Old Thread: 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 welcome in /tpg/ (Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook).
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 >>T440p/540p - Last Thinkpads with socketed processors, easily replaceable trackpad >>P-Series - 15'' and 17'', up to 4K displays, 64gb of RAM, Xeon processors.
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
Are ExpressCard to USB 3.0 adapters compatible with i5 x220?
Jason Scott
Just picked up an x1c 3rd Gen in pristine condition, i5 5300U vPro, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1440p display, for £200. Thought it would be 1080p TN but nah it's IPS. I'm aware it's not the most loved ThinkPad, I also have a t440p, did I do good Sup Forums?
Austin Brown
What are some good choices for a bidness laptop at the ~$500 range? Thinkpads, Elitebooks, and Latitudes are all okay. I'd prefer 1080p screen, quad-core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 250GB SSD, and decent battery life but I feel like I'm possibly asking for a bit much at that price range. 14" or 15" screen preferred.
Nolan Barnes
Fuck m8 I think you did good. That's like only $276 burgers. Only thing I can fault you on is that it's a dual core and not a quad core but at least it's hyper threaded. Where can I snag such a dealio?
Levi Gray
Any $700 thinkpad that can be bought for $100
Ayyyy you got it? I thought it was 1080p. Congrats on 1440p, the 4K panel on my X1C3 was too much for me :(
Liam Ortiz
QUICK, POST YOUR LAPTOP MODEL, OS, AND YOUR BATTERY LIFE!
Daniel Thompson
Just ordered pic related to replace my T420s. Very excited!
Jacob Davis
ayy it's you Yeah bro i messaged the guy asking for panel details and he said he didn't know, all he knew was it wasn't touchscreen. Just nabbed it for £200 without a second thought after I saw 1440p. So I'm on the train back home now and the things a fucking touchscreen and all?!
Aiden Smith
I just regularly hit up gumtree. That's where I found this bloke, he posted it for £220, I haggled the extra £20 off, all it cost me on top of that was a train journey to Euston
Levi Nguyen
X230, windows, 8-10 hours
Josiah Morris
Yeah that's definitely a stolen laptop but good for you on getting such a great deal
Grayson Turner
>gumtree Ah. I'm a burger so that'd be Craigslist, OfferUp, or eBay instead.
WTF I hate Ali G now!
James Miller
T430 W10 LTSB 3-4 hours with original 6-cell
Evan Howard
Is X200s viable today? It would mostly be used as a 16:10 programming and SSH machine. I'd also like to disable the Intel ME, get an SSD and remove the microphone and webcam.
Charles Taylor
-x230 -windows 7 pro -6-7hours
James Ward
Bought a good condition 6 cell slice for $35. Did I meme myself?
Justin Perez
for my x230t
Robert Stewart
Ayyyy t40 guy here again Shit's works now, but my battery lasts 20minutes I was looking into a battery, but I was told it's better to rebuild my own instead of gambling on a chink one I have currently 3 batteries, they struggle to hold a charge for 22, 15 and 7 minutes each
Caleb Powell
Bait or just fake.
There's no CTO options yet for the x1c6 and the listed models don't have the combination of 8550u with the other options listed.
John Martin
Still has 160 days warranty lol
James Martin
Any word on when the Raven Ridge powered ThinkPads will launch? I would definitely buy.
Hunter Gray
could you share that wallpaper with us user?
Nicholas Foster
So t420, t430 or t440p? What would be the best bang for buck when it comes to quality and relative hardware power? Which would be the best long term for upgrades? I guess cpu upgrade being the most important.
Charles Davis
>Long term upgrades T440p >Quality and relative hw powah T430
Blake Garcia
X301, Server 2012, 2 hours (doubled with option bay battery.)
Ayden Garcia
What upgrades does the t440p have that the t430 does not?
Grayson Ortiz
I recently got a x230, and it has been a comfy laptop so far, but there is a high pitched low volume static noise coming out of the speakers, and hitting the volume buttons doesn't affect it at all it but hitting the dedicated mute button gets rid of it. I can barely hear the noise under normal circumstances unless I put it up to around head level, but if I could get rid of it that would be great. Anyone have any experience or solutions for this?
Caleb Morris
where can I buy a good FULL HD screen for my T470 in Europe?
Ethan Flores
Processor, and NVMe support iirc. In terms of display, it's easier to get a 1080p panel on the 440p, as the 430 requires a custom chip made by a certain Russian dude.
>T440p >quad-core i7 Sounds goo- >500gb hdd >$400 Nope. For that price you should get at least a 160gb ssd
Caleb Scott
The latter is usually recommended because it's the last model with the classic keyboard but still has modern capabilities. You can switch out the keyboard on the X230 though.
