Old thinkpad thread is over 300
I love my t430, and the egpu for it works wonderfully.
I bought my oldest sister a t420 an i5, 320gb HDD, 1600x900 screen, 8gb of ram, and nvidia graphics. She's gonna be using it for playing the sim 3, and her husband will use it for studying electrical code. It cost me 200$. I feel like this was a good price, and it will suit their needs.
Any other positive experiences?
Does anyone ever buy the 15 inch t series thinkpads?
I feel like they don't have much to offer over the 14 inchers.
>>45239466
bought the T520 with 1600x900
thought DPI is going to be an issue so I went with that screensize and resolution
mfw should have gotten T420 or FHD or both
Wanted a t420 but snached an elite book 8540w and I'm more than glad I did.
i7, 8 gigs of ram, dedicated nvidia 1gig gpu
I'm playing WoD at 40-60fps, High effects
all for $250...
>>45239013
>egpu
tell me more
Anyone got auto rotation to work and the buttons on tablets under GNU/Linux?, if so please share.
>>45239779
Whoa, for a price like that? Damn Anon I'm jelly, I want to get back into WoW and what you got sounds amazing for the price. You get it off craigslist? I was looking between the t60 and a desktop or just a t420.
>>45239013
display is shit.
keyboard on T430(s) is meh
no led caps lock indicators
Bios is a mess
other than that I love my T430s but its not without is flaws
>>45239013
>not using ibm thinkpad
>not 4:3
>>45239846
t420 gpu suxs for gaming...
I got the 8540w off eBay, they usually go for $250-350...id recoment upgrading to an ssd but besides that the laptop has been amazing!
>>45239812
I ordered an expresscard to pcie adapter, then hooked up a nvidia 750
i installed the optimus drivers.
all i have to do to use it is turn off the laptop, plug in the gpu, and turn everything on
it just works, and works nearly as well as it does when hooked up to a desktop
>>45239855
I like the keyboard, but the viewing angles on the screen is crap.
I'm happy with how well it runs with an i7 3612qm.
I hope my sister is as happy with her t420 as i am with this t430
Hey /tpg/, it's the ready to pull the trigger on the X60 anon from Monday.
My X60 came today, I've been running Speccy and temperatures go from 42-50 degrees celsius on idle and updating the default WinXP it came with.
The temps seem to be the norm for these from a quick Google, so should I bother reapplying thermal paste?
I need to give it a quick clean, upgrade SSD/RAM and install GNU/Linux, then I'm good to go.
It's a great machine with a very solid build. I'm glad I went with this over a Chromebook.
>>45239897
it's a shame that particular elitebook is so ugly
>>45239933
How are you powering the 750? I've thought about this set up but I don't want a ghetto set up with wires and the card exposed.
On the other side the "retail" configurations are all over-priced
>>45239971
its not too bad
function>form
>>45239979
i plugged a laptop AC adapter into the expresscard/pcie adapter
the 750 doesn't have any power plugs, it draws all it's power from the pcie slot, so that's all i need
everything in my setup is exposed, you might not like that
what's nice about the optimus driver is i can use the gpu to power the internal display at a pretty good rate, the optimus driver does pcie compression
>>45239986
that is true, but i do place some value on aesthetics
>>45239986
I'm OP, and I forgot to mention, I used an elitebook 8460p for work, but it had a lot of weird issues relating to anything HP specific on it, especially the fingerprint reader
but the build quality was nice, it was sturdy and easily serviceable
>>45239942
I really would go with something newer personally, but i bet the price was very nice
i hope you enjoy it
>>45240193
I wanted something for portability and cost. This ticked all the boxes and is the sturdiest laptop I've ever had. I'm really impressed so far. I just need to learn to use the trackpoint better.
Am I one of /tpg/ yet?
Mailman, where the fuck is my charger?! ;_;
>>45240298
I guess so, post pics
Damn, thats a nice deal for a T420.
I sell W500's for that price.
>>45239586
Supposidly you can put in an LG Philips IPS screen on that model... Definately going to try that when I have the cash.
>>45239779
I hear that HP has some amazing IPS panels under the DreamColor name.
>>45239971
>not ricing it with carbon fiber
>pic related
>>45240298
No need to apply new thermal paste.
"If it aint broke, don't fix it"
X-Series laptops take quite a good amount of time to get to the CPU, unlike the T, R, or A series, you have to remove the entire motherboard and all its components before getting to the fan, its located on the underside of the mobo rather then the top.
>>45240403
Pics inbound, camera has a flat battery, so phone pics will have to do.
>>45240468
Thanks for clearing that up, I was hoping it would be easy to get to. I had an old Acer that was released about the same time as the X60 and it was horrible to try and service it as the heat-sink, fans and CPU were under the keyboard region.
