>>107462755
T440p bros where you at? Gonna do deep maintenance next weekend

What draws you the most in ThinkPads?
1. Build quality
2. Upgradeability/repairability
3. TrackPoint
4. Keyboard
5. Branding
6. Security features
7. Port selection

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>>107461340
I dug out the old donor X230 I used for spare parts, gave the working one to my parents some years back. Physically the X390 yoga is very similar to an X230, like half a cm longer, a single cm wider, but much less thick (height). It's also lighter than an X230 with a 6 cell battery, and my X230's a little light since it doesn't have a 2.5" drive.

Keys are disabled in tablet mode, bezels are actually good for handling. Top bezel's about 5/8" (1.7 cm), bottom about 1 5/16"(3.5 cm). Single page of Frankstein in portrait, dual page of Yotsuba in landscape (using Honeyview through wine). Neither take up the full X-axis of pixels (the 1920 pixel side of its 1920x1080 FHD display).

I can sympathize with the concern over hinges, had an old Toshiba convertible tear itself apart thanks to the hinge and the charging port combining stresses to destroy its corner over time. I didn't use my X390 in tablet mode for a long time after that experience, but now that it's not my main computer I do flip it around more often. I feel confident that it'll last me some years as a portable media machine, mostly using it to cast to my TV and also read.

>>107463166
1. Trackpoint. Clit mouse is super convenient for not moving my hands away from home row, and the only reason I haven't jumped ship to Framework just yet.
2. Port selection, since a lot of models let me toss in an M.2 into the WWAN slot and also a smart card reader for work. Most business class laptops are pretty similar in that regard.
3. Upgradeability/repairability. Soldered RAM sucks and the RAM market is fucked up on top of that, but Lenovo appears to be moving towards socketed USB-C. I'm very excited about that since plugging and unplugging a charging port WILL fuck up a laptop over time guaranteed, and before Thinkpads moved to USB-C charging their ports were connected to the motherboard via a flex cable so you could change out that wear point. Plus their hardware maintenance manuals are super easy to find and follow, and have been since the IBM days.
4. Build quality. MIL-spec is mostly a meme but it generally means that it's harder for even a grunt to bang up enough that it dies. Far better quality than a consumer laptop at least, but that's the standard for all business laptops.
5. Keyboard. Moving away from the 7-row layout when they switched to chiclet keys is a crime and whoever made that decision deserves to be shot, it was actually the perfect compromise for a laptop form factor. But when EVERYONE says Lenovo's chiclets are better than most of the market then there's probably some truth behind that.
6. Security features. I don't trust whatever bloatware Intel says is supposed to keep my motherboard safe, and secure boot makes buying second hand a pain.
7. Branding. IBM Thiccpads were better, fight me. This is in jest since I just miss the philosophy of laptops at the time, it's not entirely Lenovo's fault that the market has trended away from utililitarianism. And David Hill did try to keep its spirit alive for a long time.

>>107463166
1 2 and 4. All my work is done through ssh on a separate workstation so other specs don't really matter.

>>107463166
>What draws you the most in ThinkPads?
>1. Build quality
I have just bought my first Thinkpad as a holiday gift to myself, and I decided on the T14 after using one that belonged to a friend, but I made a mistake when buying it - I didn't bookmark the listing and just clicked the first T14 from the seller that had a really good T14 price - and I accidentally bought a T14S. Turns out, the build quality of the S is actually much better than the normal T14. It "feels" premium every inch of the device.
>2. Upgradeability/repairability
Unfortunately, this is not really an option for me as the only things I can upgrade are the screen, SSD and trackpad, but it's already got the best screen that won't shit up my battery life (1080p IPS 500 nits Privacy Guard touchscreen), I'm not a fan of glass trackpads, and SSDs are too retardedly priced right now.
>3. TrackPoint
At first I thought it was stupid, but since I bought the machine to replace my development laptop (2013 macbook air) I discovered very quickly how convenient it is to use the trackpoint and never take my hands off the keyboard. That's handy as fuck. Now the only time I don't use the trackpad is when I'm using the touchscreen to test touch input of apps I'm working on.
>4. Keyboard
Damn fine keyboard. Honestly the best laptop keyboard I've ever used. It's genuinely the next best thing to plugging in my custom mechanical keyboard ... It's even better in some ways. The next keyboard I build, I'm copying the key layout from my Thinkpad. It's just fucking comfy.
>5. Branding
Honestly the branding is pretty nice. It's not super egregious and irritating like a giant glowing fucking apple logo
>6. Security features
Bretty gud
>7. Port selection
Even on an ultrabook, I have a thunderbolt 3, and 2x usb 3.2 ports, a full size hdmi, and a MicroSD slot.

