IBM ThinkPad 770

Summary

IBM ThinkPad 770 was a laptop designed and manufactured by IBM targeted for the business, enterprise and professional user. It was the last lineup in the ThinkPad 700-series, succeeding the 760 as the high-end laptop of the ThinkPad lineup. The line was produced from October 1997 to May 2000, and eventually replaced by the ThinkPad models A20m and A20p.

IBM ThinkPad 770-series
ManufacturerIBM
Introduced1997
Discontinued1999
ProcessorIntel Pentium I, Pentium II
Frequency200-366 MHz
Memory64-128 MB PC66 SDRAM
PortsSerial, Parallel, VGA out, IBM docking port, IBM external floppy drive port, CardBus, USB 1.0

Features edit

The first 770s were shipped with either Windows NT4 or 95, but later shipped with 98 pre-installed. They were equipped with IBM's Ultrabay II, allowing for the option of either a CD-ROM, floppy drive or 2nd battery.

One notable feature of the ThinkPad 770 is that it was the first laptop available with a DVD-ROM[1] option in addition to a USB port and AC-3 support.

The first 770s featured an Intel Pentium I processor running at 233 MHz but with an optional 266 MHz upgrade. Later models introduced the Intel Pentium II mobile processor, and because these 770s use a certain processor socket, many have had success installing much more powerful processors generating up to 850 MHz. Although most models run at the 1024x768 resolution, some later models are capable of the 1280x1024 resolution. All use Trident Cyber 9397 graphics chips with 2MB memory in the 770, 4MB memory in the 770E/770ED, and 4 or 8MB memory in the 770X/770Z, depending on the resolution.[2]

Models edit

  • IBM ThinkPad 770 - The first 770 introduced in 1997. Available CPU options included the 200 MHz or 233 MHz Pentium MMX processor, came with 32 MB RAM and Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 pre-installed.
  • IBM ThinkPad 770E[3] - Later model produced shortly after the 770 to introduce the more recently developed Pentium II mobile processor, running at 266 MHz; 13.3" screen option dropped.
  • IBM ThinkPad 770ED - Similar to the 770E, but with a DVD-ROM player and MPEG-2 decoder included for DVD-Video playback, and higher standard memory.
  • IBM ThinkPad 770X - Model that featured the slightly improved Pentium II that ran at 300 MHz. Graphics used AGP bus as opposed to PCI bus in earlier 770 models. It shipped with 64 MB RAM and Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 pre-installed. The 770X also introduced the option for a 13.7" LCD with 1280x1024 screen resolution.
  • IBM ThinkPad 770Z - Last of the 770s, this model was similar to the 770X except that it ran the 366 MHz Pentium II CPU with a full-speed cache.

Model comparison edit

Model Introduction

Date

Withdrawal

Date

Base

Price

Display

Options

Resolution

Options

CPU Memory

(std - max)

Video

Controller

Audio

Controller

Hard Drive

Options

Misc

Info

DSTN TFT
770 Oct 1997 Sep 1998 ? 13.3"14.1"

Color

1024x768 Pentium I - 200 or 233 MHz

66 MHz bus

MMX

512 KB cache

32 - 256 MB

83 or 100 MHz

SDRAM

CYBER9397

2 MB SGRAM

PCI 2.1

CS4237B 3.2GB 4GB 5.1GB UltraBay II

2x Infrared Ports

1x USB Port

Docking Port

Li-Ion Battery

770E Apr 1998 Dec 1998 ? 14.1" Color Pentium II - 266 MHz

66 MHz bus

512 KB cache

32 - 288 MB

83 or 100 MHz

SDRAM

CYBER9397E

4 MB SGRAM

PCI 2.1

5.1GB
770ED ? 14.1" Color 64 - 288 MB

83 or 100 MHz

SDRAM

8.1GB
770X Oct 1998 Jun 1999 ? 13.7"

14.1"

Color

1024x768

1280x1024

Pentium II - 300 MHz

66 MHz bus

512 KB cache

64 - 320 MB

66 MHz

SDRAM

CYBER9397DVD

4-8 MB SGRAM

AGP 1X

CS4239

CS4610

770Z Feb 1999 Dec 1999 ? - Pentium II - 366 MHz

66 MHz bus

512 KB cache

128 - 320 MB

66 MHz

SDRAM

14.1GB

Reception edit

The ThinkPad 770 won the Technical Excellence Award by PCMag in December 1997.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Pierce, David (2012-10-05). "ThinkPad turns 20: how IBM's 'black box' defined the laptop industry". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  2. ^ "Personal Systems Reference IBM ThinkPad Notebooks 1992 to 2001 - withdrawn" (PDF). Lenovo. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  3. ^ Bourque, Brad (April 1, 1997). "IBM ThinkPad 770E review". Digital Trends.
  4. ^ "Winner: IBM ThinkPad 770". PC Mag. 16 December 1997.
  • Collection of scanned ThinkPad catalog pages
Preceded by IBM ThinkPad 770
October 1997-October 1999
Succeeded by
IBM ThinkPad 600X
IBM ThinkPad 390X