Recently secured some old ThinkPads from the recyclers.

Got a T60p and T60 plus some screen and parts.

Today, I assembled both into working laptops. Both now comes with the higher res AFFS screen of 1400x1050. Woohoo. Such screens are hard to come by let alone found at the recyclers.

As both are Core Duo laptops, not much can run on it except XP and some really old games. GPU also the weakest, ATI X1300.

Total damage? RM 500 for 2 laptops plus parts. I even found 256GB SSD at the same place. Bought 4 pieces for 200 bucks.

How to clean the oil stain on top of the laptop lid? Actually is at the top and also bottom of my ThinkPad X13 Yoga, I held it when I just applied the moisturiser on my hand, mana tahu, now got the hand's mark there and I can't wipe it away even with some soap

Try alcohol swab

Thank you so much

For me I always compare Lazada / Shopee against direct taobao, hard to say best / cheapest - need to check each time

I recently scored an old T420 and X230 for cheap.

The T420 is RM 100 but not working. Suspect motherboard problem.

The X230 missing entire screen assembly for RM 350. Got the old damaged screen assembly and spare 320GB HDD too.

To fix the T420, I went online and bought another working T420 for RM 400. This one has white spots on the LCD panel. From here, I swapped over everything from the RM 100 laptop to this new laptop. Now almost like new except for the sticky coating. Will respray it later. Unfortunately, no IPS for this model. TN panel sucks! I also swapped out the DVD drive for a 1TB HDD in a caddy.

To fix the X230, I ordered the entire screen assembly with camera, WiFi antennas and bezels from Shopee for RM 382 with free shipping. I cleaned out the bottom base and installed the new screen assembly. Now the laptop is like new with IPS panel. Currently looking for good deals in MSATA because this laptop has the slot. It is a non-WAN model so no extra antennas cluttering the motherboard.

Found the docks for both laptops for RM 80 both on Carousell. Best part? Both are USB 3.0 docks which are quite hard to find.

For storage, I scored 2 pieces of Hynix OEM M.2 SATA SSD for RM 200 on Carousell. Tested working and 100% health. Also, very low TBW indicating it may be taken out from a new laptop.

After everything done, I now have 2 laptops for daily usage. These will add into my other collections such as the X220 Tablet, X200 Tablet, X61 Tablet, X60s, T61, R60, T60p, T60, L440 and X200s.

I still have the the X32, R52 and T40 to restore. Parts ordered just need time to do it. Because these are older laptops, not much can run on it. U will need a lightweight 32 bit OS.

Some broken ones include the X61 and X201. No plans to fix those yet.

This post has been edited by acbc: Mar 31 2022, 09:39 AM

Today I scored a T440P complete unit minus the charger, RAM, and HDD for RM 20 from Carousell.

Back home, I added 8GB RAM and 32GB SSD for a test. Indeed, it started beeping 1-3-3-1 which is a sign of mainboard failure. I searched everywhere online for a solution and came across a post from 10 years ago indicating some of the peripherals may be drawing too much power from the mainboard (basically a short).

I disabled the trackpad, WiFI, and DVD by removing them. Still no dice. Finally, decided to disconnect the keyboard, and voila! The usual ThinkPad boot logo came up and the BIOS bitching date/time was not set properly.

Dang! Now I have a working T440P i5 with a good screen and mainboard. The body is full of stickers which I will remove later. Will be going online to look for a replacement keyboard. The laptop works fine with an external keyboard.

Happiest day ever...

This post has been edited by acbc: Apr 12 2022, 04:55 PM

Today, I came across a X61 with T8300 CPU. According to many ThinkPad sites, this particular model is quite rare and only sold to enterprise clients as BTO.

It also has 2 fans to cool down the CPU. I might get it to add into my collections.

I already have the X61 with L7100 CPU, basically a low spec model. The screen bezel is broken and hinges needed replacement. Maybe I should sacrifice this model to fix the other model? Worth trying since the parts are interchangeable.

This post has been edited by acbc: Apr 13 2022, 09:46 AM

Yup quite rare indeed.

