Help w/ buying RAM, HDD, Wifi, and Opitical Drive Barebones

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tjweaver · #1 Post by **tjweaver** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:01 pm

I just purchased a barebones IBM Thinkpad T42 through educational pricing. I now need to purchase RAM, a Hard Drive, a Wifi card, Battery,and optical drive seperately. The machine is a 2378EYU T42 INTEL PENTIUM M 1.8GHZ ($1,149) and I have no idea about compatiblitiy issues as I've never peiced together a laptop. One person mentioned Bason Computer for HDD's, Newegg for RAM, and ebay for a mini-pci wifi (not sure what mini-pci is) and DVD ROM. I'm looking for suggestions on specific parts that would work with my machine so I don't order the wrong things. I'm hoping for at least 512MB or RAM (or more), a 40 gig or larger hdd, I'd like the wifi card to be g compatible, and I'm hoping to find a good price on a DVD ROM/CD Writer combo (Does the optical drive need to be an IBM brand in order to be compatible?) I will be installing XP pro. Is there anything else I'm missing or not thinking of? Any hints, tips, and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your time and help,

jake

tselling · #2 Post by **tselling** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:39 pm

Any of these HD's on the page below will work. ZipZoomFly is very reputable and has competitive pricing and free shipping. They are usually cheaper than Ebay.
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductLi ... 6&SortBy=A

You will also need the HD caddy. Don't know the vendor... but this is the part you need. Caddy is pretty generic for Thinkapd 600, T series, A serieis and R series.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 80433&rd=1

Mini-pci has to be IBM brand due to Bios lockout of non IBM cards (FCC regulation or something).
http://search.ebay.com/ibm-wireless-g-m ... ortorderZ1

Don't pay more than IBM charges. See link below and scroll down to wireless adapters. The Mini-PCI ones are the ones you are interested in.
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... Id=2581910

Memory from newegg is good. I have personally used the Transcend 512MB sticks.
http://search.shopping.yahoo.com/search ... odimm&did=

You also need ClearPlates and IBM daughter card for Modem or Modem/Bluetooth.
Modem FRU: 93P4166 (~$23)
or
Modem/Bluetooth FRU: 91P7319 (~$68 )
and
Clear Plates FRU: 13R2455 (~$15)
& Shipping ~$14
http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

Combo drive needs to be IBM especially since super slim 9.5 mm (most laptop drives are still 12.7mm in height.
http://search.ebay.com/ibm-t40-cdrw-dri ... ageZsearch

tjweaver · #3 Post by **tjweaver** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:46 pm

Thanks for the info.

What is a clear plate and what is it used for?

jake

mdarnton · #4 Post by **mdarnton** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:47 pm

Forgive my ignorance: are ATA-5 and ATA-6 drives interchangable? I'm looking for something larger than the 40gig in my T41, and notice the difference, and that they're both in this list, but don't know what it means.

Thanks.

Leon · #5 Post by **Leon** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:55 pm

The "Clear Plate" (which is NOT clear) is the decal that shows the indicator lights and shows the model numbers on the bottom right of your screen frame.

tjweaver · #6 Post by **tjweaver** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:15 pm

I guess i'm not clear on what the clear plate is used for. Are they totally necessary? Also, when i watch the video for installing a new hdd on the t42 at ibm's support site - I don't notice the hdd caddy. Is it there and I just don't see it. Sorry if i'm slow here.

thanks again,

jake

tselling · #7 Post by **tselling** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:27 pm

While clearplates may not be absolutely necessary, your thinkpad will look funny and unfinished without. Since you need to buy the modem or modem/BT module anyways, might as well get the clearplates at the same time to combine shipping since shipping is a fixed $14 or so.

The caddy is probably assumed to be on the drive in the video/HMM. This is true if you buy an expensive official IBM Options drive. It is very slender so not especially noticeable. Its main purpose seems to be to cover the electronics on the bottom of the drive... and also two of the screws with the caddy attach to the HD cover.

Leon · #8 Post by **Leon** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:28 pm

you need a Clear Plate if you are adding Wireless or Bluetooth or you will not be able to see their respective indicator lights (unless the plate that they put on your machine already has the appropriate indicator.)

tselling · #9 Post by **tselling** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:30 pm

Also forgot to mention that the combo DVD/CDRW drive needs to be for the T4x series ultra slim bay. One for the T2x, T30, A series, or R series will not work because they will be too tall.

