/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:

ebay.com/itm/152390897789
notebookcheck.net/ThinkPad-X220-reportedly-facing-CPU-throttling-issues.54679.0.html
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

I want to fuck a thinkpad

My X200 was making lots of noise because they fan bearings were shot, so I tried to replace the fan which is under the motherboard and requires a complete disassembly of the laptop.
I couldn't get past the display cable removal because it's stuck on ultra tight and I was afraid to strip the screws, so I just resorted to putting this in my cron jobs for root.
It actually works pretty well.
# fan noise reduction
* * * * * echo "watchdog 0" > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan
* * * * * echo "level 1" > /proc/acpi/ibm/fan

Just make sure you have a file called thinkfan.conf in /etc/modprobe.d/ that contains the following
options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1

Does anybody knew a list of movies where Thinkpads are used widely instead of Apple Fagbooks?

Why does it matter?

Just curiosity mostly.

What's the point of having mouse buttons on top and below the touchpad?

The top-most buttons are used in conjunction with the trackpoint.
The trackpad was added later because everyone else included one and they didn't want to needless alienate their customer base.

If your thinkpad has a trackpad, it's not a real thinkpad.

>if you thinkpad has a trackpad, it's not a real thinkpad
Fucking hipster living off the past.

Has anyone ever re-celled a battery for a thinkpad? I have a T61 I got with a shot 9cell, so what I was thinking about is ordering a cheap Chinese battery for the moment and then recelling the 9cell with Panasonic 18650s. Also just installed Manjaro for first time, and also liking it over Crunchbang and Bunsenlabs.

I want to try a laptop with pen-input, is there a better price-to-performance than the x230t if I can get it for $120?

comfiness no joke
the top ones are much more comfortable to use when switching between using the trackpad the mouse buttons
this is because, for example, i can place my index finger on the pad and use my middle, ring, and pinky fingers to touch the left, middle, and right buttons, respectively

is there any point in having the second video card completely disabled from BIOS ?

also is there a recommended color profile for the t430s hd+?

When I tried running linux on a T400 with switchable graphics, it would fire up both cards at once and it would quickly escalate to 200F and shut off to prevent damage after only a few minutes.

I then bought another one without the switchable graphics and never had the problem again.
Don't buy switchable graphics, they're nothing but trouble.
Best case scenario is you get stuck on Windows 7 forever because they only ever released one version of the switchable GPU driver and it's windows.

If you do Hackintosh, for example, it's recommended, although some bootloaders like Clover can disable the dGPU at boot time.

Under 2nd video card i mean the nVidia one, currently it is disabled from bios, instead of depending on the optimus. Not that i would play games anytime soon, but i was wondering if it wouldn't be the same to leave the job to optimus for when power is needed,and spare the restart to activate shit. And yeah, it's winblows, need it for work anyways.

That image.

but why

Possible to upgrade a T520 to Ivy Bridge?

If not now, maybe in the distant future? It just needs a new BIOS, right?

Because laces already uniformly apply pressure up the length depending on the size of your foot and if you have any of the issues listed you just buy a shoe that fits.

are there certain parts to avoid on t420? anything that overheats a lot/dies early

it's all just product placement, whoever gets the highest bid

just watched The Accountant and there was a good amount of Dell stuff

Manjaro is pretty bad compared to arch. It uses its own shittier, slower repositories compared to arch, and in general the development team is pretty bad.

no it's a different socket

ya don't buy a broken one

also the screens are universally poo, don't expect too much from them

the T420s has a smaller battery that does not use cylindrical cells, so if battery life is important to you then avoid those ones too, but a regular T420 with a good condition 9-cell battery can get great battery life

I'm thinking about switching my Zenbook UX303LN (i7 6200u 12GB GF 840m) for X240/X230.

Are there good touchpad drivers? (eg. two fingers swipe for scrolling, two finger click for mmb, three finger click for rmb etc.).
How long is battery life natively running ubuntu / windows 7 / windows 8?
Is performance good enough to run Windows from Ubuntu VB?

ty

yes the touchpads have gestures and multitouch stuff

Is it configurable?

I believe some of it is. I haven't used W8/W10 on a newer ThinkPad so I can't say for sure.

Is it even worth upgrading the ram on my machine?
I have 2GB currently, and a 4GB swap partition on my SSD, so I haven't felt any of the "thrashing" you'd expect on an HDD.

