Other business laptops are also welcome in /tpg/ (e.g. Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook). ---- If you're looking for purchase advice, READ THE BUYERS GUIDE FIRST. Then post, stating budget and requirements (e.g. size and performance). Don't buy anything OTHER THAN T, X AND W/P SERIES if you want the Real ThinkPad Experience™
Recommended models: T420 - 14", normal size X220 - 12.5", lightweight ---- Why ThinkPad? (also applies to other business laptops) >Used machines are plentiful and cheap. >Excellent keyboards - tactile feel and quiet. >Great durability: chassis uses a 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, upgrade and maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model. Spare parts are easy and cheap to obtain. >The best trackpoint (that red thing in the middle of the keyboard). Great for those who type a lot or hate swiping their fingers all over a touchpad. >Excellent GNU/Linux & *BSD support. ---- Used ThinkPad Buyers Guide: ktgee.net/tpg
Hi /tpg/ I can buy a T420, i7, 8GB, 1600x900 for €350,- but the buyers guide says ~$180, $210 Is €350 a good price for this thinkpad? I get the impression that Thinkpads are more expensive in the EU or do I just have to be patient and wait for a good deal?
Nathaniel Wood
is that a Sup Forums meetup?
Jose Lewis
Look at that poor fellow with the gaymen laptop, he doesn't know how much money he wasted
Jaxson Rodriguez
Whoa, what's going on here?
Adam Long
Got my first thinkpad >T530 Holy shit the keyboard is incredible.
William White
IPS screen for a x230, what should I buy? >04w3919 Or >04w3462
Wyatt Walker
Where do you find the screens?
Anthony Collins
Ebay, should I be looking somewhere else?
Chase Hill
so I know the newer ThinkPads got a lot worse and all, I own a T60p, T420, and X220T myself. Looking at the new ones on the Lenovo site, though, and I can't believe you can't get a new T560 with a discrete GPU. What's the deal?
Also anyone here tried the P series? I'm personally waiting on the Retro ThinkPad and probably won't even be able to afford it when it comes out, but I've got friends looking at newer machines.
Colton Perry
Thinkpads are much more expensive in EU. 350 yurodollars is way to expensive, I have seen t420 with similar specs (i5 instead of i7) go for almost half this price in near mint condition (on auctions), and that's in EU. You can get get some dell or hp elitebook (mint condition) with slightly lower specs for 1/3 of this price, again in EU.
Juan Carter
Anyone try the T460 or T460s yet? Debating between the two, but I'm hearing the screen on the T460 is somewhat dim.
Gabriel Barnes
gebruikt.com/lenovo-t420s-i5-2540m-4gb-160gb-ssd-14-inch-win-7.html Is this a good deal? Without SSD but with the 8GB ram upgrade it's €268,50 I think the s model is generally more expensive than the regular version but I like that it's lighter and thinner Or are there advantages of the regular version over the s version? (I don't need fingerprint recognition)
Mason Garcia
Typing this a t530, best keyboard of all time. I haven't tried the 220 or 420 keyboard. Thinking the x220 is going to be a nice secondary laptop.
Liam Garcia
Just have it shipped from us Ebay. Shipping might take you back 25$ but it'll still be cheaper.
Brody Lopez
Dells are the most expensive in the EU. Dell > Lenovo > HP
Justin Nguyen
I bought a Fujitsu Lifebook S6420 for 140$. Great laptop for the price, I can even run Gnome 3 with little lag.
Lincoln Allen
anyone have a board-view of a t420 motherboard
Andrew Reed
There's a shop that sells cheapish x220s.
I'm tempted but how's the battery life on the default batteries? Especially used?
Aiden Flores
Thoughts on R40? Its $75 and the only thinkpad available local. Any upgrades possible with this old hunk?
Caleb Green
Deprecated and consumer tier
don't bother.
Kevin Kelly
>Shipping might take you back 25$ but it'll still be cheaper. Shipping is generally around $50,-. Also, for products that are more than $180,- I have to pay import charges which are usually another $40,-. So if I do happen to find a seller that ships internationally (which many don't) I pay around the same if not more
Lincoln Taylor
Not sure if I fucked up.
T440 with an i7,1080P IPS, 8GB. Going to put a T530 trackpad onto it.
I think that's pretty damn good. You can't put a T430 trackpad on it though. Try the T450.
