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X210Ai is a new motherboard to upgrade ThinkPad X201/200
- idiotsecant 11mo agoError establishing a database connection
- thinkmassive 11mo agoArchive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20250924185757/https://www.tpart.net/about-x210ai/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250924185757/https://www.tpart...
- samtheDamned 11mo agoThis is super cool!
- GaryBluto 11mo agoSounds great, but the website is down.
- bfrog 11mo agoI love the x220 chassis, I wonder what it’d take to make a board with a modern risc chip and open firmware for Linux for this sort of thing.
- fsckboy 11mo agoanybody know if this motherboard will fit the x220 or x230, or just the x200/201? i've cornered the market on x220 and x230, i must have two dozen
- scrlk 11mo agoWon't fit, the X200/201 use a different chassis design to the X220/230.
- prmoustache 11mo agoI never understood why laptops brands have so many SKUs and change chassis design on every generation. When I compare both internally and externally my personal thinkpad from 2019 to the one my company is providing me since last june, I don't see any outstanding difference that justify having incompatible mainboard, keyboard, trackpad, screen, hinges or even fans. It looks like they change the layout and parts dimensions for the sake of changing it.
- ho_schi 11mo agoIt are only minor changes. Recent ThinkPads are close to be identical: X280 - X13 Gen3 (minor change: 16:10 with X13 Gen1). X13 Gen 4 - Gen 6 are sadly nearly identical, especially the ugly camera bump which is not required. No camera needs that space and video conference systems cannot used the full resolution. Luckily sometimes the batteries are compatible.
- BenFranklin100 11mo agoDissapointing. The X220 is built well and has a great keyboard. Any idea why the focus on the X200/201 instead of the X220/230?
- neilv 11mo agoI have no idea why they did, but some pros: X200 is less expensive, (I think) it has a little more room, and it doesn't have the X220's crazy design flaw with the lid shell. I also had better luck getting genuine replacement keyboards for the X200. Half of the X220 keyboards I stockpiled arrived as substandard garbage, even though I was trying to avoid that.
- camgunz 11mo agoWhat's the lid shell design flaw (did a little googling couldn't find it)?
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- jdboyd 11mo agoCurrently $1,299.00 for the Ultra 7 and $1,449.00 for the Ultra 9. I won't say it isn't a fair price, but it is a really hard one. It would be perhaps more interesting to start making ARM or maybe even RISC-V motherboard replacements for some of these beloved chassis.
- znpy 11mo agoThere is a risc-v motherboard for the famrwork 13 but different reviewers agree that is overall a slow cpu, nit really competitive. Probably in a few (cpu) generations…
- bubblethink 11mo agoIt's not the type of CPU that is driving up the cost. It's a niche hobby product which will sell O(tens-hundreds) units worldwide. The issue with these frankenpads is the brokenness of bios/ec, tb ports, thermals, fan noise, stability, etc.
- throwaway270925 11mo agoAgreed. I would love just a basic ports carrier board with a compute module slot for any Raspberry Pi CM for my old and ancient thinkpads.
- varispeed 11mo agoThis is a small shop. Given complexity I'd say the price is a steal. You certainly couldn't make it at that price in the West. Probably 2-10 times more expensive.
- walterbell 11mo agoWould it help small shops if there were open schematics for laptop motherboards, like OpenCompute does for servers? Coreboot and other open firmware (e.g. EC2) could then target that "open" motherboard, even if the shipped board designs had 10% non-open customization for business differentiation.
- rkagerer 11mo agoAnyone know if there's anything like this for the Dell Precision M6600? (Or upgrade suggestions for someone who loved that laptop? Framework? Thinkpad?)
- __del__ 11mo agoi'm also curious. i used that thing until last year.
- bubblethink 11mo agoGet an x1 carbon gen 13 (lunar lake version) for a general usable laptop. For clunkers/workstations that use desktop style CPUs, Dell still makes them and so does Lenovo. The Lenovo version is P16 Gen 3.
- ignoramous 11mo ago> upgrade suggestions for someone who loved that laptop? The repair-friendly [0] StarBook and StarFighter line might interest you. They generally seem good value for money and ship worldwide. Here's a 96g DDR5 + Intel Core Ultra 7 configuration at ~$2200: https://starlabs.systems/products/starbook-ultra?variant=55228840542588 https://starlabs.systems/products/starbook-ultra?variant=552... Their funder/backer is a mystery (to me) though. [0] https://support.starlabs.systems/what-is-the-star-labs-limited-warranty/ https://support.starlabs.systems/what-is-the-star-labs-limit...
