your video came at just the right time. been looking at a W500 in one of our local marketplace listings. contacted the seller and hopefully I can pick it up by next week. been following your channel for a while now and have learned a lot from your ThinkPad videos. Thank you.
Strange that. I've been thinking if I should pick a bundle of t61p and t500 and some other laptops in my local marketplace. It's very cheap and is a no brainer, but I already have a w500 and don't really need any more of these form factor thinkpads
I have been binge-watching your videos lately. Update on the W500: sadly someone beat me to it. 😪 But I did get a good deal on a refurbished, ex-corporate issue T430 (2347-FF5) already has a 1600x900 screen and a discrete graphics chip. 🙂 planning to get a SSD, RAM, backlit keyboard and a replacement lid / LCD back cover (it's been wrapped with a vinyl sticker.😒) Thanks again for all the info you share.
Thanks. Just hit a speed bump on the upgrades... they shoved in a 9.5mm HDD inside 😱. They totally ditched the 7mm drive caddy just to make it go in, and from what I see there's a slight bend on the motherboard where the USB ports are. Will remove the keyboard bezel/palmrest later and try to push it out from the topside.
my favorite ever laptop is a lenovo T500 - got my first in 2009 (t9400, 4g, 1680:1050) and been using it until 2022 with 8g and two hdd w7 and ubuntu! tried to go with a t420 but changed again back to another T500 with a t9600 - i just love the 16:10 and the old kb
Bear in mind that the x00 generation ThinkPads are considered the last FSF (Free Software Foundation)-certified laptops, as the next generation incorporated the much criticized Intel Management Engine; so all the hardware in this laptop is open and hackable. With a proper Libreboot mod, it can support the Q9000 Core 2 Quad, though compatibility is hit or miss. By maxing it out with the Q9000, a ThinkMods ExpressNVMe, 8GB of RAM, the best panel from the W500, and the best Wi-Fi card available, and installing a lightweight Linux distro, it should be a peppy machine. Technoethical offers these FSF-certified laptops, refurbished, with the Libreboot mods and upgrades; they're quite expensive, though, you're better off buying one of these used to tinker with them.
One of personal favorites and had both versions with the later being a W500 having double the vram as well the better screen. All in all wish they built modern laptops this well even though the cooling wasn't as great as it should have been. Pro tip for those in hotter climates can use a P series cpu and it will run noticeably cooler than with the normal T series.
The hinges are definitely not supposed to be that stiff. Maybe try to loosen them before you crack the chassis trying to open/close this thing. Happened to me with a T410.
Often the grease on the hinges (if there's any) get crusty and hardens quite a bit. I used to grease the hinges with poly type grease but I'm always afraid it'll stick and dry up. In my latest laptop rebuilds I've chosen to use graphite but I'm not sure it's all good yet. We'll see in a decade or so 😅
I pulled my T500 out a few days ago and am working on a light refurb. Waiting on a keyboard. My hinges are doing the same. Doh. It was not like this in the past and has not been disassembled or modified (yet). Probably just age. This was my work laptop a bunch of years ago, I got laid off and didn’t bother to return it because they laid off the HR rep responsible for handling my layoff and I bet they wouldn’t follow up. They did not.
Did I hear you correctly, regarding upgrading to 8GB RAM requires 2 sticks of 8GB?? I thought its 2 sticks of 4GB ea for 8GB??? What SSD would you recommend? My specs are, Manufacture: LENOVO Motherboard: Product Name: 2242CTO Incase anyone wants to know without opening you laptop run the following commands from a terminal, if your hard drive isn't working just use a download copy of any light live linux distro burned onto a usb. Ctlr+ alt=T will open a terminal. At the $ prompt write sudo dmidecode | grep -A2 'Base Board'
What I said regarding the RAM at about 2:30 is that you cannot use a single stick of 8GB. It will not read it. You need two 4GB sticks and they need to be the right type.
Hello. I have the same model, also installed Win10. Everything works like yours, except the touchpad. Does yours have issue with the touchpad? maybe you found a driver for it usable with win10. (the touchpad otherwise ok, I tried it with Linux, I only want to test with win10. On the other hand, surely it is more suitable to use this machine with Linux which requires less hw resources ). Other question, have you looked after maybe if it can be equipped with an original webcamera. Thanks fro your video.
