How can I upgrade my T41

[cloudyxu]

Hi, All

I have a T41 and want to upgrade it into a Vista compatible computer. What I want to do is to order a new mother board, new RAM, and new har drive....

Can any one tell me which mother board should I order? Because there are differences among different boards. Besides, can I order X series borad to replace T series board?

Thanks

[Msmax]

Think it is cheaper to buy a new notebook...

Msmax

[ThinkPad]

I think if you really wanted to, you could upgrade your Banias CPU to a Dothan; perhaps a 2.0 (760). Ram increase is an obvious choice, but you can also get a faster hard drive, 7200 rpm will surely give you the extra boost.

[Harryc]

If you want to do Aero I believe you need a board with 128MB video RAM. That would be a T41/P board - FRU 93P3313. It has an ATI M10 GL-128 GPU, which is equivalent to a Mobility 9600. I agree with Thinkpad above, get 2GB RAM, a Dothan 2.0 CPU, and a 7200RPM hard drive for best performance. Given that list, I also agree with Msmax who states that a new machine might be a better choice price wise.

[God_Of_Death]

Think it is cheaper to buy a new notebook...

Msmax

i second this, unless you really love to tinker. i will admit, it feels good to max out your lappy. but really, the money that you will spend on ram, hd and a cpu you could probably get a dual core lappy with 2gigs of ram, a big 5400rmp drive and vista.

it took me a few months but i upgraded my T41 to 2gigs of ram, 2ghz cpu, 100gig ibm 7200rpm drive, SXGA screen and right now i am waiting on the internal bluetooth and then it will be complete. keep in mind that it took months to find a cheap and fully assembled SXGA screen. the cpu's are very expensive, the ram too. the hd is about the only thing that was cheap. the blue tooth adapter was $40 btw.

i say part with the money and buy a new lappy.

[SlamX]

Buy a new laptop. You will have no warranty doing all the upgrades you want to do.

[ThinkPad]

And just an FYI, Ill be selling my 1.8 Dothan very soon

[cloudyxu]

Thanks, every one.

I can't just dump this machin and buy a new one.
This is a gift from my mom.

[pianowizard]

cloudyxu, what are the current specifications of this T41, and what's its 7-character product code (which can be found on the bottom side)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the display resolution is only 1024x768, then even 32MB of video RAM is enough for Vista's Aero Glass interface. In this case, you won't have to upgrade the motherboard. But you probably don't care about Aero Glass anyway (I don't). It would be better to disable Aero Glass and other kinds of eye candy to maximize performance.

[kosse]

I think if you really wanted to, you could upgrade your Banias CPU to a Dothan; perhaps a 2.0 (760). Ram increase is an obvious choice, but you can also get a faster hard drive, 7200 rpm will surely give you the extra boost.

A small correction. Pentium M "Dothan" 2GHz 755 (400fsb) will work but 760 won't at full speed since it has default fsb of 533mhz. pentium M 765 (2,1GHz) might work too, at least it uses 400fsb but they are awfully expensive.

[ulrich.von.lich]

cloudyxu, what are the current specifications of this T41, and what's its 7-character product code (which can be found on the bottom side)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the display resolution is only 1024x768, then even 32MB of video RAM is enough for Vista's Aero Glass interface. In this case, you won't have to upgrade the motherboard. But you probably don't care about Aero Glass anyway (I don't). It would be better to disable Aero Glass and other kinds of eye candy to maximize performance.

Pianowizard, I think Aero Glass interface demands 64MB for 1024*768 and 128MB for resolutions from 1024*768 to 1920*1200, in order to enable it on your monster R50p, you'll have to have like 512MB. The newer ATI chips have the HyperMemory which makes Aero possible for certain graphic cards with limited on-board memory.

But you are right, Aero doesn't necessarily mean the productivity. I can run it on my T43 with X300 but I disabled it. I'm using the classic theme.

[pianowizard]

Pianowizard, I think Aero Glass interface demands 64MB for 1024*768

Thanks for the correction. I remembered that 64MB is enough for 1400x1050, so I thought 1024x768 would only need 32MB.

[Kyocera]

You can run the Windows Experience index program to see where you stand. I ran Vista on my other T42 and it was not worth it.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/produc ... visor.mspx

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Window ... a1033.mspx

[beeblebrox]

Thanks, every one.

I can't just dump this machin and buy a new one.
This is a gift from my mom.

That's no excuse!
For 10 years Thinkpads looked all the same. Get a newer Thinkpad! Nobody will ever notice.

[SteveS]

I can't just dump this machin(e) and buy a new one.
This is a gift from my mom.

Then consider forgetting about Vista! As others have pointed out, upgrading will probably cost more than buying a new notebook. And while many members of this forum have rebuilt ThinkPads (myself included!), the possibility of exposure to degrading ESD, reusing the “one use” nylon coated screws, etc can only lower the reliability of your PC.
Sure Vista has some security enhancements. It also still has a lot of bugs, and even Lenovo lists non-compatibilities with several of the legacy ThinkPad drivers in the install readme files. Finally, many third party software applications are either not compatible or have known issues with Vista. IMO, the best way to get Vista is to buy a computer with it already installed. That way at least most of the machine specific drivers should have the Vista induced bugs worked out.