New laptop time. Thinkpad recommendations?

My lappy has bitten the dust, and I'm in the market for a laptop. I'm thinking about going Thinkpad.

I only plan on this being for web browsing, text editing, coding, etc. Any gaming is done on my desktop.

What would be a good Thinkpad model? I do t mind getting an older/refurbished one. Haven't been on the laptop market in nearly 8 years, so I don't know what to look for anymore

cooopsspace ,

Framework

just_another_person ,

Framework

FlavorPacket ,

Framework

BrianTheeBiscuiteer ,

This will be high on my list when I upgrade next. If you know your OS will be Linux I say it's a waste of time and energy to get a laptop that doesn't come loaded with it. I'm sure 90% of my laptop woes are due to poor support and optimization for Linux.

TheAnonymouseJoker ,

ThinkPad never has had problems with Linux compatibility. You will get better (best) aftersales and better (best) third party parts availability, since it is "mainstream" and a business user brand.

Boutique Linux laptop shops just cannot compete on that.

flashgnash ,

I've actually had a few issues with Linux on my ThinkPad, have struggled endlessly with the fingerprint reader and Nvidia on Wayland is a bit of a pain still

TheAnonymouseJoker ,

Is the FP reader Synaptic? It has no issues. I have not yet heard of a different FP reader on ThinkPads.

flashgnash ,

It rings a bell

I managed to get it working on Ubuntu once and then never again

I think I might've screwed it up by trying to get it working dual booted

TheAnonymouseJoker ,

Maybe check added repositories for needing to add a separate one, or try using YAST?

flashgnash ,

I'm on NixOS so no yast, I've tried installing the one that supposedly worked for a p50

cooopsspace ,

Still, you can pry Linux from my cold dead hands.

I'll be a homesteading hermit living off grid in the bush before I install Windows on a personal PC.

steal_your_face ,
@steal_your_face@lemmy.ml avatar

If you order it now you only have to wait til April!

(yes I'm on the wait list)

sgtnasty ,
@sgtnasty@lemmy.ml avatar

frame.work

1984 ,
@1984@lemmy.today avatar

I wouldn't buy thinkpads anymore... Recent models are not good quality. Mouse pad broke on my first one, and keyboard on the second one. This was ThinkPad Carbon 8 and T14 I believe.

They used to be great but no longer, even though notebookcheck keeps giving them top marks in reviews.

Chiyo ,

My company uses several Thinkpad models. By far the worst are the X1 Carbon Gen 9 and 10. The gen 9s especially die all the time. We generally see more issues with thin and light models in general. We don’t really see many issues with T14 or T15.

Evoliddaw ,

P1 Carbon Gen 4 about a year old. Thermal paste was nearly solid, and the thermal pads were not placed properly to cover all the components they were meant to. Overheated and crashed tens of times per day since day one. Finally repasted and replaced pads, only to find they literally left plastic covering part of the contact between half the graphics memory and the copper heat sink. They couldn't even be bothered to design the thermals correctly for a $5500 Core i9 RTX 3080TI laptop.

carzian ,

Completely agree. Had to fix a coworkers year old thinkpad. Had motherboard, then bios, then graphics issues. It's been a complete nightmare

sgtnasty ,
@sgtnasty@lemmy.ml avatar

My T430 has outlasted my X1 extreme. It was built differently

Certainity45 ,

T480 or Framework

flashgnash , (edited )

I hear a lot about the t480, how does it hold up compared to a p50?

Certainity45 ,

I have no personal experience from any P-series, but my friend has a P50 or P52 as his work machine and he has daily drive that for years in CAD and he loves it everyday. The chsssis is same qaulity as T-series.

Darkrai , (edited )
@Darkrai@kbin.social avatar

If you want to support Linux devs and continued development, I would buy from System76, Tuxedo Computers, or even Framework.

If you're going to buy used then yeah the Thinkpad is fine.

miningforrocks ,

Framework laptops are op buy it once use it for ever

spankinspinach ,

I've got a batch 1 and, barring some of the issues you'd expect from a new manufacturer, it is exceptional

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

They're also significantly more expensive than ThinkPads and might be a bit much for what OP plans to do

Tlaloc_Temporal ,

This is definitely the biggest concern. Somewhat short battery life is also significant.

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

For ThinkPads?

Tlaloc_Temporal ,

No, Framework. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

Oh it's fine. Do Framework laptops have a lower battery life than ThinkPads?

