ThinkPad X61: The Subnotebook That Got a Second Chance
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- Опубликовано: 24 июн 2021
- To some, laptops should be as portable as possible. But in the case of this ThinkPad subnotebook from 2007, fans of its form factor went to extreme measures to keep the machine usable over a decade later.
Free Geek Twin Cities: www.freegeektwincities.org
Sources:
HWM, February 2008.
Middleton's BIOS: www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Middle...
ThinkPad X60 in docking station photo: / the_portable_thiccpad
ThinkPad UltraBay hard drive module photo: www.carousell.sg/p/hdd-caddy-...
UltraBay adapter with hard drive: store.flagshiptech.com/ibm-le...
X61 display upgrade photos: geoff.greer.fm/photos/x62/
X61 display upgrade guide: ithinkpad.wordpress.com/2011/...
X62 motherboard and left ports photos: imgur.com/gallery/2Ei3kMc
X62 motherboard in bottom case; closeup of mSATA drive: web.archive.org/web/201803141...
PCper X210 mod article: pcper.com/2018/07/51nb-thinkp...
ThinkPad X62 photo: mikejmoffitt.com/articles/0048...
X61 Hackintosh: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
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Music by
Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com).
Intro music by BoxCat Games (www.box-cat.com). 
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"Let me know which Linux distro I should install." This is one of the few things I'll never say on the Internet haha
Haha yeah, you'd get one or two answers followed by an endless sea of infighting.
To which my evil answer would be 'Arch Linux', since you asked (and good luck with that)
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
@@macestillmace2514 Yeah.. maybe see above... thanks though, I guess?
@@ChrisKoehn it's copypasta from that Linux guy.
The camera work and narration is always top level. A high level advertising agency should snap you up in a second. The highest quality of all retro channels I have seen.
100% agreed.
Better than any channel i have watched before, even better than the 8-bit guy
I enjoyed this one a lot! My brother-in-law is a Thinkpad nut. There was an X60 at work up for grabs, so I nabbed it for him. Not sure how similar they are. Part of me wishes I'd kept it... but it's in the hands of a true enthusiast now.
It's good to hear that it ended up with a thinkpad lover :-)
Mine's still in decent working order, but currently I'm not really using it. But I do still rock a pair of thinkpads (one from work and one of my own) with a triplet of thinkvision monitors and two lenovo keyboards with trackpoint 🙂
Mainly it mounted intel Core Duo (not Core2Duo) CPUs. There'll probably a number of other differences, but pretty minor overall. I mean, looks and feel the same, mounts the same type of memory and so on. Probably the stupid side of wifi card whitelist and thinks like that are the most significant.
@@BilisNegra My particular X60 is probably one of the later ones. It (appears to have) shipped with a Core 2 Duo T7200.
@@LBSiUK Sounds possible, but it's weird Lenovo themselves don't have their facts right on their website. The spec listing for the full size model T60 from the same era does mención both Core Duo and Core2Duo models.
support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/pd010033-detailed-specifications-thinkpad-x60
@@BilisNegra Probably because X60 with Core 2 Duo were produced very late in production (AFAIK they're quite rare) and Lenovo simply forgot to update the spec list, just like the 8GB RAM capability on the 61-series
Really love these communities that breathe new life into old tech. I still have my HP TouchPad. Wonder what those two people are up to.
They are HUGE in linux communities, esp since there are operating systems that largely do not use the mouse.
@The Eye of Cthulhu lol, yeah, I was tired and equivocated it to a thinkpad.
Excellent video. It reminded me that I have a X61 that I modded a few years back...T8300 CPU, Middleton BIOS, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, and a SXGA+ LCD that I removed from a X60t. I also modded the LCD so that is uses an LED backlight. Amazingly, I was successful with that upgrade and the screen is excellent. I need to get that machine back out and use it again.
I remember using a ThinkPad X60s 6 years ago and it was an awesome little machine.
I still have an X60s and apparently they are sought after for use with Libreboot.
I’m a simple man. Colin uploads a ThinkPad video. I click!
