What Upgrades for a22m?

[JJDetroit]

Friend of mine gave me this ThinkPad to evaluate, as a possible gift to a friend with an older HP that is dying. It needs a RAM boost: only has 192MB, and I plan to run it up to the 512 max. Currently running Win98SE. It has the "Designed for Win2K" sticker. If I buy a copy of that, can I still get any drivers I'd need from Lenovo? Are there any DIY hardware upgrades that make sense? I have a lot of experience with upgrading desktops, but nothing beyond RAM upgrades and HDD replacement with laptops.

John, Clinton Township, MI

[JJDetroit]

Friend of mine gave me this ThinkPad to evaluate, as a possible gift to a friend with an older HP that is dying. It needs a RAM boost: only has 192MB, and I plan to run it up to the 512 max. Currently running Win98SE. It has the "Designed for Win2K" sticker. If I buy a copy of that, can I still get any drivers I'd need from Lenovo? Are there any DIY hardware upgrades that make sense? I have a lot of experience with upgrading desktops, but nothing beyond RAM upgrades and HDD replacement with laptops.

John, Clinton Township, MI

OK, since no one made any suggestions, I'm going to ask three specific questions:

1. I'm going to do the upgrade to Win2K. I already bumped the RAM to 384MB. Will I be able to run the display at anything higher than the current 800 x 600 in Win2K? If not, is a screen upgrade possible to accomplish this?

2. Was there a docking station made for this model, that I might be able to find on eBay or the like?

3. What's my best option for adding wireless to this machine?

[ajkula66]

OK, first things first:

Please post the 7-character model number of your A22m, it should be on the sticker on the bottom of the machine, something like 262?-??? so we know what we're dealing with. Some of these machines have 800x600 resolution, while others go as high up as 1400x1050, but we have to know which one this is.

All the appropriate drivers are available from Lenovo's website. W2K will run very well on this machine.

Assuming that this is no one of the rare A22m units that left the factory with wireless installed, I'd suggest a PCMCIA card.

There are different docking station that will work with this unit, depending on how much you're willing to spend. Throw "a22m docking station" into eBay search and you'll probably get to hundreds of them....

Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions.

[JJDetroit]

OK, first things first:

Please post the 7-character model number of your A22m, it should be on the sticker on the bottom of the machine, something like 262?-??? so we know what we're dealing with. Some of these machines have 800x600 resolution, while others go as high up as 1400x1050, but we have to know which one this is.

All the appropriate drivers are available from Lenovo's website. W2K will run very well on this machine.

Assuming that this is no one of the rare A22m units that left the factory with wireless installed, I'd suggest a PCMCIA card.

There are different docking station that will work with this unit, depending on how much you're willing to spend. Throw "a22m docking station" into eBay search and you'll probably get to hundreds of them....

Hope this helps and feel free to ask more questions.

It's a 2628-QSU.

No particular preference for a PCMCIA card?

I spotted an IBM docking station for the A22 series on eBay this morning for around $20, including shipping. Very surprised they go that cheap.

[virge]

1. I'm going to do the upgrade to Win2K. I already bumped the RAM to 384MB. Will I be able to run the display at anything higher than the current 800 x 600 in Win2K? If not, is a screen upgrade possible to accomplish this?

Adding more memory will not affect the screen resolution. You're limited by the LCD panel itself. I'm not sure about the screen upgrade. There are other posts on this topic. I do know that I've gone from a 15" XGA to a 14" XGA on my A22m with no problems.

3. What's my best option for adding wireless to this machine?

Any PCMCIA card should work as long as it has drivers for your operating system.

Just my opinion: I own an A22m but am not a big fan of the A2x series. Memory is expensive, and its heavy and slow. You'd be better off investing the money in a T23 or similar machine.

[JJDetroit]

1. I'm going to do the upgrade to Win2K. I already bumped the RAM to 384MB. Will I be able to run the display at anything higher than the current 800 x 600 in Win2K? If not, is a screen upgrade possible to accomplish this?

Adding more memory will not affect the screen resolution. You're limited by the LCD panel itself. I'm not sure about the screen upgrade. There are other posts on this topic. I do know that I've gone from a 15" XGA to a 14" XGA on my A22m with no problems.

3. What's my best option for adding wireless to this machine?

Any PCMCIA card should work as long as it has drivers for your operating system.

Just my opinion: I own an A22m but am not a big fan of the A2x series. Memory is expensive, and its heavy and slow. You'd be better off investing the money in a T23 or similar machine.

Not my machine, just one I'm evaluating for a friend. I didn't mean to imply I thought the RAM upgrade would do anything about the resolution. I was hoping either the Win2K drivers could produce a higher res, or something similar. Did you really mean to say you went from an XGA display to a SMALLER XGA display?

[virge]

Not my machine, just one I'm evaluating for a friend. I didn't mean to imply I thought the RAM upgrade would do anything about the resolution. I was hoping either the Win2K drivers could produce a higher res, or something similar. Did you really mean to say you went from an XGA display to a SMALLER XGA display?

Sorry I misunderstood your question. Even with newer drivers, you'll still be limited to the SVGA by the panel. Its a physical limitation.

On my A22m I went to a smaller XGA panel because that's what I had on hand and I didn't want to invest anymore into the machine. Right now its being used a print server. As a print server, its working very well-- it's been in uninterrupted service for the last 6-8 months.

[RealBlackStuff]

Product: ThinkPad A22m 2628-QSU [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: PIII 800MHz (256KB), 64MB RAM, 20.0GB HDD, 12.1 SVGA(800x600) TFT LCD, 24x-10x CD-ROM, Intel Combo, Li-Ion battery, Win98

Regardless of driver, you are stuck with 800x600, unless you replace the LCD (and bezel and probably LCD-cable + inverter) or the whole lid for an XGA or even SXGA+ if that exists.

That laptop would be just about suitable to do some surfing and emailing, but not much else.
Don't waste any money on it.

[JJDetroit]

Product: ThinkPad A22m 2628-QSU [change]
Operating system: All [change]

Original description: PIII 800MHz (256KB), 64MB RAM, 20.0GB HDD, 12.1 SVGA(800x600) TFT LCD, 24x-10x CD-ROM, Intel Combo, Li-Ion battery, Win98

Regardless of driver, you are stuck with 800x600, unless you replace the LCD (and bezel and probably LCD-cable + inverter) or the whole lid for an XGA or even SXGA+ if that exists.

That laptop would be just about suitable to do some surfing and emailing, but not much else.
Don't waste any money on it.

I think surfing and emailing is the bulk of what the intended user would be doing. The RAM bump cost me $40, a Win2K upgrade less than $60. I'll stop there.

[ajkula66]

BTW, even if you were to swap the LCD and cable, it wouldn't get you anywhere. A2x series mobos are resolution-specific, and your board will only drive its current resolution.