EngineersCake X41 Tablet build

[EngineersCake]

Here's my newest question:

I'm going to buy a hard drive for the X41. The size criteria is between 40-100GB. I like to pay lass than $100. Maybe way less.

Suggestions?

[sjthinkpader]

Both the HS082HB and MK8025GAL are available for less than $100. You still need the IDE-ZIF adapter for around $20.

[Tasurinchi]

Best is a Samsung HS082HB or a HS081HB

I'd second that, stay away from the old Hitachi Drives. New ones like Samsung or Toshiba have a big offer of storage space at affordable prices. Check for a list here

[Tasurinchi]

The size criteria is between 40-100GB. I like to pay lass than $100. Maybe way less.

My MK8025GAL + Adapter did cost me around $100, I think the 80GB "group" is the one with the best price/GB ratio. But prices in Ebay may vary...

[EngineersCake]

Woo hoo, first post from the X41t. Still haven't figured out why the wireless wouldn't work with Ubuntu Studio. However, this is proof that it does work with Ubuntu 9.10. (-:

[EngineersCake]

I just got off the phone with Lenovo tech support and I must start off by saying that it was a MUCH better experience this time around. The last time I called I got hung up on, which was pretty disheartening. This time I found out that my X41t has been out of warranty for almost two years. Also, a factory Lenovo recovery DVD is 45USD plus S/H. This is great news since I kind of want to return this old think to it's factory greatness.

My budget for this computer was 200USD, and I'm sitting at right around 180, and I still haven't pulled the trigger on a hard drive yet. It may be time to up the budget a little...

[astroidea]

Glad to hear that you got everything working
$180 sounds like a really good deal.

I don't recommend the factory install. It's slow and bloated. A clean install of Win7 is waay faster, not to mention more robust and better looking.

Given that you're a student, you can get Win7 Pro for $39, much better deal than that recovery DVD.

[EngineersCake]

I was scouring eBay and found a 32GB SanDisk SSD for 100USD. The model number is UATA 5000 1.8. Any word on how good this SSD is as far as compatibility and reliability would be greatly appreciated.

I hear that going SSD is better on the battery and is much faster than the 4200 RPM HDDs that came with the X41t. I've used SanDisk products in my digital cameras forever, and their memory sticks for school, but never seen their SSDs.

[Tasurinchi]

Any word on how good this SSD is as far as compatibility and reliability would be greatly appreciated

The big sticky SSD thread has lots of informations about different SSDs models. But I thought you were not intending to buy any SSD/HDD

[loyukfai]

I was scouring eBay and found a 32GB SanDisk SSD for 100USD. The model number is UATA 5000 1.8. Any word on how good this SSD is as far as compatibility and reliability would be greatly appreciated.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 09#p519609 via http://www.google.com/search?q=UATA+5000+x41

Cheers.

[EngineersCake]

Update with a picture that I did using GIMP in Ubuntu.

http://www.engineerscake.tumblr.com

I can't wait to be running WinXP again so I can use AutoCad, and Illustrator.

[EngineersCake]

So it's been a while since I updated. and some stuff has happened...
I finally bought a hard drive for the X41. It's a Hitachi 60 GB... similar to the one that it came with from the factory. $50 on eBay.
Bought a latch for the LCD lid, eBay $12. Also picked up a new AC adapter on Craigslist for $15.

I've decided that when the project is done, I'm going to sell it. I've saved up some dollars and want to put it toward an X61t, or an X200t if I can find a screaming enough deal.

Back to the waiting game. I'll update again when the parts start coming in. I can't wait to post some pictures to show it off.

[Temetka]

All that hard work to fix it up, then sell it?

Say it ain't so!

[EngineersCake]

All that hard work to fix it up, then sell it?

Say it ain't so!

Only selling it to get a newer faster one with better resolution. (-:

[EngineersCake]

So I got the hard drive and the wifi antenna in the mail yesterday. The hard drive was good but the antenna was broken in two places. Not a fan of *expletive* arriving broken and having to pay return shipping.

Got the drive loaded up in the zif - ide converter and installed. Worked perfectly after formatting. Woohoo. Now I'm just waiting for the screen latch to arrive.

I was flabbergasted to see the little x fire up under it's own power. No AC adaptor or external hard drive making it look like it's on life support. And the stylus, compliments of abob, works fantastically even with unmodified Linux.

The only things left to wait for are the latch, the replacement external wifi antenna and the tablet recovery CDs. May be finished by next week.

Anybody know what this laptop is worth in tip-top shape? I've seen them on eBay for anywhere between $100 and $500.

[Temetka]

What are the full specs for your machine?

Do you have the dock / port replicator?

If it's a full system with say an 8.5 / 10 on the appearance scale and has the fingerprint , bluetooth and the recovery discs you mentioned plus battery, ac adapter, stylus and so on and IF it's the high end version you might get $350 for it.

Anything over that and people start looking at the X6x series of machines. I would strive to achieve a price point right in between the low end X6x series and the high end X41x series of machine, shipping included.

You might be able to get a tad over that if you sell it here on the Markteplace where people tend to understand the machines more and are willing to pay more for a top quality system as opposed to e-bay.

Just my 2 cents.

[EngineersCake]

So that X project is coming to an end. Just a couple of things left to install.

I thought I knew what I was going to do after the X is sold. I was going to get a Mac PowerBook G4 12" which is right around the price of what I hope to get for the X. I heard that with the G4 I had no upgrade path and that made me sad then I got the awesome idea of trying to shoehorn the guts of a first gen MacBook Pro into the 12" G4 case. After a little research I realized the compatibility issues and the cost of the components put the project out of reach for now. So I'll put a pin in that.

So in searching for another project, I checked out thinkwiki.com and found the fantastic beautiful Z61p. I think I fell in love with the 1920x1200 WUXGA display and the 2.0 GHz Core 2 processor. If I can get one of these for less than $400 it's a done deal.

Phase two is maxing out the ram to a whole 3 GB and installing Apple's OS X with PsyStar's Rebal EFI. If all goes well it should be a pretty cool computer for tinkering.

[EngineersCake]

[quote="EngineersCake"]So that X project is coming to an end. Just a couple of things left to install.

I thought I knew what I was going to do after the X is sold. I was going to get a Mac PowerBook G4 12" which is right around the price of what I hope to get for the X. I heard that with the G4 I had no upgrade path and that made me sad then I got the awesome idea of trying to shoehorn the guts of a first gen MacBook Pro into the 12" G4 case. After a little research I realized the compatibility issues and the cost of the components put the project out of reach for now. So I'll put a pin in that.

[EngineersCake]

The X project is DONE!

Thanks to all the people who helped me out. I really appreciate it.

See you guy in the R, A, G, and X forums.