/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

Disappointment Edition
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Previous thread: ---
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 IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T, X, and W/P 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

Other urls found in this thread:

aichi.to/~thinkpad/
s.aliexpress.com/y2MVNZ7j
geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Cupertino/2871/cat/cat_753.htm
youtu.be/N3LrpJa7gGs?t=26s
twitter.com/NSFWRedditVideo

X200t should get here tomorrow, paid about $90. Has windows 7, how bad did I fuck up? What should I expect?

Inb4
>winblows

Guess it depends.

Are you ordering an SSD, RAM, high wattage charger, etc?

T43p retired 6 years of heavy use
T410

business liquidations

I have a 90 watt charger from my T400 and am throwing around the idea of putting in a babby 60gb SSD I have sitting around. Is the extra RAM that critical? My T400 has 8gb now and it barely ever uses 3 of that

Bought T500 for $30, what could go wrong?

Well the RAM is shared with graphics so I think it is.

I bought the Samsung 250GB Evo sata 3 SSD.
Newegg has it with a promo code for $91.43 right now.

That's the same SSD that's in my T400. I guess I might shop around for some ram then, even though I am not sure it'll ever get used for anything other than office applications, browsing and notetaking

are you me?

We probably bought from the same seller senpai.

from the thumbnail in the catalog, I thought your pic was a blackberry passport.

I got a brand new x260 for £650. i7, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD with the upgraded 1080p screen, backlit keyboard and 6 cell battery. Did I go good Sup Forums?

Brand new?
I would say it's ok. It's about 730€... so yes.
I

nice too bad mine has a small crack in the housing near the back vent.
came with the highest tier screen at least, although it it a bit too blue

no clue why people don't seem to like the new thinkpads, this thing is amazing.

mostly because of the keyboard and the non-replaceable cpus

How do I key bind volume control and brightness on Linux?

I have computrace enabled on a t400
I can change the bios settings just fine but every time I go into the bios it shows me the computrace message.
Is there anyway I can get rid of it?

Did you try F2 instead of bios?

>tfw lost really comfy picture of 560x with Japanese keyboard
fuck, any anons have it

What does that do?

Try it, you may like it.

I really love the new island kb
I expect to use my one month mint-condition for two years (just swapped the TN panel for a IPS screen) and repeat as soon as I find good x260 or 270, so...

You all need ThinkPad Love
aichi.to/~thinkpad/

Just boots to grub user
Here's the bios screen. If I press enter everything is normal though

Okay, because on some laptops F2 goes to the Computrace set up screen

Here's the computrace screen

Well disable it if you don't want the message.

It's grayed out, can't change it

What thinkpad can run gta 5 at 60fps?

X250 worth for $300?
Has a 500GB SSD
I was thinking worst case I could buy it just for the SSD and flip the rest on ebay

Are the stock SSDs M2 PCI or 2.5in drives?

Post link, and I'll let you know if its worth it...

Yours come with a battery? Also, you get yours running okay?

No

Mostly they're 2.5in

And they are all SATA, the m2 slot is not PCI-E

remove wan radio card

>$30
I listed mine at $90 no wonder I have 0 offers

Third world btw

how 2 read moon pls

One I bought was BIOS only, no AC adapter, untested speakers, and some of them didn't have a battery. If yours is in good condition you could probably get $60 for it.

It's not. It has a couple cigarette burns, the battery only last 50 min, chink AC adapter that turns off when charging for a 30 min and the display is not the mate version.
Changing the price now.

what model is this, gents? looks hot.

L520 probably

looks like shit though

>buy new battery
>it doesnt power my W520

plz help

>alienware display is lvds & not-as-shitty TN panel, look for used ones on ebay, salvaged from other laptops.

Yeah, trying to, sadly none come out.

>not a real ThinkPad
Some L series are pretty neat though.
I'd probably keep one if I snagged a good deal on 10 TPs and that was one of them.

The L Series look like shit,

>have an e440 with the shit touchpad
>all the "e440 compatible" touchpads I can find on ebay have the wrong physical dimensions so they're obviously not compatible

I know, I know, not a real thinkpad but I have to complain somewhere.

Wait, THIS had a printer integrated??

