Replacement for Thinkpad T60?

[jim]

I bought a refurb T60 for my dad 7 years ago, and finally it needs replacing (probably 10 years old at this point).

I'm inclined to go for a refurb Thinkpad again, around the £200-250 mark if I can.

Any particular thoughts or recommendations here? Should I be looking at other options as well e.g. HP / Dell? I haven't bought a laptop since then so not too clued up on what best practice is?

Portability is not a concern so heavy is absolutely fine.

[Spreadie]

I had a couple of T430 Thinkpads ( my mum has one of them now). Solidly built and a joy to type on.

[jim]

Thinking about something like this https://www.eflexcomputers.com/produ...eli5-4gb-320gb and then sticking an SSD in it.

[Spreadie]

That's what I did with mine - dropped some 250GB SSDs in there. They were perfect laptops.

[kompukare]

T410 seems a bit old at this stage. First gen i5; think the 14" ThinkPad orders goes something like T60>T61>T400>T410>T420>T430>T440 etc.
Guess those old ones are sturdier than the newer ThinkPads though.

Have you considered the 15.6" models? (T520/T530/T540p etc.) The extra space can make things a lot easier on the eye. Less availability though.

In terms of HP or Dell: well, their business line tend to be similar to ThinkPads. In HP's case the equiv of ThinkPad T's is the EliteBooks; for Dell it's the Latitude range. In all cases, I would avoid the entry level business lines (ThinkPad L's or E's, HP ProBooks, Dell's Vostro and *some* Latitudes too).

For your budget, you should be able to pick of Ivy Bridge (ThinkPad T430/T530, EliteBook 8470p (very well made and sturdy but heavier), Dell E6430), or Haswell (ThinkPad T440/T440s/T540p), EliteBook 840G1/850G1, Dell 7440 AFAIK).

Unfortunately, most likely most models will be 768p.

Note that both HP and Dell have other business grade lines, for instance HP's ZBook or Folios, or Dell Precision workstations etc., but those are rarer and harder to fit into your budget. A lot of them are likely to offer resolutions higher than 768P though.

[b0redom]

LeNovo X1 carbon. I got given one last time I worked at IBM. They are light, and well built. The one I got was powerful enough for most stuff I needed to do and the onboard graphics were even capable of casual gaming (minecraft, top down shooters etc). I've no idea what the spec was, although as this was IBM, I'm guessing it was middle/low end of what was available in 2015.

There seem to be loads of them on ebay.

Edit - mine is the 3rd get with a i5-5300U

[jim]

T410 seems a bit old at this stage. First gen i5; think the 14" ThinkPad orders goes something like T60>T61>T400>T410>T420>T430>T440 etc.
Guess those old ones are sturdier than the newer ThinkPads though.

Have you considered the 15.6" models? (T520/T530/T540p etc.) The extra space can make things a lot easier on the eye. Less availability though.

In terms of HP or Dell: well, their business line tend to be similar to ThinkPads. In HP's case the equiv of ThinkPad T's is the EliteBooks; for Dell it's the Latitude range. In all cases, I would avoid the entry level business lines (ThinkPad L's or E's, HP ProBooks, Dell's Vostro and *some* Latitudes too).

For your budget, you should be able to pick of Ivy Bridge (ThinkPad T430/T530, EliteBook 8470p (very well made and sturdy but heavier), Dell E6430), or Haswell (ThinkPad T440/T440s/T540p), EliteBook 840G1/850G1, Dell 7440 AFAIK).

Unfortunately, most likely most models will be 768p.

Note that both HP and Dell have other business grade lines, for instance HP's ZBook or Folios, or Dell Precision workstations etc., but those are rarer and harder to fit into your budget. A lot of them are likely to offer resolutions higher than 768P though.

Thanks - that is really helpful. I hadn't seen any 15.6" models, no - will take a look. The naming scheme makes a lot more sense now that you've broken it up.

768p is fine for my dad - until DPI scaling gets better I think lower res is almost a selling feature in itself!

LeNovo X1 carbon. I got given one last time I worked at IBM. They are light, and well built. The one I got was powerful enough for most stuff I needed to do and the onboard graphics were even capable of casual gaming (minecraft, top down shooters etc). I've no idea what the spec was, although as this was IBM, I'm guessing it was middle/low end of what was available in 2015.

There seem to be loads of them on ebay.

Edit - mine is the 3rd get with a i5-5300U

I had an X1 at a previous company - they are lovely machines. The only thing that concerns me is that a few of the in-budget refurbs on eBay mention dodgy screens, hinges especially, and one of the reasons I bought the T60 was because it was built like a tank. Will have a longer look though.

[b0redom]

I had an X1 at a previous company - they are lovely machines. The only thing that concerns me is that a few of the in-budget refurbs on eBay mention dodgy screens, hinges especially, and one of the reasons I bought the T60 was because it was built like a tank. Will have a longer look though.

Fair enough. I’m only going on my one which has had a bit of a hard life having been given to the kids after I was finished with it. Not sure if it’s a design defect or possibly that it’s a company laptop so people don’t treat it as well as if it were their own.

[jim]

Fair enough. I’m only going on my one which has had a bit of a hard life having been given to the kids after I was finished with it. Not sure if it’s a design defect or possibly that it’s a company laptop so people don’t treat it as well as if it were their own.

Well, at my company there was one guy who broke three in 8 months by putting his fist through them. So a solid chance of the latter I would say.

I never would have expected to be able to get one in budget so quite surprised!