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).
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)
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
Someone please make a guide on rebuilding batteries. I'm not paying 60 usd for an unused genuine that's from 2009.
Brayden Campbell
microwave, 40 seconds to recharge them
Gavin Jones
depends on the types of cells. You can buy new cells and replace them in the battery case. Lots of options if you aren't retarded and can solder.
Dylan Bailey
Ive read that if the board loses power the fuse will blow rendering it useless.
Christian Walker
you just jump the control board with a few volts until it works again. It's a protection circuit to keep batteries from blowing up. It doesn't kill it for good. Just use a temporary lead to go from the batteries to the positive output terminal.
Jack Butler
Should I go for a P50 as a workstartion for CAD/CAM and some very light gayming or just do a W540/541 witht he K2100M? Is it worth the extra cash? Those Xeons are sexy.
I find the 4:3 aspect ratio is so attractive for some reason. I really want to own a T60 because of it. How well will OpenBSD run on a Core Duo T60 for text editing, scripting, and shitposting?
got a 2503 advance docking station for like 30$, what gpu to cram in it with a t60?
Samuel Turner
T540p any good?
I'm looking for a secondary/companion laptop to go with my workstation since I'm working long hours these days and I just need to get away from the desk from time to time. It needs to be able to run Qubes. My only real requirement, other than running Qubes, is 16GB of RAM. Other considerations are battery life, screen resolution and quality (would prefer FHD and IPS if possible), etc. Budget: I could spend $500-600 but I'd really like to spend closer to $200-300 if possible.
My only problem is that I got some Amblyopia and my old 11.6" laptop is a bit uncomfortable to look at. I am not sure if 12.5" screen will be as much easier to watch as I like, so I think I'd rather go for the 14" of the T model.
Ethan Price
What's the best nu-Thinkpad in terms of features? (USB 3.1 with Thunderbolt, battery options, etc)
Anthony Scott
Is the t580 any good?
Luke Perez
I have a T430 and I've always heard that the best replacement screen was either the screen from an X1 Carbon or an Alienware. However, everything I've seen on replacing these screens was written in like 2013, and there's been newer generations of the X1 Carbon that have an identical screen size with vastly higher quality displays. Are these incompatible, even with some kind of adapter cable like the gen1 needs? It would be so nice to use those fuckers.
Bentley Lee
The P series or the T480.
Asher Lewis
Check the lcdfans facebook page. Send a message, rather than email.
There are convertion kits that include the board, cable and lcd.
Owen Bailey
Hot damn, thank you.
David Roberts
Any model that has compatibility with both the ultrabay and the slice battery will be able to get absurd battery life. The x220 with a 9-cell battery and the slice battery apparently gets 20 hours, and while I can't seem to find how much the ultrabay battery adds, you should easily be able to get more than 24 hours with all three. The x220 was the easiest to find info for, but there are plenty of models that can support all three.
Just be aware, weight isn't nearly as easy to solve. Even if you choose a light base model, the batteries alone will add several pounded.
Grayson Perry
So how is that TrackPoint? Never used one in my life, but I do dislike touchpads, and rather carry a mouse around.
Noah Bailey
you either love it or you hate it, i love it so much i won't buy a laptop without one anymore
Evan Edwards
Dropping by to show a Thinkpad x220 in use to take mechanical measures of the flexual response of a wing's spar.
Is libreboot/coreboot worth doing or is it pointless since there's now way out of the botnet? If it is worth it do you recommend it for a beginner or is it hard/risky? Thoughts on purism?
Christopher Sullivan
please respond
Isaiah Collins
Runs about twice as slow as Linux.
Christopher Reyes
Nobody here has any new workstation models.
Leo Sullivan
why? it's not "new," it's quite old
Angel Allen
It's new for Jow Forumss standards, autists here are still using core 2 duos. Sandy bridge machines are considered new here
Logan Martin
lol... why? is that because everyone here is really a broke teenager as I suspect? :(
Cooper Hill
Older machines support libreboot and respect your freedom. Anything newer than a core 2 duo has the intel ME botnet.