I'm a simpler man. Colin uploads a video. I click!
These things were fantastic for their time. I refurbished a bunch of these in the day and was always impressed at the full-voltage processors in such a small package (the next model, the X200 switched to medium and low-voltage CPUs). The also made an X60s and X61s that sacrificed the full-voltage CPUs for the low-voltage L models. Still felt fast for most tasks, and the modification allowed them to use a slimmer heatsink, making the bottom flat (without those contours on the base matching the contours in the battery). It was sold with an optional "prismatic" slim battery exclusive to the 's' models that stayed flush with the bottom profile of the machine, although it could take the cylindrical 4-cell and extended 8-cell batteries with a little spacer bracket. All that brought it down to something like 2.7lbs, which is still impressive today.
I had a X61 I rescued for free from a PC recycle event at work, including the ultradock, around 2013. Everyone was "upgrading" to ultrabooks, but I snapped this up for that keyboard. I loved the lack of touchpad, which I always disabled on Thinkpads anyway. So light and portable for the time. I used it for years, until a statue fell off my shelf and smashed the keyboard.
Love these old ThinkPads! I have an old T410 that I've updated to the max with Windows 10 Enterprise and it's starts up faster than my 2yr old work computer. It also got flooded in my car during a storm inside my computer bag. I opened it up to let it dry on my work bench for a few days, then dropped it while putting together and it's still working just fine!
I have the Tablet version of the X61 and I love it. I definitely need to update the BIOS so I can take advantage of SATA-II speeds. Great video as usual, Colin! Cheers!
A Colin video on a ThinkPad is a fantastic one-two punch. I find the X61 intriguing but I'm absolutely head over heels in love with the X61 Tablet; I own two including one in amazing condition that came with the dock.
I am so happy there was a video this week! Thank you Colin for making these videos worth wild to watch an learn something new in the process. About that hackintsoh. Do it on a HP Pavillion from 2007-2009 (dv3 or dv6). I remember they it look like a jelly/gummy laptop finish.
Visiting the Twin Cities, planning on visiting this computer store. You always have good finds
A colleague of mine was so proud of the "waterproof" feature of Thinkpads that he once dumped a whole bottle of water on the keyboard and the Thinkpad promptly stopped working. Needless to say it was in for warranty repairs and he looked like a knob! 😅
Well it's a lesson that these water drainage features are designed for emergency situations and not something you wanna torture of! I had a T43 with also water spilled on it. It works fine but I had a lucky escape there and also I did all the right things after a water spillage!
Louis Rossman (the Mac repair guy who hates Macs and loves Thinkpads) did the same thing on a live stream a few years ago and it kept on running. As far as I know it still works.
@@cee128d it died and he do warranty repair. Lenovo repaired his for free
@@houghwhite411 How long after the stream did it die?
Wish I read this before I did the same
Great video! Actually the first video I see from your channel.
I had both an X60 and X61. Thank you for sharing!
I love my x61 and x61s. The lack of a touchpad is for me one of its features: no accidental clicks only because I touched someting, every interaction is based on actual physical movement. They run both Linux and BSD very well and at a nice speed.
So far both run with the stock BIOS, but Middleton sounds tempting.
Have you done Middleton yet
@@andrewsampson9065No. But my collection has grown and now includes a x61t. The only bios modification I did so far was on a x60s where I installed libreboot and Trisquel GNU/Linux to have at least one system that runs on completely Free software.
We had several of these where I ran IT back when these were new - and my users LOVED them. They were FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC for road warriors given it's light weight, small size and relatively usable power (when the memory is upgraded). Great little machine for sure.
I think I had this at work decades ago. Loved it. The full size keyboard got me.
I've got a X200 and the X220 with their docks and they are still fantastic machines.
Great work Collin. I think the _Hackintosh_ mod of your X61 would be really interesting to see.
Thanks for another great video! My T61 now mysteriously has faster SSD access! That Middleton bios is pretty slick.
