/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

Previous thread >snowpad edition
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 (embed)

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

Other urls found in this thread:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_duster
ifixit.com/Guide/Lenovo ThinkPad T420s Power Jack Replacement/41920
amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-204-Pin-Density-x4based/dp/B00BP501AS/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481046514&sr=1-2&keywords=ram&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin:2253866011,p_n_feature_five_browse-bin:677427011,p_n_feature_twenty_browse-bin:9729697011
amazon.com/Upgrade-Lenovo-ThinkPad-PC3-12800-NON-ECC/dp/B00W7E0F2A/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481046605&sr=1-1&keywords=CT5311310
thingiverse.com/thing:1715529
ubergizmo.com/2007/05/creative-x-fi-soundcard-for-laptops/
ebay.com.au/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-T430-LAPTOP-i5-3320M-2-6GHZ-8GB-180GB-SSD-DVDRW-14-BONUS-BAG-/282250596724?hash=item41b7725174:g:wnEAAOSw-kdXy4CA
reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/5gklli/cheap_exlease_thinkpads/
twitter.com/NSFWRedditGif

snowpad

Guy in last thread asking about blowing dust out.

I wouldn't use your breath because it has moisture that could maybe damage parts, it probably wouldn't, but I wouldn't do it. You breath is also not as strong as an air can.

Also don't use a vacuum because I've read that it can short circuit parts because of the friction and electricity it creates.

Just go to a local gas station or grocery store and they might have compressed air.

Best modern thinkpad with docking capabilities under $800?

This actually looks really good. Is it custom painted?

It looks good at a distance
I painted it outside while it was snowing, so it has some little specks on it where the paint dried differently

Came out ok
As ive said before, i think a shitty wood paint mess of a paintjob fits a 12+ year old laptop well

anyway to get usb 3 on a x220?

pic related these vents?
Is there a specific order?
>Air can
These?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_duster

The one I found spray liquid more than air and since these are solvent wouldn't it melt the fan's plastic?
>open it up
Never done this before and I'm afraid I'd screw it up and render it useless since spare parts aren't available where I live.

>No vacuum
So by this explanation a hair drier/air blower is no as well?

Yeah that, just hold the can upright and it won't spray liquid. And no a hair dryer would be unsafe too.

Thanks user.
Does this method blow the dust further into the parts?
And how often this should be done?

Get the i7 version or a usb 3.0 expresscard adapter.

If you angle the can so that it will blow out the side it will minimize the spread of the dust. You should really only do this once a year, if you have animals maybe more often.

>blow out the side it will minimize the spread of the dust
This way?
I don't have animals, but I have it on wooden desk and warming the room AC, that cause further dust build up.
Also I live in somewhat desert-ish region.

Is opening it something a novice can do?
ifixit.com/Guide/Lenovo ThinkPad T420s Power Jack Replacement/41920

Yeah just like that. And I think anyone could do it for sure, you would have to deliberately break something in order to mess it up.

I think the ribbons would be my fall.

Bought a w520, the performance seems really awful expect when I max out everything and run the fans super loud, but then I get awful battery life. What do

so thinkwiki says my laptop can use DDR3-1333, but the intel spec page for my cpu says it only works up to DDR3-1066.
would the cpu fully utilize that extra ram
>inb4 it'll use all it can
I don't want to waste money on an excessive upgrade

Just buy a rocket blower.

They are cheap, safe to use on pretty much anything (they are meant for cleaning image sensors in DSLR's) and last a long time.

Are you sure that this isn't just a repackaged enema bulb?

It'll show as 1333mhz but the cpu will work with 1066, i wouldn't care about that because ram is cheap as fuck anyway.

It's the same with the T420 and 1600mhz ram with the stock CPUs working at 1333, to fully use it you need to use a QM CPU.

Premature ejac

>ram is cheap as fuck anyway
i'm cheap as fuck too
it matters

well an enema bulb minus the air will work as a dust blower

if you have one laying around use that

How are the temperatures and how is the power draw on a T430 with a quad core i7 (35W TDP)? I'd like to upgrade my CPU to an i7 3612QM since the upgrade doesn't cost much and I've upgraded pretty much everything else

about to get a t430 myself. im going to use it mainly for audio dsp and other similar tasks. why the need to upgrade in your case? should i be concerned?

stock cpus are 35w too so it should be the same

if I install coreboot on t430 can I use chink batteriess,also can I still use the battery charge limit crap?

No need to upgrade really, it's still really fast with an SSD, I was just wondering if it was worth upgrading the CPU so I could have a maxed out Thinkpad

I ordered caddy 7days ago but it's not delivered
I'm just neglecting plastic 128gb ssd now
Is it common takes long?

