/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

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/JVwVGVTW

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

Other urls found in this thread:

shop.lenovo.com/us/en/faqs/pc-life-faqs/what-is-ips/
support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds014924/
thinkpad-forum.de/threads/192527-T420-OpenGL-unter-Windows-10-Intel-HD-3000
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

How did I do Sup Forums?

Bought all this stuff used for 40€:
Two 4338 Mini Docks with key
One 4338 Mini Dock with USB 3.0, no key
Bag in pic related
Two power adapters (one 65W, one 90W)
In the bag is a stock ThinkPad mouse with cable

Also
Is there a difference in performance if you use the 90W power adapter over the 65W one on the Thinkpad X230, or is it just for faster charging?

Pretty fukkin bad considering you only need one dock

One for home, one at parent's place on weekends and one on the piano table for Synthesia :^)

confirmed for autism

Where I live you usually pay €40 for one Dock with charger. Stop being an edgelord for a moment

I'm intrigued, what is a piano table?

not bad once I read this post man, I have two docs for my thinkpad (one for work, one for home) I use an old ipad for Synthesia though because I don't have a table near my piano... overall cool/10 and I like the bag

daily reminder if you aren't getting a single 51nb mod then you don't belong here
>muh poorshit
>muh china
lmaoing @u rn

Not sure if you're calling out my grammar or a genuine question, but I'll bite.

>Pic related

Does Synthesia work well on a tablet? Do you plug the Midi interface cable into the charging port?

I know i'm posting in the wrong thread but people on thinkpad general usually answer all questions. I need someone to write a script/program to run on a website. It will allow the user to upload up to 20 pictures and have them put together in a specific format. I'm not familiar with this stuff. Do I find a web dev. or could one of those website designer programs let me make one?

I gave in to the meme, just bought a T460.

I hope you're happy.

It's alright, I cant really compare it to using a laptop or a desktop but it works pretty well, I use simplypiano and yousisian (or however it's spelt) too, and kinda sorta, you need a lightening to usb camera adapter and that goes into the ipad, then you take a usb printer cable and plug that into the usb slot on your piano, there is another way to do it, but I found this way is easiest for me

this is how I have it set up if I didn't explain well enough

How many hdds does X230 support?

2
1 msata ssd (runs at sata 2 speeds)
1 sata 2.5inch drive

you could technically have another one in the expresscard slot.

shit is that a thing?

I want to purchase a gpu for my thinkpad but I'm not sure what to buy.

The cpu on it is an i7 2860qm 2.5 GHz.

Anyone got any recommendations?

Just pulled an x220 and an extra 4gb of ram power.
Time to install opensuse

>Is there a difference in performance if you use the 90W power adapter over the 65W one on the Thinkpad X230, or is it just for faster charging?

If for some reason you use the 65W adapter without a battery plugged into the X220, then the speed is throttled down. If you use a 90W adapter without a battery, there is no speed throttling.

My w520 got hot ram, why?

Who /got a thinkpad but it's so powerful so bought a dock and made it a desktop with monitor via displayport and bought mbp for mobility/ here

I purchased a P50 through Amazon a few months ago. There are a few problems with it that make me want to return it, for which I have less than a week to do:
-Shuts of randomly
-Very sluggish when powering on or returning from sleep mode

However I face a problem, which is that I have been using the oem hard drive instead of replacing it with my own. Is it possible to make a return WITHOUT the hd, or by replacing it with another? This drive contains extensive information which if recovered coul reveal passwords, banking information, copyrighted content, pornography, etc.

I finally have joined the club.
Bought a x220 tablet on ebay. shits gonna be flyyy

I got a 430 and have been super happy. Ssd and gentoo. I'm living the meme

you bet your sweet ass it is

I heard IBM guys still get a thinkpad for free. Is it true?

except they're poor QC and way more expensive than their msata/sata counterparts
it's probably a macbook these days

Is there a huge difference between the IPS x220 and the non-IPS x220?

are there expresscard 54 SSDs?

that's expresscard 34

Alternatively, has anyone else experienced this problem?

Any reason why I can't replace an x200s motherboard with an x201 motherboard?

Is the i7 in the x230 enough to play modern games with an egpu setup?