I myself got 1 T460 with 2x16GB DDR3L (total RAM 32GB) and for SSD using Lenovo special custom casing SCSI with NVME m.2 SSD on it. Although the processor is just i5-6300U but its good btw.

Notes: the SSD is running x2 speed.

Hi there, would like to check since you own both T480 and T480s. I am shortlisting a refurbished T480s.

Is the T480S noisy during normal operation or under light workload, or it is fairly quiet? Or does it run hot? The laptop will mostly be used for basic operation such as Microsoft Word and Excel, browsing the internet and music. No games or other heavy apps. I need the laptop to be fairly quiet as it will be used as a transport to play music.

I believe the screen although basic and not 4K WQHD is pretty decent unlike the lower spec 720p on the T480 non-S. The screen of the T480S looks decent isn't it?

This post has been edited by ryder_78: Apr 20 2022, 09:12 AM

Any other issues with the T480S? Things such as bloated battery, malfunction of trackpad etc.

Just to wrap it up. Bought a refurbished Thinkpad X1 Yoga instead of the T480S as planned earlier. The main reason for the change is the condition of the unit as I will only consider one which is in good or near mint condition without major scratches or marks anywhere on the unit. The T480s was in pretty poor condition so it was disregarded.

The Thinkpad X1 Yoga I got was an older Gen 2 model (latest Gen 6 costs RM7.8k to 8k+, pretty big sum of money there). Although there are few units of the same model, I was fortunate as there's one unit which was in pretty good condition, I would say 90% out of 100% although it's used. The rest of the units about 5 or 6 were in noticeably poorer condition.

An interesting feature which I like about the Thinkpad is the keys of the keyboard will automatically retract into the casing so that the entire surface would be flat, when the lid/screen of the laptop is pushed all the way to the bottom ie. when you switch off the laptop and push the lid down. The keys will automatically pop up when the lid is opened. Quite a cool feature. At first I thought the laptop was faulty with loose parts as the keyboard was moving when the lid was opened and closed. But it turned out that this is a feature of the Thinkpad.

Lenovo X1 Fold is at deep discount. This is a great chance to buy one :-) if you are interested in the 1st foldable PC in the world.

Don't forget to use the code for extra discounts.

Brought a T480S with spec:
Intel i7 8th Gen
16GB RAM (8GB onboard + 8GB add on stick)
1TB NVME SSD stick
Damage: RM 2300.

Thinking to setup a workstation with the thunderbolt 3 docking station but man, the price is stiff. Wondering if the universal USB C docking station can work or not.
My desktop workstation is triple monitor, thinking how can i plug and utilize my setup sleekly.

https://www.lenovo.com/my/en/accessories-an...google.com%252F

This post has been edited by Last-Master: Sep 17 2022, 06:59 PM

Had mine T480s with specs:
Intel i5
24GB RAM
256GB ssd
Bought back in 2018 i guess? i think it has been around 4 years old.

I used to set it up with the USB C docking station (RM600~) bought in Shopee.

2x 1080p monitors + 1x 1080p laptop monitor on.
If I recalled correctly, sometimes it will blue screen on me and some applications like IntelliJ will slow down.
I'm not sure what was the caused, but ever since I installed the Docking Station, the issues arise. It might be a coincidence as I started using Java more often. OR it could be a faulty docking hub.
But ever since, I have removed docking station and just used 1x 1080p and 1x 720 p monitor.

Will try set it up DC again.. Really miss having 3x 1080p

Aiyaks! Yeah i also read about that, and that is not the only DS giving problem, some other high end like their thunderbolt docking station also giving similar problems.

But i really hope it works.

Can a T480s i5 + mx150 supports
x1 1440p +
x1 1080p monitors?

Hello to all fellow Thinkpad owner. Can you suggest a recommended repair shop for our Thinkpad? I think I have hardware issue but my warranty has expired. And I think the machine should be in working state if I were want to buy the extended warranty? Correct me if I am wrong. Sorry if these question has been asked many times before.