New User with questions about his old T23

[Andersonjoe711]

Hi everyone, I'm glad I joined this forum, I always have questions about my T23. So..........here goes:

1: Where/How can I find out the date of manufacturing of my t23?
I don't have any of the stickers or labels on the bottom unfortunately, but I can get the serial number through the My computer folder.

2: I've read alot about hard drive RPM speeds, and am wondering what all the hub-bub is about. Is it really worth it to get a faster RPM drive?

3: What is the maximum size hard drive I can get for my T23?

4: The ultraport on top of my lid is lonely, but I don't know if it would be worth getting any of the options, like the camera, or bluetooth antenna. What's the story, and where (if possible anymore) can I get any of the ultraport accessories?

5: I have the ThinkDock Type 2631, and was wondering if the Firewire port that has a plastic cover on it works, or was covered because it's inoperable unless you have it on your laptop to begin with. Also, the different monitor plugs confuse me...... Can I use them if they're not on my laptop itself, or will a high quality monitor work when the T23's docked?

6:Is it possible to get the tray that goes with the newer docking station, and put it on my Type 2631?

O.K., I think that covers my extensive list of questions.......for now.

A pre-emptive Thanks to all of you very helpful people out there for answering some (or all) of my questions!

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

1: Where/How can I find out the date of manufacturing of my t23?

Submit the TYPE (2647/2648) and serial number at this site:

Warranty lookup
Subtract the warranty period from the expiration date and that should be your laptop's date of birth (or close to it anyway).

Or just look at the last couple of digits (i.e., mm/yy) of the serial number. Ah, just re-read your post... Hmm.. you should be able to get the serial number (78-xxxxx) from the BIOS. Press and hold the F1 key while powering on and you should get to the BIOS screen. System-unit serial number will be in the form of: 264xttt78sssss

where "x" is 7 or 8, "ttt" is the 3 character type and "sssss" is the five character serial number.

2: I've read alot about hard drive RPM speeds, and am wondering what all the hub-bub is about. Is it really worth it to get a faster RPM drive?

Faster RPM = faster data access (generally).

3: What is the maximum size hard drive I can get for my T23?

Current 2.5" laptop drive is 160GB I believe. Basically anything that's PATA (parallel ATA) in a 2.5" form factor will fit. Whether or not your OS can handle it is another story.

4: The ultraport on top of my lid is lonely, but I don't know if it would be worth getting any of the options, like the camera, or bluetooth antenna. What's the story, and where (if possible anymore) can I get any of the ultraport accessories?

Dispite all of the T2x systems I have, I do not have any Ultraport equipment. Anyone else care to answer?

5: I have the ThinkDock Type 2631, and was wondering if the Firewire port that has a plastic cover on it works,... <snip>

I just recently obtained my first 2631 but it doesn't have a Firewire port on it. Is it located on the back panel or is it on one of the cards in the PCMCIA bay. You can indeed plug in a monitor (VGA port only; DVI not supported by the T23) and have both the LCD and external monitor operating at the same time.

6:Is it possible to get the tray that goes with the newer docking station, and put it on my Type 2631?

Sorry, not sure about that.

[ambientscape]

The ultraport accessories is rather rare and doesn't come cheap thou. I only saw once before (ultraport webcam)....and it does look tiny and portable. You might be able to bump into one if you're lucky on ebay.
I just saw one on sale!!!....http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Lenovo-ThinkPad ... dZViewItem

[BillMorrow]

i did not see the interposer part with that camera..

i have one here someplace (along with a BUNCH of other misc thinkpad parts) but i want to hang onto it..

for that time i find a used A31p..
which i consider a classic..

[ambientscape]

4: The ultraport on top of my lid is lonely, but I don't know if it would be worth getting any of the options, like the camera, or bluetooth antenna. What's the story, and where (if possible anymore) can I get any of the ultraport accessories?

I think I was refering to this. Would spare me one.....if u found another one, Bill??

[Andersonjoe711]

Submit the TYPE (2647/2648) and serial number at this site:
Subtract the warranty period from the expiration date and that should be your laptop's date of birth (or close to it anyway).

I checked that out, and found that the 3 year warranty expired in 2005, so it's roughly 5 years old.

Or just look at the last couple of digits (i.e., mm/yy) of the serial number......System-unit serial number will be in the form of: 264xttt78sssss

where "x" is 7 or 8, "ttt" is the 3 character type and "sssss" is the five character serial number.

I managed to automatically detect my system on lenovo's site, but the last digits of the serial number it gave me were letters.......so I'm not sure how to decipher that. I'll check the bios serial number tonight after my clases.

Current 2.5" laptop drive is 160GB I believe. Basically anything that's PATA (parallel ATA) in a 2.5" form factor will fit. Whether or not your OS can handle it is another story.

O.K., Sounds good. I just thought there was a lower maximum capacity than 160 that the T23 could handle. I'm not sure how much WinXP can handle, so I'll have to do some more research on that.

I just recently obtained my first 2631 but it doesn't have a Firewire port on it. Is it located on the back panel or is it on one of the cards in the PCMCIA bay.

It's on the back panel, next to the usb ports. I've seen the differences in the newer/older thinkdocks, and I think that might be one of them.... I'll try to put a pic up after my classes tonight.


Thank you very much for your help! I'll have to look into a few of those things.

[Andersonjoe711]

i did not see the interposer part with that camera.......

What exactly is the interposer? Is it an adapter that fits it onto the little port on top of my T23?

[Andersonjoe711]

The ultraport accessories is rather rare and doesn't come cheap thou. I only saw once before (ultraport webcam)....and it does look tiny and portable. You might be able to bump into one if you're lucky on ebay.
I just saw one on sale!!!....

Yeah, I saw that earlier too, and hopefully I'll stay the high bidder for it! I'm a tad worried about this interposer thing....... Shouldn't the camera just screw right into the port on top? Or does the interposer screw in, and then the camera locks into that somehow?

[Andersonjoe711]

I just recently obtained my first 2631 but it doesn't have a Firewire port on it. Is it located on the back panel or is it on one of the cards in the PCMCIA bay.

O.K., did some more research. FRU P/N on my Think Dock is 02K8666 and i found one on E-Bay that has a nice (better than the one I tried to take) picture of the back where the ports are. It looks like a standard 6-Pin Type 1 Firewire port. here's the URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-A-T-X-SERIES-DO ... dZViewItem

[rkawakami]

Ah, okay... that makes sense. The 2631 dock I have is an FRU 02K8660 which is missing the Firewire port. Didn't know that there were other versions. I got this dock with a T21 that had an SXGA+ screen (the main reason why I wanted it) and the "blink of death" problem, so it basically was a bonus.

[Andersonjoe711]

Nice. Everyone likes a bonus!

I was wondering, would the firewire port work if I installed the drivers for it? I mean, would it work when it's docked? or would it be a completely useless port because the T23 never came with one?

[rkawakami]

I believe that all of the built-in ports on the back of the docking station are of the "pass-through" type. So you would be correct; since the T23 does not natively support Firewire, it wouldn't work.

[Andersonjoe711]

darn....