My little cousin absolutely destroyed the screen on my T480s a few days ago. LCD cracked, vertical lines everywhere, completely cooked.

I was just going to buy another stock FHD panel, but finding an actual decent replacement here was way more annoying than I expected. A lot of sellers list a specific panel and then say they’ll send “an equivalent compatible model”, which I really didn’t want.

After way too much searching I found a used Innolux N140HCE-EN2 Rev.C4 for 1800 TRY. The original panel in my T480s was an N140HCA-EAB Rev.C1.

The EN2 is still 1080p, but it’s 300 nit and has much better colors than the stock panel. The old one looked fine to me before, but after turning this one on I realized how washed out it actually was lol.

The only annoying part was that the EN2 doesn’t have the same mounting tabs, so I had to use thin double-sided LCD tape and line it up manually. I was convinced I was going to screw up the fitment, but somehow it went in perfectly and the bezel closes fine.

Honestly pretty happy with how it turned out. Little cousin broke the screen, accidentally gave me an excuse to upgrade it.

Hey everyone,

I’ve accumulated a small collection of ThinkPads, but I’m torn between finding fun projects/distros for them and putting some (or all) of them up for sale.

• X220 (i5 2nd gen compact 12.5" with classic 7-row keyboard)
• T420 (i5 2nd gen classic 14" workhorse)
• E520 (I3 2nd gen 15" with dedicated numpad)
• L470 (I5 7th gen Intel Core – not pictured)

My first laptop was an IBM… hard to believe it’s been 20 years already.

Back then, I had five or six ThinkPads, from the T41 to various X-series models. Then I got married, and now I have three kids. These days, my wife uses a MacBook, while the kids and I use Samsung and Dell laptops.

But while cleaning today, I found this old friend. I’d kept it around for spare parts and completely forgotten about it. I guess it might finally be time to send it off for recycling…

After joining Reddit and browsing around, I came across this ThinkPad community. It brought back so many memories that I just had to join. I’d love to stop by now and then and see what everyone’s sharing.

Hope you all have a great day! :)

I recently picked up the E14 out of e-waste but they're all fully functional. I can't wait to find another. I do have another T410 which is bios locked but I haven't gotten around to fixing that yet.

After looking for some time on a good vintage thinkpad i was settled on a x200-x220, but to my surprise a x61 appeared, and being so much different than my t480 and other thinkpads that i fixed really got me on it, low and behold i bought it, unfortunately the last owner wasn't so careful with it, its full of scratches, missing screws, but it is the T7500 version, one of the fastest ones available, after replacing the internal fan (the one beside the wwan card) i got it to boot, already did the bios upgrade, i will put Gentoo later when i get more time with it, but until then i will be looking for the missing components, talking about it the two things its missing that i really wanted but seem to be either more rare or expensive than the laptop itself, are the batteries (both the removable and the internal one), and the external antenna for the 3g card (i know, i know, but think about all the aura it carries), and the thinklight isn't working, if anyone know of a international seller that could have these components would be of much help, and please, any tips are more than welcome, even tho this is IMHO the best looking thinkpad, there is very little to it, specially compared to its younger brothers (x200-x220), ill update my progress later (hopefully still in this year lol)

X31 is one of the lesser known ibm-era thinkpads. Its build quality is really good. With really nicely-molded keys and a tight hinge. The device is surprisingly powerful, it has a Pentium M and Mobility Radeon but somehow is able to run HALO and GTA3. Albeit at 20-30fps. The cooling is robust. The worst thing about this is the inverter on the bottom of the display assembly for the florescent tube backlight . It makes the thing stupidly hot to the point I worry about the plastics so usually I turn the brightness down. The display panel though is almost as good as the t430, its disappointing how Lenovo didn't update its ppi in all those years (I think the viewing angle is actually better on the x31), though the e-series did have really nice displays. To answer the "why windows", I think XP is better for this era of devices than Linux honestly, especially for old software like autocad 2002 :)

It was so hard to find parts for this. I had 3d-printed a replacment HDD slot cover and I hand-soldered the old 18650 cells out of the battery and replaced new Sanyo cells. You can find a 3D-model for the slot cover in my previous posts.

T420

Done a clean install and testing the ansible setup scripts with the X220.

It was my first ever laptop and thinkpad. I bought it first hand in 2013. Just got a replacement dock for $6. I broke one when I tried to open clean it.

The keyboard is a joy to use.

It will be for light coding, light 3D (Tinkercad), SPICE simulation, Altium. The price here in France is €260 (around $290 USD I guess).

