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the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 4:18 pm
by ajkula66
Once in a blue, I feel like pushing stuff to and beyond its limits...even at this age...

When I was younger - much younger - it was doubling the output tube voltage on "black face" Fender amps as well as on some others...killed a few of them in the process, of course... :roll: ...but those that survived sold at interesting prices...

Then it was shaving engine heads, enlarging combustion chambers and stuffing *big* carbs in a variety of cars...now some serious fun was had with that... :jhem:

All of that took place several lifetimes ago...

In my "ThinkPad era" of experimenting I'm at the point that I've forgotten half of the stuff I've done over the years, and only recall it once someone else reminds me of all the craziness... :P

But I always wanted a maxed-out T43p...the last full-size ThinkPad with no Windows key...

This particular unit has a somewhat unusual history. It was built in November of 2006 - a year and a half after Lenovo had acquired the PC division - and was "assembled in the U.S. of U.S. and non-U.S. components for Lenovo". The original clear plate stated " Lenovo T43p".

I purchased a bulk of these a couple of years ago and sold this one to ThinkRob. It was likely the cleanest example in the entire lot at the time, and Rob kept in the same - if not better - condition until he gave up on it mostly due to lack of support for ATi cards of this vintage in the *nix world...so yes, I bought it back from him last month... :)

Here's what my blank canvass started as - with the updates in bold - and coloured for the most important ones...

ThinkPad T43p (2668-BY8)

Based on 2668-Q6U:
P M 780(2.26GHz)
2GB RAM
80GB 7200rpm HD................now Crucial 64GB SATA III SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820148361)
15in 1600x1200 LCD
128MB ATI FireGL V3200
CDRW/DVD........................NONE. UltraBay SATA HD carrier pending a 1TB drive...
Wireless upgradeable...........generic Atheros chipped a/b/g/n mini-PCI card
Modem..............................now Bluetooth/Modem
1Gb Ethernet
UltraNav
Secure chip
Fingerprint reader
9c Li-Ion batt
WinXP Pro..........................now Windows 7 Pro 32-bit
Modded BIOS

Now, this is what the unit looked like once RealBlackStuff was done with the SATA mod:

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Well...since no one else in this household will be allowed to touch the machine, I had to exchange the keyboard for my favourite worn one:

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Yes, this is a pretty clean T43p...no matter where one went to school...

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An UXGA IPS LCD at its best...and I'm being very serious here:

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A special shot for the non-believers...

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Why do I need a SSD since there's no option to enable AHCI (which is really a must on many of them) and am stuck with SATA I (1.5) speeds anyway? Well, this is from a fresh install of W7 with no tweaks:

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No rotational drive will even come close. Trust me. I've tried the very best of them...

For those amongst you who believe in WEI...I don't but have taken the screenshot anyway... :mrgreen:

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The Frankie and The Beast chilling together, discussing the demise of a 7-row keyboard on ThinkPads over a couple of cold ones:

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And lastly, the baby's bottom... :D

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Well, someone asked me to post Crystal Disk results...couldn't figure out how to save them, so here's the picture...

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Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 7:28 pm
by twistero
<nitpicking> Does the wireless indicator LED work? :wink: </nitpicking>

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 8:09 pm
by ajkula66
twistero wrote:<nitpicking> Does the wireless indicator LED work? :wink: </nitpicking>
Nope. I guess you knew that... :D

However, the HDD LED does work which is a new addition to the SATA-modding process...

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:23 am
by twistero
ajkula66 wrote: Nope. I guess you knew that... :D
But you can make it work. :wink:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... h_WiFi_LED
... and then the LED must be enabled in registry by editing a couple of values called "gpioFunc0ActHi", "gpioLedCustom", and "gpioPinFunc0".
I did that on my X41t and Atheros 5006XS. The hardware mod is slightly tricky, but once everything's in place the result is beautiful. :mrgreen:

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 1:53 am
by dr_st
This is an amazing machine. It is only fitting that one of the last T43p units made becomes the ultimate maxed out T43p. :bow:

The collective knowledge and skills of the members of this forum are nothing short of incredible. All the different hardware and BIOS mods, many of which were first revealed on the forums, really unlock the potential of some Thinkpads.

As I said before - T43 series is one good example of a series that aged better than others. Offering very few (if any) tangible advantages over T42 at the time of its release, now, 7 years later it is a much more advanced machine, which can take larger/faster SATA drives and will leave any T42 in the dust.

Congratulations, George - you've got a great unit on your hands. May it serve you well for years and years. :thumbs-UP:

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:12 am
by pianowizard
dr_st wrote:As I said before - T43 series is one good example of a series that aged better than others.
Not to mention that it was the last truly beautiful Thinkpad. After the T43/43p, Thinkpads have looked okay at best (even the Z61t) and outright awful at worst.

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 12:11 am
by andi t43p
in theoretically, SATA 3 perfomance
-Sustained Sequential Read
up to 355MB/s
-Sustained Sequential Write
up to 75MB/s,

how can you do it next time ?

tks

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 3:57 am
by lophiomys
What a beautiful machine!

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 4:51 am
by ajkula66
andi t43p wrote:in theoretically, SATA 3 perfomance
-Sustained Sequential Read
up to 355MB/s
-Sustained Sequential Write
up to 75MB/s,

how can you do it next time ?

tks
I'm not quite sure that I understand your question....

While the Crucial SSD is indeed a SATA III capable unit, the old T43p - mine or any other - will only run at SATA I speeds...

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 5:33 pm
by redsparrow
George, what an absolute beauty. I remembering being massively tempted when ThinkRob offered it on the forum - seeing it in it's full glory, i can see why you were tempted to buy it back :D I echo the thoughts of the previous comments, and wish you many more years of solid use!

ps. Can we look forward to seeing pics of your two golden oldies - the butterfly and A31p, also??

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 5:47 pm
by ajkula66
lophiomys wrote:
What a beautiful machine!
Thank you. Words of appreciation from a fellow FlexView buff are always...well, appreciated... :thumbs-UP:
gibradford wrote:George, what an absolute beauty. I remembering being massively tempted when ThinkRob offered it on the forum - seeing it in it's full glory, i can see why you were tempted to buy it back :D I echo the thoughts of the previous comments, and wish you many more years of solid use!

ps. Can we look forward to seeing pics of your two golden oldies - the butterfly and A31p, also??
Thanks, mate...

Glenn, you might be disappointed once I actually get them posted...both of them are well-worn.

Once I get these in *proper* working condition, pictures will follow...

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:00 pm
by andi t43p
@ajkula66,

best mod ever T43p,
- can you posting error scan in HD tune 2.55 ?
- Super Pi benchmark ?
- Pc Mark 2004 benchmark ?
- 3d Mark 05 score ? :D

Andi

Re: the ultimate - in MY book - T43p with HUGE pictures

Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:01 pm
by ajkula66
andi t43p wrote:@ajkula66,

best mod ever T43p,
- can you posting error scan in HD tune 2.55 ?
- Super Pi benchmark ?
- Pc Mark 2004 benchmark ?
- 3d Mark 05 score ? :D

Andi
Thank you.

Here's the error scan:

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Honestly, I can't be bothered with any of the other stuff. I despise synthetic benchmarks and have *never* bought a laptop based on that type of evaluation.