By: Bill Shooter of Bul
Yeah, well, as long as your thinkpad doesn't suddenly die for no reason with zero warning. , not that haven't experienced that multiple times, grumble grumble grumble. I'm probably unlucky, but man I'm sick of having my expensive laptops turn into paper weights.
By: Valuable News – 2024/04/01 |
[…] Used ThinkPad is Better Deal than New Cheap Laptop. https://www.osnews.com/story/138939/a-used-thinkpad-is-a-better-deal-than-a-new-cheap-laptop/ […]
By: Alfman
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/138939/a-used-thinkpad-is-a-better-deal-than-a-new-cheap-laptop/#comment-10437762">unix_joe</a>.
unix_joe,
<blockquote>Repair-ability is king. Lenovo is moving a different direction.
But I have moved on. There are other brands.
I wonder if the same sentiment, just buy an old ThinkPad, will still be true in 5 years.</blockquote>
That's a good point. The used laptop market is, quite obviously, moving in the same direction as the new laptop market, only delayed. All these new products that are made to be less repairable, less upgradable, have fewer ports, etc, will eventually become the new used market. If too many manufacturers end up chasing these trends the door may end up closing on used devices that are still good :(
By: benmhall
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/138939/a-used-thinkpad-is-a-better-deal-than-a-new-cheap-laptop/#comment-10437762">unix_joe</a>.
> I was burned with my most recent two ThinkPad purchases (Z13 and Z16).
I just ordered a pair of Thinkpad T16s for work. They reminded me of older ThinkPads, which is to say that the build quality, upgradeability, and repairability all seemed great.
The X series all seem to have soldered RAM now, and are a pain to work on, but the T series continues the tradition. You may not have to rule them out in the future.
By: unix_joe
This article is good and reminds me of the guy at LowTechMagazine who gets by on an old X61.
I used ThinkPads for a very long time and still have quite a few. They are a major player in my home state and I know/knew a lot of people who worked there in the IBM days. A used T61 with KDE 4.3 on Arch Linux got me through undergrad, and a X120e with KDE 4.6+ got me through grad school the first time.
My favorite all time is the X201 with AFFS display.
My second favorite is the T470p with WQHD display and 2x scaling.
But I doubt I will continue using ThinkPads moving forward.
I was burned with my most recent two ThinkPad purchases (Z13 and Z16). That's about $3200 down the drain on two now worthless laptops. Even the on-site repair guy couldn't fix it and gave up after a motherboard swap.
Repair-ability is king. Lenovo is moving a different direction.
But I have moved on. There are other brands.
I wonder if the same sentiment, just buy an old ThinkPad, will still be true in 5 years.
By: benmhall
Great article, Thom.
I've ordered so many ThinkPads at work. They've been my go-to for decades now.
I think the ThinkPad T480s is the pinnacle of ThinkPad design so far. Stellar keyboard, great 1080p IPS screen, Thunderbolt, USBA, and a full-sized ethernet port, all with a quad-core 8th gen CPU and easily upgraded RAM and SSD. The last one I ordered (yesterday for work) was a whopping $219CDN. What a bargain. Hard to believe that I have been buying the same model for six years now.
By: crystall
Having done a few upgrades on ThinkPads from the T- series myself I recommend Subtel batteries and replacing the thermal paste on the CPU/GPU. The stock TIM isn't bad, but after ~9 years even the best pastes need replacement.
By: teco.sb
ThinkPads are pretty cool. I really like the sleek professional look. But it's hard finding reliable channels to buy them from. I wish it wasn't this way.
For a few years now I've been purchasing refurbished business laptops from Dell Refurbished. As the name suggests, they are Dell computers and if you get the Grade A ones, they are in close to perfect condition. I only get the 7000 series, as they are more high-end. I have a Dell Latitude 5420 from work and just a few months ago purchased a Latitude 7420 for $400 from these guys and there's definitely a difference in build quality. I don't know if they ship to Europe, but they do free shipping on most things and regularly have 50% off coupons.
By: RustyClanker
I still use my X270, best portable I have ever owned. The X270 was the last with the ability to actually upgrade the RAM (without major surgery) and to have dual batteries. When new I could get almost 20 hours out of them. The X280 went to soldered RAM and single internal battery.
I opted for the i5-7300u. The i7 was only marginally faster, and more cache, but would throttle more than the i5 due to heat in the small chassis. 12.5” 1920x1080 IPS, Backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, smartcard reader, I swapped the original 8GB for 32GB of RAM (single SO-DIMM), AX-210 WLAN (last model I could get that was PCIe/USB), EM7455 LTE WWAN (bought used), and added a 1TB NVMe. Still more fun side projects that can be done with it. :)
I had an X200 Tablet (bought used) before it that had most of the guts replaced. I end up starting on a path of turning them into a Ship of Theseus. The older Thinkpads may not be the best looking or best performing but they are built like tanks and easily serviceable. I have a newer HP Omen 15 as well, but it just does not compare to the utility and build of a Thinkpad.
By: Rrups
I agree that ThinkPads make great (used) computers. Before I sold my P50 I had a lot of good use out of it (especially after putting in some extra RAM). But that was a 6th gen i7, introduced in 2015 and since then the CPU's have made a nice big leap in processing power. But still, if you don't use that power... Those ThinkPads seem to last forever.
By: Mote
After you listed those extras, I am not so sure this is that good of a deal. In the netherlands, at least, you'd be within throwing distance of a properly fitted refurb t480 for that price, which would have the added perk of a quad core cpu.
Downside would have been that you'd have had no excuse to tinker with it, though.
By: smashIt
In reply to <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/138939/a-used-thinkpad-is-a-better-deal-than-a-new-cheap-laptop/#comment-10437730">blaer</a>.
"First – there is no backlit keyboard, but there is “think light”. A little led on the top part of the screen that shines a light on the keyboard. A very cost-effective way of solving the polar night problem!"
No, the __50 series has a backlit keyboard and no thinklight anymore.
I believe lenovo made the switch with the __40 series.
By: The123king
Recently bought a T480 to replace my tired Macbook Air 11". As much as i like the Apple software, the Thinkpad hardware is leagues better. It has it's flaws, yes (mostly thermal design/placement of heatsinks and radiators) but the repairability, expandability and performance (even with the lowest i5 in the range) run circles round my old Macbook.
I'll never buy a Macbook again.
By: Mote
> to the little ThinkLight on the lid worked perfectly
Pretty sure that the t450s doesn't come with a thinklight. A thinklight is a white led in the lid to illuminate the keyboard. Not to be confused with the red led on the outside of the lid, located in the i's dot.
By: blaer
Great! ThinkPads are excellent machines. I've been using used ThinkPads for years now.
Two things:
First - there is no backlit keyboard, but there is "think light". A little led on the top part of the screen that shines a light on the keyboard. A very cost-effective way of solving the polar night problem!
Second - I've recently discovered a line of used laptops that are almost better than thinkpads: MacBooks! For €150 one can get a 10 year old intel macbook (air) that can easily run Linux. Not as serviceable as a thinkpad. But a lot sleeker. (And all models come with backlit keyboard.)
Cheers.
By: Serophos
I still use my T410 with an SSD for Haiku as it is fully supported and it's very fast with this OS. Battery is dead but there is always something.