Adrian Sullivan
Could someone tell me if ThinkPad laptops are noisy ? One of the thing that bothers me in general with computer are the noise they produce. Does a T430 does a lot of noise ? I think I'm going to buy this one so I kinda want to know
Jace Moore
Anyone ever get a refurbished ThinkPad from a retailer? My local has a refurbished T420 open box for $191.
Matthew Richardson
Has anyone actually done the *20 keyboard in a =>*30 swap? I know you have to reprogram some of the keys and I'm wondering if the end result is the keyboard working as expected or if there are still some issues to be had.
William Flores
I've never fucked with that kind of swap, but I hear that there is a bios you can flash on a *30 series to make the old keyboard work normally.
Bentley Scott
Oh, nice. Didn't think of that. Coreboot, I'm guessing?
Jaxson Gonzalez
My T420s has a high pitched fan. Sort of annoying, but you get used to it. I'd imagine the thicker laptops wouldn't be so high pitched because they don't need such a low profile fan.
Andrew Long
Question, does anyone know when this new "retro" style thinkpad is supposed to come out? Or have they been keeping silence after all those surveys.
Nathan Foster
25th anniversary is next year.
Cameron Edwards
So I'm kinda confused. In a T420 it's not possible to upgrade the GPU, but you can upgrade the CPU?
Hudson Barnes
Yes. Laptop GPUs are almost all soldered, with the only exception being the relatively recent MXM slot that you'll only find in top-end gaming laptops and the like. If you want better graphics performance without buying a newer/higher-end laptop, eGPU is your only option.
Mason Rivera
Anyone? Should I go for it?
Brody Walker
>relatively recent I have an ASUS from 2009 with a MXM slot.
Tyler Myers
Thanks, should I wait for this new laptop or get a cheap IBM thinkpad?
Isaac Hill
Same with the T430s. It also has an i7 so if I undervolted the fan I'd overheat to fuck. it already hits around 90c playing Civ 5.
Noah Cruz
So should I get the 420s or the 420? I'm reading online the regular 420 has more customization options but only one USB 3.0, but the s has two? I first thought that I should go for the s but now I'm not so sure anymore
James Gray
T420s has only one USB3.0, still has an extra mPCIe for SSD, ExpressCard slot and ultrabay. The difference is that the CPU in the T420s is soldered on instead of socketed like the T420.
The T420s has shit battery life though.
Jason Robinson
>The difference is that the CPU in the T420s is soldered on instead of socketed like the T420. Yeah I read that online, hence I was looking for an i7 model
>The T420s has shit battery life though. Ok, I won't go for the s then.
Dominic Howard
Ordered babies first thinkpad.
X230 with; i5, 500GB HDD, 4gb RAM and in great condition for $230.
I'm gonna put an ssd and IPS panel in it too.
How'd I do folks?
Cooper Harris
I feel 4gb is too little nowadays. 8gb is the minimum I need to be comfortable.
Jace Stewart
Yeah, my 420s is an i7, so it runs a bit toasty by default. Only one USB3 like the other user said.
Sucks that the processor is soldered on the board, though. I lucked out and got an i7.
Battery life is pretty bad, but I think for mine that may be due to a worn battery. I am planning on getting a new main battery as well as an ultrabay battery. Should help considerably.
It's a nice laptop, though. Last of the nice keyboards, too.
Ethan Wood
Actually, never mind. According to inxi my battery condition is at 96%. So, yeah, just terrible capacity. I get maybe an hour and a half out of a charge. More like an hour.
Evan Roberts
>just terrible capacity If you only had bought the version with the i5, you would have a laptop with far better battery life, better temps and a performance drop of 10% (or less).
so the i7 is far worse than the i5? What would be the ideal processor for a normal T420?
Noah Reyes
The better i5.
Andrew Perez
I got my X220 from a "retailer" (small shop in Germany, the only place on ebay that shipped to my country for reasonable price). It's nowhere near mint and the battery couldn't be more dead, but the machine is a beast. Also got a 320GB HDD inside instead of 250GB as listed, so that's something. That's pretty much my experience.
Angel Baker
Dualcore i7s are shit. They run hotter and kill battery for minimal gain. If you aren't/can't go quadcore, just stick to an i5.
Luis Sanders
so the i5-2540M (2.6GHz)?
Leo Davis
Yes, or you step up to the W520 and get the quad core i7. But those in good condition with a 1080p screen go for $400+.
Adrian Morales
Is it normal that my X220 is running slow as hell and hot as balls with something as simple as Cave Story?