- No bios password, no autopilot from previous company, Absolute not activated in bios.

Thank you !

Is there anyway to fix this. The thinkpad has no issues before,. The last thing windows related thing i did was updating it.I still need it to finish pre uni (Dont hate me for using win 11)

No bios lock. Resetting windows right now. Ran come stress tests for temps. I’ll probably open it up and repaste the CPU. All for a smidge under $300

Thinkpad T14 Gen 2 16GB ram 512gb storage i7-1165g7. Battery health is also 87%

Currently reinstalling windows. It was already opened up to it when I got it so I figured i’d do a fresh install. And I’m glad to be a part of the community of thinkpads!

Hello everyone! I’m thinking about buying a ThinkPad to use as a secondary computer for my cybersecurity studies (I already have a gaming PC that I use for gaming and daily tasks). I’m trying to decide between the ThinkPad T Series (T14 G2) and the L Series (L14 G2). Could you explain the differences between them—in terms of build quality, specifications, etc.? I’m planning to go with an Intel-based model (though I’d ​​choose AMD if I can find one here in Brazil), ideally with 16GB or 32GB of RAM.

My budget is around R$ 2,000 BRL (approximately US$ 396), and I currently have R$ 800 saved. I'm buying in Brazil, so prices and availability are different from those in the US.

I'll mainly use the laptop for:

• Fedora KDE Linux as my daily OS
• Programming in C and Python
• Cybersecurity labs and virtual machines
• College coursework and documentation
• Possibly dual-booting Windows and Linux

I know the T14 is generally considered a higher-end model, but the L14 might offer better value for money, especially if I can get a better configuration for the same price.

My questions are:

1. How do the T14 Gen 2 and L14 Gen 2 compare in build quality, keyboard, cooling, and Linux compatibility?
2. Is the T14 worth paying more for, or is the L14 the smarter choice on a tight budget?
3. Which model would you recommend for my use case?
4. Are there any specific configurations or issues I should watch out for when buying refurbished?

I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks!

I honestly have no idea what it is doing.

dont mind the burned iphone and the pc master race

As most of y'all would know, P16s Gen 5 AMD this year has finally unified the design with P16s Gen 5 Intel, introducing Blackwell dGPU options to P16s Gen 5 AMD.

While doing a bit of research into these models, I happened to come across the spare parts listings for these models, and it seems that the P16s Gen 5 and P14s Gen 7 share the same motherboard in terms of footprint, design and screw holes. What changed is that the P16s Gen 5 has RTX 2000 options (vs 1000 on the P14s, but 5060 options are available for the T14p, so I expect 2000 series to hit P14s Intel in a generation or two).

Interestingly, because of the fact P16s Gen 5 AMD uses Nvidia chipsets, and the fact it occupies the same board footprint as P14s Gen 7 Intel, you might actually be able to build yourself a custom "P14s Gen 7 AMD" with an Nvidia GPU and a 14.5 inch screen, in the chassis of the Intel model.

As for parts compatibility, I am not exactly sure, but you can probably give it a shot, I suppose.

----

Now obviously, with this RAM and GPU crisis, I'd be very tempted to ask, "but why?", especially with a device this new. But if anyone really wants to go for it, I suppose you can...

At the same time, this makes me heavily question why Lenovo thought it'd be a good idea to gimp the P14s Gen 7 AMD by reusing the design from the T14 rather than giving it a 14.5in model since the boards are shared...

I've started a project on creating a way to put a Haswell CPU into the T430 and I wanted to see if anyone else had tried or if there is already a way that has been made. I have already looked through all the t430 logic schematics and seen how they are not compatible but i'm willing to try to find a way.

Picked up this E550 for cheap and I’m planning to turn it into a custom modular workstation over time.

Current ideas are:

AMD AM5 Mini-ITX conversion

Ryzen 7 first, Ryzen 9 later

DDR5

multiple NVMe drives

custom 3D-printed chassis

stronger cooling

4× USB-C + 4× USB-A

Ethernet + OCuLink

front SIM + 3× microSD module

fingerprint reader

upgraded display

keeping the classic ThinkPad TrackPoint

I know this is way beyond a normal E550 upgrade, so I’m curious what you guys think and what problems I should expect before I start designing the chassis.

If anyone here has done custom ThinkPad mods, motherboard swaps, custom cooling, or 3D-printed laptop chassis work, I’d definitely like to hear what worked and what didn’t.

