/tpg/

Previous thread: IRC: #/tpg/ on irc.rizon.net

Other business laptops are also welcome in /tpg/ (e.g. Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook).
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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", ultraportable
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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.
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Used ThinkPad buyers guide:
ktgee.net/tpg

xsauc buyers guide:
dankpads.com

EPP discount for new ThinkPads (USA & Canada only, usually 15%+ off):
pastebin.com/ULHCY5ch (embed) (embed)

Helpful links and resources (Wiki, lookup tools and wallpapers):
pastebin.com/DYjEnVq1 (embed) (embed)

Other urls found in this thread:

discord.gg/q4udwHn
bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkpad-p50s-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-nvidia-quadro-m500m-1tb-hard-drive-black/5486406.p?id=bb5486406&skuId=5486406
twitter.com/AnonBabble

T420 or X220?

Do I need to order programmer clip to flash bios?

Depends on what you value the most. I'd go with the T420.

Whats a good price for a Z61?

5 bucks?

A good price is one that will get you to buy it.

Just got my T430. Since I don't have ssd for it yet I tried booting it up. Everythings great but I get battery incompatible message. Is it dead? Any chance of recall?

you have a non OEM or old battery, only the 70+ and 70++ work in the **30 series because lenovo is a jew

Its a 55++
Have I been jewed?

55+ wont charge. There is a mod you can do, but i dont know much about it besides it existing. See if its a recall battery at least. I got some 70++ ones when i did that shit.

You need raspberry pi, actuvated SPI ports on it and flashrom.
You need programmer clip if you can't desolder bios chip, or if you don't want to fuck up with flashing by connecting wires to each other.

How to clean the keyboard on a W520? Should I remove it first?

Thanks, I'll check it out.

I'm about to buy a mint-condition T450 for $550. I know it's not the same build quality as T450s, but I won't be throwing it around too much.

Is it worth it, /tpg/, or is the quality that much worse?

I just pulled the trigger on an x220. I've been looking to do some coding on the go. Getting cabin fever in work. Otherwise I'd have went with the t series.
The potential for grabbing the massive slice battery with jiggafucks of power while still keeping it all pretty portable appeals a lot to me.

Purchasing a ThinkPad for work, and using External GPU for gaming, anybody doing that?

>computer falls off lap, in a low chair
>barely survives, the screen almost comes off and the screen coming off violently makes the computer unusable in a way that Lenovo won't repair
Why is Thinkpad so shit?

Means the fucker who sold it put in a T420 battery

Is x61 with 1400x1050 screen worth 180$? Perfect condition btw

What was the original price of a t520?

>That feel when you buy your mother a T410 for less than £100 because she needs a cheap laptop
>Its better than the T410 you spent £150 on two years ago

Time to upgrade
what model of thinkpad can I get that I can rip the screen out of and put an actually decent panel in?

I have an e545 and my child spilled water on the KB making some keys stop working. Can you replace KBs on these or am I fucked?

Would it be wise to replace the old hdd in a used thinkpad (just in case, because the old one has a higher chance of breaking)?

i always recommend an ssd over an hdd to customers especially if their snotty kid keeps fucking up the laptop by dropping it and shit.

Did some googling and it looks like I can buy a replacement KB for the e545 so that answers my question.

Hey, anyone know where I can buy a replacement sticker/vinyl for image related? As well as that, also looking for any shop for genuine ThinkPad spares (Been buying parts from Aliexpress for a while)

Also, any general mods which I could do to my W520? Currently got 16GB RAM + 256GB Msata + 500gb &1TB HDD.

(UK Based)

Can you put a T420 keyboard into an X230?

...

x220 or x230?

TPG shilling - discord.gg/q4udwHn

14.1" T61 is getting harder to find, but not worth $180.

Consider replacing your child.

X230 unless wireless AC is an absolute must.

X230. You can find them on eBay for about ~300 in great condition.

I've had problems with graphics performance and wifi strength with the T420. Anyone have similar experiences. I've been thinking about getting something with stronger internals like an i7 with SSD.

Rumor in the german TP forum has it, that javi has a new revision of the t420/t430 edp converter board in the pipeline. Seems like he solved the flickering issue. But production will start in the beginnig of sept, after the g20 summit.

