Oppo, school me on old thinkpads

"DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever" (eg6) 01/30/2019 at 23:21 • Filed to: None

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(Pic not 100% related, doesn’t have to be an old IBM one)

I really wanna get a <$100 laptop for school, I already have a desktop at home, so I won’t need to rely on the laptop (I won’t be totally screwed if it craps out).

I’ve been looking at old thinkpads, but it seems hard to find useful information about things that seem important. Such as apparently, they have password protected BIOS? and some of them automatically password protect the harddrive? But I haven’t been able to find any definitive guides on how to deal with this stuff on an unknown laptop. Since most of the sellers on eBay seem to be selling them in mass, I don’t I’ll be able to get much info from them on a particular model.

Also, just to make sure, they accept just a regular 2.5 inch harddrive right? Most of them seem to be missing the HDD, which is fine, since I’d plan on putting a 120 or 240 GB SSD in there anyway. But I wanna know for sure they just take standard 2.5in SATA ones.

Also, I plan on running some form of Linux on it, so I don’t think the underwhelming specs will be an issue. Probably Mint xcfe or I may just say fuck it and (attempt to) install Arch for the lols.

For use case, I’d just be doing some programming, Excel (Libre Calc) , and maybe some general note taking.

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/30/2019 at 23:41

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Im still running an old t410 with a first gen i5 and a cheap ssd. Great machine for peanuts

facw > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/30/2019 at 23:45

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Should be a normal 2.5" drive on them. I don’t know when they switched from IDE to SATA, but I suspect it’s long enough that it doesn’t matter. My 2009 vintage Thinkpad had a SATA drive, so no issue there. I wouldn’t imagine disk encryption will be a problem. They locked down the wifi card so if you wanted to get something with better wifi, that might be a problem (again my old one had 802.11g, and I upgraded to N, but I had to use the cell modem slot, and do a few other things).

If you are buying a former enterprise unit, it’s possible (but I’d think unlikely) it has a BIOS password set. I’m not sure how you’d go about clearing that, possibly you’d need to open it up and pull the CMOS battery or something.

Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/30/2019 at 23:45

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Have you thought about going to Goodwill? There is usually one particular store in the area that has all the computers. At least you will be able to turn it on and check the screen. It might be worth a shot.

These are worth a look as well.

https://m.newegg.com/products/9SIA8AD3GA1579?&ignorebbr=true&source=googleshopping&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-Mobile-_-pla-CL3+Technology-_-Notebooks-_-9SIA8AD3GA1579&gclid=CjwKCAiAs8XiBRAGEiwAFyQ-eqFUopax0ph_12UXRxOk_HA8fcBY7RacV2ddvC3iSzLewzNpI_xg4xoCXygQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Dell Inspiron D830

GLiddy > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/30/2019 at 23:49

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I using a Lenovo T420 which I upgraded to 8GB system memory and a 256GB SSD. I’m a Windows 7 user, so I can’t speak to how well it runs Linux. I bought this machine because it was one of the last to have a real keyboard, and it has an i5 processor. I hate chiklet-style keyboards. I’m going to be really bummed out when this machine no longer can do the job.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition 01/31/2019 at 00:04

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I’ve checked goodwill a few times, but the one’s around me are scarce on laptops and the one’s at pawnshops are newer and expensive.

promoted by the color red > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 00:32

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If you’re curious about specs, Lenovo tracks what shipped in each non-customized configuration.  

eBay parts availability is great for things like batteries & keyboards. Even things like shells & screens can be yours, so it’s possible to build your “dream” Thinkpad. 99% sure my 2009-era T400 has a SATA drive.

Watch out for locked BIOS. The ThinkPad forum can fill you in on why this is bad and how, if possible, to fix it.

Also, check your local university or government surplus sale: there’s usually a few enterprise-grade laptops for sale. Probably shitty condition, but not a total loss.

jminer > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 00:33

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I’m a big lover of thinkpads and have used many, and bought hundreds in various roles as system admin at companies I’ve worked for.