Tlaloc_Temporal ,

Than Thinkpads? I don't know, but probably lower. My Framework only gets 8 hours of use, and 30 hours sleeping if I'm lucky. Definitely not the best, but being plugged in isn't too bad, and the adapter is nice and small.

teawrecks ,

For a new laptop, the initial cost is higher. But the idea is that future maintenance and upgrades would significantly lower the long-term cost of laptops. If a part breaks, you don't need to buy a new laptop, just that part. If a new CPU comes out that you want, just upgrade your mainboard for less than the cost of a new laptop.

atzanteol ,

But it'll arrive with Linux and it'll work. You also don't have to spend a week googling wifi chips to see if they'll work.

sping ,

Just throw in a $20 Intel Wi-Fi card if necessary, and don't buy the first models of the latest CPU, as with any manufacturer, and Thinkpads are some of the another for Linux.

thecrotch ,

Thinkpads are locked down, the bios will refuse to boot if you install a non-Lenovo wifi card.

const_void ,

This is a prime example of why we should be supporting manufacturers that ship open source firmware like coreboot and not the proprietary junk Lenovo ships.

sping ,

None I've ever used have been. I have a card I dropped in working right now on a 2 yr old Thinkpad.

Corgana ,

I hear this a lot but in my experience the Framework is often in the same range and sometimes slightly cheaper. Right now a framework with i7-1360P and 16GB Ram is $1469. An X1 carbon with a (slightly slower) cpu is $400 more. Ryzen is similar. Not hating on Thinkpads but the Framework is a lot more competitive than you'll often hear and the upgradeability is obviously a massive financial incentive too.

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

I think normally when people are referring to buying a ThinkPad they aren't talking about a modern model. Usually not even the X1 Carbon series; especially past the 6th gen. They're referring to models in the X,P, or T series before the T490. Models that can be bought relatively cheap and upgraded however the user wants.

The T480 can be bought for around $200. The CPU is going to be a fair amount weaker but for $1,200 some people are willing to make the sacrifice for a casual personal use machine.

Corgana ,

That makes sense. Buying used is always going to be more economical (and ecological) than new, no matter how "anti waste" it is.

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

I think a Framework laptop could make sense for a power user who is using it for work or gaming but I feel like upgrades are needed less frequently with web browsing, coding, and word processing.

I'd be curious to see how many people essentially use ThinkPads as a secondary computer that's just a bit more traditional and customizable than a Chromebook.

merthyr1831 ,

I get the price premium, but they refuse to sell a lower tier motherboard (i3/ryzen 3) so you gotta splash out 1k+.

guess the intention is to get 2nd hand boards but they're still quite pricey since it's so new

Jumuta ,
@Jumuta@sh.itjust.works avatar

I think their hardware is too expensive to justify an i3 model. The price difference between an i5 and an i3 is probably too small compared to the cost of the rest of their device.

flashgnash ,

I love the idea of framework but they're so expensive for the hardware you get

I get why that is and I will surely at some point end up with one but might wait til they're more readily available second hand

helenslunch ,
@helenslunch@feddit.nl avatar

Came here to say Framework.

InternetCitizen2 ,

I got a System 76 Lemur 9 a few years ago. It was slightly cheaper than a comparable Dell XPS. The laptop is pricy but overall quit nice. I'd consider another one.

Certainity45 ,

T480 is the last good Thinkpad. Even T490 is a huge downgrade.

T430 or X230 if you're into modding. The opportunities for modding them are endless. Keyboard from xx20-series (best ever made for laptops), FHD IPS panel, re-celling the battery with 18650-cells, second storage drive with mstata mod.. If I remember right, T430 cd bay can be replaced with secondary battery too.

The old models are compatible with FreeBSD too.

Jumuta ,
@Jumuta@sh.itjust.works avatar

t420 but

https://beta.aceparent.me/#/battery

Certainity45 ,

Just wow. Hopefully it works with T430 too, since it has so much more cpu power with quad-core i7-3612qm and runs much cooler than the stock dual-core i5 ever ran.

Too bad I have no time or interest to tinker with these as much as I tinkered 5 years ago.

chris ,

My T480 does everything I need. Picked it up for $200 and spent another $100-$150 to get brand new batteries, a pretty good screen, much faster storage, and upped it to 24GB of RAM. Pretty awesome. Pop!_OS runs like a charm.

Certainity45 ,

Perfect choice for lot.

Oha ,
@Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz avatar

got a t450s for 100€ and its pretty amazing!

cirdanlunae OP ,

I went away for a few hours, wow, all the replies! Thanks all!

I ended up going with a refurbished T480s. Wanted something I could upgrade memory/storage on. The form factor and the metal case also sounded appealing. Should have it in a week.

owatnext ,
@owatnext@lemmy.world avatar

I find my T480s really fits my lightweight usecase. Hope you enjoy yours.

