I'd say get a $250 aftermarket replacement top lid from China, a screwdriver, and 2 hours free time to DIY the replacement. Bonus credits for eco-friendliness.

I'd say get a $250 aftermarket replacement top lid from China, a screwdriver, and 2 hours free time to DIY the replacement. Bonus credits for eco-friendliness. Your laptop is okay, and IMHO there is no need to throw it away. Considering the battery life, my observation is that the older the laptop line, the worse the battery life. They used to do good keyboards before, maybe good chassis, but the batteries were small and heavy. Refurbished Thinkpad P52(s), new P1, X1 are all good choices if you're nostalgic for that "red dot". However I recently had a chance to use a Huawei Matebook X Pro, and it's a beautiful machine, build quality on par with Surface with much more reasonable pricing. Ubuntu or Manjaro run well on it.