/tpg/ - ThinkPad General - Anniversary Edition

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If you're looking for purchase advice, state your 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™
>Other business laptops are not welcome in /tpg/ (Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook).

Recommended IBM models:
>T and X series
Recommended freedom models:
>T60, X60; X200, T400/500
Recommended modern models:
>X220 - 12", 768p, cheap and light
>T420 - 14", 900p, widely available, socketed CPU, Ivy Bridge installable w/ Coreboot
>W520 - 15", 1080p, Desktop Replacement, 32GB RAM on quadcore models, USB 3.0
>Above all others: T25

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 (most models), upgrade & maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model, spare parts easy & cheap to obtain
>The best TrackPoint, great for those who type a lot or hate swiping their fingers all over a touchpad
>Excellent GNU/Linux & *BSD support

>Used laptop guides by xsauc:
dankpads.com
>ThinkWiki - Info on ThinkPads & running GNU/Linux on them:
thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki
>ThinkPad service guides w/ tutorial videos:
lenovoservicetraining.com/
>EPP discount for new ThinkPads:
pastebin.com/JVwVGVTW (embed)
>BIOS logo booru:
biosimage.booru.org/

If I've been tooling with Linux Mint for about a month and want to go full time on a x220 that I just picked up, is it too soon to try out Arch?

false prophet

Why is the 20 series still being recommended over the 30 series? You can do the keyboard mod.

Haven't got my ThinkPad yet, but is it possible to use the dock portably? Like, can you just attach it and throw it into your bag for usage anywhere without what seems like giving power to it?

WHEN THE FUCK ARE WE GETTING X220 LIBREBOOT REEEEEEEEEE

When the x20 series meme is going to end?
How could I possible recommend anyone a Mad-Max-Beyond-The-Jizzdome Thinkpad in 2018?
Egsblain, pls

No. Virtually all GNU/Linux Bistros are the same. The only difference would be the package manager and some terminal commands. I run Manjaro on my ThinkPad and I would recommend it for Arch noobies. It's basically a noob friendly version of Arch.

Or you could just jump head first into the meme and install Arch.

Got an X1 Carbon recently. Shit is pretty cash. Lightest laptop I've ever touched, and comfy as fuck.

should i cop an e430 for this price

T410 here, I put the wrong screw in the wrong hole in the back and it went right up into the wireless card and royally fucked it. Now wifi doesn't work at all with any card, I've tested three different wireless cards now. Is this fixable? wat do

Yep. Looks like you dun fucked it.

Is the T60 still good for today's laptop standards?

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

what's the best nu-thinkpad?

You soaked it in WD-40 yet?

Heard the new chinkpads are bad, was thinking of a Dell Latitude instead, thought?

Get a new motherboard, you fucked up big time.

I'm thinking of getting a docking station for my x220 and would like to get a keyboard with a similar feel to the x220's. What should I go with?

An SK-8855, but they're 150 dollars. You can get a Spacesaver 2. It's cheaper and relatively close to the same feel.

Thinkpad T500

yes, only if it has libreboot though

Thinkpad x240, i5-4300U, 8Gb, 256Gb SSD. For 160€. Convince me Sup Forums.

Only concern is battery reliability.

Wtf that's nothing for even europoor prices
But you need to check both batteries plus swap the touchpad

Contacted the vendor. Is not interested in shipping outside UK and can't tell how long the battery will last. Since it says "no OS installed" i doubt they even turned it on.

How many Thinkpads are to many?

what should I pay for a t60 with an extended battery?

Trying to buy a good ThinkPad for doing programming and webdev, literally nothing else. Planning to throw Ubuntu or ElementaryOS on it.

Would like some advice on how to find a good one in the UK, what models to look for and what to expect to pay.

Cheers!

Is a t440p good value for €250 in Western Europe. It has a i5 4300u a 256gb SSD and 8gb of ram. The display is a bit of a letdown with it only coming with the TN panel.

Is the E580 good?

depends.

Libreboot capable: $500
libreboot uncapable: $20

What's wrong with them?

Make the FrankenPad.

how do I tell them apart?

Just copped a T420s for $180 shipped

i5
8gb ram
128gb SSD

How'd I do lads? Also rec me a carrying case

I got a small mark on my screen and it seems fairly deep (eraser wouldnt work) its there anyway to remove the small dot?

So I made some crypto gainz this year.

Currently have 220x, but it's 2018 and using 768p is a bit ridiculous.

Main OS is linux mint for dev work.

Trying hard not to fall for the ThinkPad 25 retro.

What's the better option than ThinkPad25?

t540p with a 3k screen is a better option.

Laptop keyboard with numpad. >cringed

>a larger bezel is better than more functionality

If it isn't specifically mentioned as a feature, it can be assumed to not be libreboot

More like
>symmetry is one aspect of usability

>form over function
>>>/Apple/

That's like saying putting the keyboard on the top instead of the bottom is "form over function".
No, I specifically said the function determines the form.

samefagging from the other thread
>t440 Intel Core i5-4300U 2.4Ghz , 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD $440
yay or nay? I'm in Yurop mind you

but the libreboot page says that all t60 are librebootable except the ones with ati graphics. The one I'm looking at has intel graphics

ULP trash processor, if you're fine with it, then get it, provided it doesn't break the bank for you.

