Looking for advice on buying a thinkpad - eviltoast

I am not especially tech-literate and very clumsy. I want to buy a thinkpad that I can set up as a privacy machine. I mostly use my computer for web browsing and messaging and don’t need something especially powerful, just something that can run bloated web pages easily and I won’t have to think about again for at least half a decade.

Ideally, I want something around $300. Does anyone have recommendations for models to shop for? Anything the size of the T-Series would be adequate. I’m not a gamer or do video editing so no graphics card requirements.

  • the@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    T480 if you can find it around that price. Or any Thinkpad with 8th generation Intel CPU. (L380, X380)

  • Stingray@reddthat.com
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    1 year ago

    I second the idea of a T480, it’s what I use. I threw Linux Mint on it and never even think about it, but if you want to use Windows, then I see no reason why it wouldn’t run perfectly well either. Looks like they go for $120-200usd depending on configuration. I spent over $300 a year and a half ago, and I would still consider that a good deal, so $200 is a bargain imo.

  • humanplayer2@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I bought both my parents new old machines now that they retired, and I opted for a T480 for both. They’ve been called The Last Great ThinkPad over on r/thinkpad since they are both powerful - first generation with a quad-core processor - and nicely upgradable. The upgradeability also means that you don’t have to worry overly about the amount of RAM a used model has: you can always add more cheaply (and very easily).

  • featured@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    I think the T480 is a great deal but be aware of the Thunderbolt firmware issues. It’s fixable if the firmware is not yet fully corrupted and if the firmware is up to date it shouldn’t be a problem, but I’m dealing with a dead thunderbolt chip on mine right now and it’s terrible