Upgraded X60 to X61

[adrianaitken]

Well, I bit the bullet, ordered a 2.5Ghz X61 motherboard and it arrived today.
Installed in the X60 OK but the only issue I can see is the Wifi switch. It's a smidge out of alignment so I can have it switched on but if I move the switch to 'off', it pushes the internal switch off but then I can't switch it on unless I remove the keyboard and top cover. Bit inconvienient as is the Lenovo 8 cell battery runs out instantly (did that on my original X61 which is why I put in in the X60). So I'll probably just get a 3rd party one.
And really upsetting is the external WWAN aerial I brought a month ago is lost so I can't test the 3G modem my X60 screen casing has the knockout ready to install it.

So, hope this helps others who are thinking of upgrading their X60. I'm typing this from the X60+ running Windows 7 64 bit with 8GB of RAM.

Next, when I get enough money, is to upgrade both to 1400x1050 screen resolutions.

[Kyocera]

So, was it worth the effort? And how much did all this cost you.

[LegendaryKA8]

Interesting upgrade! I ended up doing something similar; I managed to get my hands on an X61s planar with an L7700.. fastest in the X61s. I really like this system now... pretty dang fast and responsive, and the X3100's a decent GPU boost from the GMA 950. If you've got the patience/skills to swap out boards, I'd say it's worth it if you can get a good deal on an X61/s motherboard.

[adrianaitken]

So, was it worth the effort? And how much did all this cost you.

yes because all my X series are now Windows 7 64 bit (I've some netbooks which will stay on XP for now).
Cost was $340 less anything I can get for sellnig a X60 motherboard

[adrianaitken]

If you've got the patience/skills to swap out boards,.

Maybe 10 screws and a few m/b connectors (video,speaker etc). Took 15 minutes I reckon.

[LegendaryKA8]

Not bad... my board came with a plug for a WWAN fan, so I had to purchase one, and X61 speaker, and an X61 palmrest in order to alleviate clearance issues. For a notebook the X6x is pretty easy to take apart... doing the same thing for my T60 to T60p swap was a lot more involved.

[sportfreak]

would it be possible for you to post a how-to in upgrading the motherboard???
its been long since i wanted to upgrade my processor to

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819111006

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819111015

i have a t8100 on my x61with 8 gig RAM..
it wud b awesome to have an i7 core or t9600..

[Harryc]

Not possible to upgrade the CPU only...it's soldered onto the systemboard.

[adrianaitken]

True, a laptop upgrade is a motherboard upgrade. Just swap across things like the memory, wifi network cards etc.

As a note though, I had to call up Microsoft because too many parts had changed on my Win 7 but it still claims I have an illegal copy (on the bottom right of the screen) which then goes away when I goto Control Panel/System and the 'Genuine Windows' blue picture appears. Posting this on a Microsoft forum got the response - phone Microsoft. Helpful since I'd already called them

[sportfreak]

hmm nice nice..less work actually..
so i presume we have to get them from lenovo or do you know of any place nice
i mean i was really looking forward to upgrade my thinkpad..and dats why ..

[adrianaitken]

do you know of any place nice

eBay

[Kyocera]

Posting this on a Microsoft forum got the response - phone Microsoft. Helpful since I'd already called them

I've had to use the phone activation system for an install of Vista and 2003 server, worked fine both times, you just have to be prepared with pen and pad and a "full" beer because once you get started you need to pay attention and won't be able to stop and go to the fridge.