>>107464078
>the only time I don't use the trackpad
Trackpoint*

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Give me a reason not to buy this for myself:
ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 (AMD)
AMD Ryzen™ 3 210 Processor (3.00 GHz up to 4.70 GHz)
14" WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB, 300 nits, 60Hz

Also, notebookcheck review says that you can select aluminum as material of the top of the base cover. All I see is option for "Base Cover Material" which I believe is the bottom part?

>>107464564
Forgot the price, ~600€.

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thinking of getting a semi rugged Latitude to replace my T480 and P52

it starts at 2kg (4.3 lbs for retards) which is not that much heavier than my T480

Cast magnesium chassis + 1100nit display seem quite good
can take 2 batteries for total of 107wh

is it worth paying 3 times of what the same gen used T14 would cost?

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>>107462863
Sold my T440p TWICE this year

>>107464871
Not sure about the 5430 Rugged but I have a 5424 Rugged that's been very good. They are THIIICK. Mine has two Ethernet ports, hdmi and even a 9pin com port.
One nice thing is they have two hot swappable battery bays and no internal battery, and the chinese knockoff batteries are not that bad and priced well.
The M.2 SSD comes in a sled that you can remove from the side if you want to be swapping SSD's in and out of it for different OS's.
Only downside has been the trackpads wear not too well and it starts to look like a tumor where you figure goes most often.
Keyboard is backlit with multiple color options if thats your thing. Fn+C to change color.
These are Dell's answer to the Panasonic toughbooks. Going to be much more durable than any thinkpad, which is more office oriented. I think one of the main markets for these is dispatch terminals in police cars.

>>107462755
Can I replace a non touch screen with a touch screen on the gen4 x1 extreme?

>>107462755
>Bios replacement
What if it's locked?

>>107465165
>trackpad wear
just get a trackpad sticker for like $5 or cut it yourself
>chinese knockoff batteries
i dont mind chink batteries, plus, Dell is using the same battery as on the previous models, so there should be no shortage of them on the market
>Dell's answer to the Panasonic toughbooks
from what I saw Dell stopped making truly rugged laptops like XFR series and the current Rugged and semi rugged models are only designed to compete with the lower class Toughbooks (CF-54/55)
>more durable than any thinkpad
My P52 is probably the best build ThinkPad with both the magnesium rollcage on the inside and the magnesium/aluminum chassis on the outside and I don't see how the Dell is much better than this with only exception being the rubber bumpers on the corners.
Obviously the T,L,E series won't compete with the rugged/semi-rugged laptop.

I really hate how the new T14 creaks and cracks when I hold it, so probably gonna end up getting the Dell

>>107465457
Coreboot doesn't care about passwords set by the standard firmware

>>107463166
1, 2, 4
This is why I bought the X9

>>107463519
>and the only reason I haven't jumped ship to Framework just yet.
framework is a reddit meme and a money sink.

Framework is a meme, I'm more interested in new Dell pro businness laptop lineup. they're more modular than most of modern Thinkpad and Latitude

>>107465155
Is it really that bad?
I consider buying one just to have a DVD player

got an L380 that's still trucking away

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>>107463166
I bought a thinkpad for the color scheme because I like Shadow The Hedgehog

just checking in to praise my X13 that has been in daily use now for i think about 4-5 years, mostly away from home on battery, which is still good enough just a great machine
absolutely love my thinkpad, nothing like it

>>107466952
Just looks like a MacBook knockoff desu

got a refurbished t14 g2 today for around 450 usd converted

ryzen 7 pro 5850u
32gb ddr4
512 gb ssd

almost no visible wear, no screen damage, only slightly shiny keyboard and trackpad

good deal?