I had a X60 as a personal machine in my company's secondary office where I worked 1-2 times a week, and even with limited memory and CPU power, I absolutely loved it.
I really miss having it and love that someone found motivation to place modern hardware into it. This machine deserves better life!
I really love what Free Geek is doing! Wish there was more like that here in Germany :D
Very nicely done :)
Beautiful! The "X62" is amazing!
I ran the older X60s for a very long time, then sold it to a friend, it is still in use today. Initially I bought it because of the firewire connector because firewire interfaces were cheaper back then. The X6xs can take a lot of misuse if you dont try to lift them by only the handrest. Together with the 12" G4 Powerbook and the Thinkpad 570, X6xs are my favorite laptops of all time. We used to swap X201s with X220 Hardware at work also and ran a lot of T6x (had a couple of keyboards removed to clean up because of spilled coffe, the "waterproof" feature worked fine).
Damn, that was a great era for notebooks back then.
I would recommend Lubuntu, since it seems to be lightweight and is easy to use on a daily basis.
As much as a love Linux, I think a Hackintosh with this thing would be hilarious, another possibility is also Android x86. Also while I never had an X61, I did have an X41 tablet, the one I had was a lower end version but that thing was awesome.
I agree. Although this comment is a year old, this laptop reminds me of Apple's newer iBook G4s with its compact design and flushed keyboard.
It should be relatively easy to do, the hardware is similar to those of early 2008 macbooks
I have a t61 from 2007 with Ubuntu, still rocks, my kids use it. Thanks for tge nostalgia :)
love thinkpad i have 4 models which i use always liked the square black look so reliable . great vid thankyou
Cool video, keep up the good work
I loved this video and the mention of those x62 models!
I, personally, would love to see Ubuntu server with jwm running on that machine, it isn't a distro per se, but it's a solid choice for such a machine (it'll probably use around 120mb of ram and only 1% of the cpu, in idle)
Awesome video, I like these ThinkPads. One of my T61's had the exact same problem installing from the CD, then I also tried freedos, and it gave me the same invalid opcode errors! In my case, nothing got corrupted, but the BIOS did not install at all.
Used X61 during my studies 2010-2014, was a beast of a machine, and with used price a total banger.
Great video. X61 is a gorgeous small laptop. Golden era of Thinkpad
what an excellent piece of kit.
So Amazing. Love your videos
As always, a great vid of ThinkPads! I have an X41 Tablet, bought as "non-working". It turned out the battery was in a bad shape, so I removed it, plugged directly to the wall and voilá. It came without the pen but got one in AliExpress (it was so expensive though!). It had its original hard drive (a tiny mechanical one), so I bought a PATA to mSATA adapter but had no luck making it work. Maybe some voltage thing I overlooked. I should invest some more time on it...
I have a couple of X61 tablets running Windows 10 and perform admirably with the same sorts of upgrades you've made; there are plenty of applications where speed is of no concern, and the Wacom pen input adds a new dimension to its usability.
It's probably not going to work with Windows 11 even if I upgrade to 64bit, but I'm plenty happy with what it's capable of as it stands now.
i have a x61 tablet as well…what is necessary to run windows 10 on it?…do i have to make modifications to the BIOS like Colin describes in the video?
@@lionheart0750 Windows 10 32bit will install on your X61 Tablet without any modifications, but an SSD upgrade is highly recommended with the Middleton BIOS mod as described in the video.
You can install Windows 10 64bit if you have more than 4GB of RAM.
Your camera work is so crisp that some dusting of the reviewed device before filming is worthwhile!
I have a thinkpad X61 laptop and I love it. Bought it for around £100 off eBay. It has a Core 2 processor, 3 GB of RAM and runs Windows 10 32 bit. It’s a bit slow but I still like it. It’s a lovely little square laptop. Great for retro gaming and light task such as Internet browsing and Microsoft office. That X 62 is amazing. A 4:3 laptop with modern specs is my dream laptop. I will have to look into that some more and see if I can even buy one.
Absolutely loved my X61 !!