The most intensive thing I do is have 30 chrome tabs open, and this is what it looks like
$ free -h
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 1.9G 1.8G 103M 419M 3.7M 519M
-/+ buffers/cache: 1.2G 626M
Swap: 3.8G 1.6G 2.2G

>living off the past
>off the past
>off
There's something in every Changpost that gives them away. Yes, maybe people are living in the past when they want a sturdy computer which doesn't spy on them, maybe. But Lenovo sucks a cock and their quality has gone down the shitter even further every year.

You should be ashamed of yourself Chang, shilling this low-speed is rarely seen.

Why are there no x240 fullHD in my shit country ;_;

Thinking of getting an x1 carbon. Are they any good?

Anyone know if the X60 Tablet's Mini PCI Express slot supports mSATA drives? I don't use my WWAN card and I'd like to replace it with an SSD, making it my bootable primary drive, with the 2.5" drive bay being used as secondary storage.

P-series is way better

Not my question, also im newish to linux anyways so I'm not going full autist and doing straight arch.

Just bought this thing for 400$ USD shipping included. It's a K2000M, and I'm planning to use it for 3D drawing (namely aerospace stuff) and some gayming.

Did I do good?

>tfw x200 libreboot without trackpad

Don't know about the price because I'm not American but you should be completely satisfied with it's cad capabilities considering it was built precisely for work such as cad.

If it's not got one already you should consider installing a good 1080p screen, others here can recommend you a good screen replacement, the best of which actually come from different laptops.

I think it's a 1920 screen, should be fine.

check the lcds model number when you get it. It should be the b156w01 v.4 I purchased a w530 and it was advertised to have a 1080p screen and it did but it had been replaced with a much cheaper and shitter 1080p panel at some point in its life.

just buy/rent an i1Display Pro, and using the provided software or dispcalGUI do a calibration at D65 and make a profile of your screen. It's more accurate than a generic profile.

the fifth estate

I need to use Windows, so I'll start dual booting my t420. My school gives me the option of 7/8.1/10.
Botnet aside, does 10 run okay on the t420s?

welp let's see how this compares to my 2570p.

My first thinkpad.

Just finished installing my replacement parts and setting up Arch.

>T420
>i7-2620M
>16GB RAM
>525GB SSD
>1600x900

Is this the ultimate meme machine, lads? It looks brand new, and I also bought the docking station. So pleased to be using a Thinkpad again.

In 'Contact,' Jodie Foster's character exclusively uses a Thinkpad. And in Goldeneye, Bond uses a Thinkpad 701 in one shot when he's getting briefed by M. There's also a Thinkpad in The Social Network, but I don't remember the scene.

I also saw an NFL advert the only time I've ever been to a bar, in which a man is watching a stream of a Seahawks game on a prominently displayed T60. You see the IBM logo, bezels, and everything. I really got a kick out of that.

I took my X40 out for a drive today.

my new x230 is stuck at 1.197ghz. what the fuck do i do? Tried running an old 007 quantum of solace game and it cant even reach 20 fps.
already repasted, fan is clean.
i5 3320m

It's still running cool while doing this right?

Some thinkpads will clock down hard if they're not powered with the correct adapter, but if there's a battery in them it should be fine regardless.

just recently bought this:
ebay.com/itm/152390897789

it has computrace enabled and i cannot disable it in bios

how fucked am i?
what should i do?

>These laptops left the factory with Computrace-capable BIOS. The previous owners had Computrace active but had the service deactivated before sending the units to us for resale. The units still produce a harmless Computrace warning when entering BIOS setup. The user may ignore the warning. We have verified with Absolute Software that Computrace on these laptops has been deactivated at their end.

should i trust this mofo and use it?

If it stills works exactly as you'd expect then I don't see why it'd really be a problem. They weren't subtle about the fact it was enabled so given that you got it cheap, having to deal with a minor nuisance is the trade-off.

tested both ways :/
and yes, it never goes beyond 51°C

My T420 is struggling when dual screen with laptop screen and a 1080p monitor. In particular when watching a video at 1080p while doing something else on the laptop monitor.

What would be the most sensible upgrade to help fix this issue? I've noticed CPU being full load since I have i5-2520M. I've considered an i7 upgrade but worry about heating. What experience have you had with this?

