/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

Previous thread: Don't buy anything OTHER THAN IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T, X, and W/P Series if you want the Real Business Experience™
>Other business laptops are welcome in /tpg/ (Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook).

Libreboot-compatible models:
>T60 (check lcd), X60(s/t); X200(s/t. -s requires soldering), T400(s)/500; W500.

Modern models:
>X220/X230 - 12", 768p, cheap and light
>T420/T430 - 14", 900p, widely available, socketed CPU, both Coreboot-compatible (Ivy Bridge CPU support on T420); Quad Core Compatible, Old keyboard swap on *30 series
>T520/530; W520/530 - 15", 1080p, DTR, 32GB RAM on quadcore models, USB 3.0
>T440s - best price/performance ultra portable
>T440p/540p; W540/1 - Last Thinkpads with socketed processors, easily replaceable trackpad (W541 doesn't need trackpad replacement)

Upgraded models:
>X210 - X200/X201, i5 8250u quadcore
>X62 - X61, i5 5250u
>T70 - T60, i7 7700 hq
IPS displays, USB 3.0, m.2 x4, mini dp, no
forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=117

Why ThinkPad?
>Used machines are plentiful and cheap
>Excellent keyboards - tactile feel and quiet
>Great durability: magnesium rollcage for structural integrity, with high quality plastic body panels
>Utilitarian design: e.g. indicator LEDs, 7 row keyboard layout on older models
>Docking stations that easily turns your laptop into a desktop
>Easy to repair (most models), upgrade & maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model, spare parts easy & cheap to obtain
>The best TrackPoint™, great for those who type a lot or hate swiping their fingers all over a touchpad
>Excellent GNU/Linux & *BSD support

>ThinkWiki - Info on ThinkPads & running GNU/Linux on them:
thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
>BIOS logo booru:
biosimage.booru.org

Attached: t410s.jpg (1920x1080, 134K)

Other urls found in this thread:

ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440s-Ultrabook-14-i5-4300U-1-9GHz-8GB-256GB-SSD-WIN7-Pro-64Bit/362348892602
ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T450s-14-Laptop-i5-5300U-2-3GHz-8GB-256GB-20BW-000FUS/142975289035
ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1312.R1.TR10.TRC2.A0.H1.Xch.TRS2&_nkw=ch341a programer&_sacat=0
thebottlenecker.com/
es.aliexpress.com/store/product/Three-Keys-Touchpad-For-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440-T440S-T440P-T450-T450S-T540P-Series/2349246_32717498840.html?spm=a219c.search0104.3.1.22bb6ee44bOOdt&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10065_10068_318_10547_319_10548_10696_450_10084_10083_10618_452_535_534_533_10307_532_10712_10713_204_10059_10884_10887_100031_320_10103_448_449,searchweb201603_60,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=6d9b867c-57cc-42e8-8711-eb4cec62c707-0&algo_pvid=6d9b867c-57cc-42e8-8711-eb4cec62c707
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

first for comfy lenovo sales chat

why haven't you librebooted/corebooted your thinkpad?

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a little scary, not supported on my model, doesn't seem worth anything other than a very small slice of muh freedom

I don't have a Raspberry Pi.

>IMG_1057.rotated.rotated.jpg

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you don't need one. infact raspberry pis are unreliable, a cheap ch341a usb programmer works better

Buy American. Buy HP and Dell.

It's by far the easiest way to play NES on my car's display, tho

Charging cable for my T440p is fucked. How do I buy one on eBay that won't kill my laptop or kill me in my sleep due to fire?

Attached: IMG_6942.jpg (720x524, 50K)

It's a smaller version of it? I think the s stands for "smalll". I could be wrong...

Where the fuck do I get pomona clips in a third world country? Pic related is all I could find.
No not amazon.

Attached: file.png (800x800, 178K)

Does anyone know if the Windows 7 version of the BIOS flasher utility only updates the BIOS portion (relative to a case which I'll use the flashrom flag for) of the flash chip on a Lenovo X220 or does it modify ME et al?

