ThinkPad 240 little tidbits

[stevezasycho]

Hey all.. I picked up a 240 last summer, and started trying to piece it together.. Man, was I in for a nightmare..The motherboard had flipped a chip, so I ordered a replacement.. Fine and dandy.. Now when I swapped the boards out, I cracked the LCD's mainboard connector, requireing me to press the LCD cable down onto the board to display some video.. Alright then.. I ordered a new LCD cable from eBay, and tried it out, but now the LCD stay dark.. I prolly broke the backlight or something.. I had to out the project down because school started.. But now, I have some free time, and after the holidays, I will be able to get it running again.. Or I wonder if I am better off parting it out, and buying a new, working machine.. I like the 240's small footprint.. Any isight anyone can offer me on this one? Thanks!

[vincentfox]

The 240 was known for having problems with the LCD connector though, so probably not your fault there.

You can pick up a Thinkpad 240-Celeron300 for $100-$200 on EBay, if you look you could hopefully find one from a reseller with DOA guarantees. Mine works great although I spent a bit more upgrading RAM to 192 megs later and getting 20-gig drive from newegg. Get a working one, keep another one for parts would be my recommendation. Mine currently has the USB port not working due to the solder joints I think, too many USB devices inserted odd angles perhaps wore it out, thinking about whether to try and resolder those connections or just try to find another working mainboard.

Love my 240, hate to admit that even though I bought an X22 later on as a better model, I still find myself using the 240 a good bit for just basic web surfing and stuff like that.

[stevezasycho]

In my experience, if you're going to tear it apart, just replace the motherboard.. Everything in there is cramped, and you run a great risk of hitting other circuit points.. And hell, I have one here you can buy from me if you really wanted to, lol.. Thanks for the insight, and I think I'll just buy me a working unit..