Also, if I were to go for another thinkpad, which would be the most sensible upgrade form a T420?

yeah but i still want computrace removed though, can i just call Absolute software or is there another way to remove computrace without tampering with hardware?

Is it ok to mix ram?

You could look into this:
notebookcheck.net/ThinkPad-X220-reportedly-facing-CPU-throttling-issues.54679.0.html
No idea if it would affect the X230 but the issue sounds similar.

Sounds like something's configured badly, my T410 can handle chinese cartoons well enough with the same setup. Have a bit of a play around with your video player's settings. An i7 might help to some degree, though keep in mind the GPU will remain the same.

Yes, though Ideally the timings should remain the same.

i cant find any answers for the clock speed lock anywhere. fuck

>Have a bit of a play around with your video player's settings

It's youtube HTML5 :(

That's why I was debating getting a new Thinkpad. I've considered a CPU upgrade + eGPU but the cost doesn't seem to be worth it (aside from GPU being usable when I graduate and have fixed residence). At that price range I can start considering quite newer models (thought at the loss of the useful page navigation/delete keys)

>Found a bulk liquidation auction on Lenovo shit
>Auctions on each individual laptop all end at the exact same time so you're effectively forced to pick one and stick with it unless you're a re-seller
It's as if they're actively trying limit competitive bidding.
Here's the link if any other ausfags are interested, though it's mostly lenovo's cheaper rubbish.
www.graysonline.com/sale/2161580/

You could look into setting your browser up to open youtube videos in MPV instead. I think there are video players that integrate youtube quite well so something like having a standalone application for it might help too.

I'm not entirely sure how they work, but you could look at Broadcom Crystal HD for a quick fix, but you might need to a bit of research to make sure it'd do the job.

Okay, I'll keep looking into it further. Hadn't really considered my media players too deeply.

Are the batteries on ebay for the t60 legit? Why are they 17 bucks? I thought they'd be more expensive 2bh

What the hell do the docks do? I've noticed lots of T520s near me being sold with them.

They give you more ports and let you leave all your peripherals plugged into one stationary device so you only have to insert/remove the Thinkpad instead of each individual thing you want to plug into it.

>remove computrace
Throw it away and get a different Thinkpad user. They will find you.

what the fuck, my battery wear level keeps shrinking with like % a day, it was around 25% when I got it, now it's around 20%. I tried recalibrating, but didn't show any difference after it. The seller claimed it was used mostly on the docking station, can it be that the laptop is learning the battery's true limits ?

>The seller claimed it was used mostly on the docking station, can it be that the laptop is learning the battery's true limits ?
Yeah, if it's been on a docking station then it's likely been at full charge constantly. If you to fix the reading then run it through a full discharge-recharge cycle or two.

you have to call them. also you might have to send them proof that you legally bought the thinkpad

If I could only get a non touchpad palmrest for my X220. This looks and feels just so much better...

thx will try again.

It's a smoother surface, and I think the palmrest has a better feel without the trackpad.

This little machine is 100% usable today, running Debian 8. I can even watch Youtube videos but only in 240p without stuttering and other issues. It easily plays full HD video (on its 1024x768 screen kek) with mplayer though, so I can just suck a video out of the page with youtube-dl and watch it at my leisure.

...

What are your specs? I had a T40 a while ago and it played YouTube videos at 480p perfectly fine.

Currently looking for a good price on an X60 so I can try Coreboot. I like the idea of having a 100% free computer. Not as my main machine as the performance wouldn't be sufficient sufficient though,

Is a thinkpad t60 with SXGA+ screen (15'') the only viable one outside of the flexview one which is near unattainable? Really want a t60 but don't want to buy a shite one

What's the appropriate method of reinstalling Windows 10 on a Thinkpad tablet?
Just using the "Reset this PC" thing, or will important tablet drivers be removed and not reinstalled?

15" SXGA+ is Flexview. Look for a T60p to maximize your chances, since all 15" 4:3 models had Flexview screens. There's no need to worry about getting XGA TN shit like with the normal T60.

It's the sort of thing you'll have to hunt for, especially if you really want the UXGA screen. Check listings that lack details, look up type numbers with the database in OP, ask sellers questions, lurk ebay every day until one pops up. They are out there, and not all at full retard prices. I got a UXGA T60p in pristine condition for $95. You'll get yours too, if you're patient.

