Thinkpads.com R51 Project - (Pic Warning)

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#121 Post by **Harryc** » Thu Aug 28, 2008 5:03 pm

Unfortunately most guys are looking for sticks of 256MB RAM for T22's.

beGi · #122 Post by **beGi** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:59 am

Things like this (and others

) make this forum better than any other... Keep up the good work... I wish I could help, but I'm far far away... Good luck...

#123 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 9:26 am

Thanks for the positive feedback, it is appreciated, and you can definitely help. Come up with a good suggestion for our next project.

. Maybe suggest a machine that you'd like to learn more about and list those things that you'd like to see covered. We're not able to afford high end equipment yet, so please keep it older than the T6X series.

#124 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:56 pm

Here are the results. The patient survived.. You gotta love Flexview, simply breathtaking ...
Next up, when George's hard drive arrives, we'll install XP and wait for the hard drive cover to arrive from China. Then we run Ray's tests, then up for sale she goes.

#125 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:02 pm

Hey, good job! Looks beautiful!

#126 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:04 pm

Thanks Ray!.

doog · #127 Post by **doog** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 7:57 pm

Harry
One word to describe your project. Wow!!

I don't know who was taking pictures but they done a good job also.

Thanks for sharing

sarbin · #128 Post by **sarbin** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:08 pm

Harryc wrote:Here are the results. The patient survived.. You gotta love Flexview, simply breathtaking ...
Next up, when George's hard drive arrives, we'll install XP and wait for the hard drive cover to arrive from China. Then we run Ray's tests, then up for sale she goes.

yeah, baby!!!

really nice job, Harry.

#129 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:21 pm

Harry, a quick question... is the inverter the original one or the one you got off of eBay? I quickly scanned back through the thread but didn't see anything about it.

#130 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:33 pm

doog and sarbin, thanks for the kind words. Doog, thanks for the PM. The pictures were taken by me with a SONY Cybershot 8.1 megapixel camera.

Ray, sorry I didn't mention it, I used the new inverter. I still have the old one, which is good. fasterbybike mentioned having received (2) broken CCFLs from Moniserv. Honestly I am not sure how that might be possible. First, the CCFL tube is rubber banned to a double length of thick flat cardboard over the length of it. Then it is wrapped in bubble wrap. Then it is put inside a non-flexible/thick corrugated tube, whose ends are then crimped. That whole contraption goes into a full length triangular box made just for CCFLs. It is thick and sturdy....so I dunno. I guess if you took a hammer to it

. The trip to New Zealand is a long one though. Who knows what happens on the way there.

#131 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:51 pm

Harryc wrote:Ray, sorry I didn't mention it, I used the new inverter. I still have the old one, which is good.

Sorry for being pedantic, but by "good" to you mean that the old one is 100% functional, or that it's "good" that you still have it in your possesion

?

Harryc wrote:fasterbybike mentioned having received (2) broken CCFLs from Moniserv. <snip> The trip to New Zealand is a long one though. Who knows what happens on the way there.

Customs.

#132 Post by **Harryc** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:53 pm

Ray, both. I still have it and it is 100% functional. Do you need one?

#133 Post by **rkawakami** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:57 pm

Not now... maybe later

. If I don't PM you about it before you sell the system, then you might as well include it with the laptop as a spare for the new owner.

#134 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:48 am

sarbin had an idea to improve the value of the project's R51 machine, so I figured I'd throw it out there for consideration by the members. The top LCD cover is scratched in one area and it has some faded white paint in one spot, about 1.5 inches square. sarbin's idea was to replace the lid to increase the resale value of the machine. Honestly, I have already exceeded my personal budget for this project, so we'd be looking for donations of $$ or an actual 15" R5X lid. They go for around $25 shipped on EBay. My idea was to offer the prospective buyer the option of purchasing the machine as is or with a new lid for X amount of dollars more. Your thoughts?

Existing LCD Cover
R51 LCD Cover on EBay
Yet another R51 LCD cover alternative on EBay

ajkula66 · #135 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:31 am

You'll have the HDD by Wednesday...

As for the lid, since this is a "project" machine, and the cost needs to be kept low-and the selling price reasonable-I believe that the existing one should do...

My $.02 only...

Great job, Harry, by all means...

#136 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:42 am

Well, you've got a point George. Not to mention the fact that the rest of the machine is not 'top end' as far as drives, RAM, battery, etc.

Basically we've built a low priced project machine, albeit fully functional with a kick'in LCD, yet it should be priced accordingly. What drive will you be sending George?
Thanks for the positive acknowledgment.,

ajkula66 · #137 Post by **ajkula66** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:06 am

I've got several 40GB drives that have been sitting for a while...

The spare time I get over this weekend will be utilized (amongst other things) to clean them, format them and choose the best one for our project machine...

My apologies for delaying this undertaking, but I simply have next to no time left during the work days...