Thinkpad from Colin! Yesss! I used one of these and that keypad was wonderful.
Got a T60 and a T420 which I have just upgraded (with a second hand motherboard) to a T420i with an i7 and 16 gig of RAM, love these old machines.
Awesome video 👍👍👍👍
Thinkpad fan here... the TP community is huge and the X61 is just the tip of the iceberg. The Middleton bios applies to many different models from the mid to late '00's and has allowed many of these machines to remain viable even today. I use a T61 and a T61p on the regular and they run W10 just fine if need be though 7 or Vista are the better choice. Great video Colin...from another Colin.
I had one of these mounted in my car for music,movies what ever. The drain holes do work as long at the drain tray isnt overloaded.
I still use my TP 61p for all of my basic computing..The dull screen doesn't hurt my eyes, the keyboard continues to be the best, the screen form layout is perfect for database work.
I cant replace the battery so I just plug it in. I actually was suckered into buying a so-caalled replacement battery a few years ago which of course didn't fit.
I also still have a lovely lightweight TP x24 which I tried to upgrade a few years ago--didn't work. I wish I knew those motherboard repalcement geniuses.
Fun video.
I have an X61 that I use quite often whenever I need a PC to do light work on (I use a Mac normally). I love mine. Mine is also the 2ghz model, and has the fingerprint reader and cellular modem in it. I also have the dock for it and a good battery which really makes it quite usable. Running Windows 10 on it is also a decent experience so I can keep it mostly up to date. Great machine! I also have a stack of X60's here that are decent machines, but lacking in the speed department since they use lower end processors.
I love your videos!
I had an x61 convertible tablet in university that I used for taking notes with OneNote. Handed it down to my sister who used it until it died in 2015. It was a little trooper
Spend my first 12 years of my career with ThinkPad T/X series, iconic machines!
Pretty expensive, though... but rather affordable used on the other hand, which I think is what has extended its fanbase the most!
@@BilisNegra Yes for sure, it was not cheap - I was getting them in work , for work. I dont think I could afford it back then. Aftermarket made them much more affordable, and by then everybody knew about them. Even today I would buy a used ThinkPad rather than what shi!t you would buy for the same price as new - incomparable.
lovely video! Just installed linux mint xfce on my new X31, which is complementing my X41, X61, X201, X220 and X230. Also, I recently replaced a malfunctioning fan on my x61 - considering starting using it as a daily slack computer! Thanks for making these videos =)
also, just flashed the x61 bios - to nearly double the SSD speed! Thank you *so* much for pointing this out!
I have this exact model and I use it regularly, original battery gives me nearly 4 hours. I really enjoy this machine.
As the proud owner of an X61 with all the aforementioned upgrades (sadly no LED backlight though for the IPS DD display) and a decent T8300 cpu, I can say that this video really did the X61 justice.
I also have two T601p FrankenPads, and this is an amazing story to cover if you haven't looked into it already.
A great video about a great laptop! This laptop is really old by today's standards, but could still be able to support simple daily tasks, especially if you need a lot of typing.
I bought a Thinkpad X201 tablet in 2010, with the reversible touch screen and built-in Wacom tablet and pen. It has always been a fantastic companion, and I still use it sometimes. The keyboard is unbeatable, I updated the hard drive and RAM, and bought an Ultrabay. Everything still works (no major driver issues), I am so happy that it is a 64 bit machine, it will even run Windows 11 if I want to. I do not know what I should buy as a successor, today's Thinkpads are good but they lack the upgradability this X61 and my X201 have, because of soldered-on components. I also consider a Framework laptop, but I want a touch screen and are really used to the Trackpoint... Call me old-fashioned, but modern laptops just are not as good as they were 10 years ago.
keep it at 22h2 win 10
too old and prob dodgy driver on win 11
My 2020 project was building and modding a x230 from scraps. IPS panel swap, Samsung 860, AX wifi, x220 keyboard, Bios mods, cut open the cooling vents, internal USB header. I'd really love to re-board it in the future with a modern chipset. The next mod is cramming in some iPad speakers.
i noticed what appeared to be a sim card slot beside the ram at 3:45 that would have been so cool back in the day
Yep, a cellular modem was a common option among business-class laptops for a while. Most people just use their smartphone as a WiFi hotspot now.
