What I really want is a modern laptop with the old style Thinkpad aesthetics and pragmatisms. i.e ports, replaceable components, magnesium alloy chassis with plastic and rubber armor (i.e tanky AF), good keyboard with real travel, hot swap batteries, 3.5mm jack, card readers, OOTB Linux support, hw kill switches for radios, webcams and mic.
Then for modernisation: 4k OLED, USB-C charging + docking, actually decent webcam and mic.
Ideally in X220 and T400-esq form-factors to choose from.
Instead I have a MBP M2 because Thinkpad just ain't Thinkpad anymore and that is sad.
I do wish that Framework had either expanded into alternative 13" laptop case designs compatible with their hardware or could find a partner who would, before launching a second line of laptops.
I know people have upgraded[1] or put a FW13 mainboard in an old T-series chassis before,[2] but several of those features (hw cam/mic kill switches, field repairability, 3.5mm jack, USB-C PD, tall 4K display, Linux support) are already in a Framework, and the rest could feasibly be implemented in a modern case with appropriate accommodations for FW hardware built in.
> Instead I have a MBP M2 because Thinkpad just ain't Thinkpad anymore and that is sad.
I'm torn on this, I've been a longtime Mac user and am due to upgrade my old mbp to something. Imo the current line of mbp is objectively the best hw+sw laptop experience for the money, but at the same time I would prefer to go the foss route out of principle
Oh, I dunno. I've been using think pads for a many years. I've had a few work issued dell xps's along the way too.
I'm currently running a P14s, and while I have a few minor gripes around the fan and thermals overall I'm pretty pleased.
* 2xTB4, HDMI, 2xusb3, 3.5mm jack, I could have opted for a card reader if I still used PIV/CAC for Kerberos but I carry a yubikey these days
* I prefer the newer Thinkpad keyboards, they have less play (as in wiggle) in the keys
* Linux support out of box is great
* Display and scaling work well with Wayland (sway)
* Linux power consumption is great, <4W idle with minor TLP tweaks and blacklisting the proprietary Nvidia driver
* The touchpad has improved over the years, specifically around the texture of the material and the sensitivity of tap to click
* The i7 processor is honestly overkill in a laptop
I couldn't switch to an M2, well because Linux is a hard requirement for me.
The P series is pretty great if you prioritize connectivity and other specs over size. I loved my P50 until I broke it. BTW, I strongly recommend getting as many years of Premier Care as one can afford. While the quality of Thinkpads has deteriorated over the years, their Premier Care is still very good.
I’ve managed to upgrade an i7 T480 with a new display, glass trackpad, WiFi 6e, 2xNVME SSD and 64GB ram. It has 2 USB-C ports, on of which is thunderbolt. I also have an actual dock for it and batteries for hot-swap.
If they made anything close to the expandability of these, I’d be buying that as well.
i just bit the stochastic bullet and got an x2100 (actually, two because i wasn't sure about the build quality).
it's everything you (and i) want from a laptop -- a reasonably modern (10th gen intel; sadly there probably won't be a more modern one) laptop in an x200 shell (i even ordered a touchpadless palm rest).
it's been my main driver for half a year now without any issues.
Like the author, I've found the perfect old ThinkPad for me and it works brilliantly. I have a nice efficient GNU/Linux install, all my local software runs smoothly and I've used it for my day job for 9 years.
But the damn worldwide web keeps marching on their mission to make the most bloated software in the universe. I should be able to keep using the machine forever with unchanged software, but the web demands more and more, it's running away from me.
The day we fix that issue will be great. So much less e waste. Computers were fast enough for most reasonable tasks years ago.
I blame JavaScript and the deficient culture of insanity around it. The only things that are slow on any of my computers are honking great stacks of shit built on top of browsers with JavaScript. Sometimes I have three different fucking browser engines running these stacks of shit.
I blame the native world for not finding easy ways to build better alternatives. If, for example, C++ people demonstrated that they could write the same software with more ease and speed, then it would've been a no-brainer for all businesses and open source projects in the world.
I still love mine, and I love the replaceable battery and the fact that you can still get batteries.
but best laptop in the World?
I do use mine, occasionally, it's a great work horse around the house for network things as it has an ethernet port.
but TBH I use my X1 laptops more, the ability to USB-C charge is near critical now, and the X220 lack of USB-C as well as low res screen really does mean it's not a machine of this age, it was probably the best laptop of the non-USB-C age... but now it's dated, and only has niche use.
I wanted to go this route but they were always out of stock when I went to order one a year or two ago. Instead, I bought a pigtail-style adapter from Amazon that converts the barrel jack to female USB-C PD. I like it a lot, and I can still use the stock adapter if needed. I also put a little USB-C power monitor inline with the cable, it's neat to "watch" the power going into the laptop.
