I have been using as my only machine a T530 uninterrupted (think 10h/day uptime) since Nov 2012, both as a desktop replacement and to carry it around. I had to replace its motherboard recently but it was my fault as I put it in too enclosed of a space and overheated/burned it. Aside from a bit of fan noise, it's still going strong. It's definitely underspecced wtr to graphics nowadays, but still able to run things like League of Legends smoothly with just the integrated chip. Happy to answer questions about it if anyone is interested.
I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
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Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#62In case my internet connection fails, here's a Wayback Machine snapshot: https://web.archive.org/web/20220110074515/https://ounapuu.e... I really appreciate your feedback, thoughts and own experiences that relate to this post!
Is it possible to make the more tricky upgrades (CPU, display, fan) on similar models but from the X-series ? X201, X210, X220? I would love to do it on mine.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#63I love these projects. I have T430 with 16GB of RAM. Sadly, it is i5 version.
So far: - replaced fan to DELTA - refreshed thermal paste - added Samsung 860 EVO Pro - acquired (yet to install) USB-C charging port
Until I replace the CPU, it is not good enough for Scala development.
That said, compared to AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4700U and 32 GB in ThinkPad T14 it falls short quite fast.
T430, X230 and T61p hold a special place in my heart, but these are dated platforms. Once to start getting to media processing, paying attention to battery life, CPU performance per Watt, etc you will look for modern architecture.
I am personally pleased about move to Performance/Efficiency cores architecture. Not all tasks are created equal :)
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#64I similarly use a Dell Latitude from 2012. After upgrading to 16GB RAM I don't have any issues with it whatsoever. At work for new devs we bought ThinkPads with Ryzen. These are in general fine, except that multiple people have this weird issue with the computer completely freezing at random times on Linux. The one person who had Windows didn't have this issue. If it weren't for this issue that would be our default b…
> At work for new devs we bought ThinkPads with Ryzen. These are in general fine, except that multiple people have this weird issue with the computer completely freezing at random times on Linux. The one person who had Windows didn't have this issue. If it weren't for this issue that would be our default buy for new hires. Now, I don't know really.
Likely an issue with the C6 power state. Try searching for "ryzen linux c6 state" and you'll find plenty of people with these issues. Try updating BIOS, disabling C6 in BIOS or with https://github.com/jfredrickson/disable-c6.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#65I find it funny how people seem to fixate so much on the fact that the author upgraded various components to say the title is misleading.
As someone with apparently similar requirements, the take-away from this should be this:
Even though significant work is required to keep these old machines working, some people prefer to do so. Crucially, they prefer it not because they love tinkering, but simply because the value propositions of 2021/2022 hardware doesn't look better.
As someone running a non-upgradeable Dell nightmare XPS13 2in1 with a nice display, but horrible everything-else, I can relate. I've been looking at recent models lately and find it pretty bleak.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#66> The CPU innovation stagnation between 2012-2017 has resulted in 4 cores still being an acceptable low-end CPU in early 2022 I recently got M1 Max MacBook, and I was expecting a huge jump from my 2010 Mac Pro, but on my day-to-day work. It is barely noticeable, despite the raving reviews of M1. Perhaps for me it is not about things getting obsolete, but more of that my own needs on CPU/GPU performance were pretty mu…
> I am a programmer, so my needs are not that high This isn't true for all programmers. I'm a programmer, and until 3 years ago a good chunk of my day was spent waiting for compiles to finish. > Or perhaps it is that after 12 years, the laptops are now on bar with desktops. I think the biggest improvements for me in last 20 years have been the SSDs and then the NVMe. Not even remotely close. I have an AMD threadrippe…
Oh, can you share more? What is your programming environment?
I am debating a move to desktop/workstation with desktop CPU to support smoother Scala/lots-of-containers development experience.
Pandemic made laptops less appealing. With digital nomadism being a question mark for some. Yes, I do know some still continue to practice this lifestyle. I can be only jealous :)
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#67I had a visitor over the holidays who needed to work but didn't have a laptop. I had 2x old T420 (released in 2011) so I combined the RAM and did a fresh OS install. My only hassle was finding a DP cable. Other than doubling the RAM, this was still a stock machine from 2011. CPU benchmark scores for this T420 are comparable/better than sub-£400 new x86 laptops available at big box stores which was the other short-ter…
To be fair the sub-400 laptops are nearly the same in 2021 that you could find in 2011. Dual core with 1366x768 is still pretty common.
Sure. We're saying the same thing in different ways. A 2011 reasonable spec i5 laptop from my trash pile is still at least as useable for day-today tasks as a cheap new machine in 2021.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#68After 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…
"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."
That's the good part - it's possible, and it's serviceable. My spouse uses a 10y (almost 11y) laptop, it has pretty much everything changed & upgraded. CPU, RAM, keyboard, CD->SSD, HDD->SSD, battery, fan, wifi 801.1 b/g -> ac+bluetooth. The discrete GPU is not replaceable, of course.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#69That's so weird because I'm currently using the T420. My desktop has basically stopped working so I had to start using this one with Ubuntu 18 something. Pretty disingenuous to say you're using an old Thinkpad when you've upgraded the RAM to max and everything else. I haven't (4gb currently) and it can be pretty frustrating.
YouTube and other video sites will start to freeze up after awhile and forget about multiple tabs of videos because that will just speed up the process. My browser gets too slow on certain web games. Ultimate Paperclip, now that I've progressed to the end, is unplayable.
Otherwise though, outside of gaming, the switch from Windows to Ubuntu has been relatively painless and unnoticeable. I tried doing some music production with LMMS and VMPK. For some reason, the audio just isn't registering even though it works fine for all other applications. But not too bad considering it was my last resort before having to buy a new computer or spend money trying to repair the old one.
Re: I went back to using a ThinkPad from 2012
#70Seems like lots of IT folks have fond memories of the T420/T430 (and X220) era. I personally think it was the golden age of the Thinkpad line, going back perhaps to T40/T42, it was some of the best laptops I ever worked on. No other laptop has come close to getting it right since. It was really the perfect combination of build quality, modularity and performance that won me over.
I'm now on the new M1 Pro Mac and while the battery life is amazing, I felt a lot more confident working on my T420 back in the day. And yes I tried the X1 Carbon/Extreme lines, and I wasn't sold on them either.