>>107468885
I like my gen 1 amd X13 as well.
It only lacks high refresh rate display.

Ok, /tpg/ I need your insight. I bought a used thinkpad t14 gen2 (intel lel) off of ebay. The device has no OS. I can't get the damn thing to detect any USB mounted ISO. It's not even seeing the drive. USB ports are enabled, and the USB diagnostics test in BIOS runs successfully. The USB image is detected on other PCs and I can boot to it. Trying to install arch. Tried multiple USBs (2.0 and 3.0). Searched a bunch of different things and even tried whatever bullshit chatgpt suggests to no avail... any ideas?

>>107469573
secureboot is disabled as well, and i set the boot priority to only detect USB devices and the boot menu comes up with an empty list

>>107463166
Keyboard
TrackPoint
Build Quality
Branding
Port Selection
Upgradeability/repairability
Security features

>>107469446
bretty gud

>>107469573
Have you tried setting BIOS to default yet?
Did you make sure USB ports work at all?
Does Windows boot USB work?

>>107469722
I tried the f9 key option to reset BIOS to default, it doesn't seem to do anything. BIOS doesn't detect a generic mouse even with USB enabled. Tried it with a windows image as well, but again the USB isn't even being seen in the boot list.

You might be onto something as the USB ports aren't even turned on.

Trying to figure out a way to flash it but can't because the USB I/O is fucked.

Going to try to get the panel off and clear CMOS and cross my fingers. Otherwise this thing is possibly fucked. The laptop looks nice too, like it was hardly used.

>>107469812
Sounds like your USB ports are fucked after all.
I assume USB-C is working because you would not be able to charge it at all.
Do you have USB-A to USB-C adapter?

>>107469879
It's trickle charging on a normal USB-C cable because it didn't come with a charger. So at least that works.

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>>107462755
i never had a "serious" investment in anything but when i entered university i decided to buy a thinkpad T480s
it runs a lightweight OS and its wonderful, i do journaling, drawing, notes, browsing, i do nearly everything except gaming in this machine...
but i really wish i could've gotten a more stylish X220t or a cute T420... am i yearning for something stupid? i really like the clunky old design and the t480s is too modern looking even tho it works for me.

which thinkpad should I get if my main concern is battery life?
wants:
>14" 1080p, ideally 16:10 aspect ratio but 16:9 is fine
>can play project zomboid
>usb-c charging port

pretty much set on a t480, but are there other alternatives? battery life is crucial, primary use is email, word docs, studying, youtube + movies (I'll use airplane mode while watching movies), and finally very light gaming (project zomboid, gba emulation, ps1 emulation)
also, where should I buy the secondary battery if I decide to go with the t480? I've only really looked at ifixit.

>>107473550
something newish running Core Ultra
the last 5 years were pretty terrible for battery life both with Intel and AMD but the new Intel chips are actually cool and they conserve power well
You won't get an insane battery life like you would with a macbook air but its much better than it used to be at least

What's /tpg/'s opinion on:
>Pinebook
>Pinebook Pro
>Librem 14
>Framework 13
>Framework 16

>>107464564
decent value for money
check the psref for combination specifications, some are region dependent

>>107468723
>Is it really that bad?
no, it's great. I just needed to clean up my closet. X270 alone is more than enough for my semi classic Lenovo Thinkpad. Compact, runs cool with impressive battery life.

>>107473603
>Pinebook
>Pinebook Pro
i'd get a chromebook at this point
>Librem 14
absolute meme
>Framework 13
>Framework 16
shit build quality and QA but probably the best of the bunch

which linux distro/DE takes advantage of a stylus touchscreen the best
can you even get android like functionality probably not right since no multitouch or whatever

>>107469573
>I can't get the damn thing to detect any USB mounted ISO.
Maybe try getting one of those two headed USB drive with the USB-C port.

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>got L470 for 90 burger dollarino because there's no better deal here on Asian side of Pacific coast town
>worn out 6-cell battery with 25% capacity left they said
>still last over 3 hours
the hell? just how good a brand new battery will be?