#138 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:14 am

I thought it might be interesting to some members to see what an average Thinkpadder might pay for this project. I will use the lowest prices that I can find on EBay for the 'donated' items. We're going to assume that we don't need a dock;

Actual costs -
$61.11 - R51 and Toshiba Laptops
$18.98 - Inverter
$19.98 - CCFL
$22.50 - Keyboard
Estimated Costs -
$20.00 - DVD Drive
$15.00 - AC adapter
$32.00 - 40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
$8.00 - Keyboard Screws - (complete screw kit)
$13.00 - Hard Drive cover and hard drive caddy screws
$30.00 - Battery

Total = $240

In my mind, the kicker with the stripped down machines that are numerous on EBay is that the costs of adding the stripped parts back in can be expensive and can add up fast. Still, you could not buy this machine for $240 in working condition. Now, if you already have some parts on hand, that's when it starts to become really cost effective.

sparta.rising · #139 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:06 pm

Have you tried taking that paint off with iso alcohol? I had really good luck removing white paint from a T42 I bought by just rubbing it with alcohol and a shammy.

#140 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 12:21 pm

I've tried alcohol, but not a shammy. I'll try it.

virge · #141 Post by **virge** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:16 pm

Just received the HDD cover from wibony... will fwd to Harryc on Tuesday.

#142 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:38 pm

Virge, thanks.
sparta.rising, I tried alcohol and a shammy, but that didn't come close to cutting it. So I broke out the Oops multipurpose remover. That worked.

sparta.rising · #143 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:14 pm

I'll have to see if I can pick up some of that Oops stuff.

I just picked up 4 R51's today (cheap). 3 of them have bad backlights! Makes you wonder about those R51 panels. I don't yet know what their model number is because the barcode strips are missing.

#144 Post by **Harryc** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:26 pm

If they are not flexview LCD's the replacement procedure is not as easy I think. Good luck. As far the the Oops, it's great stuff for paint or sticker/glue removal. I would test it on an inconspicuous spot where ever you use it though. It's some nasty chemical that has a long name

sparta.rising · #145 Post by **sparta.rising** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:34 pm

They're 14.1" so not flexview (unfortunately). But I've replaced ccfl tubes before.

fasterbybike · #146 Post by **fasterbybike** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 6:45 pm

rkawakami wrote:
Harryc wrote:<snip> The trip to New Zealand is a long one though. Who knows what happens on the way there.
Customs.

I did wonder how they could arrive broken because, to be fair to Moniserv, their packaging was well layered. In hindsight some butter fingered customs officer opened the package looking for contraband

Maybe the inside cardboard tube needs a "fragile" sticker on it.

Anyway, Harry an interesting project and a good learning process for anyone considering something similar. Thanks for taking the time to coordinate and document it.

#147 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:41 am

fasterbybike, hopefully we'll have many more projects in this series. No need for thanks, but I do appreciate it.

To everyone reading this ... Ok, so we're a week away from having a machine to sell. It's time to start discussing pricing. How do we price this machine? I am looking for your input and suggestions on asking price and wording for the Ad. Here's the final specs;

Product: ThinkPad R51 1836-BBU [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description:
P M 1.6GHz
256MB RAM >>Now 512MB RAM
60GB 4200rpm HDD >>Now 40GB 5400rpm HDD
15 SXGA+(1400x1050) TFT Flexview LCD
32MB ATI Radeon 9000
24x24x24x/8x CD-RW/DVD >>Now Ultrabay Slim DVD Drive
Intel 802.11b/g wireless(MPCI)
Modem(CDC)
1Gb Ethernet(LOM)
UltraNav
Secure Chip
IEEE 1394 Firewire
6 cell Li-Ion battery - 15wh/47.5wh (full/design) Lasts at least an hour
WinXP Pro
AC Adapter

I think what we'll do is give everyone who wants to reply 2 days to do so. I will then take all of the recommended prices and average them to get a final asking price. By the way, the outside look of the machine has improved since I spent some time on it yesterday. I'll post some pics in awhile.

#148 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 10:25 am

Here's a couple of pics -

http://thinkpads.vedet.net/pictures/DSC01280_a.JPG
http://thinkpads.vedet.net/pictures/DSC01282_a.JPG
http://thinkpads.vedet.net/pictures/DSC01283_a.JPG
http://thinkpads.vedet.net/pictures/DSC01284_a.JPG
http://thinkpads.vedet.net/pictures/DSC01286_a.JPG

Note: The bright spot in the first pic is reflection of light, not paint. In the fourth pic, you may notice that the rear feet have been replaced as well.

kajencik · #149 Post by **kajencik** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 1:59 pm

I just want to apologize for some vedet.net downtime in the past day, it's still only a home server sitting on a common internet connection, which is however not an excuse for me, and I'm doing my best to keep it up most of the time. And of course, it is very exciting to be a part of this, although only as a "service provider"

#150 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Aug 31, 2008 2:07 pm

kajencik, thanks for helping us out. It was really great of you to offer.
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Thinkpads.com R51 Project - (Pic Warning)

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