RAM and hard drive are easy enough to upgrade.
I'll be installing Debian or Trisquel on it tomorrow if my SSD arrives.
>>45240759
>Windows XP
Why.
The lid has a few scratches on it and some sticker residue.
>>45240468
What do you do with that rotating screen?
Whats a good cheap wifi card that dont run to warm?,
>>45240779
That's what shipped with it. Waiting on my SSD arriving tomorrow to install Debian or Trisquel.
Windows XP makes my head hurt.
The keyboard is good, no faded keys at all and no oil/sweat marks as some were trolling earlier. The X60 lenovo sticker below the screen is slowly peeling away. While I need to remove the intel and XP stickers.
>>45240842
you asked this yesterday
I'm using Intel® Centrino® Ultimate-N 6300
>>45240842
I had the same issue with heat until I took out that cache card with the two Intel chips on it. I also just made the wireless radio run in maximum battery mode and now it doesn't get hot at all.
>>45240842
Many recommend the Intel 6200/6300 but they require nonfree firmware.
A good alternative that is also cheaper is the Atheros AR9285, 100% loonix compatible and libre.
The keyboard needs a really good clean as there is some stuff underneath the keys.
Overall it's the best £67 I've spent.
>>45240857
why Trisquel, is it good?. never heard of it.
>>45240842
A USB wlan adapter from Think Penguin.
>>45240914
>muh GNU slash Linux
>>45240857
I'm still whying on why the guy you bought it from installed XP in the first place.
The X61 comes with Vista Business, I think.
>>45240862
Will it fit?, because its smaller-?
>>45240878
Atheros AR9285, ITS Half Mini PCI-E Card it wont fit?, I wont be able to screw it down?
>>45240914
Essentially it is a free fork of Ubuntu. A lot of the help documents and forum posts are related.
Libreboot also supports the X60, making it a reasonably free computer.
Do any of you use any kind of hard drive docks?
I have a couple drives I'd like to use and I don't really want a NAS.
>>45240919
Holy shit, that site is so fucking jewish.
>>45240956
As is the 6200, get an adapter
>>45239832
Ya i want that too
ThinkPad X1 Carbon or Surface Pro 3?
I bought a bootleg charger off amazon, which claimed to be genuine, and plugged it in to my w520 before bed. Next day after work, the w520 was completely unresponsive- no fans, no nothin when i press the power button. Seems like it's not even getting as far as the bios.
Any ideas on what could be fried? Any ideas on how much it costs to send this sort of issue in to Lenovo? I can do my own repairs but don't want to spend $1k to fix a laptop that I never really loved in the first place.
>>45241010
neither
>>45241048
Do you have a multimeter? Check the voltage from the charger, if it doesn't boot from the battery it could be a far sinister problem caused by a surge,
>>45240878
>nonfree firmware
you have nonfree BIOS anyways, how does using Intel 6200/6300 cards matter?
>>45241236
I tried pulling the battery as well as using another known good charger and it still won't boot- it's definitely fucked I just don't know where specifically to look for the burn marks.
This all happened a year ago but I've been too bummed to do anything about it because I know the prognosis isn't good.
I can look at the charger's output voltage, but I'm not sure what to look for. Should it just match what's on the brick? How long would I have to wait to look for voltage irregularities, etc.
>>45241315
If it's 100% efficient it will show what's on the power brick, yes.
(but it's not, it'll be slightly lower)
>>45241048
I need another charger for my X60, this scares me.
Is this common? Is the general advice to go for genuine chargers?
>>45241401
Well, based on my situation I will never buy a charger from anybody but the manufacturer again. The amazon seller refunded the $50 I spent on the charger but I'll need a lawyer to get the laptop paid for... so it's not gonna happen.
Generally if you're paying $20 for a normally $80 charger something's probably off. Safety shortcuts etc. There have been some teardowns on shitty USB chargers to show all the corners that are cut.
Here's one of the many fake apple charger teardowns that are out there http://www.righto.com/2014/05/a-look-inside-ipad-chargers-pricey.html
>>45241455
>$50 for a non-genuine charger
what the fuck?!
The cheap knock-offs are supposed to be like $5-10, you can find genuine ones for <$20...
I got a genuine 90w charger off of Amazon for $17.
Where the hell are you looking where chargers are so expensive?
I think about getting a T420s with i5-2520m, 4GB ram, 128Gb SSD.
Would you recommend this? Would use it just for simple stuff. (Browsing, School etc.)
Any other recommendation?
>>45241613
Gb or GB?
128 Gb SSD sounds pretty useless...
>>45241631
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Thinkpad-T420s-i5-2520M-4G-128G-SSD-Win7-wth-AC-Adapter-Battery-/261665934070?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item3cec814af6
this one to be specific. And GB, just a typo.
