Thinkpad X220

>be a based notebook from 2011 >cheap as fuarrrk >"Laptop of the people" So yeah then I visit Ebay,this Laptop is sold for 200€ I mean like wtf ? Why are they so expensive,they are for todays standards old and "unusable"

The seller probably knows about the ThinkPad hype going on and is trying to make a buck out of it. Also, I heard they're much more common in the US rather than Europe, and therefore cheaper, so that might be a reason. Keep looking OP, I wish you luck you finding a good deal in some pawn shop like I did. Although yeah, these are pretty old and I was thinking of looking into Framework laptops or something as soon as I get the bread.

coreboot look at the state of this soykaf https://www.qubes-os.org/doc/certified-hardware/

>>63162 And some sad soul will pay the money which will keep encouraging this kind of shenanigans.

Thinkpads have gotten a lot of hype in general, much like everything else popular and sought after, people will charge as much as people will pay for them. It's an unfortunate reality, but one I have to put up with.

Try to find hardware recyclers in your area and buy from them. They will sell stuff that is still working for below market value.

>>63152 You should go for the X230, it will be a lot more performant. You can easily replace its keyboard with the classic one, if you want. But yeah, sadly they are usually overpriced or in bad conditions, so good luck finding a good deal. Going to coreboot it and install QubesOS (its developers also recommend the X230) on it when I get one.

you don't NEED the x220. i'm happy with my x201 which runs slackware.

>>63152 Here in my country, they're sold pretty cheap. Main reason is that there isn't much opensores hype here so people just sell it as just another old laptop.

>>63152 Anything that becomes a meme will have a price increase, that is supply and demand 101. I have an x220 and I don't think it is a good laptop for three reasons: the screen is 1366x768 without modding, you cannot find original batteries anymore, and it gets hot. I also have an x260 and I it is a better laptop overall. Sure it doesn't have the same strong build and the keyboard is not as great, but it runs faster, colder and it can have a 1080p screen.

>>63152 >I was to buy product because it has rare and unique characteristics >omg why is it so expensive Economics is hard.

>>63152 got mine for 80 bucks a couple years ago, and they were usually going for like 100-150 even then. I pretty much just use it as a chan machine and for writing.

200 euros for a laptop is incredibly cheap, wtf? I didnt even know there was some new hype for thinkpads but i was forced to buy one for Qubes because nothing else is supported

>>63325 Just buy new 18650 cells and fix the battery.

>>64814 I read somewhere that it is not as easy because of the embedded chip, it will treat the new cells as old cells.

The Thinkpad X220 does not receive microcode updates and is completely obsolete. End of story. Buy a new laptop and upgrade every few years to ensure you always receive the latest security updates. Laptops are not meant to last. They are to be thrown away once they are no longer supported, usually 3-6 years after it's release.

>>64881 Golly gee whizz mister. I'll get on it right away. Which should I get? The Microsoft® Surface Laptop 5 powered by 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5/i7 processors built on the Intel® Evo™ platform, with Windows 11 and a vibrant touchscreen OR the MacBook® Pro with the Retina™ display and the revolutionary Apple® M2™? Oh! My phone is obsolete too. Should I get the Samsung® Galaxy Z Fold4 with the pioneering Infinity® Flex™ display that's perfect for multitasking? BUT bestphones2023.in says that the best Gaming™ phone is the ROG Phone 6 BATMAN Edition. It's like the acclaimed ROG Phone 6 but in collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products I'll be able to pay tribute to the enigmatic tech-savvy crime fighter, the Batman. I reckon I'll end up going for the ROG® Phone™ 6™ BATMAN® Edition™ because the ROG® Phone™ 6™ BATMAN® Edition™ features the Bat-Signal Projector, Batman Aero Case and Batman Ejector Pin. I've always wanted to know what it's like to feel what Bruce Wayne feels when he swaps his SIM cards. I imagine you have all the latest and greatest gear. All on monthly finance of course, wouldn't want to actually own anything. That's so 2002. Could you recommend a Notebook for me? I'm actually a bit surprised you used the word "laptop". That was coined in the 80s. Wasn't it made obsolete in like 2010. All the cool modern websites use the work Notebook now. Shut the fuarrrk up bug man. How did you even find this site? Is vid related how you got here?

