X200 P8600 MB Upgrade

I've done the X200, which is very similar, but I don't have any pics for you. Check the training and support site. There's videos there showing each step of the removal and reassembly process. There's a link in the sticky. The X201 isn't there, but the X200 is and they're very similar.

I don't see the LCD cable being an issue since the X200 cable can be used in the X201 for the AFFS mod.

I would agree if you really want a X201, from a cost perspective, you're better off selling your X200 and buying a X201 if that's what you want.

 

+1 on selling x200 and getting a used x201 instead, as you would get the balance of the remaining warranty.

 

$360 is a bit cheaper than i would have expected them to cost but i don't keep a pulse on aftermarket parts much anymore.

sounds like you have some experience tinkering with thinkpads which at least puts you in a better position to try this if you're keen on it.

and selling an intact 200 systemboard would of course recoup a few more dollars.

 

Okay, to answer at least a few of your questions:

-Flashing the system type information into the BIOS isn't necessary for the board to work. If need be, you can simply grab all the X201 drivers off Lenovo's support site and be done with it that way.

-There is someone on this forum(I forget who) who does program customized BIOS options for these systems. It might be worth looking into if they would consider making an X201 version without the wifi whitelist.

-ZaZ has confirmed that the X200 LCD cable works on the X201; there are people who have used the X200 cable to do the AFFS screen mod on their X201. This would mean the LCD portion would be plug and play.

-The only major fitment issues with the touchpad/Trackpoint and the speakers will be the connectors, I think. The best case scenario is that the connectors on the X201 board are the same and you can use your existing X200 hardware without any issues. The worst-case scenario is having to purchase X201 speakers, a new base cover to fit the speakers, and a palmrest(touchpad or no). There will be a little trial and error and risk here; if you do this swap you'll be the first person around here to do it.

As far as warranty stuff and cost effectiveness goes, you've heard the spiel by now. If you spent a pretty good chunk of change on your X200(especially if you have warranty remaining), this mod really wouldn't make much sense in the first place. I would consider doing this mod only because I just have $150 into my X200(it was being sold for cheap because of cosmetic damage and I offered a desktop that I had refurbished out of spare parts to sweeten the deal) and I love to do all this hardware tinkering stuff anyway.

That said, my X200 still has warranty left so I'm not likely to do this anytime soon, if at all. Just keep in mind that others are offering valid points here, and that if you want warranty service and the ease of having a 'new' system, you may want to sell your X200 and use that money towards an X201 outright. If you want to do this because you like to tinker and don't give a care about practicality and warranty, I think this would be a really neat project to do.

 

I did happen to do this motherboard upgrade using the original parts from x200 with AFFS mod including bios whitelist mod. The motherboard is just a drop into the X200 base cover using all X200 parts exception is to use X201 palm rest with touchpad. It's ok if previous X200 has no fingerprint reader. It is advisable to do a clean install of OS.