NYbill talks about getting a refurbished Lenovo X61 and making it more functional with a tool or two. There is also some talk of PLC's (Programmable Logic Controllers). A more in depth explanation of PLC's could be an episode in itself and might be some day. Stay tuned...
Pics for the episode:
https://media.gunmonkeynet.net/u/nybill/collection/hacking-a-lenovo-x61/
Lenovo after market BIOS. Allows Ctrl-Fn swap in older systems. (Use at your own risk!):
https://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/474396-fn-ctrl-swap-all-lenovo-laptops-solved.html
Show Transcript
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whisper --model tiny --language en hpr1612.wav
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Comments
Comment #1 posted on 2014-10-07T20:59:07Z by corenominal
From another X61 user
Great episode. I love your speaker hack, very clever idea. I also purchased a refurbished X61 a few years back (the non tablet kind) and it's a great little machine. Like you, I also use it as a machine to take on the road and I took it to this year's OggCamp, where Beni ended up using it for his talk about Lernstick. Interestingly, or not, Beni used it because his Chromebook did not have VGA out. I like that old hardware can sometimes be more useful than new stuff :)
Comment #2 posted on 2014-10-08T18:20:26Z by NYbill
Ha, and we were both EEE1000 users once upon a time as well. (Well, I still use mine. I use it for LUG/2600 meetings, travel, etc...)
Yea, the x61's are decent rigs. I little old, a little chunky. But, they seem to be rock solid.
I'm bummed I missed you guys at OGGcamp this year. But, it was cool to see the HPR table picture. Who knows, maybe I'll see everyone next time.
Comment #3 posted on 2014-10-23T01:12:28Z by pokey
Great episode
I loved it. Thanks Bill. Were did you buy it? I'll listen again, incase you don't answer.
My wife's laptop just broke. Maybe beyond repair. So I'm looking at my options now.
Comment #4 posted on 2014-11-03T13:24:24Z by Charles in NJ
Returns are fun
Thanks for this episode. I have used only old and refurbished computers at home since I began to use Linux. Refurbs give you the freedom to experiment with mods that you might not be willing to try on a new machine. Your speaker hack is a great example of the possibilities for making a truly custom rig.
If you feel like doing more about PLCs or projects with inexpensive programmable microcontrollers, those would be fun to hear, as well.
Loved the show!
Charles in NJ
Comment #5 posted on 2015-08-15T13:06:39Z by NYbill
Sorry I'm late...
Sorry I'm quite late to these comments, guys. I bought that rig via Micro Center, Pokey. You've probably bought something by now. But, just in case anyone reads this in the future, New Egg, Tiger Direct, The Lenovo Outlet, and The Dell Outlet also sell referbs.
And thanks for the kind words, Charles in NJ. Yea, I'm always hacking on something. Its fun to blab about the projects on HPR as well.
(Yes, this is me getting better at checking comments. Its only been about 9 months. Heh...)
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