/tpg/: ThinkPad General

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

Previous thread:
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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 SERIES if you want the Real Business Experience™

Recommended IBM models:
X60, X61, T60, T61, 860, Transnote, PC110

Recommended old models:
X200, W500

Recommended modern models:
X220 - 12", 768x1366, cheap and light
T420 - 14", 900x1600, easy to obtain, ideal size, socketed CPU, Ivy Bridge installable after Coreboot flash
T520 - 15", 1080p, Quadcore-CPUs
W520 - 15", 1080p, Desktop Replacement, 32GB RAM possible, USB 3.0

Last good models:
X230 - 12", USB 3.0, IPS option avaiable, classic keyboard installable
T440p - 14", last ThinkPad to have replacable CPUs, 1080p IPS displays avaiable
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Why ThinkPad?
>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

New guides by xsauc:
dankpads.com

ThinkWiki - Info on ThinkPads and running GNU/Linux on them:
thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

ThinkPad service guides w/ tutorial videos:
lenovoservicetraining.com/

ThinkPad wallpaper collection:
imgur.com/a/NlepZ

ThinkPad BIOS splash screen collection:
biosimage.booru.org/index.php

let's try to keep the retardation to a minimum this time

First for T530 master race

Non-US, non-EU anons, where do you get your thinkpads? Local used goods sites, or just eBay and cope with shipping fees and delays?
I can't find a x220 for less than ~US$230 in my third world shithole, and they never come with any upgrade either.

just kill yourself, third world savage

What's the GOAT ThinkPad?

new retro thinkpad

thoughts???

we have already concluded that it is shit

Why?

X220 or T420

Does it cost like a million dollars? What's the catch?

I can get a T420s for about 140€ (ssd included)
Is it the best thinkpad for a hackintosh?
dont want to shill out money for used up macbooks

yes, there's still a few of the 1080p upgrade kits for $50, get it, you'll then have the comfiest shitposting machine

link 1080p upgrade? My t420 is a bit knackered and I wanna replace the palmrest and KB so I may as well go all out

>Not using IdeaPad

>being an idea guy when you could be a thinking man

the thing rn is that it's postponed for now
so he put the price to $600
I'll give it to you when the price's back to $50

>Using IdeaPad
it's like you enjoy getting cucked by asians

>Waaa I hate chiclets
>Lenovo makes a ThinkPad for the sole purpose of catering to you people despite 0 reason to do so from a market standpoint
>haven't even touched the keyboard
>IT'S NOT WHAT I WANTED!

It really would help if you at least gave some indication of your shithole. South America? Africa? non-Australia/New Zealand Oceania?

Personally I am pumped AF. A laptop with a 4:3 screen would have been preferred, but I absolutely understand why they didn't go with it.

If it had the rubber coating and no touchpad i'd buy one along with 4:3 display
posted from my x60 (tm)

This isn't about Chiclet. As long as they bring the 7 row layout back that's fine with me. The problems with the "retro" Shitpad are

>16:9
>bezels everywhere
>basically same chassis as current Thinkpads

>implying the keyboard is even half of the problem with modern thinkpads
>implying good design is retro and outdated
>implying i wanted ultrabook bullshit instead of a real computer
>implying i or anyone who wanted this wants to pay $2000 for a T470 with a swapped keyboard

don't forget
>ULV

Honestly, I bought an X220 to see what the fuss was all about with the keyboard, it's not bad but I can't really see why it's such a fucking problem to work with chiclet. I work with chiclet keyboards and really it doesn't seem that good. Hell it feels somewhat cheap.

Do you by any chance have more info on the availability of the converter boards? RMSmajestic hasn't posted anything in a while. I also saw some guy on reddit doing the same, but also no further info. Would be nice if they just posted the pcb designs and chip info somewhere so we could get some made ourselves.

T440P. Shilling below.

CPU - i3 dual, i5 dual, i7 dual, i7 quad. Middle is pointless, latter is marked with MQ. I've never seen an i3. Easy to swap. Most commmon ones - i5 4200m, i5 4300m, i7 4700mq. Upgrade to 4710/4810/4910MQ Only big difference between those is clocks, 8xx/9xx have 1.3ghz iGPU vs 1.15. 4700/4800/4900 work fine as well.

