What's the best way to obtain a T23 System board/processor??

[LymanSS]

Hi all,
I've been struggling with this T20 for a while, trying to eliminate the hanging, BSOD, non-start condition, and other problems. I've basically tried everything and I'm ready to throw in the towel and admit it's just a bad motherboard (I was holding out hope that it could be memory, or software, or perhaps the hard drive).

So now of course I want to take advantage of the opportunity and upgrade it to a T23. But a few questions arise. Which T23 system board will give me the best performance/upgrade potential. Was there major variation among T23s other than the processors and included memory?

The other question is how to obtain one. Looking around on Ebay, the pricing seems odd. For starters, if I look for T23 system boards I find a lot of them for $150-$225. Here's one example http://cgi.ebay.com/26P8218-IBM-T23-SYS ... dZViewItem That one comes with nothing but the board.

But I'm also seeing a bunch of them that come with the complete lower housing, plus a processor, memory, and usually a Win2K sticker with a code on the bottom. And for some reason these seem to be cheaper. These are running from just under $100, up to $150 or so. Here's an example: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T23-La ... dZViewItem

Then there are complete, functional T23s that seem to be going for less than the cost of the bare board. Here's one example (although the auction is still not finished, I've seen similar pricing in the "completed auctions" section) http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-THiNKPAD-T23-LA ... dZViewItem



So what am I missing here? This pricing doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. On the surface it seems like the second option (the one with the lower housing) is the cheapest, and provides me with a processor upgrade as well as a bunch of spare parts. How could it possibly be so much cheaper.

I really don't have much cash to spend on this project so I'm seeking the most affordable route possible. But I also want to avoid getting a bad piece of hardware. Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks

Scott

[Nolonemo]

The question you need to ask first is: "Can I put a T23 board, CPU and fan in a T20 bottom tray?" If the answer is no, then you have to get the bottom tray assembly plus mobo. BTW, if you do that, you will also need to get a a T23 keyboard bezel, because that part is different than the one for the T20/21/22 (though you can mod the T20 bezel to fit in a pinch).

Unfortunately, I don't know the answer to your question, but I suspect the answer is no.

Also when you get the whole bottom assembly, you will almost certainly get the modem and ethernet daughter card, which are different than the modem/ethernet combo card in your T20. I'm not sure if the T20 card will work on a T23 board, the connectors are not compatible.

I just switched my T22 to a T23, I went the bottom tray assembly route, (plus replacing the RAM with PC133, and the keyboard bezel). After ebaying the T22 RAM, bottom assembly and keyboard bezel separately, I ended up paying about $95 net for the upgrade, including all the shipping, and my eBay and PayPal fees, and have a significantly faster machine, plus 1GB of RAM instead of the 512MB in the T22. Well worth it.

Having said that, I probably could have just bought a whole T23 and then auctioned the T22 and come out about the same.

[chan_man]

the T23 system board is somewhat different from the T20, t21 and T22 machines. The T23 has two USB ports in the back vs the 1 in the other machines. Modem card / ethernet card are the same and will work and the drives are all the same. You will need new memory. The best is to see if you can get just the bottom portion, that is case and system board together. You can still plug in your old T20 keyboard, same connector and your LCD will still plug in.

[Nolonemo]

I beg to differ on the modem/ethernet card issue. The T23 (at least mine) comes stock with a modem in the miniPCI slot and a separate ethernet "daughter card" My T22 came with a combo modem/ethernet card in the miniPCI slot and no daughter card.

I do not know if you can put the T22 combo card in a T23 miniPCI slot and hook up the additional cable connections and have it work. Maybe yes, maybe no, I don't know. But the hardware is different, at least on some T23s.

Also the USB ports on both machines are on a separate PCB from the motherboard, connected to the mobo by a cable or cables. I don't know if the cable connections are compatible, another issue you should nail down before trying a mobo only swap.

[LymanSS]

Thanks very much for the responses. So it looks like I need to get the whole bottom tray, as well as the keyboard bezel. I already have a bit of PC133 ram on hand so I won't have to worry about that. So basically if I get something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T23-wo ... dZViewItem

I'll just need to add the keyboard bezel and I'll have everything I need. Since I'm going to be using a wireless card (PCMCIA most likely, until i have the spare time and cash to hunt down a mini-pci one) I don't really need to worry about the mini-pci ethernet/modem card working in the T23. So am I forgetting anything? Thanks for all the advice.

Scott

[Nolonemo]

Hey, that's the guy I got my T23 bottom from. I didn't have any problems with the transaction.

You can shave off part of the keyboard bezel with an exacto to make it fit (but I think it would be tricky to make it a really clean mod), I decided I'd go with the proper part and offset the extra cost by auctioning off the T22 bezel. Like I said, the whole thing was a very worthwhile upgrade, IMO.

[chan_man]

Thanks very much for the responses. So it looks like I need to get the whole bottom tray, as well as the keyboard bezel. I already have a bit of PC133 ram on hand so I won't have to worry about that. So basically if I get something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T23-wo ... dZViewItem

I'll just need to add the keyboard bezel and I'll have everything I need. Since I'm going to be using a wireless card (PCMCIA most likely, until i have the spare time and cash to hunt down a mini-pci one) I don't really need to worry about the mini-pci ethernet/modem card working in the T23. So am I forgetting anything? Thanks for all the advice.

Scott

This is the easier route.. you can use your existing keyboard and top cover to mate up to the base. I have swapped t23 keyboards with T21 and T22 and no problems.

Also, the minicombo card ethernet / modem will work between these machines. I have done this many times. As an x-beemer, we had access to many of these parts and have built up some crazy machines with parts.