Leon · #10 Post by **Leon** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:31 pm

or I think you can take the caddy off of your current drive and transfer it (if you're not going to use the old drive on a thinkpad).

tjweaver · #11 Post by **tjweaver** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:44 pm

Thanks for the very helpful replies. I'm looking into all of this. The current computer doesn't come w/ a drive so i may not have the caddy. I'm ordering a battery and dvd-rom drive directly from IBM and i'm getting memory directly from Crucial and a hdd from Newegg. Right now i don't plan on buying a modem or bluetooth card so I'm still confused as to whether or not i'll need the clear plate. Is there any chance the clear plate would be shipping with my system or is that wishful thinking?

Again, thanks so much for the help so far!

jake

tselling · #12 Post by **tselling** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:44 pm

Opps, you'll need a battery too. Either the 6cell or 9cell will work. The 9cell sticks out the back a bit. Ignore the ultrabay batteries in the search list. Those can be used to add extra power by replacing the combo drive.
http://search.ebay.com/ibm-t4-battery_W ... 2Q3aUSQ3a2

tselling · #13 Post by **tselling** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 4:50 pm

tjweaver wrote:Thanks for the very helpful replies. I'm looking into all of this. The current computer doesn't come w/ a drive so i may not have the caddy. I'm ordering a battery and dvd-rom drive directly from IBM and i'm getting memory directly from Crucial and a hdd from Newegg. Right now i don't plan on buying a modem or bluetooth card so I'm still confused as to whether or not i'll need the clear plate. Is there any chance the clear plate would be shipping with my system or is that wishful thinking?

Again, thanks so much for the help so far!

jake

I believe the T40 barebones models shipped with clearplates (but they also shipped with battery & modem daughter card). The T41 and T42 models do not ship with the clear plates. There are several of them since there are different ones based on whether the unit has the modem or modem/bluetooth modules. My 2379EZU did not ship with clearplates and everyone else that I have heard from did not get clearplates with their barebones T42s.

atlacatl · #14 Post by **atlacatl** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:12 pm

What is a barebone laptop?

I'm guessing it's just the motherboard and the cpu together with LCD? Is it even functional???

There are tons of parts you seem to need - I'd think it's not worth the hassle compared to the money saved...

RaysMD · #15 Post by **RaysMD** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:29 pm

I think it's worth it for an inexpensive system. Check out what I just built for a sibling of mine.

2378-EVU 1.7G Dothan, Samsung 1400x1050, Thai kybd, open bay.
512MB RAM - $95 (Kingston)
Combo drive - $85 (eBay)
40G Hitachi 5400RPM $94 (zipzoomfly)
IBM a/b/g WiFi $86
Battery - $65
--------------------------------
Under $1,500 total

The only thing is the 2378-EVU has a Radeon Mobility 7500 32MB. It drives the SXGA+ screen just fine, though.

Now, I find out that I need clear plates.

shipping is $14 for clear plates?

Anyone willing to order 2 sets of clear plates for me and I'll paypal you the money?

tjweaver · #16 Post by **tjweaver** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:24 pm

Yes,

I might be interested in working something out with you there on the clear plates. I should be getting my machine on Monday and I can get back to you then.

Or you can email me at tjweaver@turbonet.com and we can work something out.

Anybody else interested in this?

jake

ZPrime · #17 Post by **ZPrime** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:04 pm

Yeah, I'll probably be needing the clearplates for the T42p (2379EZU) with bluetooth, 15" screen.

I think the proper part for a 15" is different than the 14", not sure though. I believe the one I need is 13R2455.

I ordered the bluetooth/modem and didn't realize i needed the clearplates too, and by the time i found out the BT/modem had already shipped and they couldn't modify the order.

I don't want to pay $15 shipping on some plastic.

Does anyone know if the clearplates come with both the "bluetooth-enabled" and "non-bluetooth" versions? or are there different packages for different options?

Leon · #18 Post by **Leon** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:47 pm

tjweaver, you have mail, ZPrime, you have a private message.....

tjweaver · #19 Post by **tjweaver** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:38 pm

Leon,

I replied to your email but it was rejected for some reason. Here is what I had replied.