>>64881 While it is true that firmware updates are not supported for each device forever (for example the T430 got its final UEFI+EC update in 2019), it is important to note that: 1) microcode updates can also be installed through the OS 2) many X220 users usually also choose to flash coreboot, thus not relying on the stock proprietary firmware Then it could also be considered how on modern x86 machines, due to the evolution of Intel ME (which is also a security concern), me_cleaner has more limited capabilities. Boot Guard also doesn't allow coreboot to be flashed in these machines. The X230 is a good privacy/security machine as well (it is the main laptop of reference for projects like Heads or Qubes for a reason), and that is also quite an old laptop. And of course older ThinkPads also have the benefit of better build quality and better repairability/upgradability. Anyways, if you use spycord you can join the ThinkPad server, there are people more expert than me on the topic.

Buy a T series. They're usually cheaper since the X series are memes, and the CPUs on T-series are swappable. Get a T440p and put coreboot on it. It's basically the best coreboot-compatible Thinkpad. Or a T430 or T420. There are loads of old solid inexpensive Thinkpads out there. You just have to look out for them.

>>64892 Please let's not use 4/g/-like rhetoric. The X series is excellent if you're looking for an ultraportable laptop. I'm not sure whether this is possible in modern models, but in the X230, if you want a different CPU, you can replace the mobo (can't say if the performance benefits are really worth it though, maybe someone from the ThinkPad server could judge). Also, the choice of removing the physical buttons from the T440p's trackpad is quite disappointing imo. I'd say the only good thing it has going for it is supporting coreboot, otherwise the T480 is probably a much better choice from every aspect. But yes, the T430 is also a great choice (and, along with the X230, recommended by the Qubes project, not by chance).

I've got x230 and pinebook pro. My gf has x250 which I chose for her. In my opinion Pinebook Pro > X250 > X230 as a portable laptop. It turns out that screen and battery life are more important to me than excellent keyboard. My ideal device is thus: low power and fanless with 14in 1080p IPS screen, keyboard backlight and keyboard quality of x230, decent touchpad

>>63152 X220 is fuarrrking soykaf X201 is the cyber-people's laptop of choice. Sadly too expensive as well. Mine died due to corrosion on battery terminals, seemingly nuking the whole board with it, I'm too dumb to identify by just looking and don't have the expertise to identify specific hardware issues so now I'm just using my T440p. Not that I need a laptop much anymore now I'm out of university.

>>63322 this is true, the x201 is extremely underappreciated. People think they're old cinder blocks so they give them away even when they have an i5/8gb. The x201 is pretty cool too because it can boot from the SD card reader so you can dual boot. Unless you need an IPS screen, there is little advantage going with an X220 over an X201.

x220 and x201 are kool and all, but core5/7 has unremovable ime blobs so x200s best option if you want to go 100% free, but it's core2 w/ 4gigs(actuallyyoucanput8gigs) so if you want to run gentoo on that notebook buy a POWER9 server or some soykaf like that and crosscompile it, if coreboot is good enough then x201 is best portable option and w530 w/ modded unsoy'ed keyboard is best workstation option

>>65323 >100% free You know about the existence of POWER9, so I don't want to be very pedantic; but, of course, there is no such thing as "100% free" on x86, even on librebooted machines. They still run CPU microcode, EC firmware and other non-free components. Here's some excellent research done on the matter by the developers of open-source firmware projects and other security researchers: https://osresearch.net/Heads-threat-model/ https://osboot.org/faq.html https://blog.invisiblethings.org/papers/2015/x86_harmful.pdf The real solution would be indeed switching to an actually free as in freedom architecture like RISC-V or OpenPOWER. But I realize they are not really consumer-grade options, currently. >unremovable ime blobs Again, I don't want to be pedantic and you might already know about this, but although some machines do not fully remove Intel ME (like the X230 and other Ivy Bridge machines), I would argue they still neuter it to the point it's basically innocuous, since main components like the kernel and the network stack still get removed by me_cleaner. However, you should listen to the actual developer's words: https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner/wiki/How-does-it-work%3F

>>63152 just look for a used ryzen thinkpad instead, it'll be a similar price if anything.

>>63152 Older Thinkpads became a meme and sellers finally caught on and jacked up the prices. Also the X series Thinkpads weren't as popular as the T series so they are a bit more scarce >posted from my X230

Just keep looking lainon. I looked at ThinkPads on what is essentially my local craigslist for about a week and got insanely lucky by finding an X220 that was advertised as an X200 for $30. It's in pretty good condition. 8GB RAM and i7 2640M, been using it for a year.

speaking of x220s: i want to upgrade mine to 16gb ram, but any kit i find is about 100 bucks, wich seems pretty extreme to me. i slightly remember that not every stick works, can i just by any 2x 8gb DDR3 PC3 PC3-10600S and will be fine?