>I'm just neglecting plastic
wat

Any suggestions?

i guess he doesn't like korean girls

amazon.com/Crucial-PC3-12800-204-Pin-Density-x4based/dp/B00BP501AS/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481046514&sr=1-2&keywords=ram&refinements=p_n_feature_four_browse-bin:2253866011,p_n_feature_five_browse-bin:677427011,p_n_feature_twenty_browse-bin:9729697011
Sorry for the long-ass links, but is there any difference (other than price) between the above link and the link below?
amazon.com/Upgrade-Lenovo-ThinkPad-PC3-12800-NON-ECC/dp/B00W7E0F2A/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1481046605&sr=1-1&keywords=CT5311310

just got this in the mail, what distro do i install

>funtoo

not really

that's what i figured

i needed a laptop and bought a t440

i had no idea about thinkpads and just got the most recent one i could afford

i like this computer but i realized my version doesnt have finger print reader and backlit keyboard

i would like to add an ssd and possibly a touch screen, if no touch screen the ips 1080p screen

is it worth it to upgrade this machine or directly buy something better later then give this machine to a relative or resell?

if the t series is anything like the x series
upgrade to a t430

>finger print reader
>backlit keyboard
>touch screen
why would you want all these useless gimmicks

explain the x series

Agreed, touch screen accomplishes the same thing as a mouse and will just add fingerprints all over your screen.

Finger print reader will draw more power from the battery and a password will be fine unless you're carrying highly secret data or some shit.

Backlit wastes power and if you know how to use a keyboard is completely useless.

x240 and later have gimped processors compared to the x230, making the older laptop the faster laptop

Hey guys, I'm planning on upgrading my thinkpad t400 over christmas. I'm going to get a replacement screen, solid state hard drive, more RAM, and repair the headphone jack.

My plan is to remove the DVD drive and isntall a hard drive in the ultrabay there. My question is the following:

Will the hard drive connected through the ultrabay be slower than the traditionally connected internal hard drive? In other words, should I take the extra effort to remove my old HDD, replace it with the solid state for the OS installation, and use the HDD in the ultrabay as a storage partition, or can I just put the SSD in the ultrabay, install the OS on that, and call it a day? Would there be a speed difference?

>Will the hard drive connected through the ultrabay be slower than the traditionally connected internal hard drive?
No, both run at SATA2 speeds.

Awesome, thanks. And I thought I was crazy to ask for advice on Sup Forums.

When do USPS tracking numbers usually start working?

Does anyone here actually use the PC Card slot in your thinkpad? I've had my thinkpad for a long time and never really thought about utilizing it. Is there anything useful to be done with it?

store shit in it
thingiverse.com/thing:1715529

Chink USB 3.0 card in X200. Not full 5Gb/s, but still.

I think he meant PCMCIA PC Card slot, not the expresscard slot.

Not on my newer ones
I use an ibm etherjet card to get ethernet on my 380ed so i can shitpost circa 1997 sometimes

I used them alot at my old job, cnc machines still to this day rely on ancient pcmcia flash cards

Ah, this one. Maybe CF adapter? Because I'm sure that anything else will have no drivers.

What's the dankest thing to put in the expresscard slot?

1gb pcmcia ssd, pic related

a desktop gpu

Kinda figured this out, I have to click on the Lenovo battery gauge icon for it to detect the AC. Weird.

I can get it with 240GB SSD but it will cost $370.

No 8 gigs of RAM is all I need.

>mfw expresscard SSDs exist
>X series now have three hard drives
>T and W series now have 4 hard drives

>1gb
Welcome to 1996.

I found a soundcard for an express slot

ubergizmo.com/2007/05/creative-x-fi-soundcard-for-laptops/

best place to buy from that ships to finland?

'Murican eBay + mail forwarding.

Actually it's a pcmcia ssd but expresscard ssds do exist as well so you can have it alongside an expresscard ssd if it has both ports like the t400.

The pc slot card was created in 1990, what do you expect.
>tfw carrying a gb of porn in a device that no one else can read in 2016

if they dont accept international payment?

find another seller?

Is upgrading a w500's CPU from a T9400 to a T9900 put it in danger of overheating?

Nah, a friend upgraded his T400 to a T9900 and runs fine.

I read somewhere that different sized RAM sticks leads to various issues in thinkpads.

Right now I have 2GB of RAM and want to add a 4GB RAM stick to the second slot, would this be okay? I'd rather not have to buy two 4GB RAM sticks, since I think 6GB of RAM would be plenty for me.

Nope, you just lose some efficiency because they aren't dual channel.