>>45241515
It was listed as genuine on Amazon. I figured I was getting a legit charger for a few bucks off.
Bad charger's on the right. Never actually confirmed it's a fake but I strongly suspect it is considering it killed my laptop and the seller didn't ask any questions when I told them what happened.
>>45241631
Are you that autistic to recognize a typo?
Do they even market 16GB SSDs as 128Gb SSDs?
>>45241048
did you already try removing all power sources and holding the power button for about 30 seconds?
When I worked at the service desk we had a thinkpad with such issues every few months and the power button trick did help a few times.
>>45242203
that's not a typo, those are two totally different things
I need a laptop for work, kali and sometimes play little games (like binding of isaac)... what thinkpad does /g/ recommends to me ?
>>45242763
>that's not a typo, those are two totally different things
>Yes, I am too autistic to recognize a typo.
Thanks for clearing that up.
>>45242987
Enable pressure sensitivity, it helps improve your handwriting.
>>45243029
how do I do that?
>>45243060
No idea in Gahnoo.
If you hate freedom, get the Wacom Bamboo drivers.
I've been wanting a Thinkpad for a while now, but never pulled the trigger. It would be for programming and possibly playing Dota 2 or similar games. Doesn't have to run anywhere near full settings. Prefer an i5 or something similar in power.
What would you recommend?
>>45243379
X220 if you want mobility and battery life.
T420 if you want a bigger screen.
T520 if you want an even bigger screen and a bit more performance.
W520 if you're made out of shekels.
>>45240759
Have fun installing, should be a breeze!
>>45240817
It's HP's rival to the X201T, except it carries 1.8" SATA drives. Drivers were a pain in the ass to get working though. For the most part, ThinkPads work out of the box with a clean install of Windows or *nix, this HP however, few of the drivers didn't even work from HP's site. Its confusing as hell.
>wifi and tablet functions didnt work
>brightness didnt work either
>HP has their own version of the ThinkLight however
>ended up getting a generic Dell Wifi driver
>went to Wacom to get a working digitizer driver
>the digitizer is worse than the ThinkPads
I bought it for like $40 bucks because the machine was broken from a facebook group, I got lucky it was working, reinstalled wangblows and sold it for like $110 because I derped on installing the speakers.
>>45242763
its a 128 GB SSD, it says that in the description.
Its just a typo.
>>45240929
You'll need an extender, you can either buy it seperate or sometimes some sellers bundle the wifi card with it.
hey guys can the x41 still handle modern linux distros like debian, some light scripting and light web browsing?
>>45244118
Mmmm...
X41 uses a low voltage pentium M, given that crunchbang doesn't run too too bad on my T30, the X41 may be OK. but I'd try to get a 1.6 if possible
>yfw IBM had many complaints about the X40 being too weak that they just grabbed a Pentium M and slapped it onto a X31 chassis rather then making a thicker X40 to support it, but they didn't even bother upgrading the graphics chip on it
>the X32 was born, sold along side the X41
>>45244003
Link to the extender can't seem to find it
>>45244318
Ah it was listed as an adapter, my bad
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Half-to-Full-Height-Mini-PCI-Express-PCI-E-Card-Bracket-Adapter-/161407298851?pt=US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item25949fed23
I'd check up on this seller if they are bundling the adapter with it just in case.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Centrino-Ultimate-N-6300-Network-Adapter-PCI-Express-Wi-Fi-633ANHMW-OEM-/171548010954?pt=US_Internal_Network_Cards&hash=item27f10ee9ca
>>45243404
What about the t430? I'd like to have some. USB 3.0 ports. Is there anything wrong with it?
x1 carbon vs x240?
>>45244370
Thanks anon!
Does the t400 worth 120$ with 4gb ram and a SSD ?
>>45244411
I'd think so, even if it came with a power brick.
Condition and sie of the SSD?
Get it if it comes with the WXGA+ panel, no question.
X300 reporting in. Slow as shit and not at all impressive weight-wise, but still had the best keyboard of any Thinkpad.
>>45239586
I bought a T500 with the 1920x1200 screen way back. The thing is fucking glorious but far too big and bulky to carry around.
>>45244379
I personally hate my work-issued T430, which is why I use the X300. Lenovo says the keyboard should be exactly the same, but it feels like shit to me, the tactile feedback and overall usability are way behind my T500. Honestly, I liked the feel of the keyboard on my friend's Y510p far better, and that's not even a Thinkpad.
>>45244572
X300 master race!
>>45244572
>far too big and bulky to carry around
I'd assume that you're carrying it around throughout the day?
how long have thinkpads had hdmi out?
need a cheap machine for my exercise room and was wondering if it would be easy to find a used <$100 laptop like one of these
Picked up a t440s today. 350 buckaroos, immaculate condition, 800 days left on warranty.