I hope the former..got the parts to flash it just need a little more guidance.

Attached: boris.jpg (2048x851, 202K)

What does it mean if my t420 is reads the battery,but only turns on in ac

so t440p with i5 vpro (4300M) to replace a macbook pro 2011 / 13 inch. ? the guy seliing it says the battery is new, what do you think ?

used ( 8 months ) g3 450 hp probook
i7 6500 @2.5ghz
8gbs ram
128gb ssd
intregrated graphics ( HD 520 )
15.6 in diagonal HD1 anti-glare flat LED-backlit (1366 x 768)
no signs of tampering, keyboard and touchpad were precise, battery ( 3 cell ) looked okay

He's asking me 400€
How is it ?
[spoiler]I can't find a t430 that ships close to where I am for the life of me[/spoiler]

Going to install Windows 10 on my X220T, any tips or advice?

Also, what other hardware upgrades/mods can I do? Is the CPU upgradeable in these? Happy to consider things 'outside the box'.

Specs:
- i5 2520m
- 8GB DDR3
- 120GB SSD (Samsung 850 EVO mSATA)
- 320GB HDD

Should I install opensuse or fedora on my T530? Looking for something that just werks

Personally i'd rather go with the t440s if you can find it at a similar price

Neither.

This. Install Windows 7 as the engineers intended. Pointless to use freetard garbage on a business machine.

I'm going to buy a T400 and I'm wondering two things. Do I have to do anything before dropping in an X9100, and will 1600mhz ram work?

What's the best way to clean a thinkpad?

Attached: tpgf27.jpg (960x1280, 110K)

Is the T450 good?
i5 5300u
8gb ram
180gb ssd
1080p matte screen 14.1in

First thinkpad for me, I need recommendations.

I use magic sponge fo the back, and tootbrush for the keyboard and edges.

what sbc is that? how much for it? link? does it draw enough power over usb?

I bought a latitude Jow Forums, I'm sorry
5600u, FHD, 260 USD

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Is it worth it to buy a new thinkpad T480?

The Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display is always worth it.

What's the best GPU you can get for a T560?

>The Apple Macbook Pro with Retina Display is always worth it.
Top Kek

I recognise that cumstain
Did the person in the photo end up showing benis in the other thread?

Gang, I have an x220t and I love it to death but I've been doing a lot of design work lately and this little baby is sluggish as fuck.

Any recommendations for me to get in order to make my Photoshop/Illustrator experience smoother?

P.S. I abhor the post ??20 keyboard

it's a ch341a usb programmer. it works better than a raspberry pi. pretty easy to use in linux i don't know about windows.
you install flashrom and run it with flashrom -p ch341a_spi

ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1312.R1.TR10.TRC2.A0.H1.Xch.TRS2&_nkw=ch341a programer&_sacat=0

those work too. have you tried ebay or aliepress? theres ton of soic clips there

Shameless bump

I got ThinkPad x250 i5 5300u, fullhd IPS, 120gb ssd, 4gb ddr3l for 250 bucks.
Did I do the right thing or did I get memed?

4gb is a little low, but you did fine really

When does Lenovo usually discount new laptops? Want to get an Extrememe X1.

thebottlenecker.com/

Looking to buy a think pad. Have about 300 euros to spend. Any advice?

What country?
These threads usually don't really offer much advise about purchasing them, sadly.

Retina Macbook Pro

>5600U
>260 dollarydoo's
Yeah, that's a Y I K E S for me.

Where's the trap?

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Hi /tpg/, I finally fell for the meme and ordered a used X230t for 250 EUR (~290 USD) which arrived today.
But I think I'll send it back because of scratches on the screen, a broken antenna frame, but most importantly because it won't accept the battery that came with it. What kind of human being lets their screen get scratches? Also one of the Lenovo HDD checks failed.

As this is my first thinkpad ever, I have got some questions:
-Is the printing on these keyboards always so 'pixelated'? pic related in next post
-Does that 'bar' key have any function?
-Is the screen, when in tablet mode, supposed to snap to the keyboard? It's kind of wobbly.

