WTB ThinkPad with 4:3 And XGA preferred

[kwhitegocubs]

My 16 year old T61 XGA finally died completely last year. I’ve been muddling along with a nice but also failing HP Elitebook since then. But pining for that sweet low res giant 4:3 screen. Basically if you have a real nice condition 4:3 T60 or T61, especially if it’s XGA, I am interested. The faster and more decked out with memory the better, of course.

I know a lot of those have been converted to the hated high res displays (and lower res settings are blurry).

[kfzhu1229]

What kind of specs are you after? Yes 14.1" XGA screen but do you want it Pentium III era, Pentium 4/M era or Core duo Core 2 duo stuff? If you say you want T60 T61 specifically then you want Core duo Core 2 duo stuff I am assuming?

[kwhitegocubs]

15 inch XGA would be even better though I am open to 14:1.

But yes I would strongly prefer Core Duo or Core 2 Duo (the latter because of 4 GB of RAM) since I am planning to use it as my main computer as long as possible.

[dr_st]

The only stock options you have for 4:3 with 4GB RAM support are T61 (4:3 14.1", available worldwide), R61 (4:3 15", available only in EU/Asia markets) or X61 (4:3 12.1", but then it's almost as small as 15" SXGA+).

Or take a T60 4:3 shell and stick a T61 motherboard in it.

[TPFanatic]

I have some 15” T60 and a 14” T61 with a T60 board in it, all at present have the SXGA but i could swap in a respectively sized XGA. They all have some old laptop issues with nonworking fans and bad cmos batteries so it’d be awhile before they are “sellable”. There’s still lots of T60 and R60 on USA ebay, the standard screen T61 has pretty much disappeared.

[kfzhu1229]

I actually have both a Dell Latitude D520 and a HP Compaq nc6320. Both feature the same 945GM chipset as the T60 - but these support up to 3.25-3.3GB of RAM rather than 3GB due to better optimized BIOS. Unfortunately for you, both are also equipped with 15" SXGA+ WVA displays so I am gonna have to downgrade those if you are interested in these, I believe the D520 is the most reliable unit but also the ugliest out of all of these.

[ZaZ]

Instead of buying a subpar XGA screen, why not get a better 15" SXGA+ or UXGA LCD that will offer you more contrast and wider viewing angles, then bumping up the DPI until it works for you? Bumping up the DPI works fairly well in Windows 10 or newer and Linux too.

[kwhitegocubs]

Just to clarify I am okay with 3GB but if someone can swap in a T61 mobi into a T60 15 XGA with 4 GB that woood be amazing. That would be amazing. Just message me or list the price(s). I am also okay with an R61 or R61i with an XGA too!

As to why XGA? I’ve found that, on top of my preference for the ratio and appearance… as time goes on it makes a pretty big difference in performance to have the drivers driving so few pixels. And at this point it’s really harder and harder to have a completely snappy and seamless experience with these machines. But the keyboards are just so much better than anything else too.

Just to let you know that I am not trying to argue it. I just am looking for XGA and definitely do not consider zoom type adjustments a substitute.

[TuuS]

If you haven't found one yet I can help you.

I have a couple of each of these,

T61 2.0ghz t7250 xga $125

T61 2.4 t8300 sxga $200

no hdd, battery or AC adapter

Price doesn't include shipping, location is Delaware USA.

[ZaZ]

Just to let you know that I am not trying to argue it.

I believe we're still in Los Estados Unidos and you're free to like whatever you want. I thought you might like a better screen, but your reasons for wanting a XGA LCD seem completely reasonable.

Just spitballing here, but if you like the classic keyboard, you could get it all the way up to a Sandy Bridge models like the T420 or L520. They will offer a significant boost in processing power and perhaps your drivers performance would improve as well. A 16:9 screen would come with a 1366x768 or 1920x1080 resolution, so you wouldn't lose any horizontal resolution, but gain some on the sides, though the screens will be physically shorter. Another benefit would be the screens from this era of ThinkPads are considerably brighter, which may prove to be useful.

[TPFanatic]

Aye, ive got a 800p T500 next to the XGA T60 and the t500 is a lot nicer, even in its ccfl variants the typical widescreens were nicer quality than the basic 4:3s. But there is an unreplicable charm to the 4:3 format which keeps bringing us back to the t60 and x61 and like. They’re obviously unusably slow for many modern tasks, even when new there were things laptops just aren’t meant to do. With these classics, you work with it and figure it out, if that’s the lifestyle that you want.

[kwhitegocubs]

I did buy a T60 from Fanatic but I am now thinking of also buying a T520 or L520 based on your recommendations honestly. So I am open to that as a follow up. I don’t mind having two!