Is T430 worth buying in 2016? Just got payment for one project at work and i could afford to buy a T430 with Intel Core i5-3320M 2,6Ghz, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD

seriously considering it because now im usig 2 years old Lenovo M30 and the HD resolution display sucks balls (and it is slow)

Open it up and clean the inside. it is probably clogged up with dust which rise temperatures and cause it to throttle.

I'm getting one in the mail today.

Mine has 8gb of ram and an 180GB SSD.

I'm getting it for $320 AUD.

Would the battery be worse because it runs at 3.06 GHz instead of 2.53 GHz? Or would it be the same because they both have 35w TDP?

Also would heaving a PCIe USB 3.0 card in it drain the battery if you have it enabled?

Well fuck thats much cheaper, how did you get it? Locally or from US ebay?

which is more comfy and futureproof, X220 or T430?

Thinking about getting the E470, is it a decent laptop? Mostly for school and programming work

Also i should have mentioned that i would use it mostly for pentesting and shitposting

It would be the same, same TDP.

No idea about the expresscard thing.

>>tfw carrying a gb of porn in a device that no one else can read in 2016
That is actually fucking brilliant.

>comfy
X220
>futureproof
T430

I tried doing the exact same thing. System was slow as shit afterwards. Just suck it up and buy 8gb, ram is cheap and anons won't call you a ramlet anymore

anyone else's T430 run hot \ kind of noisy? finally reached my breaking point and sold it, said fuck it, and replaced it with a T460. it feels just as solid and weighs noticeably less

>run hot \ kind of noisy
My T420 does neither and it's with the upgraded quad core CPU, not sure what the issue could be.

My P70 runs pretty cool and quiet.

I'm running a 4gb stick and a 2gb stick. Its fine user.

Why isn't my USPS tracking # working?

>>tfw carrying a gb of porn in a device that no one else can read in 2016
brb getting a t60

Locally

There are still a bunch available

ebay.com.au/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-T430-LAPTOP-i5-3320M-2-6GHZ-8GB-180GB-SSD-DVDRW-14-BONUS-BAG-/282250596724?hash=item41b7725174:g:wnEAAOSw-kdXy4CA

Also ask this guy to see what he has he is selling ex lease thinkpads dirt cheap

reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/5gklli/cheap_exlease_thinkpads/

I just saw read this in a review of the T460.

>... the T460 is a boxy and heavy device that looks and feels more like a mobile workstation than an Ultrabook.
>The T460 weighs a whopping 3.8 pounds (1.7kg) and is 0.83 inches (21mm) thick. These measurements are reminiscent of laptops from a bygone era. So, if you're concerned about transporting your notebook everywhere you go, or if you want something that can slide into small backpacks, you might want to look elsewhere.

Is this nigger serious? My fucking 13" Macbook pro weighs 1.5 lbs more than that and has the same thickness. It's lightweight and tiny, I toss it in my bag and carry it around pretty much everywhere. I don't think I would want a laptop thinner or lighter weight, the sturdiness feels nice.

Fuck me, modern tech is a mistake.

It would have some impact, because you're using an extra PCIe lane, but you'd have to actually do it and test to show how much, no way simply guessing.

Lots of people only like macbook pros

Where are you getting your replacement screen from?

I have a T400 with the 1280x800 display and I'm thinking of trying to track down a 1440x900 screen to replace it with.

Honestly though it would probably be better to try and track down a T420 with the 4200M and a 1440x900 screen.

Or maybe try and find a nice X series. Shit I don't know.

The 20s are the last models Lenovo made with standard keyboards, right? I can't stand chiclet trash.

i have an x230 and coming from a t61 it honestly isnt that bad. I do definitely prefer the t61s keyboard but the x230s keyboard is still better than almost any other laptop ive tried.

keyboards from the 20 series can also be installed in the 30s

>T420 with the 4200M and a 1440x900 screen
It doesn't have a 1440x900, it's 1600x900.

Also avoid the T420 dGPU version, isn't worth it imo.

you need to modify the ribbon cable for the x230 tho

Is there anything wrong with the Nvidia chip?

I'd be coming from a T400 with the HD3470, and while that's dogshit in comparison to modern GPUs it's still nice having the bit of extra horsepower in a discrete GPU versus the Intel HD garbage.

Because the dGPU shares the heatsink with the CPU thus increasing temperature which would be a downside if you want to upgrade the CPU in the future.

Also look up benchmarks, it's barely better than the HD3000. If you'd like gpu power there's the eGPU option.

just got a T510 Lenovo, give me the redpill on this beast of a laptop, plus it would be cool to get all the win7 drivers on one page, download em all and put em on a thumbdrive