<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title><style type="text/css">p.MsoNormal,p.MsoNoSpacing{margin:0}</style></head><body><div>Newegg has a company listing on their site that upgrades and resells older model thinkpads. I think they’re new(ish) but they’ve maxed out the memory and put in a larger hard drive.</div><div><br></div><div>On Thu, May 14, 2020, at 12:13 AM, cr wrote:<br></div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt" style=""><div>Hi Cindy<br></div><div><br></div><div>Looks like you might be looking for a used Thinkpad? <br></div><div><br></div><div>I found this list very handy for comparing the ages of various models:<br></div><div><a href="http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_History">http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkPad_History</a><br></div><div><br></div><div>- for example a T540 and a T440 and a L440 and a L540 and a X240 are all<br></div><div> the same vintage. (I'd assumed a T520 must be newer than a T440 -<br></div><div> not so!)<br></div><div><br></div><div>You need to do a little research to confirm which features are included<br></div><div>- for example, a DVD drive (which I personally required) started to go<br></div><div> missing in some models from (roughly) the 440's onwards. Of course<br></div><div> the X models never had one.<br></div><div><br></div><div>I think you might have trouble finding a more recent one without a<br></div><div>trackpad. You can usually disable it in the BIOS - googling will<br></div><div>tell you how (usually, press Enter immediately on startup to get you<br></div><div>into BIOS setup, then simply select the appropriate menu entry). I've<br></div><div>got the trackpad disabled on this T520 for exactly the same reason as<br></div><div>you.<br></div><div>Your post reads (to me) as if you're prepared to do a Linux<br></div><div>installation if you have to - in which case, if e.g. Windows is already<br></div><div>installed, you may need to access the BIOS to change the boot order and<br></div><div>allow booting off a USB/CD in order to install Linux... in which case,<br></div><div>disabling the trackpad is no more difficult.<br></div><div><br></div><div>In my experience almost all Thinkpads work quite happily with most<br></div><div>flavours of Linux - my most recent ones being a T400, T520 and L440. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Generally speaking, the T series is the standard business laptop,<br></div><div>typically 14 - 15" screen, full-featured, built like a tank.<br></div><div>The L series is a budget model of same, but (judging by my<br></div><div>just-acquired L440) still of good build quality and similar<br></div><div>performance. <br></div><div>The X series is the smaller, lighter portable (but still, as you know,<br></div><div>pretty solid). I have a X201.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Within each model, of course, there are a range of CPU's, a range of<br></div><div>memory and a range of hard drives. Also the wireless capability may<br></div><div>vary. On Thinkpads memory is easily upgraded and so is the hard<br></div><div>drive. So I'd say, when looking at a used Thinkpad, check out the<br></div><div>hard drive size, the memory installed (usually easily upgraded if<br></div><div>necessary), the CPU (not usually upgradeable), and the wireless if you<br></div><div>want to do Internet. Re wireless, 802.11g is getting a bit old by<br></div><div>now, 802.11n is usually fast enough, 802.11ac is the latest, fastest.<br></div><div>Re memory, 4GB is workable, 8GB is usually enough for most normal use.<br></div><div><br></div><div>HTH<br></div><div><br></div><div>Chris<br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>On Wed, 13 May 2020 22:13:14 -0400<br></div><div>Cynthia <<a href="mailto:think@dogtrainingthatworks.net">think@dogtrainingthatworks.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><div><br></div><div>> I've been without a Thinkpad for much too long and was starting to<br></div><div>> shop for my next one, but realized I had no idea anymore... I<br></div><div>> usually shop on eBay but I don't know which models to look at. I<br></div><div>> need something that won't break the bank, but reasonably peppy, a<br></div><div>> spacious hard drive, not too old, and plays nicely with Linux.<br></div><div>> Usually my budget likes computers with no OS installed, but it<br></div><div>> wouldn't break my heart if I didn't have to do an installation. <br></div><div>> My favorite Thinkpad was the X61S, which had no trackpad, just the<br></div><div>> trackpoint and a little mouse button cluster. Before that, I<br></div><div>> always had a line in the start-up to disable the trackpad because<br></div><div>> I tend to touch it by mistake and do unintended things. My husband<br></div><div>> always did that tweak for me; he is gone now and I won't know how<br></div><div>> to do it... <br></div><div>> <br></div><div>> I am just looking for recommendations for which models to search<br></div><div>> for. If there's one with no trackpad but newer than my old one,<br></div><div>> I'd want to look at that first. Ideas? <br></div><div>> <br></div><div>> Cindy Eliason<br></div><div><br></div><div>-- <br></div><div>The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:<br></div><div><a href="http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad">http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad</a><br></div></blockquote><div><br></div></body></html>