T23 and mini-pci wifi card

[mala]

I'm looking into buying a t23 off of ebay.

I normally avoid ebay, but the prices are right for picking up a 2nd laptop. It should be lighter than my Dell i6000, and I'd be less concerned if there were some accident during my travels to and from college (on the bus).

Anyway, I'm very familiar with desktop components but a lot less informed when it comes to laptops.

I've seen a couple sigs on here citing t23s with 802.11a/b/g cards. I assume any mini-pci card should fit in the t23's slot...but were there any mods needed to get a wireless G card working, or was it simply plug+play?

Secondly, I'll probably be looking to get a new HDD and new battery. Any good sites to pick these parts up. I use newegg a lot but they don't offer t2x batteries. any referrals would be great

[ambientscape]

I'm looking into buying a t23 off of ebay.

I normally avoid ebay, but the prices are right for picking up a 2nd laptop. It should be lighter than my Dell i6000, and I'd be less concerned if there were some accident during my travels to and from college (on the bus).

Anyway, I'm very familiar with desktop components but a lot less informed when it comes to laptops.

I've seen a couple sigs on here citing t23s with 802.11a/b/g cards. I assume any mini-pci card should fit in the t23's slot...but were there any mods needed to get a wireless G card working, or was it simply plug+play?

Secondly, I'll probably be looking to get a new HDD and new battery. Any good sites to pick these parts up. I use newegg a lot but they don't offer t2x batteries. any referrals would be great

The wireless cards for T23s will vary from model. There are some T23s that already equipped with wireless B and antenna but some don't. If you got yourself a T23 with no built in antenna....most probably u need to cramp in the antenna in the mini pci slot area.
Ebay shouldn;t be a problem of getting batteries & hard disk. Get the Hitachi 60GB 7200 rpm would be ideal for faster performance.

[been200mph]

You can almost plug and play a wireless card into the side of the laptop. Some have an installation CD that comes with them to load drivers. As to a HD, keep in mind the faster HD will eat up battery power quicker too. You can use the T30 battery and those can be found on eBay too for decent pricing.

[schen]

Unlike a lot of folks, I've had very good luck with ebay, especially with random accessories like WiFi cards etc. I don't remember off-hand, but a quick search in the wireless section will turn them up; there are a couple of vendors who do a brisk business in Mini-PCI wireless cards (if you have the built in antenna). I have an Atheros A/B/G card in mine that give a "too many ethernet controllers" error on boot, but a simple ESC will go right on to the Windows load. So no big deal. I've read that there are some on this board who have done a BIOS hack that eliminates that, but I didn't want to mess with that. Anyway, the Atheros card also will hook up to the Atheros chipped "Super G" AP (such as the D-Link 624).

On the other hand, if your machine doesn't have the built in antenna, it would be far simpler to go with a PC card adapter. When I had my T20,21 & 22, I used a Linksys as well as a Nortel with no issues. I'll have to say though that the range with the built-in antennas is noticably better.

[mala]

great, i'm looking forward to getting this thinkpad from ebay. just 'cause it sounds to be more friendly to mods than any laptop i've had.

i'll probably go for the built-in antenna.

does the T30 battery really work in a T23 with no problems?

[schen]

I'm using one now and it's great. Of course, anything compared to my old 311 cycle battery seems pretty good!

[been200mph]

Yes, it's just larger on the bottom which some don't like though I believe... but it will fit right in there.

[JaneL]

On the other hand, if your machine doesn't have the built in antenna, it would be far simpler to go with a PC card adapter. When I had my T20,21 & 22, I used a Linksys as well as a Nortel with no issues. I'll have to say though that the range with the built-in antennas is noticably better.

I like the 3Com X-Jack models because the antenna retracts when you aren't using it. Retracting it also powers off the card saving on battery usage. I haven't found that their range is any less than the antenna that's built into my (currently dead) T23. YMMV, of course.

[schen]

I suspect that Nonny is quite right in that the whole antenna performance varies quite a bit. I really think that the performance differential mostly has to do with where the antenna is located (virtically behind the screen) than anything else. Of course different manufacturers antennas will have quite a bit to do with it. I personally haven't check out the 3Com with X-Jack so will have to go with other board members on their experience.

I think the long and short of it is that if you have a model with the built-in antennas, you would probably want to go the Mini-PCI route. And if the machine does have it, you'd be just as well to go with the PC Card route with a good performing antenna such as Nonny's 3Com. That is unless you have a specific reason for wanting to take do the wrenching on you machine such as just enjoying it, or not wanting something in your PC Card slot on a semi-permanent basis. I would guess that most people would just as well avoid the hassle if they can.