Is a SXGA screen on a 15'' t60 any good though?

Yeah, it's fine. As long as it's genuine and not a "compatible" replacement panel. Those are TN trash that you should never pay for.

>Accidentally opened an image and lost everyone I replied too...

Fuck.
I'm making a video to tell everyone to shut the fuck up about recelling batteries

Also when is there gonna be a /tpg/ meet? /o/ had a few in the past.

Also, Unless I get in shape, I won't be dressed as a whore. (;
No one get any ideas

y-you're a grill?

S Y D N E Y
Y
D
N
E
Y

>I'm making a video to tell everyone to shut the fuck up about recelling batteries
I'll be interested to see your problems with it, I know people that have done it successfully by pulling cells from unused batteries. I don't know if it'd be worth the cost of buying new cells though, but at least you know you're getting reasonable quality ones.

>Also when is there gonna be a /tpg/ meet?
B-but everyone would know I actually use an Edge

>/o/ had a few in the past.
They have tons of them, though there's nothing particularly exciting about going driving unless you're there yourself.

plz help
I feel like an old person right now who doesn't know how to computer
Although both of my grandparents used to be in the IT business, ironically.

>Also when is there gonna be a /tpg/ meet?

>IBM Thinkpad X40
>1.2 GHz Pentium M™ with SpeedStep™
>1280 MB RAM (-32MB for Intel Extreme Graphics?)
>64GB Kingspec SSD in fucked special form factor
>original small battery, made in Armonk, NY, ±45min battery life still
>2 chinese batteries, ±12 hours battery life with special power-saving jewry
It's quite a nice little machine. I'm running Debian on it. It'll run Quake 3 and Dwarf Fortress, what else do you need?

>/tpg/ meet
It better have an event where you smash watermelons and ither various things with G40s.

Happier times. And then something shit itself ;~;

Depends on how windows 10 got onto it. If it was an upgrade, it'll take you to a fairly bare state so you should probably just have the drivers handy in case windows update doesn't get them for you. But basic things like pen and touch input should work at a rudimentary level out of the box

>Happier times. And then something shit itself ;~;
I'm shaking down a T60 with the nice screen and an X61s right now too. I also have a T42, a T30, and an i Series 1400 which actually still works amazingly well as an old DOS / FreeBSD legacy machine. It's huge. Somehow they managed to put one of the best laptop keyboards ever made into it too, so it's still a useful machine.

I'll take a family photo all with their docking stations and my awesome Thinkpad leather briefcase and other swag like my Ultrabay device collection and sheeit.

enjoy your rust
>I'm making a video to tell everyone to shut the fuck up about recelling batteries
why?
Was hoping to recell this absolutely dead x220t battery instead of spending my hard earned sheckles on something new and not 200% chink.

Is it common for used E6400/E6410' s to have a little hinge wobble? Should I do something about it if it's there or nevermind it?

Shitposting in this thread from my OLPC XP-1.5 which still works great and gets 2 hours battery life on the original pack!

It's quite rugged and has one of the best wifi antennas put inito a computer. Too bad abut the keyboard though...

Probably still worse than mac's
I'm still impressed that I can get good wifi from my basement all the way at my neighbors house across the street and over 1
yes all laptops have a little bit of wobble.
Although you can probably tighten the hinges a bit if you take the bottom off.

That's beatiful. The scenery isn't bad either.
Badum tsss

Oh, I remeber contact. Sadly, for some reason I can't stomach Sagan work anyways.

Do you think that these computers are fagbooks?

>all laptops have a little bit of wobble
>all
Not rly, the thinkpads I' ve had didn' t have that, and I sorta don' t expect that on a business machine. On consumer-tier plastic bodied laptops that sort of wobble sometimes means that the hinges are on their way to falling apart, and other times it's just the way their hinges are and nothing is falling apart.

I'm puzzled what might this wobble mean on this nicely built alloy-bodied fella - is it perhaps the hinges themselves wobbling, or have they become loose where they' re bolted onto the lid

CONTACT
that's what it was called. thanks. gonna watch it now.

He's trolling/attention whoring.

The leftmost tip of my x220 on the lcd/top it sorta peels back whenever I open it and exposes behind the screen, is there anyway I can fix this?