I didn't have any issues with the touchpad. Drivers for Windows 7 or 8 usually still work on 10. Regarding a webcamera, if it doesn't already have one, you would need to replace several parts in the lid to put one in. It would probably cost a fair bit to source the parts.
I was gifted this T500 & its like new great shape. Installed CM 500GB SSD waiting on 2 sticks of 4GB RAM. **How can I tell if its cooling fan is working? How do you use the CD drive, PCI card slot, what size is the front micro card reader? How does that front kill switch work? How do you connect to a large screen? I want to use it to test Linux OSs run proxmox and personal server. So far your video is the best of the Thinkpad T500 Laptop RUclipss. Personally I don't like laptops because of the keyboard palm rest on the synaptic touch pad position. Learning key binds for fun. Thank you
My main workhorse is an X1 Nano. I use a ThinkPad X220 for various things around the house and then a Surface Book 2 for other odds and sods. Then lots of others for various tasks.
eBay would be my first stop, after that it would be Googling the part number to make a short list of random businesses that might have the part. I've lucked out quite a few times that way.
@@LaptopRetrospective I mean, I wasn't looking for the FRU/screen part. I was looking for an entire laptop (that uses a 15 inch screen) to make the T601F Frankenpad. I've been at it since 2018 XD
@@lloritoovidexequield.8609 The difference if a little difficult to tell some times, but you can tell which one is which once you study the differences. They're minor, but you can see it. Alternatively, you can look up the model number that's underneath the laptop and check online what it was originally equipped with.
I haven't seen the led screen for that mod in a few years and the last I seen of them was around $300-$400 just for the panel though to be honest I haven't been kept up too much.
Could be nice if I have something like that right now. Although I prefer T520 for much-improved performance (and longevity), but T500 still better than nothing I guess…
Has anyone sorted out the best driver set for Windows 10? I’ve heard some mix of Lenovo’s (power management) and manufacturer (Intel). I have a docking station and just want a little shop machine, this will do.
I'd start with what Windows puts on, then see if Lenovo System Update works with this machine. If not then I'd grab drivers from the EOL Portal for the latest Windows as needed.
T500's hinges are the weakest part of its design long-term. And the magnesium frame in the lid tends to crack at the left hinge, I blame excessive stiffness of the hinges. On the opposite end of the spectrum my first T500 has a completely loose left hinge. That said I love T500, they're the ultimate of Lenovo's early offerings, they use DDR3 which is so inexpensive, they're the first with SATA Ultrabay Slim and still support Ultrabay Battery. The LCDs are quite nice too for the era.
i have this problem with a T500 (it has happened twice actually) - the left part of the lid frame breaks in the corner in the two screws and i can only use the third screw on the plastic lid to connect the hinges and of course that is very bad because it can break too in the end. Can you think of a fix? it is very hard to find spare lid frames now...
@@beickus mine broke on the upper part of the hinge. The grey part with the screw holes just disintegrated, but you can restore functionality by removing the series of little clamps that are under it (which grip onto the shaft) and replace them with a ring that has two screw holes which are orthogonal to the shaft (called a "shaft stopper"). One one side you put an appropriately long screw and on the other a headless hex screw, then use hot glue to fix it to the frame... but there are better ways of modding, if you got a welder
@@beickus search for "shaft stopper", look at the pictures. The hinge is a simple mechanism, just not simple enough in this case, otherwise it wouldn't have broke
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your video came at just the right time. been looking at a W500 in one of our local marketplace listings. contacted the seller and hopefully I can pick it up by next week. been following your channel for a while now and have learned a lot from your ThinkPad videos. Thank you.
Glad I was able to help! Thanks for watching.
Strange that. I've been thinking if I should pick a bundle of t61p and t500 and some other laptops in my local marketplace. It's very cheap and is a no brainer, but I already have a w500 and don't really need any more of these form factor thinkpads
I have been binge-watching your videos lately. Update on the W500: sadly someone beat me to it. 😪 But I did get a good deal on a refurbished, ex-corporate issue T430 (2347-FF5) already has a 1600x900 screen and a discrete graphics chip. 🙂 planning to get a SSD, RAM, backlit keyboard and a replacement lid / LCD back cover (it's been wrapped with a vinyl sticker.😒) Thanks again for all the info you share.
You're welcome. Congrats on getting the T430!