Attached: combined.jpg (1557x1000, 302K)

It's kind of hard to see but maybe you get what I mean

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where do I buy one of these? i've literally looked everywhere online and i cant find one

A thinkpad? On ebay

>-Is the printing on these keyboards always so 'pixelated'? pic related in next post
I don't really see it, try again. It's not something I've noticed on my own (older) machine, but it's probably a side effect of the anti-bacterial finish on the keys.
>-Does that 'bar' key have any function?
Yes. You see that "press thinkvantage key to enter BIOS setup" message when booting? That's the thinkvantage key. You can probably map it to something in your OS too, I know Lenovo has some software that uses it by default.

Where to buy a used Thinkpad T420?

I would say no for the low resolution screen alone.

One option is just upgrading to an X230/X230t (perhaps with an i7, but I forget if they offered that with the t model) and doing a keyboard replacement. If you regularly use it as a tablet for intense Photoshop/Illustrator work, you may have to face the music and just get a newer convertible if you want it to stay fast for a few years.

That's the best I can do because my camera won't take closer up shots

Should I just get a normie convertible like a surface or maybe a dell device instead of searching for a decent x230t that won't cost me 700 bucks for ages again? Or should I wait for a better opportunity?

Attached: uuhh.jpg (3577x4122, 3.17M)

Sorry, that image size went out of hand

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Oh, that definitely looks worse than any keyboard I've ever seen, not normal at all.

As for getting another convertible instead, that's a question only you can answer. I don't know about the hinge (perhaps a tablet owner can answer that), but the keyboard is incredibly easy to just swap out if you can't live with those keys. Two screws and the keyboard is out.

>1366 x 768
user pls don't

That's the best I can do because my camera won't take closer up shots

Should I just get a normie convertible like a surface or maybe a dell device instead of searching for a decent x230t that won't cost me 700 bucks for ages again? Or should I wait for a better opportunity?

Attached: smaller.jpg (3577x4122, 1.17M)

t420 owner here,

I like the quality of thinkpads, but I need a laptop to run games more graphic intense than say warcraft 3, a laptop that could run civilization 5 for example. I'm a complete retard when it comes to specs, what should I look for? I want to buy a used laptop for less than 400$, preferably lenovo or dell

this is the current one, looking for a big upgrade

Attached: specs.jpg (665x523, 53K)

in hell like you need to be faggot

If you want to play anything serious you need some form of dgpu and honestly I don't think 400$ buys you a business grade laptop with decent dgpu, 730m attached to t440p is pretty trash desu and something better like maxwell mobile graphics is probably out of your budget.
However finding better graphics than in T420 is no big challenge, even upgrading to T440p quad core igpu will give you a massive performance upgrade.

now I messed up the post order

I could live with it (I'm not going to keep it anyway), it's just that it's not what I expected of a thinkpad.
It's really a pity because otherwise I liked the feel of it and the pen/touch screen handling is very satisfying apart from the wobbling

cleaning up this x230, going to install a cheap ssd I got. Just need a caddy and a battery and it'll be sold!

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I already looked at the t440p, but the touchpad seems to be shit. I'd want to exchange the t420 for another one and not use the t420 for work and t440p for playing games

Touchpad can be replaced from t450 and then it's fine, the stock one is shit true.

right, I didn't even think about that option

Paid ~350 British shekels for a refurbished “grade 1” T450s with 12gb RAM, 256gb ssd. Hopefully I didn’t get completely ripped off

>not just buying a new keyboard and wiping it clean with a wet cloth once in a while
>not using compressed air at all

Has anyone upgraded their T420 to ivy bridge? I'm considering coreboot and an upgrade to a quadcore i7. Does it fix the issue with video outputs? Intel HD 3000 doesn't seem to be limited to just 2 video outputs, it can only mirror image to both external outputs T420 has, so I HAVE to use the built in panel if I want to have more than one display for work. From what I've read, Intel HD 4000 (that was in ivy bridge CPUs has 3 simultaneous video outputs, and it should allow me to use both video outputs at once AND the internal display, unless it's something else is limiting.
Also, is the cooler from the version with a discrete GPU good enough to sustain turbo clocks on a 45W CPU?