For your other gripe: I modded two of my X230 to 1080p screens using a small-run add-on board and the right LCD panel from eBay. The board I got was made and sold by someone in Russia (by the name nitrocaster), so I don't know the availability with the war now (or for that matter, if he's been shipped off to the meat grinder to die pointlessly. fuck putin)
Also I personally think the keyboard topic is totally oversold. I'm quite content with the stock X230 keyboard, and I would swap in a heartbeat if I wanted to (it's two screws). And my previous laptops were T22/T60/T61, so I do know the difference.
The work by the LCDFans community, specifically the X2100 mod motherboard [0], was one of those moments that made me do the nodding guy meme IRL the fist time I saw it. Both the level of enthusiast engineering, and electronics manufacturing services available to enthusiast communities, totally blew my mind.
I love mine - I have 64gb of ddr4, a 10th gen intel i7, NVMe SSD, an incredible keyboard, a nice screen, and three interchangeable 6 hour batteries. It was my daily driver for a long time, up until very recently. If they can make a Ryzen-based one I'll be all over it.
...a bulky, heavy 13" laptop with a horrendously noisy fan, an outdated processor, no bluetooth, no camera when everything is done over video, shitty speakers, shitty 18080p 13" TN 4:3 screen, 6 hours of battery life vs 12-18 in current laptops, and so on.
At that time I enjoyed my X220. To be sincere, the form-factor and practicality moving from home to work and having the dock. Then the XPS 13 was more perfect for me because I could attach three external monitors and have power just via a single Thunderbolt cable (no more custom docks). The crux for all of these was the battery daily duration and replacement after a few years. In that context the MacBook Airs excel at a point that more expensive and powerful Apple notebooks such as the MacBook Pro cannot sustain a "marathon" without a charger. The issue with the Airs is that you cannot currently connect three external monitors (without doing very hacky things), but this is just a question of time. Also, this obsession from Apple about not having touch screens in notebooks because they also sell iPads is disturbing.
Finally, an XPS 13 with good battery support (assuming ARM) and good Linux power handling will, probably, be the best notebook available. (would love if they remove the XPS 13 fan and there are more non-moving part notebooks)
I'd argue the X230 (basically an X220 refresh) is slightly better.
* One generation newer CPU (3rd gen, Ivy Bridge, die shrink)
* Additional USB 3.0 port
* Optional backlit keyboard
Both are solid laptops. I bought my X230 in 2016 for about $400USD and with how much I've used it, it has paid for itself. Nearly 8 years of solid service. I "upgraded" mine slightly:
* USB-C pigtail adapter with tiny 65W GaN charger
* USB 3.0 ExpressCard for total of 4 USB 3.0 ports
* Passive microSD adapter that lives in the SD slot
* mSATA SSD for simple dual booting
One can also Coreboot the machine to support newer Intel AC wireless adapters, but I don't do anything that would benefit from it.
Indeed, the classic keyboards rock! I have a T43 and T60 and both are lovely to type on. I've never tried the X220 keyboard but I imagine it's similar.
However, despite the flak island keyboards received, I really like the X230 keyboard. It feels fast, accurate, and responsive. Plenty of travel, and I enjoy the backlight.
> The X220 (like most of Lenovo's older X/T models) is built like a tank. Although the inner pieces are sourced from mostly plastic, the device is still better equipped to handle drops and mishandling compared to that of more fragile devices (such as the MacBook Air or Framework).
The poster is right, I dropped both an X220 and a MacBookAir (from similarly high desks), and the ThinkPad had no scratch despite being plastic, whereas the MacBookAir now has a dent. (I would not mind repeating the involuntary experiment with rugged (military versions) of DELL laptops when the occasion comes.)
I was a 100% Thinkpad fanboy up until the T410S finally pissed me off enough with battery life and keyboard changes to move to Apple.
The T series was built like a tank - a WWII era tank that could take a beating, have bits and pieces crack and break, but chug along until you could get the (cheap!) replacement part shipped. I have a stack of T60 series laptops I think I could keep going for another 50 years just by robbing parts from donor laptops as needed.
The repairability just was second to none. Both in parts availability and design of the laptop itself. A cracked bezel happened, but was a 10 minute and $20 repair.
I started my first real "professional" job in tech, and while packing/moving for said job I somehow had an entire gallon of windshield wiper fluid spill directly into the (running) fan port of my work-issued T42 I had left on the floor of my minivan. I pulled the battery in a panic, but after taking everything apart and drying it all out - it worked fine for at least a decade. I was hooked on the series ever since.
Readit News
Then for modernisation: 4k OLED, USB-C charging + docking, actually decent webcam and mic.
Ideally in X220 and T400-esq form-factors to choose from.
Instead I have a MBP M2 because Thinkpad just ain't Thinkpad anymore and that is sad.
I know people have upgraded[1] or put a FW13 mainboard in an old T-series chassis before,[2] but several of those features (hw cam/mic kill switches, field repairability, 3.5mm jack, USB-C PD, tall 4K display, Linux support) are already in a Framework, and the rest could feasibly be implemented in a modern case with appropriate accommodations for FW hardware built in.
