T.60 14.1" Screen Swap - XGA to SXGA+

[Sean S]

Hello all,

I was refered to here from notebookreview.com to ask some more questions about my planned screenswap.

I have a t.60 14.1" thnkpad with the XGA screen. I am attempting to put an SXGA+ screen into it.

I have just bought this screen: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0375367120

I have also heard i need to buy a new inverter. I am purchasing this: http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Lenovo-T60-SXGA ... ltDomain_0

Do I need anything else or need to know anything else to do this swap? I have integrated graphics if that's pertinent, and no bluetooth or WWan. I'm assuming I can just take out the old screen and inverter and plug in the new one, and away I go? Any new drivers?

Thanks
Sean

[ajkula66]

You should be fine, nothing else is required...

Please let us know how the swap went once you're done with it.

Good luck.

[Sean S]

Thanks

So, just to be clear, I DON'T need the new inverter? My existing inverter will do fine?

I'll let you know how it goes

[yak]

That's a pretty good deal you got there.

I don't see this FRU (42T0369) in the T60 HMM (Hardware Maintenance Manual) but other sources indeed confirm that you should be ok with this screen.

I have done the exact same swap myself, some months ago. You don't need the inverter, the one from XGA will do just fine (in fact, the HMM lists the same inverter FRUs for both XGA and SXGA+). You've been probably misinformed because one had to change the inverter in T4x series.

So as long as you have the right screen, the swap is simple. Get the old screen out, put the new one in.

You may want to take a look at the HMM to see what exactly has to be unscrewed to get to the panel. You can find the HMM here:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62733

I strongly advise you to first lift the whole LCD assembly from the base and take it apart later. It isn't that much extra work and it will make the main work much easier. It will also minimize the risk of breaking something.

Good luck.

[underclocker]

Sounds very easy. So...

1) Please confirm that all you need to swap is the SXGA+ panel?
2) The XGA inverter and LCD cable work with the SXGA+ panel?
3) This is true for either the ATI or Intel GPU T60's?

Bonus question...

4) Do the SXGA+ LCD's from T4x machines work in T60's? (I believe they do, but would love confirmation from someone that did the swap.)

[Sean S]

Great news Thanks for saving me the $20 on a new inverter.

So, hopefully this will be a simple swap, and I'm glad I found people on here that have already done it.

I have the on-site warranty and they did come one time to change the screen, so I do hope it won't be too hard to replace after watching him.

I'll keep you guys posted on the results.

[yak]

Like I said, the only trick here is to get the right screen. It *HAS* to be a screen for T60. A T4x one will *NOT* work. This is because T4x series used different LCD cables to detect the type of the screen (XGA, SXGA+). In T60, there is only one cable and there is a special EEPROM memory chip on the LCD (check for EDID on wikipedia) with the screen type stored inside it. The contents of this chip are read by the notebook upon startup. This chip also has some Lenovo specific data and if it's not there, the machine will not boot. That's why you have to get a screen specifically for T60, even the same model from a different laptop brand will not work.

There's a sticky in the T6x forum about the screens. Take a look there to learn more about it.

All 14.1" T60 whether ATI or Intel and whether XGA or SXGA+ use the same LCD cable and inverters. Ok, there are actually two LCD cables but the only difference between them is that one has a socket for the Bluetooth daughter card and the other doesn't. So if you're doing an upgrade of the LCD, you don't have to replace anything but the LCD itself.

Sean, doing the upgrade will probably void your warranty, you know that, right?

[Sean S]

yak,

awesome posts and a wealth of information. I really appreciate it (goes to the rest of you as well).

Let's hope that this LCD does actually include the chip. I'll check for it when it arrives. I've already done A LOT of research on this, but not until now have people been able to give me such in-depth info. I will continue this thread when it arrives.

Also, yak:

I'm not sure what this board's views are on how far to push your warranty, but I have a few thoughts on it.

First off, I understand this will void my warranty.
In my personal experience, Lenovo has treated me very well. They never ask me a lot of questions nor pry me for information, I just tell them what's wrong and the next day someone shows up at my house and (no questions asked) fixed any issue I have - the techs have even fixed other things for me without charging when they show up (I have the 3-year on-site warranty, expires net year). The also sent me the keyboard of my choice when I got a replacement that I didn't like, AND told me to keep the old keyboard (I declined the on-site and just told them to ship it to me).

Additionally, I have already had this current screen changed one time before. I watched the tech change the screen, and he left the usual scuff marks from working on the inside during his replacement. The way I see it, no one will know if I swap the LCD back before warranty work since it has already been worked on.

If things don't work out, and assuming I don't jam a cable where it shouldn't go, do I run a real risk of destroying something?

Thanks
Sean

[yak]

Yes, this forum is great . I just give back what was once given to me when I arrived here with a lot of questions about my first ThinkPad.

The view about the warranty here seems to be best described by common sense honesty. What I mean is that if you have broken something by doing some modifications yourself and then tried to abuse the warranty to get your notebook fixed then that's a bad thing. If, however, you had to send your laptop in for some other reason having nothing to do with the modification you've did and you got it fixed without issues then we will be happy for you. An example could be a CPU fan that got noisy few months after you replaced an LCD. In theory the warranty was voided by the LCD replacement of course.

Your experience seems to confirm that of a lot other people here. Most of the time there is no problem with a warranty repair. Still, one has to know the potential danger of loosing it and that's why I brought up this topic.

If you do everything right and the screen you get is ok then nothing bad should happen. Of course you're still doing it at your own risk .

[Sean S]

hey all,

thanks for the help in all this.

I just swapped the screens, no problems at all. It was a genuine Lenovo part and everything was recognized right off the bat. No additional parts or firmware/drivers were needed .

Everything is working great. Now I just have to get my eyesight to be ok with the super-tiny screen. An SXGA resolution would have been perfect for this size screen, but between SXGA+ and XGA, I had to do the XGA.

[yak]

Nice to know it worked for you. Reports here on the forum say that you get used to SXGA+ pretty fast and that there's no going back to a lower resolution. I used to have an XGA T41 for a year and felt good with it, now I can't stand my brother's 15.4" WXGA (1280x800)

[Sean S]

I know what you mean.

I used XGA on this 14.1" and let me tell you, this SXGA+ screen has TINY pixels compared to it. SXGA+ on a 14.1" is REALLY pushing it.

But, I'm getting use to it after a day now. It's not as bad as I first thought. I think I'm going to love this screen honestly. I do CAD, spreadsheets, and use geotechnical programs. The XGA screen was just killer when trying to do anything more than just web surfing and writing a letter. I can't believe how much more i can see now!

[Sean S]

Also, I must say this (Samsung) screenis much brighter and crisper than the old XGA (samsung) screen. It's also a lot less "grainy".

[Gunny T60]

Yak do you think the t61 1280 screen will work in a T60 please?