Love the crazy mods ❤😎
I had a X61s for a year or two and after a deep clean and new thermal compound I gifted it to a person in need. It had a comfortable form factor and was super efficient with OpenBox, a real treat to type documents on. The build quality was phenomenal, but to be honest, the keyboard was a little cramped compared to it's successor - the X200 (that used the keyboard from the T400). I've since kept and maintained my X200 and X230 - such great machines for when you're on the road and need something dependable. Battery life could of course be better (even with OEM cells), but for the price I've paid for these machines it's not a big deal.
I have an x60 tablet edition, gotta say it’s been a pain in the ass finding a battery but once I do it’ll be all set up, tablet drivers and all.
I wish retrofitting modern hardware onto older chassis was a more common practice
no kidding
I had an X31 that I picked up off eBay years ago. Loved it. I considered getting an X61 later on, but I went the way of Windows tablets. That X62 seems intriguing...
I would go with pure Debian you can never go wrong with that distro Colin. I have always ran it on the majority of my hardware and it does a real nice USB install.
Oh man, I want one of those so bad. I have an X220 and used to have an X200 but something about its look and status as the last 4:3 X-series is so appealing to me.
My x230 is a little monster and I am looking forward to keeping it for a long time.
Watching this video on my T61 running on Windows 10! I have an X61 as well, but I don't use it as much, with the screen looking like a hot mess. Hoping to find an affordable replacement for that!
I miss my x61t. That thing was a trooper
Specs are similar to my Dell Latitude D630 of the same year. I upgraded the ram to 8GB, got a 512gb SSD, swapped out the dvd drive for a module bay battery (more useful these days), and installed Windows 10. It runs great. I can run a lot of 3D games on it even though its intel graphics.
Haha, the Latitude D630's NVIDIA model was infamous for dying to the GPU overheating plague. I have two dead laptops of that model.
@@nyanpasu64 Yeah I heard about that when I was looking up info on the laptop. I guess I should be grateful I got the intel graphics model, even though it's hard to get updated drivers for it. I would love a more modern version of OpenGL than the last one intel bundled with the last graphics driver.
I have a Dell Precision M4300 with the same specs and it ran Windows 10 for years without a problem.
I love that laptop.
Love my x61! I got lucky and scored a Japanese keyboarded 2.4ghz model for 25 bucks on Ebay. Still have it sitting here today. I run linux (no gui) and use emacs. It gets around 6-8 hours of battery this way. Good times... Such an awesome little computer!
Nice I like the X61. I just upgraded a Sony Vaio VGN-UX90P UMPC to Windows 7 and it works very nice.
Very nice production - interesting video. If you want ideas for an alternative OS I'd recommend OpenBSD. Should support all hardware and run very well with the specs of the machine.
I use Xubuntu on a virtual machine and it's great. Lightweight, featured, looks good, easy to maintain.
Had a x61 myself loved it
I found an r61 in the ewaste recently. Same era but way chunkier it's quite a hefty beast. I did the Middleton's upgrade too. Found a spare t9300 to swap out for the t7100. doubled the ram, then wiped it and put haiku on it ( the BeOS implementation) fun times. Ive had a few Thinkpads over the years t23's are pretty good. I still keep music on one, it has the good life next to the stereo mostly. Though I had to use it to do car diagnostics the other day basically only laptop I have with windows to run the vcds Volkswagen diag tool works like a charm though.
I love mine X61t ;) I used it for many years. Later when portability was not needed I migrate to W530.
i have the lenovo t61 notebook and love it
i have a T61 and it still works and it in great condition only issue is the battery
I have a x60 with vista as my main computer. Base model core solo 1.6 ghz 32 bit cpu. Put in a 500 gb ssd and 2.5 gb ram. Still does light web browsing. Those drains really help. I once spilled some water by accident and it kept working. No liquid damage is visible on my unit.