1: https://kitsunyan.github.io/blog/frankenpad-story.html
2: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/145f3qc/i_got_the...
I'm torn on this, I've been a longtime Mac user and am due to upgrade my old mbp to something. Imo the current line of mbp is objectively the best hw+sw laptop experience for the money, but at the same time I would prefer to go the foss route out of principle
I'm currently running a P14s, and while I have a few minor gripes around the fan and thermals overall I'm pretty pleased.
I couldn't switch to an M2, well because Linux is a hard requirement for me.If they made anything close to the expandability of these, I’d be buying that as well.
If the trackpad were maybe 15% bigger and it had USB-C charging it'd be the perfect machine. I'm not even bothered by the screen, 1366x768 is plenty.
it's everything you (and i) want from a laptop -- a reasonably modern (10th gen intel; sadly there probably won't be a more modern one) laptop in an x200 shell (i even ordered a touchpadless palm rest).
it's been my main driver for half a year now without any issues.
But the damn worldwide web keeps marching on their mission to make the most bloated software in the universe. I should be able to keep using the machine forever with unchanged software, but the web demands more and more, it's running away from me.
The day we fix that issue will be great. So much less e waste. Computers were fast enough for most reasonable tasks years ago.
You can't run the most minimal current Linux kernel on a 30 year old laptop either.
but best laptop in the World?
I do use mine, occasionally, it's a great work horse around the house for network things as it has an ethernet port.
but TBH I use my X1 laptops more, the ability to USB-C charge is near critical now, and the X220 lack of USB-C as well as low res screen really does mean it's not a machine of this age, it was probably the best laptop of the non-USB-C age... but now it's dated, and only has niche use.
https://www.tindie.com/products/mikepdiy/lenovo-charging-por...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PJ3J5MY/ref=pe_27063361_48705...
which is absolutely fantastic.
What you are looking for is a USB-C with PD support, which means that the devices can negotiate the amount of power that is being sent!
Also I personally think the keyboard topic is totally oversold. I'm quite content with the stock X230 keyboard, and I would swap in a heartbeat if I wanted to (it's two screws). And my previous laptops were T22/T60/T61, so I do know the difference.
I love mine - I have 64gb of ddr4, a 10th gen intel i7, NVMe SSD, an incredible keyboard, a nice screen, and three interchangeable 6 hour batteries. It was my daily driver for a long time, up until very recently. If they can make a Ryzen-based one I'll be all over it.
[0]: https://www.xyte.ch/shop/x2100-pricing/
...a bulky, heavy 13" laptop with a horrendously noisy fan, an outdated processor, no bluetooth, no camera when everything is done over video, shitty speakers, shitty 18080p 13" TN 4:3 screen, 6 hours of battery life vs 12-18 in current laptops, and so on.
Fool, money, etc.
That said, I would hope no one would read this article and think an x220 is actually a good computer for most modern uses.
Finally, an XPS 13 with good battery support (assuming ARM) and good Linux power handling will, probably, be the best notebook available. (would love if they remove the XPS 13 fan and there are more non-moving part notebooks)
* One generation newer CPU (3rd gen, Ivy Bridge, die shrink)
* Additional USB 3.0 port
* Optional backlit keyboard
Both are solid laptops. I bought my X230 in 2016 for about $400USD and with how much I've used it, it has paid for itself. Nearly 8 years of solid service. I "upgraded" mine slightly:
* USB-C pigtail adapter with tiny 65W GaN charger
* USB 3.0 ExpressCard for total of 4 USB 3.0 ports
* Passive microSD adapter that lives in the SD slot
* mSATA SSD for simple dual booting
One can also Coreboot the machine to support newer Intel AC wireless adapters, but I don't do anything that would benefit from it.
However, despite the flak island keyboards received, I really like the X230 keyboard. It feels fast, accurate, and responsive. Plenty of travel, and I enjoy the backlight.
The poster is right, I dropped both an X220 and a MacBookAir (from similarly high desks), and the ThinkPad had no scratch despite being plastic, whereas the MacBookAir now has a dent. (I would not mind repeating the involuntary experiment with rugged (military versions) of DELL laptops when the occasion comes.)
The T series was built like a tank - a WWII era tank that could take a beating, have bits and pieces crack and break, but chug along until you could get the (cheap!) replacement part shipped. I have a stack of T60 series laptops I think I could keep going for another 50 years just by robbing parts from donor laptops as needed.
The repairability just was second to none. Both in parts availability and design of the laptop itself. A cracked bezel happened, but was a 10 minute and $20 repair.
I started my first real "professional" job in tech, and while packing/moving for said job I somehow had an entire gallon of windshield wiper fluid spill directly into the (running) fan port of my work-issued T42 I had left on the floor of my minivan. I pulled the battery in a panic, but after taking everything apart and drying it all out - it worked fine for at least a decade. I was hooked on the series ever since.