>tfw killed the caps lock light and fingerprint reader on my T420
Is anybody selling NOS keyboards anywhere? i dont care about the fingerprint reader but no capslock light bothers me a bit.

was gonna get ips thinkpad x230 w/ i7-3520M
gonna install x220 keyboard, 256gb ssd, 8gb ram

should i get non-ips w/ i5 3320m? is there a notable processor difference? i want my x230 to last as long as possible.

I can get the HP Elitebook 8470P and HP Probook 6470B. Looking at the specs, both seem identical to me.

So, which one should I pick and why?

is it a 1st gen? If so, enjoy your motherboard failure

>tfw 240GB SSD & 1TB HDD in comfy ThinkPad

my nigga.
I've been using my X220T for a month now with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD.
The thing is mint, but Win 10 is being a bitch sometimes.
Is there something as good as OneNote on Linux?

Superior E5470 with 6440HQ coming in
screenlets and corelets from /tpg/ on suicide watch

...

Hello, I'm undecided between a T43 and a T60, they are the same price, same seller, same conditions.

On one side, I prefer the T43 because it's IBM, on the other the T60 can have max 4 GB of RAM. What do you think?

i feel like you could get both machines for much cheaper, but i'm not european so i'm not sure...
keep your eyes peeled for a little longer?

160€ is minimum in the craigslist-like website I'm using

american ebay is probably too expensive with shipping, huh?

if it's the best you can do where you live go for it. i didn't notice much of a practical difference between the i5 and i7 when using my x220 for school, guess it depends on your usage needs

usage would be excel/word, movies and youtube. All I want is something that would last longer, and i7 would be better for that, wouldn't it?

I thought you were asking about ones that already come with libreboot.

i didn't notice a difference at all between the two and i'm doing much of the same. guess it just depends on how much cash you want to spend, the difference is only 30 spondulis or whatever

Posting from my newly docked T420, absolutely comfy. How many of you have docks for your ThinkPads?

Are docks with expansion slots still a thing?

afaik they do exist for the T420 but the one I bought isn't one of those, it's one of the mini docks that just has all the input ports on the back. I'm really happy with it though, it's super high-quality.

Just got myself an x201s for 170$ shipped, how'd I do?

5th, brand new.

I don't understand how the lack "symmetry" makes it less functional, especially considering the massive functional benefit of a number pad.

Finally got the stickers for my beloved ThinkPad. FeelsGoodMan

>Sup Forums

So is x280 now really just "smaller Carbon"?

What was the last thinkpad that could have internal floppy drive?

There is no ultrabay floppy for T40 :(

GEE

same

That does seem to be what Lenovo is turning it into...

>upside down

Bumping

where does Sup Forums get their thinkpads from ?

You bought a T***s series Thinkpad, you're kind of a faggot.

>small mark on my screen
you mean dead pixel?

>>>/lgbtqia+/

Without knowing that it's apparently a meme right now I picked up an x220t recently to try taking notes on it and what not. I'm running windows because I love running executables and being tracked. Is there any must have softwear I should have for it? or mods you'd recommend?

no a small scratch, it looks like dead pixel but if you tilt the screen down you can see its a tiny dent

I'm still relatively new to laptops, got a X230.
So how do I find out if I have a 6 cell or 9 cell battery?

There is not any info about it on the battery itself

ebay

Does the battery stick out the back? If yes it's a 9-cell.

Pls advise

Thanks, it's a 9cell then.

T60 if you actually want to get real work done.

what are decent prices for let's say, a t420 with the lowest specs possible?

If you have space you can make partitions for different distros and another for data that can be accessed by whichever distro you boot to. Waste of space, but could be useful if you need to use the laptop with something familiar while learning another distro.

>lowest specs possible?
>1366x768, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD,
Like 30 bucks?

It can actually get that low? I thought the T420 was more of the recent ones.

hi-5. mine was $175. while x220/x230 are obviously better power to price, its a fuckin x201s

Retard here:
How do I use the 4-in-1 card reader on the X230? I have an sdxc card but I don't really know where to put it in.

Are there no current thinkpads that are not cancer?
Best thing I could find on their website which wasn't overpriced shit was an Ideapad 720

I have l560 in work.

Fn in the left corner

WHAT THE FUCK

But is lenovo as good as IBM?

keep seeing people complain about fn/ctrl layout on thinkpads (and macs) but i just dont get it. ctrl is right under the pinky. don't have to move it to the far left, then extend back to reach the middle of the kb

Damn straight

Anyone know if it's possible to do the FHD mod on a x220t and still keep the touchscreen functionality?

Not possible. The touchscreen functionality is built into the panel. You'd have to find a FHD panel that works with the mod. I doubt one exists as I've never seen anyone talk about it.