RAM - PC3-12800 1600MHZ DDR3L 1.35v standard, up to 2133mhz aftermarket. Two slots, both swappable. 16GB max, Haswell limit.

Storage - one internal SATA 2.5 bay, one internal M.2 2242 SSD slot, optional one 2.5 drive in the DVD """"UltraBay"""" drive bay. It might not be clear where the drives in the one you're buying are, ask if you want to know. MSATA drives can be used if you cut the adaptor in half, apparently.

Screen - 766p/900p TN, 1080p IPS. 1080 swap is cheap, not a big deal. B140HAN01.1, .2 or .3 are recommended. IIRC it's matte/glossy/semi-matte in that order.

Battery - 6cell or 9cell, latter has a rear bulge. Worth it.

Trackpad - if you want the classic style, swap it for the T450 one. Just remove the backplate, the palmrest, the keyboard and replace the touchpad which is a component of the palmrest. Reassemble and done.

Keyboard - modern Lenovo chiclet, can't be swapped unlike xx30 series. By chiclet standards it's pretty damn good though.

GPU - GT730M. For productivity, pretty much pointless, I'd avoid it. For gayman, about 2x as powerful as the iGPU. Good luck finding one though, they're rare. Can't be swapped without swapping the motherboard. Disabled to save power when not in use through Optimus, not a big deal.

Extra - GPU model has a different heatsink, it keeps it a tiiiiiny bit cooler. Few degrees, but if you're right on the edge of throttling after a quad core swap it might be worth a shot.

>why it's such a fucking problem to work with chiclet
The chiclet keys are only a problem for people who think it should LOOK retro. The real problem is that they removed features for absolutely no reason.

They used to have browser navigation keys.
They used to have media keys on the arrow keys. Now they're on the function keys.
They used to have 7 rows, now it's 6.
They used to have dedicated volume buttons. Now they're on the function keys. There's still enough space for dedicated buttons but they removed them.
On the early chiclet keyboards they removed the spaces between function keys. They used to be grouped in units of 4. Luckily, they reversed that.
They now got this low profile trackpoint.

Well, I'm not gonna lie, I do like the browser navigation keys. But all of those could be chiclet too and look mighty better. All of that shit could be fixed.

>But all of those could be chiclet too and look mighty better.
That's exactly what I meant. People criticizing the chiclet keyboard for being chiclet are stupid. The shape of the keys is secondary. It's the layout that's fucked up for the sake of looking modern.

>The shape of the keys is secondary.
what are you smoking

that was all me same fagging lol. No one even knows its specs how can it be shit or not

is there a difference between IBM THINKPAD T420 and just Thinkpad t420 ?

Why? I would prefer the 7 row layout no matter what the shape of the keys is. Secondary doesn't mean it doesn't matter. I just think the old layout would be better no matter how the keys are shaped but if I had to chose between 7 row classic or 7 row chiclet, I'd choose chiclet.

Just picked up a like new T420s off of craigslist for $110. Could be my favorite thinkpad I've had so far but W510 is hard to beat.

No theyre the same. There is no IBM T420. They were only made by lenovo.

finally someone reasonable. It looks super sexy.

LOL Sup Forums

The T420 wasn't made by IBM. If someone calls it that they're either lying or they don't know shit about ThinkPads.

4:3 would have been impossible in terms of marketing but 16:10 should still be standard. Apple can do it, so Lenovo can do it too, especially on a business oriented laptop. Normies seem to accept the 16:10 Macbooks without even noticing, so why not supply people who actually care with a good 1920x1200 screen on a Thinkpad?

Should the T420s be avoided?

Yes. Back then the s versions had only shitty battery options.

Why shouldn't I simply get a Chromebook and put Linux on it, for modern tech and superior battery life?

Just bought a t470 and it's on its way but i realized i want a x270 since i need more portability and I'll be using it in bed for most of the time.

Lenovo is being a Jew about the return and wants a 15% restocking fee since the x270 not as expensive as the t470

How to avoid restocking fee short of making a small scratch somewhere on the laptop?

