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By Caleb Cotten
Created: 8/5/24
Modified: 8/15/24
Welcome to my website. I am interested in low-tech, old tech, and fighting the quickly approaching digital dystopia. Outside of work/school, I waste my time repairing, learning, and messing around with computers and devices.
Today I'm talking about why used Thinkpads (and business laptops in general) are great devices for many people. cue thinkpad circlejerk post
I really enjoy using my Thinkpad x230. It is speedy (enough), relatively compact, and still contains plenty of useful ports. I have added a 1TB SATA SSD and 16GB of RAM (which are both overkill for my use case) in order to bring this laptop into the 2020s. I have installed quite a few linux distros on this laptop over the past couple of years (recovering distrohopper) and they have all ran great. Windows 10, on the other hand, is quite slow to load, and I have since freed my computer from Micro$oft.
The keyboard is fantastic, although many say that the classic thinkpad keyboard (on and before the 20 series) is even better (I, a beta zoomer, am indifferent). Either way, both keyboards are far superior to any other new, mainstream laptop. The trackpoint mouse in the middle of the keyboard makes navigation super easy. If for some reason you do not want to use the trackpoint and plan to use the trackpad, maybe consider a different device since the trackpad on the x230 and many of the older thinkpads are not that great (trackpads started getting good on the 50 series and above, and 40 series thinkpads can also be modded for newer trackpads).
One of the best things about older thinkpads and business laptops has to be the port selection. older-style business laptops typically have ethernet ports (personally, a must-have), multiple USB ports, an SD card slot, and sometimes multiple display output ports. In particular, my x230 has 3 USB ports, a VGA port, a mini-DisplayPort, an SD card slot, an ExpressCard slot, a headphone jack and an RJ45 ethernet port. Is it a slim ultrabook laptop? No, but it sure will plug into just about anything. My Latitude E5470 also had about the same connectivity.
Repairability is an important right to maintain over your own computers. Most business class devices can be repaired to a degree since many businesses perform or outsource repairs. On the latitude and thinkpad lines, most laptops offer user-replaceable RAM, storage, wireless card, battery, and display. Some of the larger laptops even offer upgradeable CPUs (although depending on the age of the device, it is probably better to purchase a newer device with a superior, yet non-upgradeable chip). Most (if not all) of these repairs can be made with just a screwdriver set.
The first thing you'll notice when looking at old business laptops is their size. My x230 is massive by modern standards, and isn't quite as convenient as a Macbook Air (unless you need to plug into literally anything more than a charger). However, I personally don't mind the thickness, especially since it isn't super heavy like pentium 4 laptops were. In fact, the heaviest part of my x230 is the 9 cell battery that protrudes slightly out of the back and underneath the device, making the keyboard comfortably angled. If battery life is not your priority, you may consider a smaller 6 cell battery, but most people should opt for the longer lasting 9 cell as it is an older device.
If you are in the market for an older business laptop, here are a few popular models for different use cases:
Thinkpad T420/T430: 14" laptop with upgradeable CPU. T420 has classic 7-row keyboard, while the T430 has the island-style keys present on newer thinkpads. Has a DVD drive.
Thinkpad X220/X230: 12" laptop meant to be more portable. X220 has classic 7-row keyboard, X230 has the newer style. No DVD drive, No upgradeable CPU.
Thinkpad T60/T61/X60/X61/X200/T400/etc: Core 2 Duo thinkpads can be modified to run completely free (libre) firmware, making them FSF-approved, and free from the Intel Management Engine/AMD PSP, a potential security and privacy threat on later Intel and AMD models. This is likely the only reason to purchase one of these laptops outside of collecting, unless you just really like a 4:3 aspect ratio and winXP games.
Dell Latitude E5xxx/E7xxx/etc: I don't have many particular models of latitude laptops to share, but they tend to follow the same path as thinkpads. They got rid of their own classic keyboard around the same time as lenovo in favor of island style keys. Some lesser known models can be found cheaper than thinkpads because people don't meme latitudes, so save youself some cash. I was mostly happy with my pretty modern E5470, I just didn't like the big screen and Dell's version of the TrackPoint. The touchpad was great, keyboard was alright, although I much prefer a modern thinkpad keyboard to a modern latitude keyboard. YMMV.
Or just use whatever you have until it breaks beyond repair lmao
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