/tpg/ - ThinkPad General

Don't buy anything OTHER THAN IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T, X, and W/P Series if you want the Real Business Experience™
>Other business laptops are welcome in /tpg/ (Dell Latitude/Precision, HP EliteBook/ZBook)

Why ThinkPad?
>Used machines are plentiful and cheap
>Excellent keyboards, tactile feel and quiet
>Great durability: magnesium roll cage for structural integrity, with high quality plastic body panels
>Utilitarian design: e.g. indicator LEDs, 7 row keyboard layout on older models
>Docking stations that easily turns your laptop into a desktop
>Easy to repair (most models), upgrade & maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model, spare parts easy & cheap to obtain
>Excellent Linux & *BSD support

ThinkWiki - General info about ThinkPads/specs
thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

Modern models:
>X220/X230 - 12", 768p, cheap and light
>T420/T430 - 14", 900p (1080p w/mod board), Ivy Bridge support on T420 w/coreboot, quad core upgrade, classic keyboard mod on xx30 series
>T520/530; W520/530 - 15", 1080p, DTR, 32GB RAM on quad core models
>T440p/540p; W540/1 - last ThinkPads with socketed processors, easily replaceable trackpad (W541 doesn't need trackpad replacement)
>T440s/T450(s)/T460(s)/T470(s) - ultraportables, good battery life
>T480 - last ThinkPad with swappable battery, T25 keyboard mod, excellent performance/battery life, getting cheaper

Upgraded models:
>X210 - X200/X201, i5-8250U quad core
>X62/X63 - X61, i5-5250U
>T70 - T60, i7-7700HQ
IPS displays, USB 3.0, M.2 x4, MiniDP, no dock
forum.51nb.com/forum.php?mod=forumdisplay&fid=117

BIOS replacement:
coreboot.org - T440p, X131e, X1C1, and xx30 series (no 61) or older
libreboot.org - X/T60 and xx00 series

Additional resources:
biosimage.booru.org
1vyra.in

UEFI patches:
github.com/digmorepaka/thinkpad-firmware-patches

Chat:
t.me/thinkpadgeneral
discord.gg/Ybdz7AS
##ibmthinkpad on libera
#/tpg/ on rizon

Attached: 1599842466824.jpg (1728x2592, 816.45K)

Other urls found in this thread:

vinafix.com/media/atmel-8356908-jpg.2786/
vinafix.com/media/ibm-r60-password-jpg.2711/
youtube.com/watch?v=ShWj-UBejoc
127001.me/post/eliminate-backlight-flicker-with-i915/
twitter.com/SFWRedditImages

barney@navi

Every resource is pointing to this one chip but anons and one video example explain that the bios chip is only 6-8 pins.
vinafix.com/media/atmel-8356908-jpg.2786/
vinafix.com/media/ibm-r60-password-jpg.2711/

I'd unironically pay to have someone wiser than me call me a fucking retard and point out the right chip. I wish there were better scans or more documentation on the R60s motherboard revisions. It says some boards have to use the area near the broadcomm, others claim the chip in pic related. None of these are actually the bios chip that gets connected to in videos that I see as those all have fewer connectors. Should I just use the keyboard and Top shell for a franken pad and call it a day? I don't like admitting defeat. I'll have to learn how to identify eeprom chips at some point once I have enough for better, more expensive Thinkpads that don't allow for software flashing the bios.

Attached: IBM R60 Password.jpg (750x721, 189.69K)

GOOD LORD!

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When (if) I find the eeprom I'm going to lurk this fucking general for months helping anons break bios passwords / install libreboot. This is fucking bullshit.

Attached: fml.jpg (480x360, 13.71K)

T470p is better than the T480

Bogpill me on this
t. About to buy a 480

they're functionally the same

Are old thinkpads still the best budget laptops?

Yes but if you buy them don't be a fucking idiot like me and think "yeah I can just scrap it for parts if I can't unlock the bios" Make sure the photo has AT LEAST a bios screen if it doesn't include its HDD/SDD.
Ram / Memory / CPU upgrades are cheap for older models. But I generally buy older than what Any Forums is willing to tolerate because I'm not trying to open up 40 firefox tabs and run steam at the same time.