ThinkPad T50: Custom Motherboard for T4x Laptops

[graboy]

I think that there's some ThinkPad users here on GH, (especially for their great keyboards) so I thought that I might as well drop this link to a potential group buy that's happening on the thinkpad forums.

This is a really cool thing that's happening --- I have never heard of something like a custom motherboard being produced independently by a community before. Looking around I hear there may be a follow-up board for the T60, I can probably find a link if somebody would like it.

Hopefully I've spiked some interest!


EDIT: It seems like the majority of discussion is going on here.

[dorkvader]

I dont even like think-branded products, and I'm interested!

[blueSmoke]

Linky not working?

[dorkvader]

Linky not working?

Looks like thinkpads.com is down right now. My guess is too much traffic (DOS / digg effect) from the awesomeness.

Here's the link to 51nb.com chinese thinkpad forum that is actually producing these:
http://forum.51nb.com/thread-1418147-1-1.html

[erest]

I absolutely love the idea of what they are trying to do, but the price is pretty crazy! $150 bucks for the board and another ~$400 in components for the new board. Great idea, but the cost needs to come down.

[dorkvader]

Based on what I know about the cost of OEM motherboards, the price seems pretty in line with what I'd expect.

[sethstorm]

If you can live w/o dedicated graphics and no PCMCIA, it'd make for a decent upgrade.

(Sidenote: That said, is there any decent US/EU-exclusive that counters this? Sorta tired of seeing decent hardware on the wrong shore with no overseas option.)

[nuclearsandwich]

I can't wait for the forum to come back up so I can check out the specs that this offers. I bought three T43ps for cheap at a leasing house a few years ago and this would be a badass way to make them great again.

[sethstorm]

I can't wait for the forum to come back up so I can check out the specs that this offers. I bought three T43ps for cheap at a leasing house a few years ago and this would be a badass way to make them great again.

You'd have a first-generation T-series i7 machine with slightly different parts and no PCMCIA/docking/dedicated video.  If you have a Flexview donor, it'll have something the Lenovo equivalents never had - a 4:3 IPS panel. 

Some of the specs may change, but it's enough of an improvement to have it come over to the US.  That's sort of why I had the side note above about there being no real US/EU-side equivalent.

[dorkvader]

To be fair the integrated graphics for modern intel processors are pretty good. You can even use them for gaming and the like, especially at the low resolution offered by the panel on these computers.

as far as coming to the US: there seemed to be significant interest in this at the thinkpads.com forum, so I'm sure someone will be exporting these out of asia.

[sethstorm]

To be fair the integrated graphics for modern intel processors are pretty good. You can even use them for gaming and the like, especially at the low resolution offered by the panel on these computers.

as far as coming to the US: there seemed to be significant interest in this at the thinkpads.com forum, so I'm sure someone will be exporting these out of asia.

I hope so, since I'm registered my interest on that forum there slightly before the site went down.  My only change to the machine (as it is now) would have been to put dual(or at least single) USB where the PCMCIA slot stands instead of a single SD slot.  All in all, it's a nice way to keep otherwise good machines alive.

[graboy]

FYI, the fourm is back up... for today at least.

[dorkvader]

FYI, the fourm is back up... for today at least.

Time to download it for mirroring.

[sublime]

I've never even had the idea of doing this, and now I'm really intrigued. Modern hardware in an old T4x chassis is a wet dream come true.

[semyorka]

Well dang.  I'll have to keep my eye on this - I used to be an IBM/Lenovo tech and know the laptops inside and out; if the came out with a modern replacement for my T60, I'd buy it in a heartbeat...