"Hi,

Thanks a lot for you offer. I'm still not really sure which one [clear plate] i'll be needing. I wont be using either bluetooth or the modem (I do not believe my model is bluetooth upgradable).

The Thinkpad I ordered was a model number 2378EYU T42 15" SXGA+ IPS 64VID CTO.

How would I go about determining which clear plate I would need?

Also, do you know if it is possible to order the drive trays from there?

Thanks again,

jake"

Not sure what happened there.

jake

nsuperman86 · #20 Post by **nsuperman86** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:56 pm

is it cheaper to buy an express model and just add the compenents yourself in most cases?

and is it mainly easy to assemble most of the parts or is it recommended to go to a professional?

ZPrime · #21 Post by **ZPrime** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:28 pm

Jake:
The "drive tray" is not available on IBM's site - it is normally a component of an IBM replacement hard drive. i.e. if you buy your HDD from them directly (extremely overpriced) it will come with this already screwed on to it. The phrase "T40 hard drive caddy" will turn up a bunch of these (from the same seller in Florida) on eBay. I won one of the many auctions for $6.50 and it should be here soon. The "tray" is basically just some thin sheet metal that is used to protect the bottom of the drive and provide better mounting for the plastic cover that attaches to the outside of the notebook.

As far as bluetooth - your model *should* already have the antennas in it, which would mean you could put the bluetooth/modem module (it's a combination board) in there and have it work fine. You should go grab a copy of the T4x Hardware Maintenence Manual ("HMM") from IBM - it gives a full breakout of all parts along with how to install everything. You can also go get "tabook.pdf," which is a listing of all variations of Thinkpad across all lines - it will show you which T-series have bluetooth antennas in them and which don't. That is the only thing that makes one model "bluetooth ready" and another not - if the antenna is pre-mounted inside the LCD casing. You could theoretically buy the antenna FRU and put it inside a "non-ready" notebook to make it work with bluetooth...

You have a 2378EYU, which is a think-express, 1.8ghz, with 1 year warranty by default. It should be bluetooth-ready, as my 2379 will be (I researched before ordering.) The 2379 is just a 2378 that comes with a 3 year warranty. The "Z" in my model code means UXGA screen - your "Y" means SXGA+.

tjweaver · #22 Post by **tjweaver** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:21 pm

Thanks a lot for the help.

I can't find 2378-EYU listed anywhere. Lots of similar 2378's but not EYU. Not sure what that means.

What is the difference between the T42 and the T42p. It looks like my specs out as a "p" series (from what I can tell - ie. intel 745 proc.) accept for the display which is an SXGA and not UXGA but on my order form it doesn't list the model as a p. Does this mean anything?

Thanks,

jake

ZPrime · #23 Post by **ZPrime** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:23 pm

I believe "p" in IBM's parlance means "not Centrino." Since Centrino only means "uses Pentium M CPU, Intel chipset, and Intel wireless," and there are no other mobile chipsets that support the Pentium M, the real differentiation is that Centrino == Intel's wireless solution, whereas anything else just uses some other manufacturer's card.

IMHO Centrino is BAD, as Intel's wireless is not as good as, say, a Cisco B or the IBM/Philips a/b/g card. Now, if your laptop came with NO wireless, technically it can be whatever you want depending on which card you put in. I believe IBM says "p" when it is specifically NON-Centrino.

atlacatl · #24 Post by **atlacatl** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:39 pm

ZPrime wrote:I believe "p" in IBM's parlance means "not Centrino." Since Centrino only means "uses Pentium M CPU, Intel chipset, and Intel wireless," and there are no other mobile chipsets that support the Pentium M, the real differentiation is that Centrino == Intel's wireless solution, whereas anything else just uses some other manufacturer's card.

IMHO Centrino is BAD, as Intel's wireless is not as good as, say, a Cisco B or the IBM/Philips a/b/g card. Now, if your laptop came with NO wireless, technically it can be whatever you want depending on which card you put in. I believe IBM says "p" when it is specifically NON-Centrino.

Actually, the "p" in the machine is just to differentiate it from regular machines. The "p" in the name, makes it a high end graphics workstation...

The Centrino label comes from the use of Intel technology. A centrino machine = Pentium M CPU + Intel mother board + Intel wireless card.