KEEP POSTING THOSE RETRO-JAPANESE THINKPAD ADS, PLEASE.

s.aliexpress.com/y2MVNZ7j

Yes, based off the Canon NoteJet, which might of came out before or during the TP 700. IBM had yet to license the trackpoint to other consumers.
There was a 555BJ with TrackPoint integrated.

I'm trying to work here! :x
I'm not sure about the 130 or 135 if it was by IBM or built by Acer. It looks very similar to an iSeries of which it would of been built by the later.

You replied to my 2 posts.
> Sorry for the caps in the second one, but I was very excited when I saw them

Do you have any other ads or only japanese ones?
> The Japanese ads are fucking a e s t e t h i c

Flash your BIOS with a non-whitelisted one

that looks like the one that's too tall

You guys and the buyers guide have recommended me the x220/30 for some uni stuff for me and I've got a x230 refurbished in a great condition (~8h battery life, no scratches, bios completely unlocked, no computrace) for just 189 Eurodollars and I must say I'm fucking impressed. It just feels so good to type and work on this thing, while I can carry it anywhere because it's so lightweight. Thanks /tpg/

is the x1 carbon any good?

it has a review with a photo of an e450 so i guess it's the same shit as using a t450 touchpad in the t440 and should work.

don't take my word for it though

I bought my first Thinkpad, a T420 thanks to /tpg/

> Then I bought an X61 just for the meme life.

Yeah they are pretty neat.
I found this while searching for the 535E. :)
>geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Cupertino/2871/cat/cat_753.htm
I guess I should make an account for ThinkWiki and update the TP history after finding this goldmine. I don't understand japanese, nor do I feel like bringing out my phone to translate it yet.

At the bottom of the last page it shows a date of some sort. Not sure if this is when it was produced or if it's the release date for it.

I don't understand this ThinkPad 330Cs, because it says 'ThinkPad' but has 04/1992, which I think it was built around that time? But... October 1992 was the date the three thinkpads were announced, and the 2625 ThinkPad tablet was made in February of 1992.

bleh some jargon it is, search for japan's PS/55 laptop line and you'll see some Pre-ThinkPads :3
Luckily Jim Cannavino saw them and said they needed in 'murrika because the PS/2 L40X was not a portable and poorly selling machine, eventually they came across Ted Selker and perfected his Trackpoint because Apple had the TrackBall.

Nah the E440 has a smaller touchpad. youtu.be/N3LrpJa7gGs?t=26s

I wonder whether a little x series touchpad will work, though I'll have to fill the space with something.

Did you try F5/F6, like it says at the bottom of the screen?

Original X1C is from 2012 and now has an FHD cable mod available.
Skip the X1C2 as it had the touchbar that wont work with linux, the fucked up trackpad (I don't think it can be replaced), and the funny keyboard lol
X1C3 I didn't really care for, the dam thing was super light and felt flimsy. I wasn't confident about the lid, it bowed quite a bit when opening/closing. I had the 4K display and it was wayyy too much plus had a grainy look that wasn't vivid, hurt my eyes. (Fine with my 2K 12.9" Pixel)
X1C4 might be good, dunno
X1C5 looks considerably better built but I've yet to come across one.


The 220 was neat, it had a trackball on the left and buttons on the right.

or cut/sand the bottom part of the square where the touchpad goes

Thanks for that link m8!

I think that the date is the release date.
> Seems more logic to me

its a ThinkPad X1 Carbon 4th gen i7-6600U WQHD 16GB 256GB SSD

Damn, thats well spec'd.
Just know that the CPU and RAM are soldiered on, good thing its 16GB, thats plenty of RAM. I am not sure if the 4th gen has NVMe speeds or if just M.2.

Get it if its sub $1000, the 4K is a bit for my eyes, I zoomed in 200% whenever I had it. Can't say anything about it's panel, dunno if Lenovo upgraded it since then.

Just installed an Alienware M14x R2 screen for my T430 running Ubuntu. The panel itself works good.

The problem is that depending on how many dark pixels are on the screen (opening up a terminal window), the BACKLIGHT actually dims automatically. No gradual fade-out, just hard variance on the backlight level depending on pixels.

