4 ms·

I just replaced the keyboard on a ThinkPad T440p, and it didn’t seem to add a significant bulk to the machine’s profile. It took me 2 minutes flat.

smilekzs 7y ago
+1. The serviceability of ThinkPads had always been a great (if not hidden) feature, almost allowing Ship-of-Theseus-ish rolling upgrades like a desktop. Even though the build quality has generally declined since the T410 era, this at least has been preserved (I have a company-issued P50 and it's still a few screws away from changing RAM and SSD).
- berbec 7y ago
  I replaced the trackpad on an x240 and it took me 2 hours and a few broken spudgers. I would have been able to swap everything else out first, as the touchpad was buried under motherboard, keyboard, hard drives etc.
  - dfox 7y ago
    That is essentially the feature of the “good” thinkpads. You can replace almost anything, but the whole thing is built in this weird upside-down way and replacing anything that you really want to replace means that you have to take the whole thing almost completely apart. On the other hand if you read the official procedure for that and take inspiration from that, the only tool you really need to take it completely apart and assemble back is literally an cheapest swiss army knife which includes philips screwdriver.
  - philsnow 7y ago
    I replaced the AC barrel connector on an x220, which required removing every single part from the chassis. It took me probably four hours all told, and a few gray hairs (it was my wife's laptop, and yes I had a backup of everything on it, but didn't want to need to replace it). An Apple laptop would have been shipped off who knows where for three weeks, if fixing that part were even possible.
- beatgammit 7y ago
  This is part of why I bought an E4xx instead of a T4xx, the RAM isn't soldered on in the E4xx line, so that's at least one thing I can fix that I can't on a T4xx.
  - ucyo 7y ago
    Only the TXXXs models come with soldered memory. I can easily change memory, SSD, keyboard etc on my T470.
    - yulaow 7y ago
      The t490 not s has soldered ram. I think even rhe 590 has soldered ram (at least one slot)
      - krzyk 7y ago
        Yeah, non-s versions are better in that regard, because t490s has RAM soldered (and t480s had one chip soldered + one upgrade-able module), I have it and no way to upgrade that. I really hope EU will pass a law that will forbid soldering RAM and SSD to the mainboard, because it starts getting ridiculous and increases garbage.
dddddaviddddd 7y ago
I'm a bit disappointed by the plastic tabs in newer ThinkPads -- managed to break a couple replacing the RAM in my T480.
- xur17 7y ago
  Had the same problem on my X1. Broke one a few days after I purchased it replacing the ssd.
- grenoire 7y ago
  Allegedly if you get better at it, you can safely remove them. Alas I already ran out of plastic tabs to break :^)
wasdfff 7y ago
The last mac to do that was the ibook g4

smilekzs 7y ago

+1. The serviceability of ThinkPads had always been a great (if not hidden) feature, almost allowing Ship-of-Theseus-ish rolling upgrades like a desktop. Even though the build quality has generally declined since the T410 era, this at least has been preserved (I have a company-issued P50 and it's still a few screws away from changing RAM and SSD).

berbec 7y ago
I replaced the trackpad on an x240 and it took me 2 hours and a few broken spudgers. I would have been able to swap everything else out first, as the touchpad was buried under motherboard, keyboard, hard drives etc.
- dfox 7y ago
  That is essentially the feature of the “good” thinkpads. You can replace almost anything, but the whole thing is built in this weird upside-down way and replacing anything that you really want to replace means that you have to take the whole thing almost completely apart. On the other hand if you read the official procedure for that and take inspiration from that, the only tool you really need to take it completely apart and assemble back is literally an cheapest swiss army knife which includes philips screwdriver.
- philsnow 7y ago
  I replaced the AC barrel connector on an x220, which required removing every single part from the chassis. It took me probably four hours all told, and a few gray hairs (it was my wife's laptop, and yes I had a backup of everything on it, but didn't want to need to replace it). An Apple laptop would have been shipped off who knows where for three weeks, if fixing that part were even possible.
beatgammit 7y ago
This is part of why I bought an E4xx instead of a T4xx, the RAM isn't soldered on in the E4xx line, so that's at least one thing I can fix that I can't on a T4xx.
- ucyo 7y ago
  Only the TXXXs models come with soldered memory. I can easily change memory, SSD, keyboard etc on my T470.
  - yulaow 7y ago
    The t490 not s has soldered ram. I think even rhe 590 has soldered ram (at least one slot)
    - krzyk 7y ago
      Yeah, non-s versions are better in that regard, because t490s has RAM soldered (and t480s had one chip soldered + one upgrade-able module), I have it and no way to upgrade that. I really hope EU will pass a law that will forbid soldering RAM and SSD to the mainboard, because it starts getting ridiculous and increases garbage.

dddddaviddddd 7y ago

I'm a bit disappointed by the plastic tabs in newer ThinkPads -- managed to break a couple replacing the RAM in my T480.

xur17 7y ago
Had the same problem on my X1. Broke one a few days after I purchased it replacing the ssd.
grenoire 7y ago
Allegedly if you get better at it, you can safely remove them. Alas I already ran out of plastic tabs to break :^)

wasdfff 7y ago

The last mac to do that was the ibook g4