I was also thinking of taking this to the credit card company since i bought it on amex platinum they should be able to take care of it for me. Especially considering the entire box should be unopened

you're fucked baka
many chromebooks use Atom and Celeron processors based on older architectures. this means you're basically paying +$200 just for a machine using an old architecture while you could get an X220 that is running on this old architecture but uses full-voltage CPUs. a good 9cell easily lasts for over 6 hours and you can put in 2.5" drives instead of eMMC storage expandable by MicroSD cards on most chromebooks. and ThinkPads have some of the best linux support out there.

T470 with relatively good keyboard
1500 base config price calling it right now

I remember when the first surveys came out and they were talking about bringing back key features like the chassis design, material use, good screen options, proper ultrabay
Ofcourse, none of this was going to happen since it would be crazy expensive to turn back the clock and have a 2008 assembly line
PR stunt, called it from day one

How "portable" is the W series?

Would be taking it to school once or twice a week

It's exactly what these brats wanted.
>Classic keyboard
>Modern hardware
>Decent screen
All these /tpg/ autists can do is complain.

>How "portable" is the W series?
it's not, it's the least portable since it's the workstation replacement class

>>implying i wanted ultrabook bullshit instead of a real computer
Build a computer, then? What's your issue?

if the description says it comes with Windows 7 COA but not installed does that mean I'll be able to install it?

Well I'm not complaining, I only want a durable laptop with a good keyboard and decent enough specs.
I can't afford a new laptop right now, but I am concidering saving up to buy one if they're still sold in about a year or so.

It probably comes with an installer, not sure if you need to buy your own windows key though.

wife material

yes

How come literally nothing changes AT ALL when I try to change the touchpad sensitivity on linux mint?

>clickpad
D R O P P E D
also give 4:3 model

Currently tossed up between a W510 and a T430

Would be doing light video editing for the youtubes and general web browsing n shit. Also doing college shit too.
Or is there any other model that's better?

is it worth it buying an x220 with a Windows 7 COA

>you need to buy your own windows key though.
what do you think COA means?

>he said while splitting the thread for no good reason
Have a (you)
But not (you) as in here's (you)r reply
But (you) as in (you) are severely autistic

>base price is 50% more than a proper T470 config from Lenovo and is more expensive than a pristine T60 plus a T70 board from the chinks
>gonna be rare due to shit adoption rate so probably very expensive than five years down
>classic keyboard seems bigger in render than chiclet one so you can't even fit it on the T470
>plus the lack of all the autistic shit people complain about like 4:3, rollcages and drain holes

Tell me user why would I buy a T25 or whatever it's called over a T70
Better than it all over above plus
>it's more powerful
>international warranty that's actually better than Lenovo
>actually retro
>actually has spare parts
It's a product aimed at idiots and it's a shitty cash grab that should've gotten less than a third of the hype it's actually gotten
Plus if I'm right about the keyboard being too large to fit on a T470 then honestly we all should reconsider who we're giving our money to

just got a t420 with antergos xfce. 7 hours battery makes me very happy

PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATCH

I SENT YOU THE EMAIL, IT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IT'S COME FROM A SPAM ADDRESS BUT IT ISN'T BECAUSE I USE MY OWN EMAIL SERVER AND I CAN'T BE BOTHERED TO SETUP VERIFICATION (LOOK OUT FOR AN EMAIL FROM A .CO.UK DOMAIN)

PLEEEEEEEEASE REEEEEEESPOND

What do you guys think about the z61t?
I was just gonna go for a t60 for word processing but I don't want to be harassed by retards in public about
>muh dinosaur laptop
so I was thinking about getting a z61t with the titanium cover as a sort of normie camo?
Is it still Real Business Experience™

no

nobody will actually give you shit for using a thinkpad
they're designed to be unassuming, people will only say anything if your shit is busted or they're already familiar with the brand

Let's see,
>cost a shit ton due to new tooling for the keyboard
>probably isn't compatible with T470
>make a huge fuss about features and community feedback just to end up retrofitting an old keyboard from storage on to a regular T470
>most likely nobody is going to buy it just like the X61 reserve edition so it's going to triple original price after a year
>it isn't even a regular thing so it gets more adoption over time

You know what? You goys know better us. We should be glad jewnovo thought about us at all right? Make sure to buy as many as you can so there's more to go around for the rest of us

What do you guys think of this?

you are so afraid of what people think you wont buy the laptop you want? jesus christ

anyone got a good kernel config for an x220?

im about to compile my first kernel and im nervous as fuck

How hard is flashing Libreboot on an X200t? I've heard it's the second hardest as you have to solder another chip (SPI1 chip) before you can write anything on the SOIC chip. Anybody here did it before?
Also, what about running Android-x86 in a VM or generally running Android apps through emulators? The X200t is using lower voltage CPUs compared to the X200, will it be fine?
ARIGATÊAU!!