Thanks. Just hit a speed bump on the upgrades... they shoved in a 9.5mm HDD inside 😱. They totally ditched the 7mm drive caddy just to make it go in, and from what I see there's a slight bend on the motherboard where the USB ports are. Will remove the keyboard bezel/palmrest later and try to push it out from the topside.
I have a T500 - like it a lot
Beefy machines with potential left for the right user even in 2022.
my favorite ever laptop is a lenovo T500 - got my first in 2009 (t9400, 4g, 1680:1050) and been using it until 2022 with 8g and two hdd w7 and ubuntu! tried to go with a t420 but changed again back to another T500 with a t9600 - i just love the 16:10 and the old kb
It's nice to see new machines going back to that screen ratio.
Bear in mind that the x00 generation ThinkPads are considered the last FSF (Free Software Foundation)-certified laptops, as the next generation incorporated the much criticized Intel Management Engine; so all the hardware in this laptop is open and hackable.
With a proper Libreboot mod, it can support the Q9000 Core 2 Quad, though compatibility is hit or miss. By maxing it out with the Q9000, a ThinkMods ExpressNVMe, 8GB of RAM, the best panel from the W500, and the best Wi-Fi card available, and installing a lightweight Linux distro, it should be a peppy machine.
Technoethical offers these FSF-certified laptops, refurbished, with the Libreboot mods and upgrades; they're quite expensive, though, you're better off buying one of these used to tinker with them.
Yeah I respect what people do with regards to that, certainly not for everyone.
One of personal favorites and had both versions with the later being a W500 having double the vram as well the better screen. All in all wish they built modern laptops this well even though the cooling wasn't as great as it should have been. Pro tip for those in hotter climates can use a P series cpu and it will run noticeably cooler than with the normal T series.
A friend of mine just bought a W500. 😁
The hinges are definitely not supposed to be that stiff. Maybe try to loosen them before you crack the chassis trying to open/close this thing. Happened to me with a T410.
Yeah, definitely think this isn't the norm.
Often the grease on the hinges (if there's any) get crusty and hardens quite a bit. I used to grease the hinges with poly type grease but I'm always afraid it'll stick and dry up. In my latest laptop rebuilds I've chosen to use graphite but I'm not sure it's all good yet. We'll see in a decade or so 😅
I pulled my T500 out a few days ago and am working on a light refurb. Waiting on a keyboard.
My hinges are doing the same. Doh. It was not like this in the past and has not been disassembled or modified (yet). Probably just age.
This was my work laptop a bunch of years ago, I got laid off and didn’t bother to return it because they laid off the HR rep responsible for handling my layoff and I bet they wouldn’t follow up. They did not.
R500 had the same issue for me. Just greased it a little, and now it is fine.
@elu9780 what product did you use?
Did I hear you correctly, regarding upgrading to 8GB RAM requires 2 sticks of 8GB?? I thought its 2 sticks of 4GB ea for 8GB??? What SSD would you recommend? My specs are,
Manufacture: LENOVO
Motherboard:
Product Name: 2242CTO
Incase anyone wants to know without opening you laptop run the following commands from a terminal, if your hard drive isn't working just use a download copy of any light live linux distro burned onto a usb. Ctlr+ alt=T will open a terminal. At the $ prompt write sudo dmidecode | grep -A2 'Base Board'
What I said regarding the RAM at about 2:30 is that you cannot use a single stick of 8GB. It will not read it. You need two 4GB sticks and they need to be the right type.
Lovely old girl, built like a tank. Great review, as per usual.
Thank you kindly. Lots more to come.
Hello. I have the same model, also installed Win10. Everything works like yours, except the touchpad. Does yours have issue with the touchpad? maybe you found a driver for it usable with win10. (the touchpad otherwise ok, I tried it with Linux, I only want to test with win10. On the other hand, surely it is more suitable to use this machine with Linux which requires less hw resources ). Other question, have you looked after maybe if it can be equipped with an original webcamera. Thanks fro your video.
I didn't have any issues with the touchpad. Drivers for Windows 7 or 8 usually still work on 10. Regarding a webcamera, if it doesn't already have one, you would need to replace several parts in the lid to put one in. It would probably cost a fair bit to source the parts.
I've come across a ThinkPad with a stiff hinge like yours.. my mind is still trying to understand why
Something is overtight I suspect.