>>107474273
Something with KDE or Cinnamon as DEs. So, most normie friendly -

Mint Cinnamon
Kubuntu

I've been considering buying a t14 gen 1 or 2 just to put linux on, dick around on it, and learn the os. Is it good for that?

>>107473759
psref just says aluminium is optional for "bottom". That refers to the bottom of the laptop, not the palmrest part?

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-E14-G7-review-The-affordable-office-laptop-stands-out-from-the-competition-with-its-120-Hz-display.1071704.0.html
>The lid and underside are made of aluminum, but the top of the base unit is made of either plastic or aluminum. Our model features plastic, which, from a quality standpoint, isn't quite as nice. We also noted some slight creaking noises. In Lenovo's online store, you can select the aluminum version at no extra charge, which we would highly recommend.

>>107468745
Thoughts on white ThinkPads?
https://www.notebookcheck.net/ThinkPad-X9-Aura-Edition-Lenovo-releases-first-Moonlight-White-ThinkPad-laptops-in-two-sizes.1057634.0.html

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>>107477944
>it's real
wtf

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>>107477944
Feels wrong but it also feels fitting at the same time. Modern Thinkpads are just as concerned about aesthetics as any other brand, especially the X1 amd X9 lines which Lenovo likes to show off as their Macbook/Air competitors. I'd rather them keep industrial black for the machines that actually do business shit and have their flashy showpieces looking different.

Like, I look at shit like this and think about how it has no fucking ports and it's going to thermal throttle like a bitch. This is NOT from the same design philosophy that birthed the X300/X301 which was all about maximizing features in as minimal footprint as possible; this is from the same train of thought that has phone companies brag about thinness every year at the expense of features like removable batteries and the headphone jack. It's telling how its big selling points are how light it is and how high-res and how high refresh-rate the display is.

>>107478138
>and it's going to thermal throttle like a bitch.
The "engine hub" design should prevent that I believe

>>107469573
you can always install os on different computer to nvme and put in thinkpad once it's done. Just keep in mind it has to be uefi.classic boot has been verboten on t14 g2.

Got a T480, Mint doesn’t see the nvme drive. Bios does, Windows does, Mint doesn’t. Not even in /dev.

Anyone with a backlit xx30 keyboard? Is the backlight dimmer than the screen's backlight, or is that just me? I assume it's a consequence of the legends not being transparent. The ThinkLight™ is actually pretty bright.

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What's wrong with my thinkpad?
It looks funny.

>>107480621
Mint is garbage, try using a real distro.

>>107463505
>but now that it's not my main computer
What is your main computer nowadays? Also, have you read Sea Wolf by Jack London?

>>107482994
Some monster stole its trackpoint.

>>107464871
don't carry that thing around if you live in london

>>107473550
The T480 with a low-power screen swap and a modern LiPo battery off eBay gets me literally 12+ hours on a single charge, however the battery hasn't maintained that long charge life very well. This could be because the refurb battery isn't high quality (and one of the cells is unbalanced, dragging everything down) or it could be i've just done so many power cycles its a natural death. I'm going to try taking the battery pack out, splitting the plastic, and rebuilding it with known-good cells to see if that makes it last even-even longer. And I have the model with the best CPU and MX150 (which i turn off but whatever)

Also Debian which is pretty meh for battery life.

>>107490373
Why no? It's basically a weapon in its own right

When will the reversenotchshit go away bros?

>>107462755
what thinkpad has the best battery life and is around 14"?

>>107463166
all but 6, as a system can only be as secure as its least secure element which is always the same: the user

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>>107463505
Sorry for the late replay but I really appreciate the effort for the comparison.
Thank you, this is why I love /tpg/ threads.
Few questions though...
How does the X380 compare to the X390?
Since both I think have USB C as well as similar specs?
What about the L series? Since I found listing for these that's quite cheap.
Also what about models like
>Hp Elite X2 1013 G3
>Lenovo X1 Tablet Gen 3
Both of those cost the same as the X390 Yoga, but I'm not sure how it compare to the size and portability.

>>107493399
X380Y has more semi-classic features like a modular power port, lift-lock keyboard, and second SSD support.

