/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

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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/JVwVGVTW

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

Other urls found in this thread:

kb.newegg.com/Article/Index/12/3?id=1400
google.no/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=x220 thinkpad feet
youtube.com/watch?v=lx9Ccuhf_3Y
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

Previous thread:

Should I update the Management Engine firmware on an x201, or this going to cuck the laptop even more? What about the regular BIOS (which is only slave to the iME) update?

I lost my damn mind and got an X220, but very excited desu.

sorry for noob question where i can buy a good supply?
amazon? ebay? or other ?

Newegg has some x220 refurbs for under 200

is it deliver only us?

Some places they do check here: kb.newegg.com/Article/Index/12/3?id=1400

I just bought Thinkpad T30 for 10€ .
Problem here is that It didn't include battery or charger. By the looks of it, it has one stick of 256mb ram and 160gb hdd and the computer itself is missing a lot of screws.

And if I wanted to get this up and running, just the way I like it, it would cost me EUR 93,17 in amazon.
This includes the charge and battery but the 2gb ram is quite expensive (46€) .

Should I pull the trigger on this one or should I postpone and look for alternatives.

What do you guys think? What should I do with this?

Does everyone else's X220s' get hot af all the time

It gets quite hot so use the windows power management thingy to restrict the amount of percentage your computer can use

One interesting thing to note about T430:
it's designed in such shitty way, that it has a fan inflow in 2,5" cage, which means replacing standard 2,5" drive with much smaller msata to sata board increases airflow, which cools both SSD and CPU/GPU.
Notice like 5C dg drop in temperatures after replacing.

Can I improve the T420's battery life significantly by buying a 9 cell battery? I'm thinking of buying a T420 but the battery life is preventing me

hey /tpg/

I am looking for a relatively new 12.5-13" business laptop

what it should have:
-trackpoint
-relatively good screen
-good battery life
-at least 2 DIMM slots (or comes with 32GB RAM)

does such thing exist?

also 10/10 Linux support is a must

Yes.
You can get 9cell main + 9 cell slice, which should give you 24 hours of battery life

Should I buy a battery from Lenovo or could I risk buying from a 3rd party?

from lelnovo
9cell lelnovo one has 94Whs of capacity, while 3rd party are 70Wh max

x260
>yes
>yes
>yes
>yes (2x16GB)
>yes

I need a new laptop for programming. Help me decide:

> Thinkpad
> Dell XPS 15
> Surface Book Pro

Are you sure about the 32GB memory? As far as I can see, the X260 only has a single memory slot.

guys I fucking NEED a good trackpoint keyboard for my desktop, I've been spoiled on the glory of the nipple pointer. Seems like the SpaceSaver II is the best neutral-ish one that exists but it's impossible to find, and the ones I have found are all damaged.
www.ebay.com/itm/252401268066
>All are missing feet
>Some are missing KEYS
wtf guys I just want a nice keyboard

3rd party never ever

>for programming
thinkpad ya dummy
what did you expect

Is the T420 for $300 and a 9 cell 94Wh battery for $75 a good price?

eh/10
you could do much better

It's hard as I'm in the UK

Careful of Amazon uk, lots of fake or badly described thinkpads being sold right now. Some guy was selling T60s but was sending XR1. Some of the 3rd party batteries on there are really cheap but have a habit of dying a few months in. I just bought a x220 from there was claimed as new. And it was pretty damn good looking externally, not a mark, but inside was mega dust.

Thanks for the warning, I think I'm going to buy a refurbished T420 so idk how that will go

So I just went and ordered a refurbished german T420 for 190€, seller described it as just having cosmetic wear on keys and touchpad.
How was it and what am I in for?

I'm not btw

M2-SSD works on x131e?
Yes or no

T430 with i5-3360M with an almost new battery for $260, is it a good deal? Or should I rather get a T420 with i5-2520M for $215?

What distro do you run on your ThinkPad?
I run Fedora on my T430s. I'm thinking of switching to Ubuntu. For the simple reason that more people use it so it's easier to get some random application or library up and running on it.

I would probably go with antergos or manjaro

Be sure to look for Lubuntu or Xubuntu because they are lighter
Ubuntu otherwise is shittier spyware botnet but it should not be that anymore after 16,04 version

I'm using Mint, pretty neat.

