T42p mother board compatibility

[Lomax]

My son's T42p developed the dreaded GPU solder fault and died, I sent it in for a reflow but this failed and so I've got a dead 14.1" T42p just sitting there. My son has since got a new laptop (Fujitsu Amilo with external PCI Express graphics, quite cool but a Thinkpad it is not!). Personally, I love the T42p screen, build, features and form factor (though my main laptop is an X32) and it would be great if I could get it back in business. So, I've been looking on eBay (UK) for a replacement motherboard, but they are rare as hen's teeth and I'm wondering if it may be worthwhile to expand the search to include T43p (and possibly T41p) system boards as well? Would these fit in the 14.1" T42p chassis without major modification?

Any info much appreciated!

Lomax

[Harryc]

See this thead and post back with questions.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=50308

[Lomax]

Thanks, that thread didn't turn up in my searches for some reason. Sounds good that all T4x boards are compatible but they do mention something about the PC-Card cage being different on T43 from T40/41, is it also different from T42? I see that the RAM speed is different which is a shame as I've got 2 gigs of RAM in it that I'd like to re-use. At least the CPU should be compatible, right?

Many thanks,

Lomax

[Lomax]

Actually, having just checked, I can answer my own question re. card slot cage: it will be different as the T42p lacks the ExpressCard slot... That means I'd need to get the whole base and not just the board, right?

Lomax

[Harryc]

If you are talking about getting a T43 board, then yes the recommended way is to get a whole base with the CPU...which is also different between T42's and T43's. So the (3) basic differences are CPU, RAM, and card cage.

[Lomax]

Ok, many thanks for helping to clear that up!

Looking at prices for second hand T43p boards (minimum £125, $200) there's one thing that troubles me: what is the likelihood that the replacement board will develop the same GPU fault? Is the T43p as succeptible to this as the T42p? It seems an awful lot of people have had this problem with their T42s... I'd hate to spend this kind of money only for the machine to die again within months

Thanks,

Lomax

[Harryc]

Can't say the the GPU issue has never happened to a T43 machine, but the liklihood of it occuring is greatly reduced in the T43's.

[ajkula66]

The simplest way to solve your problem would be to contact Nick and have your motherboard professionally reflown, given that you're in the UK...

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=73945

[Lomax]

The simplest way to solve your problem would be to contact Nick and have your motherboard professionally reflown, given that you're in the UK...

It was Nick who did the reflow actually. Before that the problem was intermittent and the laptop was sometimes usable as long as you didn't move it. Garbled screen would appear both internally and externally if disturbed, so it was pretty clear what the problem was. After reflow the machine is completely dead. Fan comes on and I think the backlight fires up but it doesn't try to boot or anything.

Lomax