dr_st wrote on Yesterday, 13:15:

Nexxen wrote on Yesterday, 12:56:

I got a new retro laptop, IBM Thinkpad R50: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:R51
Installed Win XP SP2 and found the drivers on the same site (great, thanks guys!)

R50 or R51? LCD size and resolution? (Or better yet - what is the 7-character model number?)

Most likely, it can be a reasonable retro-gaming laptop for early XP gaming. You may even be able to get Win9x/Me on it, but drivers can be a little bit of a pain.

R51, my mistake.
LCD 15" TN 1024*768 65MHz
Intel 855PM chipset + ICH4-M
99HBG33 -- identifies as R50 though, prolly the family?

Banias 1.6GHz (planning already to replace it with a Dothan 755 - 2 GHz).
Ram is plenty at 512MB

Lan is Intel pro 1000 + 21003B wireless, not bad.

And it doesn't come with the sticky coating of my P-III T22 😀

99HBG33 is the serial number. It indeed identifies as an Italian R50 type 1830. On the sticker with the serial number there should also be a model type number (1830-XXX). The complete MTM can be used to identify all components of the system as originally shipped. It doesn't matter much because there is much overlap between R50 and R51.

I think if you have 512MB RAM in a single stick, I would suggest another 512MB stick. 1GB is a good sweet spot for early XP systems.

dr_st wrote on Yesterday, 17:52:

99HBG33 is the serial number. It indeed identifies as an Italian R50 type 1830. On the sticker with the serial number there should also be a model type number (1830-XXX). The complete MTM can be used to identify all components of the system as originally shipped. It doesn't matter much because there is much overlap between R50 and R51.

I think if you have 512MB RAM in a single stick, I would suggest another 512MB stick. 1GB is a good sweet spot for early XP systems.

1830-BLG

512MB x 2 : duly noted.
Thanks for the suggestion!

Btw, are keyboards of R5x models interchangeable? I see many available of this family number but without it.
Missing are HDD caddy (always) and DVD (these are super cheap).
It's going to be a funny little retro project.

Nexxen wrote on Yesterday, 21:42:

1830-BLG

Yes, it's an R51 alright.
https://tp.krelay.de/index.php?type=1830-BLG
I think you are correct - when a 4-digit model number is used across different series (something that isn't happening now, as far as I know, but happened in the IBM era) - the new Lenovo warranty lookup website always shows the first model name (e.g., I have an old T42 whose serial is detected as a T40).

Nexxen wrote on Yesterday, 21:42:

Btw, are keyboards of R5x models interchangeable? I see many available of this family number but without it.

They are interchangeable across the same LCD size, but 15" and 14.1" LCD models had different keyboards.

dr_st wrote on Yesterday, 23:59:

Great place to check models.

You wrote about W98SE installation. I tried but there are problems with a few things.Lan, wifi, apic, modem, sound...
I'm pretty sure someone figured out how to get there 100% 😀