So this thing fell off, and I kept puttin it back on and it kept fallin off

Might still find it and if I do I'll stop being a fuckin dumbass and actually glue it back on, but if not

What are they called? Are they sold separately, or would I need to buy another bottom plastic part of the laptop, which I don't know what it's called either

They are called rubber feet and can be bought by themselves.

google.no/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=x220 thinkpad feet

>Feet

Cute af name
Thanks chaps, found 'em

Was about to post this and I've just realised, the body is actually of the x220 tablet for some reason, you can see the pen entry point.
Never noticed that before

well shit, you're right
Then I don't know. 12,5" with 32GBs of RAM will be extremely hard to find. The only option is 2x16GB

i updated bios and now it shows a error and requires a keypress on every boot to continue

Is the T420 outdated?

Depends on what you want it for, perfectly fine for shitposting and watching chink cartoons..

I want something like x120e but with updated specs:
>i7 ULV
>6cell battery option
>2 DDR3/4 DIMMs, capable of handling 16GBs of RAM
>mSATA/m2 slot for SSD
>mPCIe/m2 for WWAN module
>mPCIe/m2 for WLAN
>11,6" screen, at least 1920x1080 res

Please tell me there is a laptop like that on the market. This form factor is absolutely superior

bump
I need answer pls

Chances there will be a daily deal on the P50? They had one for the P70 a few days ago.
Or should I wait until the new series which will hopefully be a better value?

x220 is the closes to that
>i7 cpu
check
>9 cell battery or 6 cell
check
>16gb is possible but official supports 8gb
look thinkpad wiki on this
>msata for ssd
well you can use the WWAN slot of that, but 2,5" is for SSD
>WWAN
check
>Wlan
check
>11,6" screen, at least 1920x1080 res
not quite, 12,5' screen with 1920x1080

Questions?

x220 is too big, and sandy bridge is 32nm, which means it's deprecated
I wan't ULV CPU so the laptop can be light and thin. x220/x230 is the opposite of that

fuck you too then

get a macbook pro then

Why so hostile, you little neckbeard dipshit?
If you don't have the answer then why bother wasting my time?
Get back to

The Mint project looks cool.

the thing i'm experiencing, as an example. i go download some software to work with a board, a project i'm working on. there's a blog post that shows how to compile, install and use the software, but the author based the guide on his ubuntu system, so he assumed you have access to ubuntu repos, commands, libraries, etc.
yeah, i eventually got it done and everything working (i believe) on my fedora system but it would have just been easier to use ubuntu and just be done with it.
i'm thinking of trying ubuntu cinnamon desktop or something. i don't think unity is awful and i don't have to worry about HiDPI support so thats a good fall back plan.

why having such a shitty taste on laptop?

there is no such laptop with those kind of specs in that form factor

And you come spouting shit in /tpg/ thread where thinkpads are shilled 24/7
What the hell did you expect?

>shitty taste
It's my choice, not yours. If you have nothing valuable to say then stay quiet, you dumb motherfucker. This is Sup Forums, not Sup Forums.
Arrogant dumbfuck.

Explain what kind of limitation you have that a 12' laptop little over 1Kg is not light enough.

>little over 1kg
>x220
top kek. Maybe without the battery.
x220 is an overheating piece of shit that should be put somewhere to the museum.

youtube.com/watch?v=lx9Ccuhf_3Y

>x220 is an overheating piece of shit
Only if poorly maintained.

>This is Sup Forums, not Sup Forums
not an argument :^)

>Arrogant dumbfuck.
I would assume that you are one of those because all under 13" laptops are powerless shitty netbooks with atom or celeron cpu with max 4gb of ram. If you have ever even used 12,5" x220 or x230, they aren't even large for what they can provide
>muh sandy brigde
I bet you haven't heard of X320 mod

Just leave the thread if you don't want to go through the fact that x220 is godtier by its size

then please provide us some other laptop with similar specs as X220

Nevertheless the size does not tell the whole truth. X220 laptop is way out of its league.

trips truth

Is $350 a good price for the T520 (core i7, 16GB, Nvidia Optimus, 512GB SSD)?

"Fully Refurbished, Tested and Preconfigured"

what do you guys think of the ASUSPRO BU201

2570p
12,5" laptop with dvd drive (so can be replaced with 2nd HDD), socketed ivy bridge CPU (so you can install quad core CPU) and non-whitelisted WLAN/WWAN ports
get shrekt, faggot

What distro do i put on my L460, tried ubuntu but it runs like shit. I'm new to linux so i'd rather not have something too autistic, at least not to start up with.

