Update: IBM Thinkpad 240 Type 2609 Frankenstein (or FrankensteinBM?)
Hello, all. I recently posted a thread asking for advice on modding out an IBM Thinkpad 240. It has come in and I've gotten a chance to take it apart and measure some of the internal dimensions.
The display es no bueno, so I will have to replace it. Strangely pricey for an 800x600, 10.4" display, but whatever.
As a prefatory note, since the display is not working, I will have to hook it up to a VGA monitor to see whether the RAM and CPU have any problems. The battery seems to be in poor health, and there is no hard drive. I will look into finding replacement parts, but since those would be quite pricey anyhow, I am now even more in favor of simply replacing all of the internals.
It seems the internal dimensions I would have to work with, if building inside the lower part of the chassis, are as follows: 240.0 x 182.0 x 12.0mm, or 9.450 x 7.165 x 0.470". That is, 2cm shorter on W and L, and 1.46 cm shorter on height.
That being said, it will be quite interesting figuring out what sort of computer I actually could transplant into the chassis.
I have some ideas:
Either put a Surface Go or iPad mini in the upper display bezel. This would accomplish a replacement of the display (though the bezel would be slightly different) while also accomplishing a fairly modern computer. Computational power would not be as good as it could be. Especially if I use an iPad, it would be a huge headache to run anything other than iOS. Nonetheless, if I could get either of these to run Linux (or just let the Surface Go stay on Windows), I could keep extra storage in the lower chassis, as well as run a usb-c hub to enable connectivity with all of the old-school i/o (Serial, Parallel, PCMCIA, PS2, etc.).
Get a tiny pc, likely an HP EliteDesk mini, or a Thinkcentre Tiny, either of which seems to contain a short enough motherboard to fit under the keyboard. I would of course have to figure out some way to mount it. More power would be available if I went with this route.
Something else. It is highly unlikely that I could find any motherboard that I could simply install a CPU and RAM onto that would fit. That said, perhaps a gaming laptop motherboard MIGHT work. Especially those that have soldered cpu and ram, since they are cheaper for that reason and quite thin (though usually too wide). Added bonus of a GPU. But it would have to be quite a small gaming laptop, or else I would have to mount something like a Steam Deck.
Of course, a powerful PC would be great (modern CPU, 16-32GB RAM), but a *comically overpowered* PC would be much greater! A way to achieve dedicated graphics is much desired.
Final pain points I expect to run into:
- Figuring out how the original keyboard, trackpoint, LMB, and RMB can connect to whatever internals are installed.
- Finding space for an aftermarket display's board and connectors.
- Figuring out what to do about the battery (e.g., install a modern one, figure out some way to make that work with the rest of the parts).
Inspiration from some YouTube vids: Shashwat Patkar's video on upgrading a Thinkpad X61, and TME Retro's video installing a modern pc in an old Amstrad, if you want to see what I'm shooting for. Not a plug btw, just ran into those while doing some research.
If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I understand this is highly impractical and labor-intensive, which is the precise reason I'm so interested in it.
If and when I have a functioning Frankenstein's IBM 240, I will do my best to remember to post some glamor shots.