Should I feel morally bad for using a corporate discount on Lenovo's site when I'm not a corporate customer? Those deals were just too good to pass up

i really like the form factor of the x230

i'm actually tempted to sell my 2015 mbp 13 and buy one, trick it out with a 512gb ssd, 16gb ram, and get an eGPU setup

all i play is Second Life so the CPU won't bottleneck me

please talk me out of this friends

Welp Sup Forumsentoomen, I'm finally gonna buy a thinkpad. Pic related shows the BIOS information. Does this mean it doesn't have a BIOS password?

Do I need to ask for any other information, or is this safe to buy?

yes

I can't find them anywhere.

How does the LTE work? Do you pay monthly for it?

Best chinkpad with the tactical keyboard? No budget.

Alright Sup Forums, I've taken your advice you gave me a while back and decided that I'll get a Thinkpad

I have my eyes set on this one a friend of a friend of mine is selling for $240 CAD. It's the Thinkpad T420
Specs below

>Intel i5 2nd Gen 2.5Ghz
>4GB Ram
>320 GB Hard Drive
>Windows 7 Pro

If you can answer some questions for me seeing as I'm a raging newfriend and not that learned when it comes to computers, I'd really appreciate it

Is this a good price point for those specs?

Will I be able to do much in terms of watching youtube videos/ watching livestreams/ shitposting multiple threads simultaneously?

Will I be able to play Age of Empires II: HD on steam with it?

Will I be able to watch 1080p movies on popcorn time on it?

Thanks in advance

Thoughts on the ThinkPad X201?

What is screen resolution? Do this have IPS screen? HDD or SSD?

If it have atleast 1600x900 with IPS screen it is worth buying.Big bonus if there is SSD.

Make sure that sure that bios is unlocked.

You can play games that are released before 2011.

Why would you even watch 1080 movies if your screen don't have 1980x1080 resolution.

I bet it is 1366x768 TN shit.
If screen is not 1600x900 IPS don't buy it.

14" in 1366x768 looks awfull

If you have few bucks it is more worth buying x220.

Not sure about the screen resolution nor the IPS screen, I'll have to ask him. Should I want these specks? Also, what exactly do IPS screens do that separate them from the rest?

And there's no way it's an SSD at this price point, it's probably an HDD which honestly I can live with considering every machine I've ever used had that.

Noted, I'll ask him about this tomorrow. But what about the other points I listed?

i just got 33% off

shop.lenovo.com/us/en/faqs/pc-life-faqs/what-is-ips/

Trust me it is day and night difference between IPS and TN.You can watch youtube videos to compare it.

Go check resolution of that thinkpad.If you get 1600x900 or anything that is higher than 1366x768 you are good.

Anything that is lower than 120 ppi look awfull.You have ppi calculator on internet and try measure it for future reference.

There's almost on chance it has an IPS screen. An IPS screen on a T420 doesn't come from Lenovo, it's hacked together with an aftermarket kit by some guy on the Thinkpad forum and he doesn't produce them any longer.

Regarding your points - yeah it should be able to do all that without overheating, as long as the CPU fan isn't clogged with dust.

I'd prefer the X220 + IPS. You could probably get a good quality X220 off eBay + a nice new IPS LCD (to install it yourself) for around the same price.

how well will an X220 run Octave? does the touchscreen work decently on Arch?

so are eGPU setups any good?

Probably a dumb question, but I bought a used T420 on eBay and the battery life isn't really ideal. If I buy a new battery for it, do you think the life of it will be better?

>this fucking guy

Yes user, it will be fine.

Thanks. Knew it was common sense, was just doubting myself

Try this too.
support.lenovo.com/us/en/downloads/ds014924/

What's a better option: swapping my orignal thinkpad HDD for a big SSD or adding a smaller M.2 SSD (cause they are still expensive)?
Is one option easier to install that the other?

he's just insecure user, chill out

Depends entirely on what your needs are and what you use the machine for.
If you need to have as much battery life as possible, then SSD only. If you need lots of storage space then HDD+SSD.
From personal experience running with HDD+mSATA SSD in my X220 battery life seems quite a bit worse (might be due to not calibrating powertop and the likes and the HDD being old - old as in before they started considering power a lot) but only makes a lot more noise. Noise for me was the most annoying part so in the X220 I just use the mSATA SSD now. In my big boy workstation (Elitebook 8560W) and desktop I have both SSD+HDD.
As I started out saying: all depends on your needs. Personally I would probably go for just one big SSD.

where can I buy a x220 clit?

just search thinkpad trackpoint on amazon.

or ebay

or Aliexpress

I always hear about that site but when I google it I only find some shop for fashion and male slips...

