First post, by bjwil1991
- Rank
- l33t
Over the course of the weekend, I had purchased an IBM ThinkPad 380D in mint condition with all of the bells and whistles (10/100 and 56K PC cards, recovery media on diskette and CDs, including Lotus software, the manual(s), charger, and carrying case) and a Diamond Multimedia K2Y-PRO16 (Reveal SC400 Rev 4G lookalike) sound card. In this series, I'll be discussing about the system, it's original specifications, and the upgrades it can take for the system, such as the hard drive. The system originally had Windows 95 installed when new and it did come with the original media, manuals, and Lotus software. The laptop was manufactured in 1997, so for a 22-year old laptop, I'm amazed to see the laptop in this condition, which is sweet.
System specs:
Intel Pentium 150
12.1" DTSN (will replace with a TFT) display 800x600
Neomagic MagicGraph128ZV with 1.125MB video
Cirrus Logic (Crystal) CS4236B audio controller
1.44MB 3.5" FDD
CD-ROM drive
48MB EDO RAM (has 16 on-board and 32MB in the slot)
1.35 HDD, upgradeable to a 5GB IBM TravelStar HDD.
IrDA 1.1
PCMCIA slots (either 2 Type II, or 1 Type III)
* created a boot disk with the CPU tools: CPUCHK and NSSI.
Items that came with the system:
1) Carrying case
2) Manual(s)
3) Recovery media (boot diskette, recovery on CD)
4) Lotus software on CD
5) Charger
Granted, there are people that say the Crystal CS4236B isn't the best, however, it's better than nothing and purchasing a docking station/port replicator can add a MIDI/Joystick port to allow me to use a Roland SC-55 and a joystick to play DOS games or Windows games with ease. There isn't a built-in modem, however, the system has a 10Base-T & 56K PC card installed, and I also have PC cards for the system itself in case I want to use one. For the price and condition of the laptop, I cannot complain whatsoever.
The system (front):
Side (left):
Side (right):
Back:
Bottom end:
Currently, the system is giving out two error codes:
161 - Dead (or low) CMOS battery - Defaults loaded
163 - Time and Date incorrect
The battery on the 380 Series laptops is located at the RAM compartment.
There are a couple of different batteries for the 380 Series laptops: CR1220 for the 380 and 380D in a socket, and a CR2025 (380E, 380ED, 380XD, 380Z). You can buy a new CR1220 at your local grocery store, convenience store, or computer store (if they have any), and the CR2025 uses a 2-wire connection that hooks into the connector on the motherboard and can be either purchased new on eBay (recommended) or you can use a CR2025* battery on there by MacGyvering it (removing the old battery and placing the new one in and wrapping it with either electrical tape or heat shrink tubing)
* Note: this method requires that you put the leads on the right way (red is positive, black is negative on the wiring, and + is positive, - is negative on the battery) and it's not recommended, however, you can change the battery easily. Preferred method would be buying a new one off of eBay.
The laptop itself is in mint condition, however, it requires the battery to be replaced on the machine in order for it to boot (NEC and Packard Bell machines did that as well, and some other systems requires a new battery to let it boot properly, otherwise, it goes back to the BIOS or boots to a diskette and not the hard drive, even if you save the settings).
See if it boots:
IT LIVES!!!
The one thing that isn't satisfying is the display, which is a DSTN display (ghosting image when moving the mouse around). My future plan is to replace the display with a TFT display and the other parts for it, but, the current display is still pretty good, so that's no big deal for the time being.
The recovery media works without issues. Stay tuned for further updates.
Gallery: https://imgur.com/gallery/SEyPfsp
Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser
