at least on my Thinkpad, if you don't want the Bluetooth LED on...you turn Bluetooth off for awhile, same goes for wireless (though if you are connecting via a Wireless Hub..I would question Priorities there )

That is another thing I like about Thinkpads. Then again, it wouldn't be too hard to replace those with some Blue LEDs if One so wished; which is another good thing

[andrey]

Does anyone know what kind LCDs the panel takes? And if so, where those LCDs can be purchased?

Thanks again!
-- Andrey

[dansu]

If you take the clear plate off, it looks like the leds are surface mount. If you've never done any surface mount soldering before, I wouldn't attempt it.

I personally like the green. I feel that blue lights are a bit annoying to look at.

[Kenn]

If you take the clear plate off, it looks like the leds are surface mount. If you've never done any surface mount soldering before, I wouldn't attempt it.

I personally like the green. I feel that blue lights are a bit annoying to look at.

I saw a T20 or 30 the other day, and noticed that the status LEDs are even greener than on the T-series (which are light and have a yellowish hue). The pure, deep green LEDs look as exotic as the blues do!

[snife]

I too would prefer blue LEDs (or even better - white) but I think it will all be about cost - green LEDs are the cheapest so if they save a few pence on each machine it will add up.

Those LEDs are tiny though so I know I don't have the skills or the steady hand needed to replace them.

[nrj45]

of course it would be nice... especially the BLUEtooth led. But don't forget that some led's have to glow in 2 colors (i mean green and orange for the battery led)

[ctgilles]

Blue LEDs might look better, because you don't have them...
Once you do replace them (it's easy, but then again I'm into electronics) you'll notice: * more power drain, more heat (although next to nothing in comparison to any other part in the T4x), * blue LEDs are brighter (more mcd) and thus irritating once you get into a darker room/shadow

The blue/white I used really draw attention, I still have the ones on the outside. But the ones under the screen are back to green, it was really annoying because they grab your attention constantly (even when reading a post or an article )