I just installed debian with XFCE on my x220 and got terrible screen-tearing.
What drivers should I install?

just googled a bit. tearing seems to be a common issue with xfce. for MATE I use marco-no-composit on my X220 and it looks just fine

Nothing expect the screen.

Do it. X230 is the best laptop I've ever used. Remember to upgrade to the classic keyboard!

>upgrade to the classic keyboard!
I was preparing to subject until I read this. With the classic keyboard the X230 is indeed the best laptop with ultraportable form factor.

i know nobody gonna answer to this post
anyone has problem with open gl?
i'm on a t420 and open gl is not work
it's big trouble for me because i painting at photoshop

Got a problem with my X220:
Sometimes when I wake it up from standby it doesn't find any WiFi connections. WiFi indicator LED is on so it seems like the antennas aren't connected anymore. This happes on every operating system I tried so far and the only way to fix it is to reboot. That happens maybe once or twice a week, so it's a minor problem to me. It's just irritating. WiFi speeds and connectivity are normal as long as it works. Any ideas?

PS: I'm thinking about buying a new WiFi card. Do you think that could fix the problem?

if only t420 didn't have intel hd3000 graphics
hd4000 would be so much better

What laptop do you guys recommend for university/what did you guys use?

General idea of what I'm looking for:
Has a numpad, is lightweight, screen size around 13 inches or less.

Did you check how strong is the wifi signal? You might be getting disconnects due to weak signal.

Has anyone here switched their x230 keyboard for a x220 one?

>WiFi speeds and connectivity are normal as long as it works.

The problem is that it doesn't find ANY WiFi signal until I reboot. Doesn't matter if I'm in my room or right next to the router. I got 100% connection, then put it in standby, then start it up and the connection is gone. Like I said, it's as if the antennas were disconnected.

thinkpad-forum.de/threads/192527-T420-OpenGL-unter-Windows-10-Intel-HD-3000

damn windows 10 i absolutely cucked

What does a dock do?

Which express card should I attach to my x230 to work with an egpu?

>13 or less
>numpad

brein damuge!1

I've never used a laptop properly so forgive me. Just lightweight and with a numpad I guess.

>Has a numpad, is lightweight, screen size around 13 inches or less.
impossible. 14" is minimum for numpad. also, numpad on a laptop is cancer because of offset keyboard. it's gonna kill your wrists

Since my t430s in on it's wait, i'm really contemplating ordering a replacement screen - is the alienware one the easiest fix ? I don't want to wait centuries waiting for some cable or pcb from china, which might turn out to be wrong. Don't want to extend anything either.... Now, as far as i understand the alienware would fit my needs, but it's only glossy ? It seems also to be good enough for a TN.

I'm willing to compromise. What's something that's lightweight and functional?

t430 v t430s are like 2.1kg vs 1.79kg

I find my t410 with a 9 cell lightweight enough, waiting for a t430s

Go for an X220 or X230. X230 if you want better graphics performance. Best keyboard, best battery life, terrible TN panel but decent IPS option.

It is literally in the OP.
And we also covered this in the last thread.

Hey, sorry i fell asleep on you

As it turns out, the guy also sells a x220 for the same price. Again not sure whether it has an IPS 1600x900 or not, but I'm about to send him an e-mail to find out.

there is no 1600x900 option for the X220

1/2

2/2

>the perfect laptop doesn't exi...

inb4 the keyboard...

yeah,somehow i can get hard from hardware...
>r34

>can't find one for sale anywhere

end me

aliexpress.com and you can search for shit at the top, just like most other shopping websites.

It's all about that x230

>try to start my laptop
>forgot there is no battey and charger
>plug in charger
>it instantly turns on by itself, giving me CMOS date error
whats wrong with it? could i have fucked it up by trying to turn it out without power source?
its an X230

Is it alright to get a Thinkpad with an AMD processor? I've noticed AMD Thinkpads are cheaper than Intel ones.

but what makes it so special? everyone's talking about it but all I see is a confusing layout and ansi keyboards that I can't do shit with because I need iso

Yea, dont.

Ask if computrace is installed