Noah Cox
Thanks. I won't go for the W-series though, I need a good laptop, not a desktop replacement
Carson Gomez
So i fucked up and reinstalled windows because i had a german version of windows on my new thinkpad t420 and i installed an english version from a cd and fucked up the Q drive, now it doesnt activate this windows and i can't get the old back, is there a way to get an english factory reset cd for my thinkpad?
Blake Adams
Keys are region locked iirc
Jace Rodriguez
So... can i get a german version and download the english laguage pack?
Jason Howard
They seem to have made the P series their discrete GPU models
pros >max 20GB >DDR fucking 4 >even has room for optical drive >GORGEOUS IGZO panel >3x USB 3.0 rather than only 2 >SmartSlot for even more ports >one of the lightest with only 1.19kg (2.62lbs) >encrypted hdd >intergrated fingerprint sensor >12 hour battery life with active use >windows 10 pro >gorgeous logo >width x length footprint is smaller than most 13,3" laptops
cons >26.2mm (others are ~18-20mm, XPS13 is 15mm)
considering buying it
Carter Miller
the XPS13 has an IGZO panel too. At least i thought it did
Charles Campbell
>cons >no fucking service manual >hard, if not impossible to get parts
Jaxson Howard
>service manual
the biggest laptopparts webshop here has all the parts for all the Fujitsu models.
Chase Myers
100% plastic chassis as well
acer build quality
Brayden Wilson
is the X61 IBM or Lenovo? I seem to see X61 models from both companies
Isn't it X61 Lenovo X60 IBM
Jeremiah Miller
"sturdy magnesium housing and aluminum palm rest"
acer build quality is actually one of the best for mainstream consumer laptops.
Ryan Carter
It's all Lenovo. Part of the deal was that IBM would keep their branding on Thinkpads for a couple years after the acquisition, so even though you can find *60 Thinkpads with the IBM logo and even some rare *61s, they're both Lenovo Thinkpads through and through.
Henry Bailey
You're either being ironic or retarded.
Adrian Rodriguez
oh, I understand. So that's what they meant by keeping the IBM logo after acquisition. I thought Lenovo passed up that offer. all together.
In that case what was the last true IBM line?
Cameron Ramirez
...
Lincoln Jones
T43/p, X32, and X41 were the last Thinkpads made by IBM.
Nicholas Bailey
thanks
Jacob Anderson
>above average quality When I was asked to repair an Acer with a broken screen, I also opened for cleaning. The whole chassis was made of plastic. What kind of build quality is that?
Nathan Watson
acer is the best choice from Walmart by far Comparing it to business lines is another story
Xavier Edwards
You worked at walmart kek
Eli Russell
Say I want to connect a 100W solar panel to my X220. I won't fry it, would I? 19V 5.3A
Zbook g3? Could be nice for doing engineering school work.
Ethan Bell
forgot pic
Nolan Anderson
That's not how you solar panel. Panel->Battery->Proper outlet with power regulations->Anything else, like X220
Wyatt Morgan
this you dont just plug shit directly into a panel. You CAN, but it's much safer to store the power and regulate it separately for whatever you need it for.
Justin Taylor
that wasn't me. I worked at a high-end local electronics store. The laptop department was very consumer-aimed tho. The average sold laptop was $600
Ayden Morris
I don't know if you noticed, but Lenovo Settings now allows setting charging thresholds
Elijah Edwards
>made by IBM
Designed by IBM, but not made by them.
James Martinez
yet, newer ThinkPads are still being designed in US(Morrisville) and Japan(The Yamato Lab).
Joshua Wright
Any comments on these pieces of hardware?
It's for a W520.
Levi Collins
>not getting 32gb of ram (4x8gb)
Robert Mitchell
I see no problems. that's all good shit. He may not need it.
Justin Hall
why would you want a charging treshold?
David Flores
Some of the indicator LEDs on my X60 no longer work. I tried replacing the LCD cable assembly and it is still broken. Anyone know what I can do?
Ryan Garcia
Friendly reminder that all ThinkPads are made in China nowadays ;_;
Christopher Cruz
Under the command of chinks that want the Apple audience, sadly.
Cooper Collins
I may do in the future, the W520 is coming with an i7-2860QM. Would it realistically be able to make use of 32GB RAM before the CPU reaches it's 'peak', so to speak?
Nathaniel Young
extends battery life substantially
Nolan Diaz
No, not unless you're doing multiple VM's which isn't even touching the CPU, just using RAM