Why not just get a 450?

For how much could I sell my X230?
It's near mint condition (no scratches or anything like that), and the specs are:

i5-3320m
8GB RAM
128GB SSD + 500GB HDD 7200rpm
TN panel (sadly)
9-cell with 75% factory capacity
backlit keyboard
meme win10 key on bios for normies

X230t owners, does your screen snap into your keyboards when you're in tablet mode?

How chinked I'm gonna get if I buy the t450 trackpad from ali?

es.aliexpress.com/store/product/Three-Keys-Touchpad-For-Lenovo-ThinkPad-T440-T440S-T440P-T450-T450S-T540P-Series/2349246_32717498840.html?spm=a219c.search0104.3.1.22bb6ee44bOOdt&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10065_10068_318_10547_319_10548_10696_450_10084_10083_10618_452_535_534_533_10307_532_10712_10713_204_10059_10884_10887_100031_320_10103_448_449,searchweb201603_60,ppcSwitch_0&algo_expid=6d9b867c-57cc-42e8-8711-eb4cec62c707-0&algo_pvid=6d9b867c-57cc-42e8-8711-eb4cec62c707

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i'm using a X220 at home and want the same typing experience on my office desktop machine. will pic related make me happy?

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where did you get it from?

From what I've heard, these keyboards are absolute crap. The middle button is used to forcibly emulate a mouse wheel, and I've heard reports of middle click not working as well. The build quality is crap, and the wireless version has some pairing issues.
If you want a classical keyboard, bend over and go for some used SK-8855.
You could also use something like synergy or barrier to use your thinkpad as a keyboard for your work machine. I've been considering doing that with a spare old thinkpad I have, I can't stand not having a pointing stick at my disposal.

>T520/530; W520/530 - 15", 1080p, DTR, 32GB RAM on quadcore models, USB 3.0
I have found a t520 on the internet, but it says it's 900p, it is a mistake ?

thanks for your insight, user!

there is 1600x900 screen option, it is pretty not bad you can for it.

I've obsessed over this, and it seems that SK-8855 is the only good thinkpad keyboard, the old IBM one seems to have plenty of low quality fakes that you might be scamed into buying.
There's also TEX yoda 2, which was actually sold as an official thinkpad keyboard in china as an limited edition, but it has problems, and it's way too expensive. Right now I'm unironically considering using barrier (a fork of synergy) and an old thinkpad as a keyboard to use at work, because I'm not risking $300 (and I have no clue how much I'd spend on shipping and customs) for a 60% keyboard with a trackpoint that might be shittiy and super fragile because of how tall it is.
I wish pointing sticks weren't so niche, as they're the best pointing device unless you're playing FPS games competitively.

This is hours old, but just in case you come back to the thread I have a T400 with a C2D P8400 and it already runs quite warm, I don't want to know how fast a X9100 is considering it's a 45w CPU.

You're probably gonna melt your own balls.

ok thx, i try to find the best prices, and i really would like to have 1080p, i continue...

> Using a shitty chiclet keyboard on a laptop
> Using a shitty chiclet keyboard on a desktop

I wish you could see yourself right now

tfw my x230 shuts down from time to time
It's probably related to the battery but it also happens when connected, although less often. If it didn't start up super fast I would be really mad about it.
What to do? Any ideas?

Have you checked temps?

Hi /tpg/. Why does my X1 Carbon get so hot? If I play games for like 30 mins, the the keyboard becomes almost unusable, as the wrist rest begins cooking my forearms. Help pls

Tried playing maplestory 2 for a while. It got worringly hot but it didn't shut down more often than normal. Will try OCCT just to be safe.
I will also change the thermal paste later because it got too damn hot.

I've had similiar issue with T460s, when fan/heatsink is on the left side of the keyboard it's cancer.

ebay

Also putting it in a flat surface instead of moving it around reduced the problem significantly but that's not a real solution.