The X220 ThinkPad Is the Best Laptop in the World

I love the X220. Its input system is unparalleled, its storage (mSATA??) mega flexible, its case nigh unbreakable, its ports waiting to connect to almost anything, its parts all replaceable. I even have the SK-8855 so I can use the (exact) same keyboard when at a monitor and keep all my muscle memory. In the ways you physically interact with a machine, the X220 gets it all right, and there's something ineffably cool about a machine that's indeed so physical.

That said, its display tech is bordering on too old. 1366x768 is too small for most people to reasonably work on. In true X220 style you can upgrade this, and although you give up a DisplayPort on the dock, most people won't care about that. The other problem is external resolutions are limited to 2560x1600, which isn't 4k. Finally, a lot of software has gotten too heavy for its CPU. You can run things like VSCode, Slack, Google Meet, etc. on it, but it's not wonderful. I have a basic belief that if an app is slow on the X220 it's too slow in general, but developers of workplace collaboration apps and almost all websites disagree.

One of my "when I get rich" projects is to design/print a board to put a Raspberry Pi 5 CM in an X220 shell and sell it along with display upgrade kits. I think I've had actual dreams about this.

IMO, Framework fits. It's very repairable, and it's kinda easy to do. Not having to work with clips of any kind is great, it's all screws and magnets. At least the 13" one has the same (or even a bit less) flex and feeling like e.g. a Lenovo Thinkbook. It's CNC-ed aluminium, both bottom and lid.

It is significantly more fragile than a X220, though. And tbh, the screen looks the most fragile of any laptop I ever had, as there is an air gap behind the LCD, i.e. you really shouldn't hit it with e.g. a pen or something, at all, as it may flex and break. At least you can easily replace it, without ripping out glue, if it happens? :s

It also is not the best bang-for-buck compared to other new laptops, if you ignore the repairability. IMO understandable due to their smaller scale and additional engineering, but still true.

I use mine with Linux and it's great, you feel like a first-class customer like you do with e.g. a Systems76 machine (which are also nice), it's explicitly supported. Here is their support page for each motherboard: https://frame.work/de/en/linux

If you choose a mainboard with a new CPU, you may need to use a mainline kernel instead of LTS for a while, but that's it, in my experience.

Battery life is not on ultra book level, but it's at least on par with the X220. I get like 8, 9 hours out of it.

Can highly recommend it, even if it's not perfect.

It flat out amazes me that there are not replacement motherboards or Pi upgrade kits for older Thinkpads and MacBooks.

They have a huge following and many amazing features as you say. The MacBook screens, trackpads, keyboards, and speakers are still top shelf.

I have a couple of old MacBooks (and a Thinkpad) that I would upgrade for sure. A Snapdragon X Elite would be great.

The thing about a Pi 5 though is that it is really not any faster than the X220 natively.

x60 all the way