If you want to upgrade to an SSD you won’t want an IBM branded one, while they’re indestructible very few of them were made with SATA drives, most still had PATA drives which you won’t be able to upgrade to an SSD.  Lenovo quality isn’t what the legendary IBMs were, but still good and better than most other manufacturers.

They can have password protected BIOS, which is hard to reset but doable on most models and the drives can be encrypted but that’s not a big deal if you plan on installing an SSD or at least wiping it.  If you’re buying on eBay they should have a picture posted of the BIOS screen with specs, if you see that it isn’t password protected and you’re good.

They’re also enterprise grade machines so you shouldn’t have a problem running either Debian or Red Hat variant distro’s on them.  I’ve always been partial to Fedora and never had an issue using it on a thinkpad, but I’ve also deployed Ubuntu without issue for developers.

You can end up with a 7 or 8 year old one that will do most modern tasks if you’re patient but will max out on memory about 8 GB.  Think something like a X220 or T420 will get you a 2nd gen i series processor.  Battery will be toast on whatever you buy, but Chinese knockoffs are cheap (funny to say that since Lenovo is a Chinese manufacturer).

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > jminer 01/31/2019 at 00:59

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I found a T400 for $45 on eBay. I think I’m gonna take a chance on it, since it’s upgradable to 8GB of RAM (it has 4). Plus the stats class I’m taking this semester isn’t really about dealing with raw data, so I’m probably not going to be getting dumped with massive excel files like last semester.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 09:28

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As long as you’re not gaming on it, a high-soec Thinkpad from a decade ago is comparable to and mid-range machine today.

The X220 should meet your needs. If you want more beef and don’t mind reduced portability, go for a T420 or T400. They’re all built like tanks and are some of the sturdiest machines you can get outside of the military-grade toughbook segment.

Anything that’s Lenovo branded rather than IBM will take a SATA drive.

This site is a good resource:

https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

jminer > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 11:20

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Last of the C2D Lenovo’s, that should work for basic tasks. Don’t expect it to do any of that quick even with an SSD and a light OS. Modern Linux like Ubuntu is still lighter weight than Windows or Mac OS, but everything else is still hungry. Chrome, Libre Office and whatever else you’re running it going to hurt that cpu every time it has a chance.

For the price it’s a good learning tool to bang on hardware and lean Linux though. I’d recommend a mainstream distro though instead of something niche like Arch or mint, either put Ubuntu or Fedora on it if you want easy, if you’re looking for more of a challenge go straight Debian or OpenSUSE.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 11:47

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I have exactly what you’re looking for and I don’t use it nearly as much as I thought I would. Lenovo T500 ThinkPad running Kali Linux. I don’t remember the specs, but if you’re interested I can check. I’ve had it about 6 months and when I have used it, I haven’t found there to be any issues.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 01/31/2019 at 12:18

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I bought a T400 late last night, along with a harddrive (since like all of them on eBay, it didn’t come with one), for only $45. If it’s as advertised I think I’ll be very happy with it.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > jminer 01/31/2019 at 12:21

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I think you’ re right, I might go straight Debian instead. I run Mint on my desktop, so I think I’d be more familiar with Debian than Arch.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) 01/31/2019 at 12:22

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Thanks! But I bought a T400 for $45 off eBay last night, which should do me well.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 12:39

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I ended up ordering a T540p for myself last  night

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 12:48

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I have previously had one of those. You'll like like.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 14:05

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Ah, cool. Enjoy it. I love the T500, just like I said, I don’t use it as much as I thought I would.

NojustNo > DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever 01/31/2019 at 19:53

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T400 are great! Y ou can at least put 4 gigs of ddr3 ram in them maybe 8 . T hey run up through Windows 7 without any problem if you stray from Linux. Haven’t tried 10 yet.

I have a t 400 left over here that I know works fine but is locked out with a password ... so needs a motherboard.   if you need any parts lemme know.