IBM ThinkPad 300 & 300C
IBM Type 2615
Released alongside the original ThinkPad 700 as a lower-end counterpart. These were weird laptops - IBM didn't make them, Zenith Data Systems did. They were heavily based on the Z-Note 386 Series. They changed the location of the secondary LCD (and the actual LCD they used), along with housing it all in a dark gray case with some IBM styling. The 300 was specifically based on the Z-Note 325L, and the 300C was based on the Z-Note 325Lc. The manufacturing shuffle goes a level deeper, as I believe these Z-Note laptops were at least in part developed by Sanyo in Japan, as the motherboards are full of Sanyo chips (and the power supply was made by Sanyo).
The 300C is very rare as it was available only as an upgrade for 300 owners, and said upgrade cost an additional $3000 over what they had already paid for the laptop.
The 300 grayscale model isn't very rare, but it didn't sell as well as other ThinkPads. They also both have a reputation for being unreliable.
Image on this page from solidpro.
Specifications
| Spec | ThinkPad 300 | ThinkPad 300C |
|---|---|---|
| Release Date | October 1992 | 1992 |
| CPU | CPU Type: Soldered QFP Intel 386SL @25MHz | |
| Chipset | Unknown | |
| RAM | Type: Unknown Standard: 4MB Maximum: 12MB | |
| Storage | 2.5" IDE Requires Adapter: Sort of, has a cable inside Standard: 80 or 120MB | |
| Display Options | 9.5" Passive Matrix Grayscale @640x480 | 8.4" Active Matrix Color @640x480 |
| Graphics Chipset | WD90C24 VRAM: Unknown | |
| Audio | PC Speaker | |
| Main Battery | NiMH | |
| CMOS Battery | NiCad | |
| Power Supply | External, Zenith proprietary connector | |
| Media Drives | 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive | |
| PC Cards | Modem-only PCMCIA | |
| Networking | Modem, AAUI Ethernet | |
| Other I/O | - 1x Parallel - 1x Serial - 1x VGA Out - 1x PS/2 - 1x Dock Connector | |
| BIOS | Unknown | |
| Pointing Device | None | |
Common Faults & Maintenance
The 300's case plastics should still be fairly strong - the Zenith versions still are. The main issues afflicting these laptops are bad capacitors. The 300 and 300C's motherboards both have a good number of surface mount electrolytic caps, which fail and leak corrosive fluid onto the board. Any 300 or 300C should have the motherboard recapped before you use it. If you're lucky enough to own a 300C, the LCD in those also MUST be recapped. They use the 8.4-inch Sharp LQ9D01 series panel, and same display that was used in just about any laptop with an 8.4-inch TFT display, including the Apple PowerBook 180c and some models in the Compaq LTE Lite series.
I don't currently know if the TP300 grayscale display has electrolytic caps on it, but I'd check if I were you.
Page last updated (MM/DD/YYYY): 02/21/2025
Update Reason: page converted to php
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