Edit: Jesus Christ, people. If you buy a $150 Thinkpad made by slave labor instead of a $1,200 MacBook made by slave labor, you’re still supporting a capitalist economy based on slave labor. We all do. We have no choice. The number of smug liberals in the comments saying “well I buy a cheap used laptop” or “well I buy coffee beans and make my own coffee” are completely missing the fucking point.
Don’t tell yourself your consumption is moral. All of us make unethical choices every day because there is no ethical consumption under capitalism. Accept your shame and guilt and let it drive you to do better.
now, i really only recommend this is if you dont mind spending a while getting yourself familiar with the lineup, and the used market, but i would recommend looking for a solid used thinkpad. I’m preferential to the t/w 420 or 520 series, you can get them in pretty decent condition for pretty cheap, though some of the newer ones are quite a bit more modern. They aren’t super flexible on ports, but they have a significant variety, as well as a number of integrated features. And of course docking stations, though im not sure if those disable on board ports or not.
the t480 does also have a really cool feature where it has two batteries, one internal, and one external, and you can swap the external one as needed, so you basically have infinite battery life lol. The newer ones are alright, they don’t adhere to the design language of the older thinkpads though.
The framework is a very solid bet if you want a no frills machine that’s modern though, can rep. They cost money though.
Big ups for the thoughtful write up! I’ll be sure to add that to my list as I dig in deeper.
I’m graciously able to say I’m finally, finally at a stage where I have a lil extra fun money to play with. No Daddy Warbucks, but we can actually think about toys I’ve had on the wish list for ages. For something that I’ll be using for gigs I’m absolutely able to see value investing in something that will help me hone my craft.
Certainly in no rush; I’d rather measure twice and purchase once. (Well maybe a bit of a rush lol that summer fomo will kick into high gear any minute now fuck me it’s basically April lol)
Appreciate you, have a great weekend! 🤙
yeah, i’ve only just recently gotten involved in older thinkpads, and they certainly live up the reputation. A lot of them even have some pretty unusual features, which is highly welcome. The t480 battery swapping for instance.
Personally im not too big on spending lots of money, i just hate spending obscene amounts of money on things where something cheaper and more interesting will do what i want. Though i dont mind spending money on things when the investment is clearly there either.
If i had the money to spend, and i was going to run the ever living hell out of one, i would definitely be buying a framework. Otherwise i’d probably buy an old thinkpad, they’re cheap due to the volumes of them that were sold to businesses.
Though it is also worth noting, a few OEMs now are doing similar things to framework, i know HP is, i want to say dell is? Dont quote me on it. But there are more things appearing in the market, that are bringing repair-ability back, which is good. Though im sure framework is still going to have a better community around it, especially if you like linux. That’s the other reason thinkpads are particularly popular, they’re out there, and lots of people have them, and lots of people use them. There’s tons of information on them, from thinkwiki, to the thinkpad community forum, and reddit of course.
I wish you luck in your adventures, and perhaps some fun as well. (maybe pick up an older thinkpad just for the hell of it, give you something to work on as a side project) oh and if you do get into thinkpads, and you want some knowledge on the t/w 520 and possibly 420 series, as well as some of the later models, feel free to hit me up, i have some pretty good resources under my belt.
Damn decent of you, cheers! 🍻.
I very well may take you up on that. Shouldn’t be too hard to justify a second new toy either 😂