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    Hardware Updates Clarification/Questions

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by dunkin03, Sep 26, 2009.

  1. dunkin03

    dunkin03 Newbie

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    I am thinking about buying a T500(most likely) or T400 from the Lenovo Outlet Store and see three items I may need to separately update:

    1.Wireless Card-Would a 5300AGN purchased from ebay(ex.) need to be Lenovo branded, and would the antenna from the old wireless card(Thinkpad b/g or early b/g/n) need to be upgraded?

    2.Memory-is there a compatibility list I missed? If not, would the memory need to be the same speed and timings as what came with the laptop?

    3.OS-I would like to downgrade the system to a clean XP Pro install. Will I be able to reload some of the ThinkVantage programs selectively? Would I lose any functionality besides these programs? And if I don't downgrade is the amount of processes on startup (I've read 80 or so) a hassle to clean?

    Thanks for any info! I have general experience with desktop hardware/software upgrades but laptops will be new to me and hold a bit of a taboo, so I apologize if these are questions with obvious answers.
     
    dunkin03, Sep 26, 2009
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  2. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

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    1) The Wi-Fi card needs to be IBM/Lenovo/ThinkPad branded. For example, this card should work (I used a similar card in my x200T). Your existing antennas will work, but you may not have the three required for maximum performance (my x200 Tablet did, but some [especially those with webcams] may only have two antennas [it will still work but you won't get maximum performance]).

    2) Any Laptop DDR3 memory should work fine. I would recommend 1066MHz DDR3 with a CAS latency of 7.

    3) You can download the drivers/ThinkVantage software from Lenovo. If you install them properly you won't lose any functionality.
     
    jonlumpkin, Sep 26, 2009
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