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
>$150 starting for T530 with i7-3820QM and FHD screen Too cheap to trust?
Daniel Price
is this on ebay or pick up in person but yeah seems it
Colton Diaz
For general use, which would /tpg/ recommend between the X220 or T430? I like them both and can't decide. I'm upgrading from a Latitude E6400 atm, hoping to speed up my emerges.
Depends which you value more: more visible screen, or portability?
Nolan Williams
How do I disconnect the internal connector on the X220 keyboard? it just seems to be stuck in there and I'm too much of a brainlet to figure out a way to get it out which won't destroy it.
Christopher Adams
You just need to get a spudger underneath it and pry the connector up.
Nicholas Sanders
Do you have T-Rex arms? Do you have trouble lifting your shoes to put them on in the morning? If not, T430 is fine.
Carson Miller
How physically solid are X240 and X250? Are they like play dough compared to older X2xx or is it not quite that bad?
Liam Bailey
T430 is likely a few hundred grams lighter than the E6400. Also, adapting to 12” from 14” could be pain for some people. Weigh your priorities user.
Angel Foster
That did it, cheers.
Juan Gutierrez
I value more screen real estate over portability, so I think I'll go for the T430. Thanks for your input anons.
You are aware that you get just a bigger screen yet exactly the same >screen real estate i.e. 1366 x 768, unless you get one of the rarer T430 specimens with 1600 x 900, right?
Dylan Lee
Hmmmm, I wasn't. I'll look out for the higher res version, or get hold of a panel and swap it in.
If you want screen space, why not consider a T5xx series?
Gabriel Gray
FRP is pretty solid. People claim the clips on the bottom cover are easy to break, but I've opened my X240 a dozen or more times without incident.
Luke Morris
>People claim the clips on the bottom cover are easy to break, but I've opened my X240 a dozen or more times without incident Not him but this is not very affirming. In fact my brain refuses to comprehend this as unironic.
Jackson Taylor
Brain however you'd like user. My X220 has literal cracks in the chassis around the drive bay, on the retarded two piece lid, and near the expresscard slot.
Caleb Carter
I'm currently in financial purgatory (having just graduated and struggling horribly to find work), so I was looking at the older models for their low, low prices. Newer machines are nice but sadly out of budget.
Can i use non-genuine battery in Lenovo X230T on linux or will it not charge like on windows?
Jacob Jackson
I'm just saying, a dozen times of bias-influenced usage* means very little when the average person will likely not only be less careful, but open it dozens of times in its lifetime- at least four times a day from simply moving it to somewhere and back to operate it.
*There's probably an actual term for this beyond "bias-influenced usage" but you know what I mean... if you know ahead of time to be conscious something is fragile, you exercise far less freedom with it than a normal person would
Josiah James
I'm not overly careful with my systems, which is probably why the X220 has a bunch of cracks, but I did use it for a solid 6 years and carry it daily in a bag. I've been doing the same with my X240 for a year or so, and it's looking a lot less battle scarred than my X220 was in the same timeframe so far, and the X240 was used when I got it. I suppose time will reveal it's ultimate longevity.
Julian Evans
If you look around, a T520/530 shouldn't be much more than the 4 series equivalent.
Camden Sullivan
that's a bios level restriction, OS doesn't matter
Hudson Powell
>X220 >i5-2520M >6GB RAM (4+2) >no hdd >1366x768 TN >must-replace foreign keyboard layout >$100 take or leave, Jow Forums?
Gavin Campbell
Any Australians here? My current laptop is just about to die so I was looking at getting a new one (current is a godawful Acer ES1 411) but my budget is like $500-700. Are there any decent thinkpads around this price range that aren't going to immediately fuck up in the next few months? I could barely do anything on the current laptop right from the start and I don't want to have to go back to searching again in a year or two
Landon Turner
Nevermind, he went fucking missing. Don't post your cat on Jow Forums, he will disappear and move on to the internet.
Wyatt King
tes
Isaac Peterson
>T440 >IPS 14inch FHD display form aliexpress >upgrade the i5 to a i7-4702MQ >68+ battery >upgrade the keyboard and trackpad Why should I do this instead of buying a new laptop? I don't even fucking know at this point... I feel like I'm about to pull the trigger on this but I think the xiaomi notebook air would be a better option.
yes it is. Only the T440p, T540p, and W540/1 are socketed in that generation.
Joseph Cooper
100 is too much, 65-75 max for that
Julian Bailey
Can you replace the wireless card on the t440p?
Michael Morgan
What's the story on the Thinkpad 25 Retro? This was supposed to be awesome. Did they really fuck us over by just using T420-level specs?
Sebastian Jackson
Yes, I think it's whitelisted though It's basically just a T470 with the old style keyboard and an inflated price.
Ian Baker
So they did fuck us over.
Xavier Jones
>new 250GB SSD: $60 >new US keyboard: $40
You need at least $100 to make it work for you, not even considering panel upgrade, battery and additional ram. I'd try to haggle it down to 60 or 80 if the chassis is in good condition.
Jose Bell
Why are thinkpads so expensive? I want a T60 or X60 but they're overpriced as hell online. Why would I want to pay more than 30 dollars for a laptop so old and underpowered? I'd go to goodwill or some place but they never have any laptops.
Christian Cooper
Can you order a Thinkpad with an Spanish keyboard from the US store? I know Apple does sell Macbooks with foreign keyboards because I bought one in 2014 and had it shipped to my hotel. I'm going for shopping in February and I want to bring back a nice new Thinkpad, probably a T480s.
