Brave Thinkpad Fan Karl Buchka replaced the internals of the 701C A much more powerful framework on the mainboard. The highest official specs for this laptop are rated at 486 DX4, which doesn’t quite live up to the demands of the 21st century. Unlike today’s best laptops, the best mid-1990s laptops had chunky cases, DSTN screens, and lots of dedicated ports. But IBM has always had a desire to please its mobile customers, and out of this desire came his 701C. The Thinkpad 701C features a new “butterfly” keyboard that slides out to reveal a larger typing area.
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Bucca’s project It’s been going on for the past 6 months. The project starts with a broken IBM Thinkpad 701C purchased on a whim. Buchka decided to build something great based on the broken Thinkpad and decided to use Framework hardware as the base. The project is now fully functional, but in a “mockup” state for testing. But as you can see in the picture, Buchka successfully booted into his Ubuntu.
The 701C’s original specs are laughable today. But in its heyday, it was a productivity monster. Butterfly His keyboard was able to fold into a small package while providing the writer with a comfortable typing experience. So how does that equate to a brain transplant?
| row 0 – cell 0 | IBM Thinkpad 701C | IBM Thinkpad 701C Brain Transplant |
| CPU | Intel 486 DX2 50 to DX4 75 | Intel I7-1165G7 |
| RAM | 4 – 40MB | Crucial 16GB DDR4 |
| depository | 720MB IDE | WD Black SN850 500GB NVMe SSD |
| screen | VGA 640×480 TFT active matrix | 10-inch iPad display 2160 x 1620 |
Buchka’s project is more than just putting a Framework motherboard into a 701C case. Buchka managed to squeeze the framework’s mainboard into the back half of the case. On the front is the battery for powering the laptop. The bottom of the case is a 3D printed draft, easily printed on the best FDM 3D printers. For high quality and strength, the final case is printed using MJF (Multi Jet Fusion). The hinge bracket is printed using DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering), which uses a high power laser to fuse layers of metal powder.
Apple’s iPad 7 display turned out to fit the 701C’s TFT screen almost perfectly. The iPad’s screen is calibrated to use the mainboard’s eDP connector. The large 2160 x 1620 display is vast compared to the 701C’s 640 x 480. Buchka points out that Framework doesn’t have room for expansion cards. A USB-C dongle that fits flush with Framework laptops and provides additional ports. Instead, on the right side of the case he chose to expose two of his USB-C ports. On the left, a custom USB-C port replicator exposes his two USB-A ports. Buchka is still working on his CAD model for this part of the build.
The star of the show has to be the Butterfly Keyboard, and it continues to shine thanks to a Teensy 3.6 microcontroller that offers both the keyboard and TrackPoint as USB devices thanks to a customized QMK build. In the final build, the keyboard and trackpoint electronics will be custom PCBs.
This project is great. We love the old Thinkpad aesthetic, but crave the power of modern CPUs. This project successfully ties the two together. For more information, Buchka’s Framework Community Profile Page.
