Thinkpad i1200 in A21m clothing?

[SurferJoe]

Hi all!

I have a totally rad i1200 that I want to keep alive for a few more years.
The part of the lid that meets the hinge has been messed up - it's broken but it hasn't fallen off. I coated whole lid with the black duct tape so it works *almost* as if it weren't broken. I just need to be very careful when opening & closing the lid and replace the duct tape "skin" every 6 months because it falls off with usage.

But I have a bigger problem - it's cooling, or the lack of it. Last month the CPU has reached 90 degrees celsius a few times (measured in Everest) but I turned it off rapidly so think it didn't leave permanent damage.
I cleaned and lubricated the fan, ran memtest and prime95 after that and no errors. My hard disk and DVD-ROM still work as good as new (HD Tune Pro). PSU is OK, the battery is busted, but I use AC anyways.

My CPU is Celeron 600, and RAM is 192MB PC100, it's the max amount this model can support.

My buddy has a A21 (maybe it's A21M, can't remember) that occasionally has problems starting up. He says it's a "problem with power button" but from my experience with desktops I see it more as busted capacitors or something similar, but bottom line is - I think he's got a dying motherboard. He also took out hard disk and now uses it in enclosure. He is willing to give me this buggy diskless A21 for free.

So I was Thinking... Can I take apart his A21, pull out his P3 @ 700 MHZ (beats Celeron 600 anyday) + cooling assembly, put his CPU on my mobo, keeping my RAM, HDD & DVD-ROM, and throw all of that in his A21.

My main question is: will the i1200 motherboard fit into A21? Other parts are almost certainly interchangeable, but I dunno the dimensions of A21 mobo.

EDIT: A21(M) has 14 inch screen while my i1200 is 12-incher. But that shouldn't be a problem, I think all A21 version run on same mobos, regardless on the screen size.

[virge]

I've owned both an i1200 an A21M at different times, but never looked into whether the motherboards were interchangeable. I doubt it though since they seem to be very different machines. A quick Google image search shows that the board dimensions are physically different so a mobo swap probably won't work.

For the CPU swap, you should check to see if the i1200 ever came with a 700mhz P3 option. That would give you an idea as to whether the CPU swap would work.

Good luck with your project!

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

The short answer to your question is "no". The I series mobo will not fit into an A2x frame.

If the rest of A21m is in OK shape, you can probably pick up a working board for a few euros nowadays...which would be my suggestion if you're intent on keeping a ThinkPad of this vintage. A2x series - even working examples - are dime a dozen nowadays.

Good luck.

[SurferJoe]

I've owned both an i1200 an A21M at different times, but never looked into whether the motherboards were interchangeable. I doubt it though since they seem to be very different machines. A quick Google image search shows that the board dimensions are physically different so a mobo swap probably won't work.

Welcome to the forum!

The short answer to your question is "no". The I series mobo will not fit into an A2x frame.

If the rest of A21m is in OK shape, you can probably pick up a working board for a few euros nowadays...which would be my suggestion if you're intent on keeping a ThinkPad of this vintage. A2x series - even working examples - are dime a dozen nowadays.

Good luck.

ajkula66 & virge, thank you for your help.

i1200 "exploded" view with mobo schematics:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloa ... D=PD003274

I know that i1200 is terribly old (and it was pretty dated-architecture entry-level model even when it was introduced, I ran T-bird 1GHz with 512 MB of RAM back in those glory-days) but I will probably keep it until I scrap some cash for Lenovo Ideapad S12 netbook (ideally with dual-core Atom).

I do have a HP desktop replacement that works great but I barely use it, because it's extremely heavy (some 4 kilos with charger and a bag). So I occasionally carry i1200 as basic netbook and it serves me pretty well for now, it's my dear... ThinkGhetto . Black duck tape on the back of the screen and custom Achtung... Blinkenlichten warning as the desktop background (white on black, Fraktur font). It's a mean machine, it has everything... Darth Vader would be proud.

For the CPU swap, you should check to see if the i1200 ever came with a 700mhz P3 option. That would give you an idea as to whether the CPU swap would work.

Good luck with your project!

At a glance
The amazing new ThinkPad i Series 1200 notebook computer features:
* Sleek design and light weight
Asia Pacific
* Powerful Intel Pentium III 650 MHz or Celeron 600 or 550 MHz processor

http://support.lenovo.com/en_AU/downloa ... D=PD001994

Beware of the powerful CPU Pentium iii suported, but just 650 MHz, not 700.
However, the "sleek design and light weight" part is true, even by today's standards. That's why I love it.

EDIT: Some versions of i1200 seem to be able to run 700MHz P3, I hope all i1200 use the same mobo: http://www.notebook-pcs.com/527.html

As I already updated the BIOS to the latest version available, I'll try to throw in the Pentium in my i1200, presuming the fan+cooler from A21M will fit into my i1200. If it doesn't work I'll keep my eyes open for a working A21M mobo, and keep that machine in case something happens to my beloved i1200 (death by overheating, screen or inverters getting broken, due to damaged lid.... or something similar).

If somebody's wondering how these old machines can be used for... well for anything really, see my post here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 40#p649940
as far as netbooks go, it's perfectly fine machine if you don't mind 800*600 screen resolution (and rather short battery life).