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No this is basically an entirely new computer in an old chassis. I don't know why these types of projects keep using mediocre Intel 11th gen quad cores though.

No this is basically an entirely new computer in an old chassis. I don't know why these types of projects keep using mediocre Intel 11th gen quad cores though. I love old ThinkPads too, but I couldn't justify the expense for something that's already so outdated. Maybe down the road there will be some affordable off-the-shelf Arm or RISC-V CPUs that would make for a neat drop-in motherboard upgrade for these old machines. Something really, really low power in a big honkin' ThinkPad chassis might have pretty incredible battery life.

rbanffy 5y ago
I believe they had to find a good one-size-fits-all while keeping the price low enough to attract buyers. The target audience is the owners of T-60 laptops who are willing to pay more than what a new Thinkpad costs to make their current laptops better. I understand people get attached to these computers and I’ve paid more for old computers than it’d cost to get new (and more practical) ones, but it’s a different thing.
Kaibeezy 5y ago
Did you see that 70s vintage Ford F-150 with the Tesla power train transplant? This sort of thing makes even more sense for computers than for cars, considering the lack crumple zones and such pre-80s.
- jagger27 5y ago
  Is this what you mean? [0] It’s actually a “crate engine” sold by Ford. Awesome concept. These ThinkPad mods are pretty much all about the keyboard and overall form factor. The display has to be swapped out for something more modern, the batteries should probably be upgraded, obviously the entire motherboard is being replaced… It’s getting close to a ship of Theseus scenario. A lot of old 90s laptops have pretty brittle plastics too. ThinkPads in general seem to fare better than say PowerBook G3 display hinges. It’s a heck of a long road to go down for a sturdy laptop with a great keyboard and a ton of ports. If the motherboard could be made for under $500 with open source hardware I’d be tempted. 0: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/11/02/all-electric-f-100-eluminator-concept.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021...
eliasmacpherson 5y ago
I also could not justify the expense, it's just a poor price/performance ratio. You can get a sub $500 nuc with one of these in it instead, if you want a hotrod, why pay above the odds for one that's going to lose a race? I expect the reason for the part choice is that supplies of the 12th gen chips are wholesale restricted to larger vendors such as lenovo, hp etc - but this is merely a suspicion and not something I have proof of.

rbanffy 5y ago

I believe they had to find a good one-size-fits-all while keeping the price low enough to attract buyers. The target audience is the owners of T-60 laptops who are willing to pay more than what a new Thinkpad costs to make their current laptops better. I understand people get attached to these computers and I’ve paid more for old computers than it’d cost to get new (and more practical) ones, but it’s a different thing.

Kaibeezy 5y ago

Did you see that 70s vintage Ford F-150 with the Tesla power train transplant? This sort of thing makes even more sense for computers than for cars, considering the lack crumple zones and such pre-80s.

jagger27 5y ago
Is this what you mean? [0] It’s actually a “crate engine” sold by Ford. Awesome concept. These ThinkPad mods are pretty much all about the keyboard and overall form factor. The display has to be swapped out for something more modern, the batteries should probably be upgraded, obviously the entire motherboard is being replaced… It’s getting close to a ship of Theseus scenario. A lot of old 90s laptops have pretty brittle plastics too. ThinkPads in general seem to fare better than say PowerBook G3 display hinges. It’s a heck of a long road to go down for a sturdy laptop with a great keyboard and a ton of ports. If the motherboard could be made for under $500 with open source hardware I’d be tempted. 0: https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021/11/02/all-electric-f-100-eluminator-concept.html https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2021...

eliasmacpherson 5y ago

I also could not justify the expense, it's just a poor price/performance ratio. You can get a sub $500 nuc with one of these in it instead, if you want a hotrod, why pay above the odds for one that's going to lose a race? I expect the reason for the part choice is that supplies of the 12th gen chips are wholesale restricted to larger vendors such as lenovo, hp etc - but this is merely a suspicion and not something I have proof of.