Have anyone here had experience with dell latitude/precision or hp elitebook business laptops has a alternative to thinkpads?

>>66292 Im currently using dell latitude e6330. It's very durable, but kinda heavy. also very cheap

>>66289 Any so-dimm ddr3 should work. If you can't return it, search on the lenovo forums, there are usually a lot of threads about this. If i recall correctly, the 1060mhz sticks are limited to 4gb but a 1600 (most popular from that era and plenty available on ebay) is going to work, the bios would limit the speed in that case.

>>66292 Elitebooks have a soykafter keyboard/nub but are well made. Probably less rugged and the plastic definitely has a cheaper look and feel. For a while they may have been the most easily serviced laptops of all time, just a few screws and slide the cover off. It was really something that Lenovo and Dell should have copied so of course we'll never see its like again. >>66289 If you think it will work, it will work. With DDR3 the only thing you generally have to watch out for is single rank DIMMs. That doesn't stop random people on the Lenovo forums from saying ludicrous soykaf like "Corsair RAM doesn't work in this". Who knows what led that moron to that conclusion.

>>66313 >>66314 thanks for the advice, i ordered a pair, fingers crossed!

>>66292 Had an Elitbooke 2560p. Shit it was. Now a Latitude E6440 (1080p IPS option!), E6430 and E6430s, all delightful. The E6440 is the T420 of Latitudes, don't bother going further if build quality and good keyboard is your thing.

>>66313 >>66314 thanks again, the sticks arrived today and everything is bliss, guess i manage to squeeze out a few more years running this wonderful machine. next stop: better display.

>>66419 you've got damn near the same machine as me! let me know if you ever find a good display they've been hard to find as of late

>>66420 found some LED displays with the standard resolution on ebay for about 60 bucks (i'm considering them for that price, still better then the default one, also mine starts bleeding since 2018), the only FHD i've found on ebay are X230 or newer. i'll keep looking.

I stacked up on them a while ago

>>66320 Funny, I just nabbed an E6440 for cheap myself! AMD graphics model in perfect condition for $50. I already swapped in an i7-4702MQ, but this awful low res screen has got to go. Can you point me in the right direction for a panel compatibility list and/or installation guide? All I know at the moment is there are 1600x900 and 1080p options as well 30-pin and and 40-pin connectors, but coming from Thinkpads the documentation beyond that is a little sparse. I'd prefer FHD but even the 1600x900 panel would be an upgrade so long as the viewing angles are better.

>>66463 Don't remember enough, lol. Only that everything but the 1080p is crappy TN.

Anyone know the best way to clean a T60? I haven't actually cleaned my laptop's keyboard thoroughly before and it looks like it could do with a good cleaning. Would generic baby wipes be okay? Or would that be too wet and risk leaking water through the keys to the motherboard below? That's pretty much the only thing I'm worried about really. Lainons of the more hygienic variety, I seek your wisdom!

>>66482 Yes, it's totally safe. I cleaned my T400's keyboard with baby wipes myself. Even if some water leaks through keys there must be some sort of water resistance mechanism, old thinkpads like T60 had nearly-waterproof keyboards. You can also use screen wipes (overpriced and more dry baby wipes)

>>66482 you can also take off the keyboard to clean it if you want to be extra safe. very easy to do on older models

>>66482 General electronics tip. If you circuit isn't powered you can even clean it with water, BUT residue can form and it has to be completely dry before plugin it in. So what most people do is use alcohol. It dries way way quicker. Also your keyboard is made to hit some moisture especially thinkpads, you can literally get a garden hoe to clean those chunky boys (I would stick with baby wipes tough)

>>66485 >>66486 >>66491 Thanks lainons. I'll give ol' Bessie the scrub down tomorrow :)

>>63152 I'm looking for a old soykafty laptop to put linux on too. I couldn't find one but my family had an old desktop and now I'm using it like a server.

>>63152 >laughs in T430 you need to step up your game mate.

>>66292 had an E7440, soykaf was cool but I had to use throtthlestop to diable BD PROCHOT. That was the last time I ever had a Dell. Now I daily a T430 and couldn't be happier.