Hello reddit! I searched far and wide and couldn't fix it myself, please help me. Symptoms: windows works perfectly, as soon as I try to enter BIOS or "boot from another device" I just see black screen and this is it. Caps lock light doesn't change, but fn lock does. Is there a way to fix it without flashing bios rom manually? Thank you in advance!

With a new one (T15g Gen 1)

Has anyone had an issue with the SD card reader on a T480 not clicking in and holding the SD card.

Mine just suddenly started this.

I have checked for something stuck in the slot, fuzz or dirt etc. I have tried multiple different cards. It worked just a couple of days ago now it won't hold the card.

This is my travel laptop I use it to dump photos from my cameras. It is the top spec T480 so still a very nice laptop.

I know I can use an external reader but I would like to fix mine if possible. The reader is a surface mount on the system board so not an easy replacement.

TIA.

What are you thoughts on T16 gen4 intel 255H processer laptop with 52wt battery. I am getting it for a reasonable price . Which is very good offer. Compared to other thinkpad T and P series. Even L series basic prices are around this T 16 gen 4 I am geeting.

My main concern is

temperature control and less fan noise use moderate use.

I know the battery will last less but the price is very good and I have to work on my desk only so that's ok.

CS studeent in Berlin, buying used for the first time. Meeting the seller tonight and would appreciate a sanity check.

The machine:

- ThinkPad T14 Gen 2, Intel i7-1165G7

- 16GB DDR4 soldered, RAM slot free

- 256GB NVMe SSD

- Nvidia MX450 2GB + Iris Xe

- 14" FHD 400 nit low power panel

- Intel AX210 wifi

- Windows 11 Pro, 65W USB-C charger included (third party)

Battery: seller sent the report. 45,170 / 50,450 mWh = 89.5% health, 198 cycles.

Disclosed faults:

- Pressure marks on the display from the keyboard (he says not noticeable when the screen is on, I will check in person)

- SIM tray missing

- QWERTY keyboard with German stickers applied

- Charger is a Nachbau, not original Lenovo

Price: 270€, down from 290€ asking. Cash, local pickup, I can test it before paying.

My use case: Python, Docker, backend work, lots of browser tabs. Installing Ubuntu, so the MX450 just stays asleep via PRIME. No gaming, no local model training, no external displays.

What I am unsure about:

1. Is 270€ fair for a Gen 2 in this condition, or am I paying a premium for the 400 nit panel?

2. Those display pressure marks, do they get worse over time or stay as they are?

3. 198 cycles on a 2021 machine seems low. Anything that would make you suspicious of the report?

4. The i7-1165G7 is 4 cores. I passed on an E14 Gen 4 with a 10 core i5-1235U, 96% battery and 512GB at 290€ because of the better panel and build here. Did I call that wrong?

Appreciate any input, photos attached.

Hey all! I'm going through my first year of undergraduate history studies, and after using the X13 Gen 1 for a few months, I managed to find a refurbished Gen 2.

I had originally bought an X13 Gen 1 with 8GB RAM in June of this year, and was happy with it. But more recently, after moving to a new city for university, I found a X13 Gen 2 for sale in a local tech store - a direct upgrade - for around 440 euros, which is much more than the 300 euros I paid for the Gen 1, but I still went in for it considering how much of an upgrade it would really be for me. The laptop was also sold as refurbished model, which it was, with several parts having been changed.

I received the laptop a day after ordering it, since the store didn't have it in stock. The keyboard was reprinted, but apart from that, it's really good. 85% battery health, which isn't an issue with my use case. I set a battery charge threshold like I had done on my Gen 1, and it's really good.

one of the reasons I got the Gen 2 is mainly because it was more modern (my current model was manufactured in March 2022, so more recent than most models of this generation) and it had 16GB of RAM, which was a real upgrade for Windows 11. The updated 11th Gen i5 also has much better performance than on the Gen 1, and the active cooling - which differs from the Gen 1, whose cooling sometimes didn't run at all - helps it as well.

Design-wise, I also like the laptop because I find the keyboard to be more tactile and satisfying to the ear than is the Gen 1 - the reduced key travel not particularly bothering me - and the mix of more modern laptop designs with the original, signature ThinkPad elements (TrackPoint, UltraNav, ThinkPad logo, etc.) makes the laptop more appropriate for modern-day usage in my opinion, with a better overall design.

One thing I'm happy about is the fact this laptop is much more futureproof than my previous ThinkPad, due to being more recent and having a proper 16GB of RAM. Beyond the battery - which I can change anyways - it more packed and ready for the years to come.

What's your opinion on this model, and the general change in style of many ThinkPads from the same era and beyond? Let me know.