X230 has a much improved GPU and USB 3.0.
Jaxson Baker
Thanks!
Owen Mitchell
Cheapest non-destitute laptop with a backlit keyboard for my uncle with poor eye-sight?
brand new is preferred
Jose Bell
not a thinkpad then but cheapest would be a t430, i think.
Chase Evans
>tfw no glowy keys so couldnt use it anyway
thinkpad would be way to go if he could see, but he needs the lit keys otherwise
Kevin Phillips
I'm looking to buy new/used 9 cell battery for my x220.
Found a new one for 90$, and few used one ranging from 60$ to 35$. Owner claims that the cheapest one holds for 2h and 50 min and most expensive one for 3h 40min while watching movie with WiFi on.
However they have varying state of discharge. Both the cheapest and most expensive ones are around 72Wh out of 94Wh. There is one in between for 50$ which holds for 3h, but it's at 88/94 Wh.
Should I look at stated up times or charge rate?
Alexander Robinson
I need your honest feedback, guys. I have an X220 running windows 7 with a normal HDD and 4GB of RAM. Can I record a podcast over Discord with this thing + a mic or will it not be fast enough/have a CPU powerful enough to handle the recording/processing? It's plugged directly into my router, not using wifi.
Parker Lopez
Why don't you run a test run? Seems pretty stringforward
Landon Campbell
'Straight' for fuck sake, I need to get some sleep
Adam Morris
Hello, which T60 can be libreboot ? IBM ? Lenovo ? Or both ?
Liam Williams
user...
Jonathan Foster
This does not even deserve any kind of meaningful answer
Noah Price
I answer my own post since I figured out the answer - only thing that matters is capacity, so 2nd battery is in the best shape out of all 3. So I'll be getting that one.
Jordan Diaz
>buy Thinkpad T60 15 IPS in "optimal conditions" without seeing it (pics were real but the guy apparently had several - didn't know this) >receive it, dirty, screen is yellowed on the borders, battery only for 1 hour, wifi always disconnecting >call to the guy, complain, says it's normal but will trade it for another >go there, shady guy has a "store" next to his house, a shack with a Jaguar and a german shepperd dog >has 7 T60's, all have weird screens (yellowed on the borders, another had a grey middle), all dirty >complain and argue with the guy >says he's sick of me and will give me my money, I say ok >he says he will not give me all the money because I had installed another OS (I didn't want to because I knew he was going to change the laptop but he said it was no problem and he would just change the HDD to the other laptop) >tell him I would reinstall his shitty Winblows 8 if he wanted and send him the HDD but I wanted all my money >complain more because I had to catch a 40 minute bus to get there, almost end up fighting the guy but managed to get all my money back
Did I dodge this bullet?
Brody Thompson
>Be in class (college student) >discussing computers and stuff >ended up getting into an argument over the quality of computers, with me stating that Thinkpads were some of the toughest laptops and the other student saying that Macs were the toughest.
>stood up and dropped my Thinkpad (T470) from chest height (roughly 5'5, 1.6509 Meters for literally everyone else in the world) and let it fall to the ground. >The class went silent as I proceeded to pick it back up and show the class that there was not a scratch on it, and the system worked perfectly. (I also did this with my phone, an S8), then challenged the Mac fanboy to do the same with his Pro and IphoneX.
>Following the demonstration and challenge he refused as he "would not risk it." And shortly after the professor arrived.
Be honest, did I over react?
Joshua King
Dunno if Anker makes on for your pad, but I've had good luck with them on my x200.
Ryder Bennett
Can't he use a desktop? As his eyes deteriorate the larger display will help greatly. I'm nearly blind too. Also ample backlit keyboard choice.
Chase Bennett
That's why I get most of my Pads via Ebay. Feedback matters.
Sweet! Nicely done and nothing proves a point like a demonstration. Are you my long lost rapebabby?
Need a cheap and functional T420 motherboard and that's the cheapest I could find. Do you think it's possible to remove that stuck screw? Also, I think it got some pins of the processor stuck too
Kevin Miller
If it were reasonably easy to remove the screw and broken pins the seller would have done it.
I suggest holding out for a T420 with a broken display or other basically external damage that tested good on an external display.
Everyone who sells system boards wants too much money because they harvested the board. I buy bases and organ donors instead when I need a system board.
Angel Adams
Cool, thanks for the advice
Justin Garcia
is there a place to send used thinkpads? i have two t420s without batteries so i cant sell them but trashing seems like a waste
Jose Jackson
Want to get a X61 for some web browsing and spreadsheet work. Is it still able to handle modern browsers and Excel 2016?
Ayden Jenkins
Don't forget to download the HMM if you haven't already. It has wonderful things like screw length specs.