I have the X61 Tablet and I absolutely love it. Everything works on it on Linux including the fingerprint reader for login! The only thing though is that the Tablet screen is extremely dim and only really usable indoors.
I got that in 2013 used by a friend in school and I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I am still sad the display broke...
Great video! I am the proud owner of a Thinkpad R61. I run MX Linux on it for that is what runs best in my opinion. You might try that on your X61.
дякую за відео!
Core 2 duos are great you can still use that machine for web browsing or light gaming I still use my 2007 MacBook Pro and I love it (it has a core 2 duo) i love the fact that we can take a broken computer and turn it into something useful again keep up the awesome work ;)
I use Linux on various different Lenovo Thinkpads in my collection, and I've become very fond of Manjaro W/Mate DE for it's overall compatibility(Wifi/bluetooth have been on my only issues to do whitelisting, but it's rare), ease of use/lightness thanks to MATE DE, and the fact that Manjaro is based on Arch, it's fairly well up to date with the latest Linux kernels. If you don't like Manjaro another Linux distro I would give a shot is Solus W/Budgie DE, as it's fairly well up to date as well, only being a kernel or 2 behind Manjaro.
We purchased 3 top-end X61Ts for $10,000 back in 2007 for our medical practice. The machines were fantastic for the time. About the only drawback was the dull light output of their touchscreens. We finally retired them in 2018 when the screens became just too dull to use except in low light conditions.
P.S. Yes, we upgraded to Windows 7 asap.
Damn I loved my X61. It was perfect for my digital mixing setup back in the day.
I had an X60/61 ”tablet” in those days. It was a bit too clumsy for my taste. Still has it somewhere in the garage.
Same here, I had the X61 Tablet and used to do artwork on it. It was my first ThinkPad.
Someone recently sold me three X60 tablets for the equivalent of $50 US - two were in really good condition, and included the pens, the third one was a non-worker but I used it for parts to repair a couple of broken clips on the other two. I put SSDs in the two workers and installed Gentoo Linux on them - everything works great, including the touch screen.
Same, me and my (now) wife each had a X61 Tablet. One is pretty worn out now (fan bearing is dying, display hinge is loose, heavy usage marks), while the other one is still in pretty decent condition. TBH it's just used once or twice a year for car diagnosis, but it's still a cool laptop. Most useful addition while I was still at the university was the secondary battery which could be snapped on the bottom in the docking port, giving around 1.5 - 2 hours extra.
Purani design bahut pyari thi
Oh, thinkpad X, my beloved series of notebooks! Try retro hackintosh on this one, I think lots of people would like to see a video about it.
I hate that here in the Bay Area we no longer have Weirdstuff Warehouse. I'm incredibly jealous of you having a Free Geek nearby.
10 years ago rocking my T43p and a top spec X60
the T43p finally died from overheating a couple of years ago (playing gzdoom of all things lol) and the X60 died from a spilled beer serving as a music station at a party. Damn I miss those two machines. perfect design and form factor
I got one of these X61s's in 2010 from a friend. Still have it, need to put a CPU fan in it. I run an Intel X25-M 40GB in mine. Even have the docking station and CD-ROM and both chargers. It runs 10 very well too even.
X61 tablet version was AMAZING.
The screen is 1400x1050 IPS.
Stylus was excellent pointing device, even in excel. I learned to type with stylus in right hand.
It had 8cells extended battery and a Hsdpa card.
This laptop kicked even years after release. And no other (x200,201,230) matched x61t.
I own an X61 plus a few older IBMs and a few Lenovos... great machines
Exactly the moment when i'm thinking of making my own x61 run again xD !
X61T was way ahead of its time when it comes to travelling professional artist device. It sucks that it was prohibitively equipped to run more modern graphics-heavy stuff.
Someone once accidentally spilled water on my Thinkpad laptop and when I saw him again later he keep profusely apologizing and I said don’t worry, it water under the Southbridge.😂🤣