Anthony Ward
Is there an album with all those old jap ads?
Blake Hall
Partially because memes like - muh libreboot botnet free autism - old hardware having better build quality and non-retarded keyboard layout
Ryan James
>coreboot lol meanwhile these fags are being tracked through simple shit like browser fingerprint, all while thinking they're getting one up on the NSA or something by installing this nonsense
David Foster
>spare parts easy & cheap to obtain I don't think this is true anymore. I can't find any spare parts that would be cheaper than buying a whole new ThinkPad of the same kind outright.
Gavin Robinson
t. NSA
Elijah Powell
is the slice battery compatible with x201?
Cooper Bennett
no
Owen Young
How is X240 and what doesn't it have that (highly recommended) X220/X230 do?
X1C / X1Y are starts as far as weight is concerned, with decent battery life (6-10 hours depending on use), downside is they have no modularity.
The T430s is different than T430 and I heard that it's a lot harder to make a working convertion board for the t430 due to the power supply being too close and generating interference. Or something like that. Anyway. Get the right kit
Justin Wright
Why were old ads so based?
Parker Carter
Got a Thinkpad x240 and the touchpad is absolutely atrocious. I've heard of people replacing it with the x250s touchpad. How hard / expensive is it to do this? and is there a specific part # I should be looking for?
Is it actually worth upgrading the screen on the x220 to IPS or is it overrated and the tn panel perfectly fine?
Grayson Powell
>bios mods very hard to do (so no good wifi for you) >keyboard has stupid layout >worst trackpad design of all thinkpads, has only 1 button. Basically unusable
Jaxson Sanders
Is a t440s viable for school and basic tasks at school? If not is an x240 for 200$ worth it?
Parker Lee
looks prettier, is available in FHD, and carries a heavier price thats about it. The processor was just designed to run on less power so the battery will last longer too
Jonathan Ramirez
yes, it's fine I use it in a pro environment
Jacob Rivera
t440s and x240 are similar computers performance wise. If the x240 has the 1080p screen. an ssd, and at least an i5 it is a decent price otherwise it's just average.
Michael Gonzalez
Old models can be upgraded easily to (in some cases) rival the performance of modern laptops and nearly every single component can be easily serviced or replaced. That's my reason for it.
Austin Bailey
just look on ebay. they are about 13-20$ Also available from AliExpress. Idon't think there is a parts number (FRU) because it's suposed to be part of the whole shell asembly.
I have wondered this myself. I was poking around in my BIOS and I saw this there but never looked up what is was used for..
Ian Phillips
It's a rootkit that can be used to auto-install anti-theft software. Should be set to permanently disabled.
Jacob Johnson
I'm sure the answer is going to be something gay as fuck like "fuck off back to /v/" (despite having never actually lurked that board), but how do you guys feel about the asus tuf line? Gaming capable specs, but supposedly very rugged and durable like older thinkpads. They are also designed in such a way that (with the exception of soldered cpu and gpu) you can easily service and replace internal components with just the removal of a few screws similar to the older Dell Latitude D business line.
Granted, they're a little pricey, but still considerably cheaper than other less durable and user serviceable laptops of the same spec. Example: the fx705gm is about $400 less than the gigabyte AeroW or AeroX of the same spec, and is about twice as durable.
Julian Richardson
its too late, the fbi already has photos of you jerking off
Nathan Nelson
TUF is just a branding like ROG or STRIX. It's not better constructed or anything like that, just like the TUF line of motherboards. It's just marketing to differentiate the low end gaming laptops.
William Moore
How is the W520/30 worth it for a coreboot pc? Is it that much more competative with modern hardware than the T series?
I'm looking to replace a nearly decade-old "desktop replacement" toshiba laptop that I only use for running windows and unity3D. I don't have any other concerns for it, just a bit more up-to-date hardware and a battery that actually works. I do like the 17" screen size on this machine too.
