New 11th gen motherboard based on the T61/T60 series

• Compatible chassis: T60, T61
• Intel 11th gen 1165G7
• Thunderbolt 4
• All stock displays supported
• eDP 1.4 display supported: up to 4K60
• Coreboot supported
• Price for motherboard and peripherals: $1099USD (Price breakdown below)

Introduction

The T700 project is a drop-in replacement motherboard for the TP T60 and T61 series of laptops. This consists of an aftermarket motherboard not produced by L that fits in the chassis with little to no modifications necessary.

The goal is to recreate the TP experience as much as possible, while incorporating the latest CPUs and technology. As the motherboard is not from L, it will require quite a bit of hands-on from the user to get the best experience out of the machine. It will be as stable as any other computer motherboard but will not have original TP software support and features.

Specifications

• Chassis compatibility
  • T60 4:3 15.0″: perfect compatibility
  • T60, T61 4:3 14.1″: compatible with modifications to the chassis
  • T60, T61 16:10 widescreen 15.4″: compatible with modifications to the chassis
  • T61 16:10 widescreen 14.1″ compatible with modifications to the chassis
• CPU: i7-1165G7
• RAM: 2 slots of DDR4-3200, up to 64GB
• Firmware: Proprietary firmware from factory, Coreboot once fully ported over
• Stock batteries supported
• All stock displays are fully supported
• Stock ANSI keyboard and trackpoint fully supported (with support for TP drivers)

External I/OInternal I/O2 * USB-A 5gbpseDP 1.4 up to 4K60 (4 lanes of DP signal)2 * USB-C with Thunderbolt 4 hardware built-in
USB 10gbps
Supports USB Power delivery for charging
Displayport with HDMI alt-mode
Stock BIOS does not support Thunderbolt 4
Coreboot will support Thunderbolt 4 on both ports1 miniPCIe, with 1 lane of PCIe3 and USB, modifiable with intel FIT tool (Flexible IO)RJ45 gigabit ethernet2 M.2 2280 NVMe with 4 lanes of PCIe 3.0, designed for M.2 SSDsVGA1 2.5” SATA 6gbps slot3.5mm Audio in1 SATA DVD combo slot (adaptable to 1 2.5″ SATA 6gbps slot)3.5mm Audio outLVDS support up to QXGA panelBarrel jack 20V DC inStock batteries fully supported

Display

4:3 classic displays

The T700 will have full support for all stock displays, including widescreen displays. However, a batch of xiphmont’s kit will be recreated and custom designed for the 15.0″ UXGA displays. This will incorporate the best of the 4:3 displays and bring it to modern standards.

eDP modern LED panels

The T700 has an eDP 1.4 port built-in, enabling up to 4K60 panels. The following panels are shortlisted as viable options:

• XPS15 15.6″ 16:10 4K series (OLED, LCD) for the T60/T61 15.4″ widescreen
  • 16:10 size is the same ratio as the 15.4″ T60/T61 widescreen
  • Needs a very small CNC cut to fit the extra 0.2″
• XPS15 15.6″ 16:9 4K series (OLED, LED) for the T60/T61 15.4″ widescreen
  • 16:9 ratio making the panel slightly wider and shorter
  • May only require a horizontal CNC cut instead of all 4 sides
• Zenbook 14X 16:10 (OLED, LED, high refresh rate) for the T60/T61 14.1″ widescreen
  • Slightly smaller than the 14.1″ but same aspect ratio. Practically a drop-in replacement.
• There are no viable 4:3 panels or 3:2 panels, or at least not trivially. They either look too ugly or does not fit properly. If anyone knows any viable panel, please let me know.

Coreboot and Thunderbolt 4

The T700 will have coreboot ported over by 3mdeb. The cost of port is 10K EURO or more which is included in the price of the motherboard as well. Coreboot will not be present on launch and will have manufacturer BIOS but will be made available by a BIOS update.

At launch, the stock BIOS will not support Thunderbolt 4. The TB4 hardware is fully incorporated in the motherboard design though. Coreboot should enable full TB4 functionality once it has been fully ported.

Price

As the LED backlight is still being looked into, there will only be an estimate pricing for full builds.

All prices listed are by TransferWise or USDT. PayPal will also be accepted but there will be an additional 10% surcharge. PayPal does not refund merchant cost in case of refunds and charges 4.45% on every transaction.

Motherboard and peripheral

Price: $1099USD via USDT or TransferWise

Price: $1200USD via PayPal

Pricing includes:

• Motherboard
• Modified fans
• Port covers
• Coreboot development
• Full testing of motherboard
• Worldwide airshipping

Full build

Estimated cost is about $1300 to $1600 including shipping depending on the cost of display and development (coreboot and LED backlight).

Full build will come with your choice of refurbished or used chassis.

Timeline

Periodic updates will be issued here as well as in the blog post section. Key information will be updated here while build log will be available in the blog post section.

• T700 blog post 1

TimeEventEnd of November 2021Final crowdfunding paymentNovember 2021Delivery of second prototype motherboardJanuary 2022Estimated start of productionMarch 2022Estimated end of productionMarch to April 2022Delivery of motherboardMarch to April 2022Payment of full buildsApril 2022Shipping of motherboardApril 2022 onwardsShipping of full builds

Terms of crowdfunding

An initial payment of $1099 applies. Once the board finishes production, you can choose to complete the full build with peripherals. Payment is not refundable until at least 20 builds are crowdfunded. The final price will depend on the cost of components etc and if the final price is too high, you can choose to get a refund.

For PayPal payments, a full refund will cost a merchant fee of 4.45%. As such, please opt for TransferWise or USDT payments if possible.

Please email/DM from the contacts page to place an order.