Just started playing with my new baby, feelsgoodman.
>>45244757
Where'd you find that amazing deal? Cheapest I've seen for those is about $500.
>>45244757
350 wtf?
>>45244606
>Thinkpad S70
Are you a fucking wizard?
>>45244650
Not all the time every day, but I was carrying it around enough for me to get fed up with it. I have a lot of shit to carry, so it was both an issue of bulk and weight.
Aside from trips to the cottage, I don't think the T500 has actually left my desk since I bought the X300 over 2 years ago.
>>45244869
Was asking about it on the old thread yesterday. Pawn shop didn't know what they had.
I walked in and made an offer. Dude had to ask the owner and he said yes.
>>45244683
Less than $100?
It's going to need some work then.
On top of my head the SL400 and SL500 have HDMI, but they are very shitty ThinkPads, basically shit spec T61's with horrible build quality.
The next ones I can think of is an Edge 14 or 15", but even then, it might be over your budget.
>>45244904
I paid way too much for it, like $245, granted it was in excellent condition but its way underpowered, the battery has deteriorated to 60% charge.
I nabbed an X301 that needed an HDD for $120, a much better spec'd laptop but in meh condition.
>>45244930
You actually bought it? Fuckin sweet ass deal, I'm sure you'll sell it for the same price if you ever get rid of it.
>>45244930
I have to ask, what kind of owner pawns off a computer that cost him at least $900 for only $300? I have a feeling the "owner" was a nog who nicked it from a nip.
>>45244972
Eh, you got a better deal on it than I did on my X300. I paid over $350 with shipping, and had to replace the battery a few months later, which was another $100. Does the S70 have the same feel to the keyboard as the X300/X301?
>>45244972
doesn't necessarily have to be under $100, just trying to find something cheaper than i can build with low end parts on sale
i'd basically only be using it for exercise instruction (form, rhythm) videos, so it doesn't need power
already using a very obsolete desktop with a tiny crt and my only problem is having only analog outs, not being able to find pci-e <2.0 gpus for dvi/hdmi to use a bigger screen tv
thanks for the models/lines, i'll take a more in depth peek at them and see if it'll work out for me
>>45244930
pic
>>45245034
I'm pretty sure the dude made some money on it. Selling a brand new laptop to a pawn shop in this condition they had to be desperate and probably accepted like 200 for it. I didn't ask questions, just did the standard checks to make sure it wasn't hot.
>>45245095
>>45245034
Its a pre-production X300, it was also nicknamed the Kodachi.
I guess Lenovo was going to bring back the S-Series line, like the S30/31.
Here's a small gallery of it. the first 17 images are big, the other ones were just small crops for a webpage.
>https://imgur.com/a/Chj3r#33
Here's Lenovo's blog talking about the X300 which was nicknamed the Kodachi.
>http://www.lenovo.com/news/au/en/2008/02/new_x300.html
I bought it from an eBay seller located in Las Vegas earlier this year.
>>45245063
No prob.
I'd try to get a model with a display port, so you can just get an HDMI adapter.
None of the docks have HDMI, well at least the affordable ones.
Next thing I could think of are S-Video outputs, my Z61 has an S-Video output, thinking about plugging it up to my craptacular Sony WEGA TV and getting a AUX to Analog cable wire for sound. Dunno how it'll work though, been lazy to hook it up tbh
Best of luck, some people have been selling small form factor PC's w/ core2duos for under $100, then again, I am not sure if you want that...
Is there a better option for casual use and possibly light gaming than the T420 at around $200-$230?
What's a reasonable price for a T430 with NVS 5400M?
The buyer's guide only mentions the model with integrated video, so it doesn't help.
>ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive
Bay Adapter III
Thinking about pulling the trigger on buying a SSD for my thinkpad t530. I would need to buy the caddy too. Will the SSD work at sata III speeds, I read that it runs at Sata I speeds. Will it be worth the ~$100 investment.
>>45239013
how much did you pay for the T430? Looking at getting one myself.
>>45245881
The Ultrabay on T530's runs at SATA3.
You really should put the SSD in the main drive bay, if it contains your OS and stuff............. You know, in case you actually need the CD reader for something, you can just pop out your storage drive and pop the CD reader back in with no issues.
You do not need any kind of caddy for the Ultrabay hard drive caddy.
>>45245938
Thank you so much, I was sort of on the fence, now i'll definitely buy it. Anything I should look for when buying SSD's?
>>45245964
You could also get an mSATA SSD if you wanted to.
Stick to Intel, Crucial, and Samsung.
>>45245990
ok, I need my WWAN, I dont think i'll get an mSATA SSD
