Old Thinkpad r51 restore.

[KJamesJR]

Okay so I have this old IBM Thinkpad r51. I've had it lying around for the past 7 years or so. I used to use it regularly up until a year ago. The thing is still going real strong though it's outdated. Also, I believe the LCD screen needs replacing. The backlight burnt out do to a faulty inverter. Never the less, the thing is a champ.

Anyways, I was thinking it would be a fun little project to breathe new life back into the little guy. It would be handy as a secondary machine, or mobile book. Everything in is thus far is stock, right off the line with the exception of the RAM which I upgraded a long while back. Any tips or ideas on how I could get started on this? I've yet to find any decent resources on laptop parts or upgrades. Any tips/suggestions rather than toss the thing in the dump???


Edit: Some of my main idea's were maybe dropping a new mobo in it, updating the CPU/RAM, Newer and bigger HDD, possibly better graphics.

 

[MindoverMaster]

You can not do this. The motherboard is of a certain shape to fit the casing. You can not flip out a graphic card, either. This is most like integrated, it is built into the board itself. The CPU that you could update to wouldn't be that much more performance. RAM, HDD, easy fix.

 

[KSoD]

Laptops are the hardest things to upgrade the way you want. As MoM said you have to find a mobo that is specifically designed to fit that casing. If you cant, then there is no choice but to stick with the mobo you have. Video Cards are only interchangeable with specific models and nothing made that long ago had this option.

You not going to make it far with your intentions. Sadly there isnt much that can be done with old units like this but to retire them or donate them.

 

[KJamesJR]

Hrm... Well, if I can restore the LCD (which seems easy enough) then this laptop would be in mint condition. I will start with that and look into a new HDD. Anyone know what or where I could find one for this model?

 

[MindoverMaster]

I would not reccomend replacing the LCD, unless you have been inside a computer. You could easily damage it.