Installed a Flexview into T42

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off1c3r · #1 Post by **off1c3r** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:27 am

Hey all

I have been so into the whole idea of the flexview screen I just wanted to see how it looked for myself. I found myself a UXGA flexview on ebay, brand new. Picked it up and I was going to build it into a T60 but spare parts and broken units are hard to find. I was suggested to Try a T43. As I heard T43s can work with them, I just never heard of it being put on a T42? Well here goes..

I found a T42 on ebay. 15" ATI9600 64mb Graphics and came with an SXGA screen. The screen was busted.. it worked, but it had some spots on it and stuff. It had only 512 ram, 1.8ghz CPU, and 80gig hd. I am going to replace the fan because its making some noise even though i cleaned it up as much as I can. The mouse buttons were broken and thanks to richk, I got a new touchpad/mouse button setup to change up the one It came with. I also replaced the 512 ram with 2gb (1gb x2) of Corsair ram. I was going to change the CPU from the 1.8 to a 2.1 but then I saw that infamous gunk on the GPU that I just didn't want to deal with so I closed it up for now. Also replacing the 80gb 5400 with a Hitachi 160gb 5400.

I ordered a UXGA RoHS cable from IBM for $35. Came in the next day hot!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... tparts.jpg

I worked on my kitchen counter.. my room was a mess .. excuse the random inserts of food in the picture =)

Here is the T42:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... 42/t42.jpg

The new flexview!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... exview.jpg

On and working with the SXGA:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... 42sxga.jpg

Starting the process:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... /open1.jpg

Naked!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... /open2.jpg

Swaping the mouse buttons/pad:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... uttons.jpg

LCD coming off:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... lcdoff.jpg

LCD off:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... cdoff2.jpg

SXGA screen out:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... lcdout.jpg

Flexview in:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... viewin.jpg

Rebuilding:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... ilding.jpg

Finished!
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... /done1.jpg

Look 1600x1200 T42 yay:
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p192 ... /done2.jpg

It looks nice so far but I am tired.. I'll try watching some videos,dvds, games etc later. I'll compare it side by side to my T41 which has a 14" SXGA screen ..

I want to say thanks to Troels for helping me out with LCD info and stuff! =)

coreman · #2 Post by **coreman** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:35 am

Nice job! Always very satisfying to do it yourself!

Troels · #3 Post by **Troels** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:09 am

That looks like an excellent outcome.
I promise myselv never to work with LCDs everytime i reseat it into the LCD lid.. it's so much work to do - i understand why you're tired now.
As Coreman said, DIY is very satisfying. Congrats!

off1c3r · #4 Post by **off1c3r** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:21 pm

Thanks guys!

I never took apart an LCD before so it was a first. I was surprised how only 3 of the standard screws held down the those heavy duty brackets ... I thought I was going to deal with bigger bolts or something ... It was fun overall.. just one hairraising part was when my screwdriver slipped when I was screwing in the mounting bracket onto the new flexview and it fell and I thought it scratched down the entire front of the screen! I gasped and then looked and there wasn't a mark. It must have JUST missed ... I would have probably cried if that happened haha...

DIY is great =) .. Now just need to decide what CPU to put in, and then put in the HD and good to go. Well I don't know if I should a get a replacement long fan or not.. this one is making a lot of little noises.. kind of annoying. Maybe I'll check the marketplace for it.

billp117 · #5 Post by **billp117** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:47 pm

Excellent job...gives us more confidence to tackel screen replacement to a flexview.

ajkula66 · #6 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:38 pm

BTW, your T42 had a FlexView to begin with-that poor broken SXGA+ was a FlexView. It is even more appealing now, of course, with UXGA.

Congrats on a job well done! Enjoy!

off1c3r · #7 Post by **off1c3r** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:45 pm

ajkula66 wrote:BTW, your T42 had a FlexView to begin with-that poor broken SXGA+ was a FlexView. It is even more appealing now, of course, with UXGA.

Congrats on a job well done! Enjoy!

Really? The screens seemed SO different. With both screens off, the 15" UXGA flex had a nice blueish hue to the screen, while the SXGA was just pure black. Also the colors are different.. I just double checked and yeah you are right, this was an IDTech 15" FRU 92p6680. Personally, i was able to see both screens side by side and the boehydis I put in seems to look so much nicer though =) .. So far I am glad I did it though =)

ajkula66 · #8 Post by **ajkula66** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:55 pm

Boe-Hydis is as good as it gets when it comes to LCDs IMHO, and not just FlexView ones...although ID Tech is nothing to sneeze at either.

You've compiled a very sweet machine so far. Now sell your kidney for a good 7200rpm HDD and enjoy it thoroughly...

off1c3r · #9 Post by **off1c3r** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:49 pm

ajkula66 wrote:Boe-Hydis is as good as it gets when it comes to LCDs IMHO, and not just FlexView ones...although ID Tech is nothing to sneeze at either.

You've compiled a very sweet machine so far. Now sell your kidney for a good 7200rpm HDD and enjoy it thoroughly...

From what I saw.. I have to back you up 100%. The Boe-Hydis is just so nice compared to the last one.. I think its great. I put a 5400 in just for power/noise issues but I am happy with it =)

Installed a Flexview into T42

Installed a Flexview into T42

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