StorageB ,

Where did you buy it? Looking for something similar for myself.

cirdanlunae OP ,

Found one refurbished on eBay. I'll report when I get it as to the quality

cyberpunk007 ,

It doesn't matter, every one of them will spy on you

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

Isn't that why a lot of people recommend ThinkPads? So they can run libreboot

cyberpunk007 ,

It came out at some point they had hardware spyware I thought

CorrodedCranium ,
@CorrodedCranium@leminal.space avatar

That's what they are trying to fight. I don't think there's been any substantial claims of them spying. At least I couldn't find any

z00s ,

Get a framework laptop. They're the new thinkpad

Pantherina ,

Gonna drop Novacustom/System76 here. Laptops with open firmware are key

thecrotch ,

I don't recommend thinkpads. As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, they don't allow you to replace your own wifi card. Latitudes have great Linux support, and as a business class machine they're as reliable and easy to work on as thinkpads

cirdanlunae OP ,

I'm replacing a dead Latitude currently, it was a fun ride, but I'd like to replace it with something else

BaumGeist ,

Your use-case says "ARM laptop" to me.

Pros: Get some kind of SoC laptop, and never worry about battery charge again. They're also lighter-weight and better at thermal management. Right now, Linux on ARM is still kind of fledgling so there's not as many apps made to run on ARM natively; the upside is that since there's not as many possible combinations of hardware, there aren't nearly as many edge case bugs and issues.

Cons: If you want youtube in 1080p+ and 60 fps or if you want to use Visual Studio (instead of something lighter-weight), you'll either want the most powerful SoC laptop on the market (probably something by Apple), or not SoC at all. Same goes if you want to have like 5+ programs opened at once and 10+ tabs open on firefox. If you're on the opposite side with me and don't mind if the video is 30 fps or the resolution is 720i and using vim as an IDE, you can get away with something dirt cheap. The other downside of course being the inability to upgrade hardware, which goes hand-in-hand with the reduced hardware combinations aforementioned. Also, since it's not as widely adopted/developed, there are more standard case bugs/issues.

It does force a more minimal approach to computing—it's not powerful, and it's on the lower-end of ARM laptops—but my Pinebook has only done well by me. The security/privacy factor of Pine was also a big plus.

sibloure ,

I got a used ThinkPad T480s and installed 40 GB of RAM in it for Qubes OS. It's modern enough to charge over USB-C, so one plug for everything. I also have a MacBook I use for school and both are solid.

Elkenders ,

Second for this. Got one myself. 1080p, USB C, upgradable ram, I replaced the internal and external batteries no problem. I stuck a second SSD inside last weekend and replaced the thermal paste in about 20 mins. If you like tinkering and being able to repair and maintain yourself it's really great.

Got win 11 on one SSD and Debian on the second and all running well.

sibloure ,

Wow I just learned I could put a second SSD in the WWAN slot! Sounds awesome for a dual boot setup.

Elkenders ,

Yeah, was easy peasy. Bought the sad off eBay. Be careful which SSD you pick up only specific ones fit, I think there's a thread on Lemmy somewhere. I used a western digital sn520 2242 m.2. A 256 one. I think 512 exist but harder to source.

clever_banana ,
@clever_banana@lemmy.today avatar

X1 Carbon is king

Evoliddaw ,

Massive QC issues in the last 2-3 years at least, while they may not be terrible you definitely have to repaste and re-thermal pad if you get anything Carbon from Lenovo.

DosDude ,
@DosDude@retrolemmy.com avatar

If you go web browsing and text editing just get a 2nd hand one. Most laptops can do that. I would just replace the HD with an SSD if it doesn't have one.

I have an old hp laptop of 12+ years. But hp is a bitch to replace the HDD. So that was an adventure.

IrritableOcelot , (edited )

Yeah I can explicitly not recommend modern HP or Toshiba laptops for reliability reasons. I've had serious hardware and structural issues with both.
Also, in general 2-in-1s will break at the hinge in less time than other laptops. Lenovo 2-in-1s specifically have known issues with the hinge which can shatter the screen. If you want durability, go for a more traditional form factor with no touchscreen.

Edit: oops thought you said 2-in-1

DosDude ,
@DosDude@retrolemmy.com avatar

No problem. Good to know that information

potpie ,

I love getting years of good service from old computers, but I do want to add something: old laptop means old battery, and if they're not producing the same form factor anymore, then even a replacement battery will probably be old stock that's been degrading for years. Unfortunately I don't know what company's models have the best longevity here in terms of battery form factor.

DosDude ,
@DosDude@retrolemmy.com avatar

I agree. Though off-brand batteries can be a good replacement, if you find a reputable brand. I've replaced my battery with a bigger capacity off-brand battery, and it's been working like a charm for 4 years now.

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