Are there any good TPs in the sub-1000USD range that will fit the bill? I'm looking in particular at the W541, the W700/W701, and the P51. I'm including extra RAM or new SSDs in the price point. It there are other models worth considering then please let me know. Thanks all.
P51 would be the most powerful out of all of those and can be found within your budget.
Andrew Young
i7-8650U WQHD HDR 16 GB RAM 512 GB SSD X1 Carbon for €2000 - am I getting a good deal or avoid?
Yes I know it's the macbook of thinkpads, but I want a thin & light
Jaxson Butler
>lol meanwhile these fags are being tracked through simple shit like browser fingerprint I don't care about being tracked online that's my choice to go online. I do care about a being forced to simultaniously boot a proprietary and undocumented fork of Minix known as the Management Engine that has access to all my keys, memory, keboard, storage, etc while also having a full network stack, JVM, and web server. If you don't see the difference between that and muh web fingerprint then you're retarded.
I'm going to buy a T420. Please convince me I'm making the right choice. Tell me about all the amazing things about this computer (except the keyboard)
Leo Cook
That's dependent on the country... Wait for BF ? DO you have a student/perks discount ?
Juan Ward
if you don't like the keyboard then get the T430. They're going for about the same price and you get ivybridge
Wyatt Price
Germany, we pay out the ass for Thinkpads usually. This one's a demo piece, but normally you'd pay 2600-2700 for one with these sorts of specs.
Is it even worth it? I hear X1s throttle as hard as Macs anyway.
Jonathan Ortiz
>demo piece
Fucking don't.
Liam Myers
>Is it even worth it? You know the specs and the price they go for, it's up to you.. Personally I think it's crazy to spend 2k on a laptop, I'm fine with my X220.
Levi Price
Those stupid fucking cunts that designed that P70 and didn't cram it full of sata bays and m.2 slots. It's fucking massive and just all empty space for muh thinshit
Evan Taylor
I actually love the keyboard so much I'd rather hear some other arguments for buying the T420
Cameron Mitchell
i had a t420 once, i ran linux on it for a year and reintalled windows, computrace activated and it turns out it was stolen by some nigger in maryland
They are just a bit better than the respective T models. Fun fact: they don't need to throttle unlike lots of modern laptops Support by the community is worse though because not many people seem to own those models (compared to e.g. T420 or X220)
Robert Lopez
Also portability is worse just because the PSU brick is massive. Battery life should be pretty good if you get a good battery and don't use the CPU much (it's throttled a lot in battery mode anyway)
Kevin Kelly
I just scored a T450 for $230. Is this a good deal? What should I do first when I get it besides reinstall OS?
as far as I understand it coreboot fails to remove computrace as it is stored on the option ROM which remains intact.
Hunter Myers
coreboot and me_cleaner should get rid of it, IIRC.
Owen Taylor
They're claiming "MIL-STD-810G test certified durability", Anti-dust cooling, 20 million+ keystroke switches, etc. In the case of the Tuf laptop line, they're trying to actually be more durable than other laptops. Then again, it *could* just be the one I ordered where it's got all that shit because it's basically the top end Tuf laptop. (i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4 @ 2666MHz, 6GB gtx 1060, 512gb NVMe SSD, 1tb hdd, and a matte 17.3" ips panel 1920x1080@144Hz) I've noticed while looking at other ones like the tuf fx504 that it's full plastic, where my fx705gm has a metal lid and reinforced hinges supposedly. Won't know for sure until it arrives in about 22 hours.
I need a laptop at work, but I am so tired of posting on Jow Forums or watching movies on the overnight shift at the hospital but that's pretty much all my 2013 macbook air can handle, so I snagged the tuf fx705gm for under a grand during a sale with a coupon I had. I want to be able to pray gaym without my laptop looking like something a 12 year old kid playing fartnite jizzed all over, and this is the best I could do without paying $300+ more for the same specs in the dell g7 just to have it look a tiny bit less gamer.