@@LaptopRetrospective well it makes yours and mine the same. I'll check which one it was I have.
T61p type 6457-5KU 08/03
64575KU
I've replied to another comment but check for crusty and dried grease...
The era is very close, I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same part in both machines. Possibly a unique issue to this hinge?
I was gifted this T500 & its like new great shape. Installed CM 500GB SSD waiting on 2 sticks of 4GB RAM. **How can I tell if its cooling fan is working? How do you use the CD drive, PCI card slot, what size is the front micro card reader? How does that front kill switch work? How do you connect to a large screen? I want to use it to test Linux OSs run proxmox and personal server. So far your video is the best of the Thinkpad T500 Laptop RUclipss. Personally I don't like laptops because of the keyboard palm rest on the synaptic touch pad position. Learning key binds for fun. Thank you
If the fan doesn't work, the computer won't run long. The rest are pretty straightforward with simple Google searches. 😁
The fan is so quiet. Thank you@@LaptopRetrospective
What do you usually "daily drive" in terms of laptops?
My main workhorse is an X1 Nano. I use a ThinkPad X220 for various things around the house and then a Surface Book 2 for other odds and sods. Then lots of others for various tasks.
By any chance do you know where to get a 15" screen T60 or T60p? Been trying to make a T601F Frankenpad, but no such luck yet.
eBay would be my first stop, after that it would be Googling the part number to make a short list of random businesses that might have the part. I've lucked out quite a few times that way.
@@LaptopRetrospective I mean, I wasn't looking for the FRU/screen part. I was looking for an entire laptop (that uses a 15 inch screen) to make the T601F Frankenpad. I've been at it since 2018 XD
Ahhh, I understand. Yes they aren't super common. eBay saved search with notifications turned on would be good to do if you haven't already.
@@lloritoovidexequield.8609 The difference if a little difficult to tell some times, but you can tell which one is which once you study the differences. They're minor, but you can see it. Alternatively, you can look up the model number that's underneath the laptop and check online what it was originally equipped with.
I haven't seen the led screen for that mod in a few years and the last I seen of them was around $300-$400 just for the panel though to be honest I haven't been kept up too much.
Could be nice if I have something like that right now. Although I prefer T520 for much-improved performance (and longevity), but T500 still better than nothing I guess…
Needs will always dictate what is most appropriate. 👍
Has anyone sorted out the best driver set for Windows 10? I’ve heard some mix of Lenovo’s (power management) and manufacturer (Intel).
I have a docking station and just want a little shop machine, this will do.
I'd start with what Windows puts on, then see if Lenovo System Update works with this machine. If not then I'd grab drivers from the EOL Portal for the latest Windows as needed.
Can it run windows xp? I wanna see if I can install it because most of them I see in the internet is them running vista.
I imagine it can, but why?
@@LaptopRetrospective I just never owned a labtop that originally ran windows xp so I just wanna know if it can
T500's hinges are the weakest part of its design long-term. And the magnesium frame in the lid tends to crack at the left hinge, I blame excessive stiffness of the hinges. On the opposite end of the spectrum my first T500 has a completely loose left hinge. That said I love T500, they're the ultimate of Lenovo's early offerings, they use DDR3 which is so inexpensive, they're the first with SATA Ultrabay Slim and still support Ultrabay Battery. The LCDs are quite nice too for the era.
i have this problem with a T500 (it has happened twice actually) - the left part of the lid frame breaks in the corner in the two screws and i can only use the third screw on the plastic lid to connect the hinges and of course that is very bad because it can break too in the end. Can you think of a fix? it is very hard to find spare lid frames now...
@@beickus Sadly I have not been successful in repairing after they break. This is the laptop's fatal flaw.
@@beickus mine broke on the upper part of the hinge. The grey part with the screw holes just disintegrated, but you can restore functionality by removing the series of little clamps that are under it (which grip onto the shaft) and replace them with a ring that has two screw holes which are orthogonal to the shaft (called a "shaft stopper"). One one side you put an appropriately long screw and on the other a headless hex screw, then use hot glue to fix it to the frame... but there are better ways of modding, if you got a welder
@@sFeral i need a sketch to understand this - can you make one and send it please?
@@beickus search for "shaft stopper", look at the pictures. The hinge is a simple mechanism, just not simple enough in this case, otherwise it wouldn't have broke
Looks a lot like my fatass t520