A non centrino machine = Pentium M CPU + Intel mother board + Any wireless card (Such as IBM card)...

Usually the high end machines (T40p, T41p, T42p) have better graphic card (128 MB video card) and a better wireless card such as the IBM a/b/g and not just the Intel b card - Thus, a non-centrino machine, if we use the Intel parlance...

The T40p came with a 64 MB video card, so at the time it came out it was actually a high end machine; however, the T42 (NON p) now comes with a 64 MB video card and the T42p comes with the 128 MB video card...So, yesterdays top of the line, is now obsolete stuff, by today's standards

EDIT: However, if you see the description of the above, you can still get a T42p (High machine) which is Centrino worthy...

I.e. 128 MB video card + Pentium M + Intel motherboard + Intel wireless...

ZPrime · #25 Post by **ZPrime** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 4:10 pm

atlacatl wrote:
ZPrime wrote:I believe "p" in IBM's parlance means "not Centrino." Since Centrino only means "uses Pentium M CPU, Intel chipset, and Intel wireless," and there are no other mobile chipsets that support the Pentium M, the real differentiation is that Centrino == Intel's wireless solution, whereas anything else just uses some other manufacturer's card.

IMHO Centrino is BAD, as Intel's wireless is not as good as, say, a Cisco B or the IBM/Philips a/b/g card. Now, if your laptop came with NO wireless, technically it can be whatever you want depending on which card you put in. I believe IBM says "p" when it is specifically NON-Centrino.
Actually, the "p" in the machine is just to differentiate it from regular machines. The "p" in the name, makes it a high end graphics workstation...

The Centrino label comes from the use of Intel technology. A centrino machine = Pentium M CPU + Intel mother board + Intel wireless card.

A non centrino machine = Pentium M CPU + Intel mother board + Any wireless card (Such as IBM card)...

Usually the high end machines (T40p, T41p, T42p) have better graphic card (128 MB video card) and a better wireless card such as the IBM a/b/g and not just the Intel b card - Thus, a non-centrino machine, if we use the Intel parlance...

The T40p came with a 64 MB video card, so at the time it came out it was actually a high end machine; however, the T42 (NON p) now comes with a 64 MB video card and the T42p comes with the 128 MB video card...So, yesterdays top of the line, is now obsolete stuff, by today's standards

EDIT: However, if you see the description of the above, you can still get a T42p (High machine) which is Centrino worthy...

I.e. 128 MB video card + Pentium M + Intel motherboard + Intel wireless...

Ah, so the p stands for "Powerful".

I'm well aware of the distinction between Centrino & "any other P-M non-Centrino laptop", and I had been told (and it seemed to agree from what I've seen) that the "p" meant "non-Intel wireless (aka non-Centrino)."

tjweaver · #26 Post by **tjweaver** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:12 pm

Thanks for the info guys. I guess I have a non p machine and there for have "p" envy. Time to go buy that big truck.

On another note, I received my T42 today! I wasn't expecting it until Monday. Memory from Crucial has also arived and now i'm just waiting on battery, hdd, and optical drive (kind of hard to play with without these).

jake

atlacatl · #27 Post by **atlacatl** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:56 pm

tjweaver wrote:Thanks for the info guys. I guess I have a non p machine and there for have "p" envy. Time to go buy that big truck.

On another note, I received my T42 today! I wasn't expecting it until Monday. Memory from Crucial has also arived and now i'm just waiting on battery, hdd, and optical drive (kind of hard to play with without these).

jake

Ok, I'm still confused - So, you buy just the shell and then build the computer part by part?

It sounds like a lot of fun - Well, the wait would kill me - Also, I didn't know IBM sold empty sheels...

RaysMD · #28 Post by **RaysMD** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 9:30 pm

Here's your answer.

Most open bay models DO NOT come with the following:

hard drive
dvd/cdrw drive
battery
modem/bluetooth card
Wi-Fi miniPCI card
clear stickers

The DO come with the AC adapter.

Help w/ buying RAM, HDD, Wifi, and Opitical Drive Barebones

Help w/ buying RAM, HDD, Wifi, and Opitical Drive Barebones

Re: Help w/ buying RAM, HDD, Wifi, and Opitical Drive Barebo

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