Graphics performance is mainly do to the dGPU and iGPU showing their respective ages. Wifi strength is an anomoly - never had any issues with that on my machine.
Get a T530 if you want a quad i7 machine

If this is really the case, I may end up getting a nice 1080p screen for my T420 rather than getting a newer machine. That will greatly boost the longevity of my machine as the shitposting machine of choice.
However, I may end up adding a X230T to my list of toys

>recommending the T530
Wew.

Helo guys, just received my t460p, great device so far.

Can I remove some of the bundled thinkpad software? I noticed it uses cpu at random times.
I got it with no cam so as long as function keys and fingerprint reader work I won't need that stuff.

Well, stronger dGPU is nice isn't it? What would you recommend with a full quad i7 and a dGPU?

I meant

>lenovo active protection system
>lenovo solution center
>lenovo system interface foundation
>thinkpad settings dependancy

Anything but a Chinkpad, that's for sure.

Are you using linux?

Hasnt happened to me but ive heard of wifi issues due to drivers.

Anyone know where I can get a new battery and ssd for my t420 for cheap? Do the cheaper ones not work as well?

How about
you know
W520 or W530 for their dGPU ?

I don't like to cheap out on batteries. I find that they hold much less charge and they get wonky at lower percentages. It isn't uncommon to see a cheap battery drop immediately from 10% to 0%.

SSDs vary. You'll just need to do your research, I'm afraid. ;_;

eGPUs have might have low reliability because of the various connections between the card and the laptop.

On eGPU adapters such as EXP GDC there are two discrete connection points between the card and the laptop, and when either one of them gets loose, the card drops out entirely, and you have to restart the game, assuming you haven't already BSoD'd.

On PE4C 3.0 there is only one, so the probability of crashing is lower.

Oh that is too real. I've even had that happen at around 30%. The fucking worse is that it ends up shutting down instead of hibernating.

Aren't they significantly more expensive? I would get one myself, but it's fucking hard to find a cheap one with the FullHD panel and the 2GB dGPU

That said, it seems very few people have complained about eGPU instability. Perhaps it is just me, or everyone else has it too but doesn't like talking about it

t. X220 w/ gtx580 via expresscard

So are you saying it's shit or is it worth it?

I'm only telling you my personal experience.

Ultimately it's a decision you have you make on your own.

I'm not Austin Evans - I won't make an essay titled "Is an eGPU worth it?".

Read on others' experiences if you want to make a more informed decision. The Tech|Inferno forums' eGPU board is your best resource atm.

Can't complain though, I got it for real cheap plus seller said battery wasn't tested.

>Aren't they significantly more expensive?
Yes. But they're also significantly more powerful.

The Quadro K1000M you'll find in most of them is apparently equivalent to a 640M. Not sure about the higher-end K2000M, but you can look that up yourself.

Dell Precision models are probably worth looking into too, specced and priced roughly the same as equivalent Thinkpads.

Where do thinkpads end up on the cycle of new hardware? I recently saw nvidia release a new line of laptop gpus and am wondering when such things would show up in thinkpads -- even new ones.

Sorry I'm not too great with computers, but what changes would I see if I get an SSD?

just do the EC flash and it'll charge it

Well I switched to an SSD and my wife left me and my dog died. So there's that.

...

What is the newest release Thinkpad you guys recommend?

The one you can afford.

T61. Unless you're a casual.

Shit, allow me to rephrase.

What is the best currently supported Thinkpad that Lenovo has on their website?

Is the T400s recommended? I'm looking for an intro into Thinkpads and I like the form factor.

I know about the 1.8" hard drives, I would just use a mSATA to 1.8" adapter for an SSD.

I know it's not the newest in terms of spec, but I'm limited by availability (third world) and how much I want to spend.

Lenovo will probably jew you on their website. The T440, maybe.

The one you can afford while meeting your desires/requirements.

Do you want a mobile workstation with a fuckload of horsepower and don't care about price or weight/size ? P70 is your nigga.
Do you want a thin and light ? X1 or an s-suffix model is your nigga.

As long as you don't go for the cheap budget E-series or whatever they're called these days. T, W, X, or P only.

