I maintain a 17 year old ThinkPad

Posted by Fred34 4/3/2025

I maintain a 17 year old ThinkPad(pilledtexts.com)

620 points | 580 commentspage 10

gherard5555 4/3/2025|

My T480 just doesn't want to die. I dropped it a lot, in my staircase, on concrete floor, accidentally emptied my whole mug of coffee on it (had to change the keyboard that time some keys were stuck). At some point I felt so confident I tried stepping on it when it was closed. So yeah this thing is pretty tough.

herbst 4/3/2025||

Except the USBc. Not sure if this applies to all models of the t480 series but that connector was slowly breaking down with each use, until it partially worked as charging slot and all usb functionality was lost.

I went trough 4 different docks until I realized who the actual problem was, and the internet was full with similar issues once I knew what to look for.

For some reason my nearly identical, slightly newer, X1 doesn't have these issues.

gherard5555 4/3/2025||

Yes, the connector is a little loose now and the cable comes off easily. But you can use the other connector so its not really an issue for me.

Also it sounds like you may have the infamous issue where the firmware of the charging port cease functioning. I strongly recommend updating the charging port firmware to anyone reading this if you have a T480.

johnisgood 4/3/2025||

Seems like it is the laptop equivalent of the dumbphone Nokia 3310. :D

ccppurcell 4/3/2025||

Mine's about 13. I just upgraded from Ubuntu 22 to 24 and I'm regretting it a bit. on 22 I could watch downloaded films on an external monitor but not stream video. I could live with that. But now it seems 24 uses just a little more memory and watching a downloaded video on the monitor makes it shudder... :(

defraudbah 4/3/2025|

check out lubuntu/xubuntu/kubuntu, perfect for internet browsing and watching videos

sevensor 4/3/2025||

I love old Thinkpads for single purpose computers. Install Debian, boot it once a day, or once a week, or once a month. One for all the flacs I had the energy to rip in my 20s, one for wine and dosbox, one for messing around with programming languages, one for household stuff. It prevents distractions.

justmarc 4/3/2025||

These are very well built machines.

To keep them running for decades Linux or other open source operating systems are pretty much the only choice. Not only for performance (which is better) but also because Windows will phase old hardware support out, it's just what they've always done, and will always continue doing.

KronisLV 4/3/2025||

I currently have an M1 MacBook that I needed for some development (iOS) but now use it for notes and presentations and back up any data on my Nextcloud and homelab. Before that, I had a 210 EUR Polish laptop (I think whitelabel Chinese stuff) that would run Linux distros but would struggle with Wi-Fi.

Frankly, that’s why I quite enjoy desktop PCs. Most of the hardware works as you’d expect and is both repairable (though to be honest I’ve just thrown away mobos in the past when they start misbehaving, possibly due to OC or daily use) and upgradable (I’ve gone from a Ryzen 3 1200 to Ryzen 7 5800X, even had an Intel CPU ages back; as well as from an RX 570 to B580, with a few more CPUs and GPUs in the middle). Different RAM, more drives etc., honestly it’s really pleasant, even if there’s this big box in my room that makes some noise.

DeathArrow 4/3/2025||

Here is someone using the same T400 as daily driver:

https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/1hakly7/the_think...

cft 4/3/2025||

About 14 months after purchase, screen bezel of my MacBook cracked. Apparently there was a tiny food crumb jammed between the screen bezel and the keyboard bezel. It was then that I found out that the screen bezel is made of glass. And that Apple recommends to wipe the keyboard before closing the lid.

the-mitr 4/3/2025||

My R60 which I got around in c. 2005 still works with Linux mint. I replaced the HDD and battery, but rest of the stuff including the orange light (to be used as night light) on top of screen frame still works! The hinges are a bit loose, so they need some support at times.

thecrumb 4/3/2025||

Still have a T420 I keep in my toolbox in the garage. Use it to watch videos when I'm working on my bike or car. It's covered in grease and oil. Sits out there through summer/winter, high humidity, etc yet always boots up when I plug it in.

zakqwy 4/3/2025|

If you run an X220 or X230 and do embedded development, build in an ARM debugger (a thing I made some years ago)! [1]

[1] https://hackaday.io/project/27272-tp-bmp

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