NANI??!?

I totally forgot that one
plus you gotta love that nice metal body it packs

forgot the pic

lubuntu or xubuntu

do note that ubuntu is botnet spyware and can't be trusted

So far every guide for ubuntu was working for my Mint.

I wouldn't recommend asus laptops

Have you done your homework about this laptop? Just so, you know where you are getting yourself into

>quadcore in a 12.5" HP laptop
There are more efficient ways to kill yourself, user.

>being so weak that 1kg is too much weight
feels good to not be a weakfag. few kgs feel like nothing to me.

i haven't researched this laptop, no. i just think it looks cool, like a combination of macbook pro and thinkpad.
i wouldn't be surprised if it was shit quality though.

It might be sometimes a problem for people who leave their houses. :^)

>tfw I have 14" 3,6kg laptop that is 5cm thigh
I don't get these thin and light fags at all

then don't buy if it only looks "cool"

You know, all thinkpads look alike for the last 20 or so years
It means nothing. Get atleast T420 for functionality

>mfw i have one and its nice
Kdeep looking and you too will have an RT3200 some day user.

I still need to get one of the IBM keyboards with a blue enter key to see if i can swap it over.

i already have a thinkpad. i was thinking about an upgrade.

is it a toughbook?

like telling your mother to spread her legs?

Yes
This is a semi-rugged laptop but my dream is to own cf-31 with i5-520m or sandy brigde because they are cheap enough so my dream can become true

I bought this because the climate here is cold so I need something that can withstand that

Buy a Pentium 4 laptop

how do you deal with this, don't these speaker gratings catch dirt fast?

Those are cheap as hell, but I would be shitting myself because finding software for those might be quite problematic and windows xp is helpless with ssd management

But those i5-520m and later models cost like 550€ but I think I can deal with that because my current semi-rugged has i5-560m and 8gb ram

Doesn't sound too good at all. Did you update directly to the latest version (i.e. 1.40)? Did you try restoring the default BIOS settings?

My left grating looks like shit, no idea what to do.

Might as well get a new upper cover.

What are some of the differences between a T420 and T430? A friend is really pushing the 430 on me hard because Newegg is having a sale.

Its use will be quite limited even if you restore/upgrade it completely. The performance (both CPU power and RAM amount) can be matched or even surpassed by netbooks from the 2009/2010 period, which also support SATA - you can install a modern HDD or even SSD in a netbook, while you're limited to old PATA HDDs with the T30.

How about cleaning/fixing the cooling system instead? Lol.

You need to do the above asap, all the components are being cooked right now (for instance the HDD is at almost 50 degrees which is way too much). You are drastically reducing the unit's lifespan if you're trying to use it like this. Download the HMM for your model and do the required maintenance.

Fair point

What are your temps with x220 then?

i have a T430s. i really like it. One downside is that the keyboard isn't quite as good as the T420s. But it's faster and I could put on a T420 if I want.
Another downside is the T430s fan is always at audible speeds. It's something to do with the type of CPU in it and the cooling configuration.

These are all old machines though. I also have an X1C3 laptop which is my main computer. It's a lot faster, a lot lighter, a much better display and overall a much better experience. It's expensive and the keyboard is terrible though.

I should add that I wouldn't be using it very often. Only for a week or two, every couple of months when travelling as I have a full desktop.

I full knowledge that and I do believe this laptop won't be serving me other than some light use and probably some vn if I get it to work

I saw a pata adapter which could take m2 ssd

T420:
Classic keyboard
You can put in every chink battery without need to flash custom bios

T430:
Ivy Bridge (+5% on CPU, + 30% on GPU)
USB 3.0

In other aspects they should be identical. Correct me if I'm wrong,
I'm typing this from stock T420 and it's neat.

If BIOS is not broken, why change anything?

How is the display in bright sunlight?

no problem at all

me too.

Unrelated to the post you're replying but upgrading (or downgrading) the T420 to modded 1.46 BIOS should be a must imo.

Aside from removing the whitelist and unlocking 1600/1866mhz ram it adds a fuckton of settings to tweak.

please

Get whatever, the only difference is sb vs ib cpu and usb 3.0, everything else is the same or worse like the keyboard.

>making the T431s bearable
>tfw can't find proper synaptics driver and currently have the gimpy middle scroll