Replacement for Lenovo x230 (coreboot'able + high res)

[799]

Hello,

I have used two x230 (i5 and i7) in the last email years to run Qubes. 

While I love the form factor and battery runtime I would like to move to a device which has a better screen resolution.

I'd like to have something between 12 and 14inch as I have already a bigger 15,4" laptop which has a great resolution (3K) but bad battery runtime (Workstation Laptop).

Do you have a suggestion which fits into my wishlist:

- Coreboot'able

- Qubes 4 compatible

- FullHD Resolution 1.920x1.080 or similar

- 16 GB RAM

- optional LTE WAN Card

- 12 or 14 inch

- good battery runtime

Kind regards

- O

[Maillist]

Unfortunately, with coreboot (assuming you mean a security relevant coreboot), there are none which fit your specs.However, its possible to hack a 13.3 FHD display in an x230.

cheers

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[Franz]

An external monitor for x230? I am considering to buy a Onyx Boox Max 2 which is e-ink (black and white) to save my eyes and is portable, so somebody posted photos of the Onyx attached with velcro to the x230. It also may save battery time if there is a way to dis-activate  the original x230 display  because it is not illuminated.

It can also be detached from the x230 and used as android tablet e-reader.

But it is just a plan I have not tested it yet

[Holger Levsen]

On Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 03:08:22AM +0200, Maillist wrote:
> Unfortunately, with coreboot (assuming you mean a security relevant
> coreboot), there are none which fit your specs.However, its possible to
> hack a 13.3 FHD display in an x230.

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640 explains how to do
that. It's not really hard nor expensive.


--
cheers,
Holger

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PGP fingerprint: B8BF 5413 7B09 D35C F026 FE9D 091A B856 069A AA1C

[799]

Hello Franz,

Franz <169...@gmail.com> schrieb am Sa., 27. Okt. 2018, 07:10:

(...) An external monitor for x230? (...)

I am working in IT Consulting and therefor need to travel.

Most time people complain when I travel by train/public transportation and bring in 23" external display and start the engine of the  power generator ;-)

am considering to buy a Onyx Boox Max 2 which is e-ink (black and white) to save my eyes and is portable, so somebody posted photos of the Onyx attached with velcro to the x230.

Interesting device, but the reviews mention that display lag is to big to be used as monitor.

- O

[799]

Hello Holger,

Holger Levsen <hol...@layer-acht.org> schrieb am Sa., 27. Okt. 2018, 10:53:

On Sat, Oct 27, 2018 at 03:08:22AM +0200, Maillist wrote:
> Unfortunately, with coreboot (assuming you mean a security relevant
> coreboot), there are none which fit your specs.However, its possible to
> hack a 13.3 FHD display in an x230.

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640 explains how to do
that. It's not really hard nor expensive.

Thanks for the link, I have read this thread before but to me it looks not like this is an easy operation. But I am also not that engaged in hardware hacking.

Maybe I post to the thread and ask if this "mod" can be done by someone who has done this before (x230-display-mod as a service:-)

Anyone from the Qubes Community has done this modification before?

- O

[superriku11]

All of the **30 series ThinkPads were supported by Coreboot, last I checked.

The T430 has a 14-inch screen, but not FHD resolution like you would like. There is a screen replacement that some people have done to upgrade it to 1920 x 1080.
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Replacing_T430_screen_with_a_better_one

If you'd rather not replace the screen, there's also a ThinkPad W530, which has a 15-inch screen, and you can get in OEM configuration with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Either option should support the features required by Qubes 4.0. I personally have not tested them with Coreboot though, and there are certain compatibility issues with some hardware. I can't guarantee you that it works, but the features are there and should work under the OEM firmware even if not under Coreboot.

[Tai...@gmx.com]

Get a T430 (get a better kb from *20 series) or a W520 and install an
ivy-bridge CPU and a screen upgrade if you can't find one that comes
with the res you want - there are some nice aftermarket ones from china
and taiwan but the W series should have a 1920 oem model. Of course get
one without the dGPU to save battery power...you can get an eGPU via
ExpressCard if you want more video juice etc.

There is a wwan pci-e port card and a sim slot on both afaik and since
it is restricted via IOMMU there should not be any security issues.

You can install a second slice battery on the bottom.

Both work fine with coreboot-openhwinit and me cleaner to nerf the me
(disabling always impossible) and will work with qubes 4.0 features.

[David Hobach]

On 10/27/18 12:42 PM, superriku11 wrote:
> All of the **30 series ThinkPads were supported by Coreboot, last I checked.
>
> The T430 has a 14-inch screen, but not FHD resolution like you would like. There is a screen replacement that some people have done to upgrade it to 1920 x 1080.
> http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Replacing_T430_screen_with_a_better_one
>
> If you'd rather not replace the screen, there's also a ThinkPad W530, which has a 15-inch screen, and you can get in OEM configuration with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

Sometimes you'll also find T530s with FHD, but they'll require some
tinkering for coreboot (as usual I guess) and you'll want to have an
IOMMU capable quad core for Qubes (which is less common).

[799]

Hello all,

Tai...@gmx.com <Tai...@gmx.com> schrieb am Sa., 27. Okt. 2018, 19:26:

Get a T430 (get a better kb from *20 series) or a W520 and install an
ivy-bridge CPU and a screen upgrade if you can't find one that comes
with the res you want

The W5x0 series is to big for me as I need something more mobile and because I own already a W540 (running Qubes with a stock rom/not coreboot'able).

The T4x0 series was what I was looking for, but they also don't offer Full HD resolution.

Holger posted me a link to the most interesting solution which is installing a Full HD Display into the X230 which looks like the best solution to me.

https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640

The process is well described but it seems that it's more targeted to hardware hackers (soldering skills).

I am wondering why no one is offering this mod as a service as this would create the perfect Qubes Laptop (in my opinion).

- O

[brenda...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 3:25:42 PM UTC-4, 799 wrote:
> Hello all,

> The W5x0 series is to big for me as I need something more mobile and because I own already a W540 (running Qubes with a stock rom/not coreboot'able).
> The T4x0 series was what I was looking for, but they also don't offer Full HD resolution.
>
>
> Holger posted me a link to the most interesting solution which is installing a Full HD Display into the X230 which looks like the best solution to me.
>
>
> https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=122640
>
> The process is well described but it seems that it's more targeted to hardware hackers (soldering skills).
>
>
> I am wondering why no one is offering this mod as a service as this would create the perfect Qubes Laptop (in my opinion).

I'm fairly certain I've heard of x230s with FHD intalled by 51nb.

Google says... http://www.cnmod.cn/x330/

Brendan

[brenda...@gmail.com]

On Sunday, October 28, 2018 at 5:21:06 PM UTC-4, brenda...@gmail.com wrote:
> I'm fairly certain I've heard of x230s with FHD intalled by 51nb.
>
> Google says... http://www.cnmod.cn/x330/

My bad, that's a new display *and* more recent, custom motherboard in the old shell.

B