>I just like the way it looks

Friendly Telegram chat:
t.me/ThinkPadGeneral

I use it.
There are better keyboards out there, but like it because I can easily switch between this and my laptop.

is there a good thinkpad with an HDMI port?

no.
Just buy a hdmi to displayport cable and have that with you

Does anyone know how to stop my T440P from shutting off after I close the lid? I just got it 2 days ago, it's bretty gud but every time I close the lid it shows the bios logo and then it says resuming windows (I'm on 7).

Also both the nipple and the trackpad won't work despite me activating them in the BIOS.

>Also both the nipple and the trackpad won't work despite me activating them in the BIOS.
You now have an excuse to do the touchpad mod.

Also (not to start a war) should I go for Windows 10 or Windows 7?

ordered the part, waiting on it to come in.

>should I go for Windows 10 or Windows 7?
If you do the touchpad swap you won't be able to use it on 10.

REEEEEEEEEEEEE GET THAT SHIT OUT OF MY FACE
that shit literally pisses me off so much
it is such an unapologetic cash grab that they might as well have called it the T25 good goy edition
it is literally a T470 with a swapped keyboard with nothing else
N O T H I N G
they put zero effort into the thing and it shows so hard
seriously what would it have costed lenovo to cut out a slit in the bezel, slip a pcb with a LED and resistor, wire it up to a header on the mobo like pic related

G O O D G O Y S
O
O
D

G
O
Y
S

what else do you carry?

absolute bait
go buy your goytop

this one is better

I wanna install linux on my thinkpad 13". But I've heard that the batterylife becomes shit on linux. Is that true?

got a T530 for 165 for a i7 3520m and 8gb ram put in an ssd to the easiest install of fedora every. Thanks for the recommendation /tpg/ only thing i gotta do is possibly get a better battery since the 9cell runs for 5 hours and swap the keyboard for a T520 keyboard. otherwise 10/10

If anything I would think that the opposite is true. Typically linux gives you a few more hours no matter what device it is.

T530 keyboard is the same as X230 keyboard.
Which means a X220 keyboard fits too when looking for parts.
Does the same apply for T420/T430 lads?

Yeah, but I've heard lenovo has windows-only software that optimizes battery by turning off wi-fi and bluetooth.

ooh nice advice
Poste

not thinkpad

Disregard this, the W7/W8.1 driver for the modded touchpad still works on 10.

literally no one cares what laptops, clothes, and other consumer items you use in the real world.

yeah, as if I didn't have enough chicklet usage on the nupad.
There are plenty of good desktop options

control panel, power options, "choose what closing the lid does"

They could have went with a 3:2 screen. Even the chinks managed to have laptops and tablets with that resolution, since it was popularized with the surface pro.

>Typically linux gives you a few more hours no matter what device it is.
LOOOOOOL, no, if that happened why wouldn't manufacturers ship their devices with Linux instead? They optimize their hardware to work as well as possible under Windows for power efficiency because battery life and battery life benchmarks are very important.

It's easier on Windows because it's part of the ThinkVantage software they install, but it's certainly possible with most power managers on Linux. Simply find the hardware ID and then enter some terminal commands.

Also, there's a hardware switch to turn off all wireless signals.

i dont need one, but i want one.
help.

I've sifted trough my options and I've found two thinkpads that might be good:

T430 (i5 3320, 256gb ssd, 8gb ram) for 230€
and
X230 (i5 3320, 160gb ssd, 4gb ram) for 220€

I like the X230 more and it comes with a new battery,
but it's a simple pick considering I'm getting more for the same price with the T430.

How much would a ssd+ram upgrade for an x230?
I might look for a cheaper one but I don't see neither of them going under 180€.