>>66550 >you need to step up your game mate. Can I have your wallpaper?

>>66535 Just get any Thinkpad you can find, basically. If you want to buy used, look for used/refurbished business laptops (they are usually in better condition than used consumer laptops). Be sure to buy it from a seller that has a good reputation because the BIOS/UEFI settings can be locked and the laptop itself can be stolen (and Computrace may be enabled), if you buy from a shady seller. But if you just want another computer to test GNU/Linux, use a VM (VirtualBox (easier) or qemu) or get a Raspberry Pi. >https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/ThinkPad >https://wiki.installgentoo.com/wiki/Laptop_Buying_Guide

>>66464 No worries lainon, I did some research and nabbed the right panel. Makes a world of difference. Now, out of curiosity, what does your average battery life look like? I'm using the standard-capacity battery (OEM, "excellent" health according to BIOS) and running W10 LTSC IoT I'm only getting about 3-4 hours of use. Coming from my X270 that lasts 10-12 on Debian, that's a huge step down. But I'm curious how much of that can be attributed to 1) Windows and 2) the fact that I'm using the non-expanded battery configuration. I actually did order an expanded 97Wh battery but my my luck was shot and it seems it came in flat dead; battery indicator flashes orange when I connect it, and the BIOS reports "no battery installed".

>>66755 something you could try is to make sure your charger is powerful enough to charge the larger battery. I had a similar problem with my x220. Battery didn't charge, but had no issues with the stronger charger.

>>63152 >posted from my x220 recently bought an x220 to replace my t420 as a lighter daily. ebay UK fully refurbished with extended battery for £80

>>63152 Is there a guide to restore a x220 to factory new or close to that level? I bought one and the screws were stripped and tons of chipped plastic. Will the cost of getting the tools and the new parts be more then just a buying a refurbish one?

>>67071 The guide is a single sentence and goes something like this >Do not buy a machine this old and cheap that needs any amount of refurbishment done to it

>>67074 nah I like the keyboard it has SOUL, and I am personally against tech waste.

>>67071 body work is always going to be difficult to fix and to gauge the costs for. honestly if you can live with the damage as is, that's what I'd reccomend. screws are cheap enough and do warrant replacement as working screws are necessary for maintenance and repair of your device.

>>67071 Same guy as >>67082 but I thought of a solution that may be more in line with what you're actually looking for. assuming all the internals are in working order, go on ebay for an x220 listed specifically as parts only. then, simply swap out the broken stuff in your parts only model with your working components and bam, you should be all set. this should minimize waste generated and be a quick and cheap way to fix the body.

>>67082 >>67083 sounds great one last thing any tips on removing stripped screws?

>>67084 pliers, slightly larger screwdrivers, and diligence are gonna be your best be. tweezers may also be useful and I've heard people find success using a rubber band to help grip and fill out stripped screws

>>66757 I have an X230 with a 9 cell and one of my chargers won't charge although it will charge my T420 with a 6 cell battery. My bigger charger works on the X230 though. It never even occurred to me it could be the wattage output of the charger itself. Duh

One can get a ThinkPad P50 now for about $400, the benefit being it has a discrete GPU versus integrated graphics.

>>68199 That makes it useless because Qubes won't even work

Hype aside - My x230 stolen probably 10 years ago is still chugging away. Just a solid tool for software development

I'm using a SL500 from 2009, bulked up the ram to 2 gigs and replaced the HDD with an SSD. Running fedora and replaced gnome with i3wm, which is noticably more performance friendly. This is all well and good until the moment I turn on a browser and visit a modern website. The RAM almost instantly caps out with a few open tabs. Otherwise I love this machine, it's really solid. I'm concerned that modern thinkpads lost the ability to change hardware that easily, I have no experience with them.

>>63172 If they're able to comfortably pay $200 for a laptop you have to wonder if they're a sad soul.

>>63162 fuarrrk I hope the core boot patches for old macbooks never get merged.

>>63152 It's the market price unfortunately. The longer we go the more of those break or get trashed and we are left with fewer and fewer working units. They have also been heavily promoted in tech enthusiasts circles, it's the last X-series Thinkpad that shippd with classic IBM-design keyboard. So the demand is high and the supply is low. Price has to rise in these conditions. But it's not so bad yet. UMPC market is IMO much worse. You pay twice as much for worse performance than X220.