- backscratches 11mo agoSeconded. Coreboot and lvfs firmware upgrades and completely repairable with inventory parts.
- rramon 11mo agoIs the X200s (s = low power variant) chassis too different or is it compatible as well?
- globnomulous 11mo agoSorry for my cluelessness, but why is this laptop so popular?
- loloquwowndueo 11mo agoThe keyboard is absolutely glorious, for one.
- fuzzy2 11mo agoAnd that’s about it, I’d say! I find that everything else is really, really bad. It creaks, it wobbles, it warps, and it did so from day 1. The fan is loud and kicks in quite early. Well maybe the X200 isn’t as bad, but the X220 certainly is. And even after 14 years, it still smells when it gets hot. Sorry for the rant. I really want to love it, but I just can’t.
- loloquwowndueo 11mo agoYet after 14 years you still have it and use it? Quality also went down while with later models - back in 2014 I was laptop shopping, based on the X2xx series reputation I tested an X240 and it was crap, even the keyboard was super bad, I ended up getting a Dell xps13 whose keyboard was miles better and it still works today.
- fuzzy2 11mo agoWell "use it" is a bit of a stretch. I’m a bit of a device hoarder. It's one of my experimentation platforms for Linux stuff, currently running Fedora Kinoite (with Universal Blue). My daily driver (of sorts, don’t really need a laptop anymore) is a MacBook Pro Late 2013, with NixOS. It’s so much better in every regard, it’s not even funny. It also still has its original battery.
- silon42 11mo agoFor a laptop keyboard...
- RomanPushkin 11mo agoI'm the owner of one of these laptops. I paid like $2-3k or even more for the laptop. The screen got broken almost on arrival. I think few days later it started glitching. It was intermittent, so I thought it would go away. I didn't. Over time it started glitching more and more. I reached out to the person in China who sold the laptop. In broken English he told me that I should replace the screen and sent me a link. I bought the screen, actually two of them, since for some reason you can't buy one. Turned out that the screen doesn't fit, and I cracked the first one while trying to install. So now I have a laptop without a screen, and it just doesn't work. I bought Macbook Air for $1k just one week ago. I can't be more happier. Fuck these ThinkPads.
- leoedin 11mo agoYou paid $2-3k for an x200? Was that a long time ago? Is that the same laptop that's sold by computer recyclers for $100?
- lproven 11mo agoNo, for an X2100. The chassic with the new parts already fitted. E.g. https://www.xyte.ch/shop/x2100-pricing/ https://www.xyte.ch/shop/x2100-pricing/
- AlecSchueler 11mo agoYou paid how much? I use my x200 every day and love it but never considered I could sell it for so much. Is that really a normal price for such an old model? My screen works perfectly too.
- lproven 11mo agoThey only cost this much with the new parts fitted. Various versions have been on sale for 5+ years, often billed as the X2100. https://bmdiethelmv.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/thinkpad-x2100-review/ https://bmdiethelmv.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/thinkpad-x2100-...
- pyvpx 11mo ago
- cyanydeez 11mo agoSomeone do this to the X230T. ALL OTHER 2:1 TABLETS ARE INFERIOR.
- spankibalt 11mo agoThe HP ZBook X2 G4 leaves it in the dust, both conceptually (detachables are a superior form factor) and specs-wise; HP EliteBook 27xxp machines with similar guts are at least on par. I'd rather have a new and smaller (10" to 13") version of the ZBook X2 G4 instead, upgrade the Dreamcolor display, keep the Wacom EMR digitzer and a sensible dedicated pro-GPU with certified drivers, and add plenty of ECC-RAM. Abracadabra, dream machine right there. Lenovo could do the same with their X12 detachable line if they had some semblance of sense.
- cyanydeez 11mo agoNope. Open, Twist, Close. No change in viewpoint. Every other 2:1 tablet requires changing perspective. Like walking into a different room and forgetting what you wanted to do.