Sebastian Gray
Because resale price is always determined by supply and demand
James Perez
Where can I get a good battery that lasts longer than 3 hours for my x230?
Does eBay have some good listings?
Xavier Campbell
>find normie on cl selling an assload of thinkpads >decide to buy X200 tablet (muh freedums) and T530 >buying tomorrow >check again online >Find T61x for 50 dollaridos I can't spend all my money on old laptops fuck this meme Jow Forums I have a problem
Which is the lightest and thinnest thinkpad i can get for cheap with somewhat decent battery life? x240? Purpose is being nothing more than a small ultraportable firefox/ssh machine.
Nicholas Gray
X260, X270, IPS screen.
Isaac Jones
What kind of condition do you tolerate when buying thinkpads? Do you try for perfect ones or are you okay with it looking like you grabbed it out of a dumpster?
Nicholas Wood
What are the "sponges" that are in (older I guess?) Thinkpads for filtering air intakes? I want to replace them because some turned into melted sticky mass. I got few models with them.
Any hint what for look at aliexpress, because I doubt if cutting a kitchen sponge would work?
Cameron Torres
All of my Thinkpads have been bought refurbished for average prices and they've all had only minor scratches on them.
That being said I wouldn't mind a more worn machine. The only thing I'd probably nope out on is if the chassic were chipped. Not just because it looks ugly as fucked but also because it usually means that the laptop took a significant amount of fall damage.
Luke Hughes
(the guy who was complaining about 'bloomed' T530) Just letting you know that that's actually normal, and if you were to switch to other screens you've downgraded, and the dude who was given that panel will now sell it on ebay at inflated, buyer-placed price
So how does one set up partitions for UEFI? My t520 keeps kicking me to the boot menu. t. Never worked with UEFI before as all of my previous hardware was from the early 2000s
Luke Torres
Looking at the hardware progression from the T430 to the T440 I'd say it wasn't a much of an improvement. You're better off getting a cheaper T430 IMO.
Benjamin Gray
have to agree with this, i dont think its really worth buying anything post T430 till you hit the T470 which gets thunderbolt 3
Nathan Anderson
and i'd add that t470 is also a waste considering t480 has double the cores and is vastly superior in every way possible
depends on how much you find a T470 for, if its half the cost i would go there but you are right. If given the chance I would always go T480 over T470.
Are Thinkpads made in China these days? I don't think I can trust a laptop made in China. Basically guaranteed to have a back door
Noah Nelson
Here's my T520 I picked up for $40. Sorry about the low quality, I'm on the floor of an airport, leaving from a field problem so my laptop's a little dirty.
>are the laptops from the giant chinese oem made in china.
Oliver Gray
If I buy a new Thinkpad T, where can I get a good quality Japanese keyboard for it, and is it easy enough to install?
Daniel Nguyen
Is a T480 a good choice if I need a powerful work computer, but not for anything involving fancy graphics? P series seem overpriced and geared towards media guys or gamers
Samuel Torres
You can check AliExpress and sort by orders. There are some good options with positive opinions.
Chase Thomas
resolution and GPU?
Caleb Howard
Dedicated Intel graphics and 1366x768, just got it a month ago and haven't done much to it. Sadly it is the lowest available model but at $40 I can't really complain
Jackson Cox
Is a485 librebootable?
Nicholas Nguyen
I’m getting offered a T470 with 4GB of RAM and a 7200u for 250 dollars. It has really low specs so i’m dead sure it has the 786p panel, which sucks. Is it even worth it at that price?
I fell for the ThinkPad meme back in the day and got me one. Haven't used it in any specific Jow Forums way though, I'm just a dumb normie. Experimented with Lincucks a couple of times but wasn't for me. I appreciate the strong hinges though, are still solid after 7+ years. And the keys and mousepad are quality compared to other consumer laptops.
Anyway, I think I need to replace the fan as it's just not blowing very much any more. It seems to be spinning but it's very faint. And then under load, when the chip heats up, it kicks up a gear or two, but still much fainter than it used to be, only feel a faint (and hot) air stream. I've actually had to cap the CPU in Windows at 50% because otherwise it overheats and shuts down often. It's not the thermal paste, because I've redone it twice over the past year. It's a shitty core i3, so it will still get hot under load, I just have to accept that. But I def need to get a new fan. If that help things, I might persist with this thing, and upgrade to 8GB ram. If it doesn't help, I might just put it on ebay (minus the hard drive) and a hobbyist might buy it for a few shekels. Only one way to find out - try a new fan.
So, like I said, where's the best place to get a replacement fan?
Is there significant different between the W520 and W530? I want a W520 for epeen (and functioning caps lock LED), but I wonder if stock it's just way worse, and if the ceiling for potential upgrades is the same.
Brandon Price
*sees Thinkpad displaying Mechanicus iconography*
Probably too much to ask for, but I hope you're Ranger-qualified. It would make for an obscenely obscure Skitarii pun.
I got a w520 at an estate sale for $40. Did I do good?
Jordan Harris
Really good I'd say
Kevin Kelly
Shitty chink hinge got broken and nuts fell out from the slots on T430s. Should I replace the whole lid cover or just gluing nuts back would be reliable enough?
Look up the BSOD error codes. You might be missing necessary drivers that you need to slipstream into the WinXP install image.
Luis Wood
Well I what I was wondering is if anyone else has those issues with this model, I’m not going to force it on there if there is some fundamental incompatibility.