I'm thinking about dropping $250-300 on a Thinkpad X230. Thing is, I don't really need a laptop but the consumer whore inside me wants it so badly.

All I'd be doing is typing, browsing and using Lightroom, and there are ample computers all over campus.

Are there any real reasons to get a laptop?

The power difference is not really significant enough to be worth the W series premium. You would want to get one mainly for the quad core and the beautiful screens.

How? Link me up please.

Not at all. You should save the money if you don't really need it. You'll also probably spend a bit north of $300 on a X230.

Thanks my dude.

>P70
What a fucking best. Shame I'm so broke.

nevermind found it.

Same ;_;

t410 struggling to get decent video to 1080 external monitor.

x230s are going for just slightly above 250 nowadays
hell my friend even found an x230t for like 275
just get an x220 for the same price you'd spend on that old t400s and the adapters

How do I flash just the battery mod? Don't want keyboard remap.

fuck it says 2.57 bios, won't it work with newer version?

Thinking of going with this one, is it a smart choice?

bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-thinkpad-p50s-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-nvidia-quadro-m500m-1tb-hard-drive-black/5486406.p?id=bb5486406&skuId=5486406

Not 100% sure if this is good or not, desu. 14" T420 is still comfy as fuck, but if this machine can handle light gaming I might want it

do you think that 40€ is enough for brand new genuine 9cell battery (44++)?

X220t for $135 sounds alright?

MTM 4299-D77

I swear to God I didn't type in "desu"
Does this board now replace nigga with desu? Or did I type nigger? I already forgot...

I'd say it probably depends on what you think of as light gaming, but mostly I think it should be able to handle it.

That said, I haven't personally seen a K2000M in action, and I haven't seen any really detailed benchmarks of it. But given that I've had plenty of success running (the old) Killing Floor on my T520 with only the Intel HD 3000 iGPU, I'm fairly certain that the K2000M can handle light games, such as CS:GO, DOTA, LoL, and what have you to an acceptable (60fps, maybe low settings) degree.

Kek

desu is replaced with desu desu. It's been like this for a while.

I've never really used desu except when texting my homo friends. I guess having spent more time with them as of late is affecting my text. This is no bueno

Not him, but using Wicd on xubuntu and it gives me a 'bad pass' error when i try to connect to a wifi network that i know is correct. Did some googling, but couldn't find much, tips or suggestions?

I was hoping to push my luck and try to force a heavier fighting game down the dGPU's throat. Or perhaps play a bit of No Shill's Sky and get a feel for it. I know that for the game I really want (Elite: Dangerous) I'll need to actually dedicate time and money into a decent rig, but a full time job gets in the way of such flights of fancy.

Anyways, Hawken is probably the most intense thing I play, and the QUADRO on my Blazeit seems to handle it (if only just)

Is it worth getting an i7 6700 / 6700k over a 6700HQ in a notebook for /3/ stuff? price difference is 300$

LOLOLOL had this happen to me a while ago and I came back to the post a day later
fuck man

You'd change all the .patch files in the folder to .patch.OFF and change the one related to the battery auth from patch.OFF to .patch.

Essentially, make the battery auth one the only valid .patch file in the folder between steps 6 and 7, IIRC.

Not 100% on that, unfortunately. Maybe somebody else will know for sure. I don't actually think it flashes the BIOS at all, just the embedded controller.

Did the ec flash, everything went fine but I get an orange battery flashing light so I guess its dead.

>I'm a fucking faggot please rape my face

Meant to say NVS 4200M
Quadro was a card on my old laptop

Thanks for your help.
I still need to buy a new battery.

That K2000M sounds pretty good right about now...

About to buy a T430 with 500GB HDD i5 and 8GB RAM for about $240 USD. Is this a good deal or should I wait till something better comes along?

You never know. I got an X230 with a genuine X220 battery, so I was in the same situation. I bought a new battery anyway and the EC flash came to my attention sometime later. After flashing, it charged my x220 battery and it was 90%+. I had expected it to be fubar since it'd been completely discharged and stuffed in a drawer for a year but it bounced back. Credit to genuine batteries.

How can I find out if my thinklight (x201) is actually broken or it's just a driver issue? Running Mint, I heard it should've worked out of the box..

thinklight is handled by the bios

just replace the LED