- spankibalt 11mo agoSo built a t-hinge keyboard for the detachable, et cetera. The results are in: Nothing on the market equates to the elegant simplicity, adaptability and haptic qualities of a detachable done right, which can be used as a tablet (with or without an external keyboard), or in several laptop modes (depending on the implementation of the keyboard attachment, e. g. with or without t-hinge), or just/also as a screen when connecting a expandable dock/computer (e. g. Nintendo Switch-like). A machine in that form factor can scale from smartphone-sized to a ~13-incher; everything above is too big and cumbersome. Besides, as the other chap in the thread mentioned, the X61T is a superior chassis to the X230T anyway. :)
- jeffbee 11mo agoBeing the best 2:1 tablet is like winning the NIT. The 4:3 X61T is clearly the GOAT.
- t312227 11mo agohello, as always: imho (!) i own a x200s ... bought it in march of 2009 =?> so its approaching 17 years ... it was a really great device with one of the best keyboards for a small notebook. and i still use it multiple times a week for example to browse hackernews, reddit, ... or watch some video etc. buuuut: its nearly 17 years old ... everything is starting to wear - i wouldn't invest a dime into it right now. what do i mean by that: keyboard has faulting keys, case starts breaking at heavily stressed regions - for example around the cursor-keys -, display is (slightly) mechanically damaged, batteries are beyond usefull etc.etc. ... just my 0.02€
- ahoka 11mo agoYes, also had one and it was decent for its time, but it’s not great, especially compared to anything you can get today.
- mushufasa 11mo agoMy understanding with this project is they also replace the screen and battery with newer parts e.g. higher resolution, or at least that's an option, and all the ports are new (it's a new motherboard). So really the only 'old' parts are the keyboard and chassis. My understanding is there's lots of cheap replacements for the keyboard floating out there given the mass production and the original intention for this device to be easily serviceable by IT departments instead of "RMA everything."
- walterbell 11mo agoWhat's a good alternative to 2010 Thinkpad X200 series, with potential for coreboot support?
- backscratches 11mo agoCan't recommend starlabs enough, fully replaceable everything, coreboot, modern specs, Linux compat, firmware over lvfs
- walterbell 11mo ago
- easyThrowaway 11mo agoWhat's the integrated video card in this board? I have an x220 and frankly the ancient Intel HD 3000 is the only limiting factor keeping me from still using it as a daily laptop.
- onli 11mo agoThat comes with the processor: Ultra 7 165H or Ultra 9 185H, so https://www.notebookcheck.com/Intel-Arc-8-Cores-Grafikkarte-Benchmarks-und-Spezifikationen.782472.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.com/Intel-Arc-8-Cores-Grafikkarte-..., really strong I think.
- xecaz 11mo agoCool project, but if you can get the same spec'ed laptop with warranty on a slightly worse keyboard for less than this hack-job, i think i would prefer a new (thinkpad) laptop
- syntaxing 11mo agoI owned one of the predecessor about a decade ago, the X62 upgrade to the X61! It was extremely expensive for what it was and I saved up for a while. But it was such a fun experience, felt like the original framework laptop. I got to swap out the screen too
- WillAdams 11mo agoIf they do a new display/digitizer for an X230T which uses the newer Wacom styluses, I'd probably not be able to resist. As it is, I panic-purchased a second Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 when I was worried that there wouldn't be a Book 4 Pro 360 (they are now on a Book 5 Pro 360)....
- mmmpetrichor 11mo agoThe x200 was a really neat machine. They run great with linux mint - I have mine running as a home assistant server for our house since my raspberry pi died with flash card corruption.
- wkjagt 11mo agoI have an x201 and running arch and bare tty as a distraction free vim + C coding experience. Just for fun. I love it for that.
- skydhash 11mo agoBrowser and PDFs are my only daily GUI usage these days. And I could revert to a text browser if not for a lot of sites having horrendous navigation dom or requiring JavaScript.
- John-Tony 11mo ago[dead]
- John-Tony12 11mo ago[dead]
- Lammy 11mo agoI have an older-gen aftermarket-mobo X210 (Kaby Lake iirc?) and I really really loved it, but the eDP flex-PCB for the upgraded screen eventually gave out (stock screen was LVDS), making the display only work at the one exact hinge angle where the broken trace still makes contact. The inability to just go to a storefront and buy that part is why I switched to a Framework 12 instead.
- wkat4242 11mo agoWow that's so cool. I wonder what those hackers are going to do when every case is cracked and every keycap worn out :)