<story><title>How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)</title><url>https://www.fastcompany.com/90145427/how-ibms-thinkpad-became-a-design-icon</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lqet</author><text>Last year, I decided to build an X62 (Thinkpad X61 or X60 with custom hardware) after reading about it here [1]. Shipment of the modification kit (some plastic parts + a new mainboard) took 2 months from China to Germany. It took me a while to find a brand-new screen as a replacement for the original 1024x786 screen (which has to be modified, including some minor metal-working).&lt;p&gt;After roughly a year of heavy daily use, I must say that this is the best laptop I have owned in my life (including previous Thinkpads R60, T510 and and T460s). The size is just perfect. With the new hardware, it is incredibly light-weight. The 4:3 screen is something I have been missing for a long time on my laptops, and the classic Thinkpad keyboard is just a million times better than the new model. The quality of the original X61 chassis is also very good, and it looks just great.&lt;p&gt;Overall, the laptop cost me roughly 1000 EUR and around 20 hours of work. This includes 32 GB of RAM, a brand new 100 GB SSD and a brand new replacement screen I bought at Alibaba. I started with a broken X61 I bought for around 40 EUR on eBay, on which I replaced the new Lenovo &amp;quot;ThinkPad&amp;quot; logo with the original IBM ThinkPad logo that was still used on the X60.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;geoff.greer.fm&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;16&amp;#x2F;thinkpad-x62&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;geoff.greer.fm&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;16&amp;#x2F;thinkpad-x62&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>newnewpdro</author><text>I came very close to ordering this, as I still use an x61s for most of my hacking due to the ideal physical form factor and classic compact keyboard w&amp;#x2F;trackpoint.&lt;p&gt;One major problem I have is the rather old SXGA+ screen used in the mod has a CCFL edgelight, and the last time I did an LED conversion on a modded SXGA+ x61s the visual results were not great - certainly nothing close to what is had on modern LED backlit displays.&lt;p&gt;The other issue is getting quality replacement batteries for these old thinkpads.  Aftermarket ones tend to suck and OEM ones are either counterfeit or very old stock in my experience.&lt;p&gt;Furthermore, while this particular laptop strikes an exceptional balance of size&amp;#x2F;weight and usability with a great keyboard, there are some singificant flaws in the chassis design.  Every single x61s I&amp;#x27;ve had (there have been many now) has cracked in two places through normal usage:&lt;p&gt;1. The left edge of the palm rest immediately adjacent to the near keyboard edge above the pccard slot.  There is a stress riser there due to the unsupported palm rest flexing above the card slot cavity.  It&amp;#x27;s just a matter of time before it cracks from fatigue.&lt;p&gt;2. The top edge of the last CPU fan vent grill.  The screen hinge is nearby and the cyclic strain of opening and closing the display eventually breaks the chassis at this thin spot - another stress riser caused by the CPU fan exhaust vent.  Once the crack is formed, the area visibly deforms whenever moving the screen.&lt;p&gt;For the most part those chassis flaws seem to be largely cosmetic, but the crack near the hinge does seem to be allowing new and probably increasing levels of flex causing strain on other components which may fail later.</text></comment>
<story><title>How IBM’s ThinkPad Became a Design Icon (2017)</title><url>https://www.fastcompany.com/90145427/how-ibms-thinkpad-became-a-design-icon</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>lqet</author><text>Last year, I decided to build an X62 (Thinkpad X61 or X60 with custom hardware) after reading about it here [1]. Shipment of the modification kit (some plastic parts + a new mainboard) took 2 months from China to Germany. It took me a while to find a brand-new screen as a replacement for the original 1024x786 screen (which has to be modified, including some minor metal-working).&lt;p&gt;After roughly a year of heavy daily use, I must say that this is the best laptop I have owned in my life (including previous Thinkpads R60, T510 and and T460s). The size is just perfect. With the new hardware, it is incredibly light-weight. The 4:3 screen is something I have been missing for a long time on my laptops, and the classic Thinkpad keyboard is just a million times better than the new model. The quality of the original X61 chassis is also very good, and it looks just great.&lt;p&gt;Overall, the laptop cost me roughly 1000 EUR and around 20 hours of work. This includes 32 GB of RAM, a brand new 100 GB SSD and a brand new replacement screen I bought at Alibaba. I started with a broken X61 I bought for around 40 EUR on eBay, on which I replaced the new Lenovo &amp;quot;ThinkPad&amp;quot; logo with the original IBM ThinkPad logo that was still used on the X60.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;geoff.greer.fm&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;16&amp;#x2F;thinkpad-x62&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;geoff.greer.fm&amp;#x2F;2017&amp;#x2F;07&amp;#x2F;16&amp;#x2F;thinkpad-x62&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Waterluvian</author><text>The one problem I have, rational or not, is just how worn out those laptops look over time. The plastic gets all shiny and worn down and the thing just starts looking greasy.&lt;p&gt;That&amp;#x27;s probably the only thing I miss from my older macbook.</text></comment>