xiphmont

The latest of the 51nb upgrade mobos for classic thinkpads is the X210, a drop-in replacement motherboard for the X201. It's a Kaby Lake with lots of goodies, and it makes the screens that were available for a stock X201 seem even more limiting (that is, unforgivably crappy) than they were when the X201 was new.

People have always stuffed better screens into an X201, and that's been taken to new levels with the advent of the X210. It sports the original LVDS connector, but also has a weird two-lane eDP connector (apparently matching a popular Chinese screen) along with two more unexposed eDP lanes unexposed but accessible.

The thing I always hated about the X201 was the miles of bezel in a lid more than thick enough to swallow a much bigger screen. Well, that and the 16:10 ratio. The X61 will always be my fave for being 4:3.

That said, the dimensions suggest it should be possible to fit a pretty good sized modern 3:2 screen. One 51nb modder went to heroic lengths to fit a 12.9" Chromebook screen, but it required losing the latches, the status LEDs and a decent amount of internal bracing. And custom driver and backlight hardware. I had one of these screens and verified the fit was.. difficult at best. I wouldn't trust what was left of the lid after stuffing the screen inside to handle any kind of abuse.

But since then, LG released a 13.0" 3000x2000 that's physically smaller with a larger active area and no special electronics needs, part number LP130QP1.

I ordered one. It arrived today.

It will fit without heroics, though I'll certainly want to brace the screen (so incredibly thin!) But does it light?