2 ms·

I'd like to defend the T430 from a T430. Yes, it was a bad purchase when I made it (and when the author made it), but you can buy them for $100 a piece now on E

I'd like to defend the T430 from a T430. Yes, it was a bad purchase when I made it (and when the author made it), but you can buy them for $100 a piece now on Ebay. Keyboards you can probably buy 20 for $50. Since they are from the dawn of Thinkpad's bullshit, they hardcoded the hardware choices you could make for upgrades into the firmware. Awful. But 1vyrain (https://1vyra.in/ https://1vyra.in/) came along and fixed all that. A T430 doesn't even feel underpowered these days, and has a (horrible) webcam (that can be improved a bit by judicious software postprocessing.) With a dining room table, a router running OpenWRT, 4 T430s, and a 5-10 year-old gaming PC as a server to compile things on/serve things from/etc., you could start a little software company and your biggest expense would be the table.

simfree 3y ago
The 35 watt processor in the T430 is just way too easy to get toasty. The T440 or above with a 1080p screen upgrade and trackpad replacement is so much nicer to use since it cooks your legs less, has a nicer screen, is lighter, thinner and still able to take hard falls without issue.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  > The 35 watt processor in the T430 is just way too easy to get toasty. Definitely true, but I don't use laptops on my lap very often. I also have a fear that > lighter, thinner may mean harder to get into and repair/replace things. ----- edit: let me let these people argue in favor of the T430... https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/r88wag/my_almost_there_ultimate_t430/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/r88wag/my_almost_...
- InvaderFizz 3y ago
  I really enjoyed my T460s from a job back in 2017. My main complaint was the rather anemic 2c/4t CPU. I have a LG Gram 15 that is pretty decent, but very wobbly/flexy. It's saving grace is the lightweight of it. My 16" MBP M1 Max is phenomenal, but very heavy, and I move it 5-10x daily. I plan on replacing it with the ~2025 MBA 15". My wife's 13" M1 MBA is great, but the 13" is not nearly as comfortable for a single display as the 16".
wildzzz 3y ago
I have a T420 gathering dust in a drawer. It was my everyday laptop in college for a couple years but then I switched to buying used Thinkpad tablet PCs for taking notes. I eventually went back to it last year and upgraded a few parts but regretted how hot the thing got with such poor battery life. It was fine running in a docking station but wasn't great on the move which is annoying if I want to use it in bed or on the couch. I remembered how much I disliked the thing so I bought a used X280 and am overjoyed with the purchase.
- NovaDudely 3y ago
  I am running a T420 and 99% of the time it is so cool the fan doesn't even kick in. But yeah when you start to push it - it can get toasty. Work load really determines a lot here.

simfree 3y ago

The 35 watt processor in the T430 is just way too easy to get toasty. The T440 or above with a 1080p screen upgrade and trackpad replacement is so much nicer to use since it cooks your legs less, has a nicer screen, is lighter, thinner and still able to take hard falls without issue.

pessimizer 3y ago
> The 35 watt processor in the T430 is just way too easy to get toasty. Definitely true, but I don't use laptops on my lap very often. I also have a fear that > lighter, thinner may mean harder to get into and repair/replace things. ----- edit: let me let these people argue in favor of the T430... https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/r88wag/my_almost_there_ultimate_t430/ https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/r88wag/my_almost_...
InvaderFizz 3y ago
I really enjoyed my T460s from a job back in 2017. My main complaint was the rather anemic 2c/4t CPU. I have a LG Gram 15 that is pretty decent, but very wobbly/flexy. It's saving grace is the lightweight of it. My 16" MBP M1 Max is phenomenal, but very heavy, and I move it 5-10x daily. I plan on replacing it with the ~2025 MBA 15". My wife's 13" M1 MBA is great, but the 13" is not nearly as comfortable for a single display as the 16".

wildzzz 3y ago

I have a T420 gathering dust in a drawer. It was my everyday laptop in college for a couple years but then I switched to buying used Thinkpad tablet PCs for taking notes. I eventually went back to it last year and upgraded a few parts but regretted how hot the thing got with such poor battery life. It was fine running in a docking station but wasn't great on the move which is annoying if I want to use it in bed or on the couch. I remembered how much I disliked the thing so I bought a used X280 and am overjoyed with the purchase.

NovaDudely 3y ago
I am running a T420 and 99% of the time it is so cool the fan doesn't even kick in. But yeah when you start to push it - it can get toasty. Work load really determines a lot here.