L380/L390 Yoga are built okay but suffer from bad cooling. Might still be a good compromise if you really want modular RAM and a full, easily replaceable keyboard (no lift-lock though). L13Y G1/G2 have a worse build and no advantages over X13Y except how easily the (shrunken) keyboard can be swapped.

>>107493750
So the X380Y is better than the X390Y?

>>107463505
>1.2
>1.4
a 200 g isn't a lot.

>>107493928
Mostly. All that X390Y has to offer is mechanical dock support and a couple of CPU bugfixes.

The 2880 x 1800 OLED is a weird resolution, do 1080p games look bad on it due to scaling?

>>107463166
>they're cheap
>parts are available
>they're built marginally better than most laptops
>they are one of the last laptop manufacturers that still sell 15 inch models with a full keyboard
>they are one of the last laptop manufacturers that have physical buttons above the touchpad

>>107493399
X390Y anon here again. I can't really say anything about the other models you're asking about but I can still give you feedback about the yoga models. Like the other anon said the X380Y is pretty much superior to the X390Y, all the 90 has is a """slightly""" more powerful top-end processor (literally only 5 more points per cpubenchmark) and a second USB-C port in lieu of a modular power port, but I'd argue that since your criteria was just USB-C charging then the 90 doesn't even have that since you can change the modular power port for one that accepts USB-C https://www.tindie.com/stores/mikepdiy/. Mechanical dock support sounds irrelevant for your usecase and you can still plug the 80 into any USB-C dock, and I'd argue the 80 being able to support a WWAN slot SSD is much more important if it's going to be your main machine.

The lift-lock keyboard is also deceptively important because it would be much nicer to support a flat surface in tablet mode on the 80 than to press the keys with the 90, although they are disabled once the screen goes beyond 180°. More importantly the 80 has rubber feet on the keyboard bezel for it to rest on, whereas the 90 is simplified to have the keyboard recessed so when it's set down on that side the bare bezel makes contact. You also have the option to swap to different language keyboards on the 80, the 90 is designed to that the bezel only supports one language.

>How's you day to day handling?
>Like is it light enough to take with you and use as PDF reader in tablet mode?
>Light enough to use as media consumption device?
>What about the thickness of the device? did it bother you at some point?
I'll answer from my experience with the X390Y, but handling will be basically the same as X380Y.

>>107496255 (cont)
As a tablet it's definitely more of a "two-hander" if that makes sense. While the screen bezels allow it to be grabbed comfortably regardless of orientation, being 13" and also a covertible means you'll definitely notice it if you try to one-hand it like an iPad or ereader. On the flip side it's very comfortable to "cradle" it in your inner forearm, with your hand holding one corner and the opposite corner in the inside of your elbow.
This feels very stable, and it's still light enough that you shouldn't be bothered by supporting it like that. It's comfortable to do it in both portrait and landscape. I guess in real-world examples I'd say it wouldn't be comfortable to one-hand it while lying on your back in bed like I could do with my ereader or a normal tablet, but it's definitely light enough to be comfortable while lounging on the couch or sitting in public transit.

I've been rereading some manga lately and the form factor is great for that, double page spreads work well in landscape and there's still plenty of screen space left over. Same thing for reading double-paged pdfs or epubs. Although personally I don't think I'd do single-page portrait reading (I'd rather use an ereader at that point), I think there's conveninence in the option to have such a large screen just for viewing a single book page.

Media wise it's great, although that's not something I necessarily have a high bar for. I like being able to put it in "tent" mode, really nice to set it on a flat surface while also mimizing space and not fucking up its cooling. It's good for the couch, the kitchen, or even just lazing sideways in bed.

Battery life will take a hit watching videos, that's true for anything. What I find convenient is that I'm able to screen mirror my laptop onto my TV via Wi-Fi, or just plug in via the HDMI port. And since it's a convertible I can just plug in an external drive and copy things on/off my internal storage without dealing with dongles.

where do I get a battery for my x230?

>>107497872
ebay

I just picked up an Elitebook 845 G7 with a Ryzen Pro 4650U from Ebay. Spent $250 which is about $50 to $60 more than I needed to spend but this one is in excellent condition and comes with a year warranty. Can't wait to see how it is.

>>107497872
aliexpress