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I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

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Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#51

Post by KronisLV »

Oh, a ThinkPad T400 series, one of those models was actually my first laptop at work in my current company (joined about 4 years ago)! Albeit it was a bit dated even then, it was still a pleasure to use and i never really felt like i needed to switch to something newer, maybe just for more RAM. Though my current ThinkPad has a larger screen, which is nice too! That said, 24 GB felt enough for me throughout 2021, even for enterprise Java projects.

Honestly, as far as laptops go, it feels to me that the various types of ThinkPad laptops are some of the best out there - they feel sturdy, the build quality is good, the driver support is generally pretty good (only had problems with display drivers once in a newer model) and the keyboards are the best that i've tried in any laptop to date (outside of Apple devices, i guess).

I've also been meaning to look into the Fujitsu Lifebook series of laptops for personal devices, but currently can't really afford them. Are there any other sturdy but powerful laptops that the people here would like to recommend?

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#52

Post by djtango »

josefrichter wrote: post #21

I do miss the track point controller. It’s kinda like hardware vim: difficult to learn to work with, so majority of people don’t. But once you do, it’s an absolute killer.

This might be blasphemous but after being thinkpad exclusively for the past 13 years (and my first thinkpad was in 98) but I find myself using the touchpad more and more when I'm not on my external trackpoint keyboard.

Not quite sure why, might be due to slightly dodgy Linux experiences (x240 dodgy buttons and then now my sensitivity on X1 gen 9 is a bit touch and go)

That said for regular point and click the touchpad is good enough. Tho when working there is no substitute for not leaving the homerow

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#53

Post by iammjm »

I own a T430 myself and have enjoyed using it for a couple of years already. Very durable, reliable and upgradable - plus its just fun to use. I removed the CD Rom and put an SSD in its place; upgraded to 8GB Ram; got a GTX 1050ti as an external GPU running and connected it together with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse to a docking station. That way I can use it on the go and then just put it on the docking station to have all the peripherals connected/disconnected easily. I could also update the processor but it would require spending more than 100€ on the chip and an improved cooling which I dont think justifies a minor boost in performance.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#54

Post by ohazi »

xondono wrote: post #22
jychang wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This DEFINITELY doesn't count as Ship of Theseus. All those parts are designed to be replaceable on the Thinkpad. If you really want to talk about Ship of Theseus-ing a Thinkpad, the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. These "frankenpads" include the X62 (Broadwell CPU and motherboard in an old X61), T70 (Kaby Lake CPU in a T60…

> the hardcore guys have literally ripped out the motherboard and installed a completely different motherboard with a modern i7 CPU. So, a CPU upgrade? How is that not what OP mentions? The LCD upgrade is also on the wishlist..

This kind of CPU upgrade was all but supported by the manufacturer.

Unlike modern laptops, the T430 motherboard had a socketed CPU (like a desktop motherboard). Upgrading the CPU was only marginally more difficult than upgrading the RAM (as long as the replacement CPU had the same package/pinout and was supported by the chipset). Lenovo datasheets would even give you a table of every CPU configuration they tested.

The "hardcore guys" mentioned by the parent are installing bodged motherboards that were never designed to fit in a given model's enclosure, occasionally doing major board surgery to make it work.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#55

Post by bjarneh »

knaik94 wrote: post #48
bjarneh wrote: post #43

After upgrading the display, CPU, disk, RAM, fan, battery it's a bit click-baity to say you've gone back to a 2012 ThinkPad - but interesting read non the less. What surprised me the most is that Lenovo ships something as annoying as a loud fan (easily replaceable even for a home tinkerer). Of course they save a few pennies per laptop; but no laptop can ever be good if it's noisy. That was one of the main reasons why…

Thinkpad sold that model with 16gbs as an upgrade while buying the laptop at the time. SSDs needing to be upgraded has also been recommended since that time. And the processor update was simply maxing out the processor upgrade from that generation. It was available on the workstation version of the thinkpad in the same generation. The i7-3820QM release date is 04/23/2012. A new SSD doesn't mean current gen speeds, th…

True; I just feel that most titles are a bit exaggerated these days to sound more sensational then they really are. If I were to write a book, I'd gladly use an old ThinkPad due to the nice keyboard. But I hope I don't write a blog like this if I do: "Why I went back to my 2003 ThinkPad" :-)

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#56

Post by einpoklum »

Even before reading the post itself, the answer was obvious:

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Keyboard, keyboard, and again keyboard.

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That is simply the most important feature of a laptop one uses for work involving writing: Correspondence, note taking and such. Also for people who don't like playing around with their mouse that much. Sadly, laptop manufacturers have degraded keyboards further and further over the years in the quest for thinner laptop heights. And while I can appreciate _some_ people need thinner laptops, many, and perhaps most of us - don't. It's a work instrument for us, not a fashion accessory. Why has it been 10 years since a laptop was last out with a decent keyboard?

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#58

Post by amiga-workbench »

I've been hanging around on an X201t for almost a decade now, but finally upgraded to an X270 last October. Its the last X series machine they sold with non-soldered RAM. So far things have been pretty good, Fedora works almost perfectly out of the box, but there is a nasty issue where the third party 65Wh battery I have causes the laptops embedded controller to scream that the CPU is overheating. I've had to write a script to squelch that to stop the thing from throttling down to 400mhz all the time.

I've had the thing in pieces, keyboard, trackpad, palmrest, lcd and RAM have all been replaced and the build quality really pales compared to the older machines, there is no magnesium midframe here, its plastic everywhere. But at least I can get a solid 10 hours work out of the battery, and decent quality IPS panels are widely available.

I'm not sure what to do once thing thing reaches the end of its life, all the replacement models are going to have every component soldered down, the batteries are all internal and not hot-swappable. Grim, I had might as well buy a Macbook.

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#59

Post by throwaway81523 »

I'm using an X220 which is even older than the T430. It is on its last legs and its keyboard doesn't work at all (using an external) but I feel that it is fast enough in terms of cpu, storage, etc. I do some programming on it but it is not a hardcore dev box. I use remote servers for that. I don't feel like I need multiple disk drives: if I want to back up on the same machine, 1TB microsdxc cards are a thing (in fact I only need 256gb or so).

I need to replace the X220 quite soon and there are way fewer used Thinkpads on Craigslist than there used to be (any vintage, not just that era). I don't know why that is. But I agree with the article that the newer stuff is way too crapified and that the 2012 era machines are about the best ones to use right now. Older ones were even more solidly constructed, but had DDR2 memory, considerably slower processors, etc. So I will probably look for another X220. (X230 is similar and a little newer, but has the silly 6 row keyboard instead of the nicer old 7 row one).

Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012

#60

Post by 0x38B »

iamevn wrote: post #19

A couple months ago I pulled my x220 that I hadn't used in 3 years out of the closet and got it all updated to do some hobby programming while visiting parents. My only other laptops were a work machine (X1 Carbon, I want to say from 2019) that I didn't want to travel with and a Surface Go that I didn't want to wrangle into having a decent dev environment. When I booted it up, I checked the most recent entry in pacma…

I have a Surface Go 2 running Arch. Great for dev work, aside from the low amount of storage (128 GB).

Its portability is hard to beat for trips; Patagonia’s lovely Atom 8L sling bag is big enough for the tablet with some room left over.

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