I've searched high and low for a fix, but solutions are either wrong or don't work. The only one I haven't tried is disabling Intel's "Display Power Saving Technology" but that's only available for Windows.

What the fuck do I do to fix this?

its $50 but they want me to sign up for a chase card so they can get the bonus friend points idk if its a scam

Wait, what?
That sounds like a scam lol

Dumb answer but, did you set the brightness levels from normal to high in bios or vice versa?

It might be a Ubuntu thing. My colors on my T430s are warm when running LXLE in contrast to the T420s.

Goodnight~ /tpg/, see you next week

See ya, dude.

Thanks for the ads and the link :3

>did you set the brightness levels from normal to high in bios or vice versa?
BIOS doesn't have that option for me. I'm starting to suspect that Display Power Saving Technology or some firmware fuckery is the culprit here, but I can't find any info on how to modify either of those.

It sounds like the display is not getting enough power like it wasn't meant for the device.

Please read the question. The backlight only dims when dark pixels are present, aka ""adaptive"" backlight behavior.

Damn does that CD drive have a battery pack?

Just pulled the trigger on x220
Cant wait till I slap.Debian on it

btw anyone tried using "carbon fiber tape" or some shit to wrap top cover on his thinkpad? Im scared that this black layer will start to flake and look disgusting

How the fuck are you guys getting these really good deals? Looking to buy a T420 or T500 and they're listed at around 100$ to 270$ here (third world...)

And how do I find models like this one that can be worked with?

Of course you won't get shit because
>third world

Be in the US and filter by ending soonest. Won the first one I bid on and I didn't even hit my max bet.

Dont live in shit country
Have same problem and for this
in a good shape but with 2520m, 4gb ram and 320gb hdd gave like 110usd

Would a t520 with a 1080p,pabek upgrade be good for uni? Also how much ram can I out at this thing, some sites say 8 other 16

is the thinkpad retro /tpg/ approved?

it never flakes and shit, just over a long time gets slightly worn away on high abuse areas like corners (lid of course since its only place that has rubber coating) It does not flake off, think only ancient ones did that, my t60 (2006) never even flaked off or even wore off that much.

>Power button in the middle.

Why

hell no

its what is used to communicate the computrace shit, its 3g cellular

I have the opportunity to buy a mint condition T420 with a docking station for just under $200. Should I do it?

i just got a thinkpad t61. I have ocd, and holy fuck it triggers me to the deepest reaches of space. The hinges for the screen are both different from eachother sizewise, and to top it off, the screen is OFF center, WHAT THE FUCK. Sent it back earlier today.

i fucking included the image yet it didnt post

>1600x900
>T430 for 70$
fell for the meme and got lucky, running winshit 10 for school, what drivers should i get first? or what drivers do i even need?

anyone have that Wallpaper of the thinkpad being disassembled in the air? (prefered T430)

>his is my first thinkpad ever and i already like it a good it

are there any ibm branded thinkpads like the t61 that have a 16:10 or 16:9 screen that are not fucking miss-proportioned like my above post

we should start using T61s to diagnose autism

those who trigger over the miss-proportioning have autism?

So I orded an X230 i5 with 4gb or ram nothing special and got a call from the guy on eBay today. Apparently it’s his last X230 and it boots with an error message 0189 eeprom rfid, something to do with the eeprom chip on the motherboard. I looked it up and it’s a hardware issue but it’s just a matter of hitting esc and it boots. He offered to but an extra 4gb of ram in it and I said don’t worry and see if he can look into it more. Should I negotiate a lower price and just make do with a slightly fucked but working X230? I paid $170 + $20 shipping AUD for it and wanted to ask $100 + $20 shipping.. if not I can just get my money back and try again. Anyone else have any eeprom issues?

dumb nigger dont do it, thats gonna get old quick, not worth it. Also get 220 instead with i7 2640(highest end) and since its x220 it will have the good keyboard

When will X220 faggots ever stop crying?

shit i just got a t61, i am actually going to cancel it right now.

idk just kinda like mine, their case 220 to 230 is not much different hardware so id take the better keyboard over the slightly better cpus available in the 230.

Is a dual core i7 worth it? I’ll look at some benchmarks I guess