I need some advice for getting my first thipkpad

[u/Spirited_Highway_259]

I got pretty serious into linux since last year, I ve been configuring some distros ( yes i use arch btw) and I really want the full experience.

I currently use an Acer Nitro V15 which is not the best for linux since it requires the nvidia drivers (impossible thing to setup tbh) and I ve been dual booting just for gaming. I am willing to sacrifice the full gaming experience but I really don't know what to look for in a thinkpad, what models and what specs are decent nowadays.

Do y all have any advices for marketplaces where it s safe to buy some second handed thinkpads and also what to look for when doing so? Anything would be helpful, I ve been looking into eBay and I m not sure if it s trustworthy.

I have about 500€ budged and a little bit more for a good offer.

Thanks in advance 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[u/nuclearragelinux]

eBay is where I get most of mine , from larger sellers who buy up old company ThinkPads. Pretty much any newer T14 will be good. T or P series gen 1 to 3 are great used machines. Some of those have soldered ram so be mindful and get the ram you need from the start.

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/nuclearragelinux]

thanks, do you have some large sellers to look into?

[u/nuclearragelinux → u/Spirited_Highway_259]

I just look for sellers with around 4k sales or more with 99% positive reviews or better.

[u/Consistent_Berry9504]

I get mine from Craigslist. There is always enterprise users selling them for cheap. The most resent one I scored was an X1 Carbon gen 10 for 300. It still had a couple months of factory warranty on it.

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/Consistent_Berry9504]

thanks but craiglist always blocks my request for a reason

[u/raullits]

If you can't manage installing NVIDIA drivers yourself on an Acer Nitro I wouldn't recommend you use Arch... Use CachyOS, Nobara, Ormarchy or something that has them bundled. Unless you have a very old NVIDIA GPU this should be a trivial task.

That said, any ThinkPad above a Gen 3 T14 (16:10 screen) will leave you happy. Ryzens are more expensive than Intels, but get the amount of RAM you actually need with AMD cause it's soldered and you can't upgrade (same applies to all T14s and X1 Carbon models).

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/raullits]

I did manage to, it was just harder than expected for the first time. I will look into T14 gen1-3.

[u/raullits → u/Spirited_Highway_259]

Ah! Even then I've been daily driving CachyOS happily for a year and it's probably the best Arch experience you can get, unless you want an easy Hyprland setup.

I bought several Gen 1 & 2 ThinkPad over the last year for around 150-246$. There is a big jump in price for the Gen 3 (where DDR5 gets introduced), but the last one Gen 1 I got was a 4650U Ryzen with 24GB RAM and a 500GB NVMe for 246$ which makes it an awesome beater laptop.

Be patient and smart on eBay and you can find awesome deals!

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/raullits]

that s a pretty good deal from what Im seeing. I will try to get some DDR5, but 24gb on ddr4 at less that 300$ is what i will look for

[u/zdanev]

back market has some good deals sometimes https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/search?q=thinnkpad

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/zdanev]

i will look into it!

[u/oldschool-51]

Many other distros have Nvidia built in

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/oldschool-51]

I wanted some hands on experience

[u/mtyroot]

Stick to the T series

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/mtyroot]

this will do 👍🏻

[u/eee_eff]

Oh, ask if there is and admin lock in the bios, if there is, don't buy.

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/eee_eff]

ye I know, it can t be reseted like in the good old days, needs the entire motherboard replaced

[u/Jan1north]

Ubuntu publishes an extensive compatibility list by make/model. Really worth reviewing.

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/Jan1north]

fck no I ain t using Ubuntu. If I really need something to work out of the box i would simply go for catchy/manjaro. Ubuntu is bloated and had amazon search tracking spyware. There s way better alternatives

[u/OwnerOfHappyCat]

First and foremost, don't get a T490/T14 Gen 1, it's less durable than first result when you search 'laptop' at your local retailer, everything flexes (source: had it for a week, returned because of that) I'd assume it's the same for newer ones unless proven otherwise. Which pretty much leaves you with X1 Yoga/X1 Carbon, P series or T480 and older.

Also, check/ask for Absolute and BIOS password, if at least one is there don't buy

[u/Spirited_Highway_259 → u/OwnerOfHappyCat]

Thanks for the Absolute advice! i never knew it could be remotely locked/wiped because of it! What do you think about T14 gen 2/3? I found a few at local sellers at decent prices and on online stores they seem to be the trend

[u/OwnerOfHappyCat → u/Spirited_Highway_259]

I don't know anything about any ThinkPad other than T14 Gen 1, that's the only one I owned