If you don't have a screw stash, new screw kits are cheap on Ebay and come with red locking compound applied. They are so cheap there's no reason to ever reuse a questionable screw, and if you exact model isn't listed I'd just buy any kit since screw sizes are basically standard.
You can sell used Pads without batteries, it's done all the time. Ebay works fine or offer them to someone else ITT for enough to cover shipping. I'm sure there are Anons here from your country or nearby who would love to have one.
Should be fine with a (basically mandatory) SSD. (Old spinner hds are the main bottleneck on Pads. I slay them for shop magnets.) My T61s are still quite usable.
Xavier Scott
512gb hdd? You sure about that? Sounds like ssd capacity. If it IS an ssd, YES, otherwise, no.
How does the durability / spill-proofing of newer thinkpads (**70 series and newer) compare to **20 series and older?
Thinking of getting a t480s and cant decide whether to buy it or not because of the poor experience i had with my T460 (screen broke off due to drop on ceramic tile), however their is just no other modern laptop out there with a trackpoint which isn't a 15 pound workstation. Does anyone have any recommendations for a new laptop other than lenovo with a trackpoint?
Lincoln Martinez
X270 Fedora + KDE ~8 hours
Ryder Diaz
Does anyone know what the little black studs are called on left and right sides of the X220t?
Zachary Perry
Rubber stoppers / rubber feet. Recording is a GPU issue, not a CPU one, unless you're talking about just VOIP, which shouldn't be an issue if your internet speeds are good enough.
Anyone know how to jump start a battery that's been discharged? I let mine die from being unplugged, and now it won't charge no matter what I try. I've tried numerous variations of taking it out, putting it back in, fumbling it around the socket, pressing the power button in rapid succession, etc.
Henry Turner
cheapest pad to handle a DAWS? budget is 100$
Jonathan Phillips
>no one will answer my question.
Adrian Brown
does anybody know if the the thinkpad thunderboldt 3 docks will work with our older thinkpads? I'm on a w520.
Eli Cook
you guys have a discord?
Leo Mitchell
you mean IRC?
David Baker
T430 Win10 7 hours on 9-cell @ 80% capacity
X230 Manjaro 8-9 hours on 9-cell @ 80% capacity
Kayden Ramirez
Only if there are free returns. Some chink batteries are fine. Some die after a few months. Some die first cycle. Some never work to start. Some don't even fucking fit and will break the goddamned pins off the motherboard. Ask me how I know! It's a crapshoot, the risk is built into the low price.
Christian Walker
How can I boot my x200 from its sd card slot? My device somehow won’t recognize the Linux distribution on it.
Ryder Johnson
...
Luis Lewis
Yeah. forum.thinkpads.com. Or thinkpads.de if you're the beery sort.
Mason Martinez
That doesn't sound comfy at all, senpai, am I just stuck to official batteries (which are out of production) or just use it as a glorified desktop replacement; I'm going to be using the X200 as my Linux running shitpost machine to compliment my desktop running Windows.
Zachary Gray
T440p Windows 8.1 2.5 hours (6 cell)
T510 (selling it soon) Windows 10 2 minutes (6 cell)
Daniel Brooks
48h until my Pad is expected to arrive, how do you lot deal with the agonising wait for a new toy?
Mason Lewis
There are some libreboot-compatible T60s with 14.1" 1400x1050 screens and brand new batteries for $85-90 on eBay right now. Grab one of those.
Joseph Gray
Fuck around with obscure linuxes/BSDs in VirtualBox,
Ayden Reyes
I actually need to move my servers boot drive over from a 30gb ssd to a 250gb ssd, but I keep putting it off. Guess I answered my own question too.
Connor Hernandez
Just got this wicked nice I'm think pad branded laptop bag for 5 bucks
Chase Gutierrez
The trackpoint on the zipper pull is very stylish.
Gavin Parker
Dropping a notebook on ceramic is pretty severe depending on where it hit. I'd expect substantial damage on most machines.
Determine your priorities. Is the purchase a toy or must it be high performance to make you money? Many padders like used machines because if one gets destroyed or damaged they aren't out much cash and even the wreckage is usable for parts. You found out why lots of us have capable desktops and expendable notebooks.
If you want a trackpoint I know of no machines which are fully rugged. There are plenty of rugged notebooks but rugged (Toughbook fully rugged, Getac, Itronix) means sacrificing autismal delicacies like high quality keyboards and trackpoints. Rugged notebooks aren't light but they do the job.
If you are accident prone I suggest buying something with the specs you want and not drinking around it (which is never smart so I never do it) and if you really want to protect it during transport get a foam lined plastic case instead of a bag. Pelican make some nice cases. I use one on the road.
If you need a new fast, machine for work consider accidental damage coverage.
