[ltp] Help needed with choosing the right ThinkPad

[Stefan Monnier]

> - Does anybody have experiences with running Linux on these machines? Any
> known problems? I am planning to install Linux Mint Debian Edition or some
> other Debian derived distro.

I don't, sorry.  Based on my experience with other Thinkpads and looking
at the list of hardware that's inside, it *should* "just work".

> - Are there known issues when upgrading the RAM on the T450s? The 8 GB in
> the offered machine will not always be enough, but the T450s is a bit
> cheaper which would outweigh the cost of extra RAM.

According to thinkwiki, the machine has 4GB soldered on board and one
free SODIMM slot that can take upto 8GB, so it seems like you won't be
able to boost it to 16GB but only to 12GB (tho it's always possible
that the slot can actually take a 16GB SODIMM, even tho it's not
documented and I'm not sure where you could find a 16GB DDR3 SODIMM).

> - Are there noticeable differences performance-wise? The i5-7300 is two
> generations newer, but "only" an i5, and has 3 Mb cache instead of 4. Apart
> from office work, for which both machines should be way enough, I will also
> do some photo editing and to a limited extend video editing, obviously with
> an external monitor.

I wouldn't expect any noticeable difference in practice, no.

> - Does it make much difference that the T450s has DDR3-RAM as opposed to the
> DDR4 in the X270?

The DDR4 memory is a bit faster, but I still wouldn't expect any
noticeable difference in practice, no, especially since the X270 only
has a single SODIMM, whereas the T450s has two (one of which is
soldered), which should more than make up for it.

> - One plus of the X270 could be its USB-C-Connector. But apart from
> charging, I read in a review that there are issues with using it as graphics
> output for high resolution monitors. Any experience with that?

No experience, sorry.  Any chance the reviewer's problems were linked to
software bugs that can hope to be fixed overtime?

> - Generally, are there reasons that I have not mentioned that would make it
> smarter to choose either the X270 or the T450s, apart from size an weight?

For me it would boil down to size (especially screen size), but check
also the battery story (both its capacity and the ease with which it can
be replaced).
Sadly the thinkwiki doesn't have an entry for the X270.

> I am still a happy user of a T61 which runs smoothly with Linux an 8Gb of
> RAM, but now I need a second machine which is a bit more mobile, faster and
> supports Full HD. I'd rather always have a ThinkPad that's some years old
> than buying a newer "consumer" model at a similar price, because I want
> a reliable machine that really can take being carried around a lot.

I know exactly what you mean (happy user of a T61 here as well).


        Stefan