I run NixOS on a coreboot-ed T420 and I absolutely love everything on the outside, but it really shows its age when compared to the display on my Macbook or it comes to running heavier software ie. rust-analyzer, Chrome, or Nix builds.

If Lenovo were to release a modern T420-like, with identical chassis, battery system and similar IO port variety, but a modern display, modern internals (replaceable SSD! soldered RAM at least has a case for performance) and a modern camera, cash would evaporate out of my wallet.

I remember there was a person [1] modding T60/T61s into "T700"s with 11th gen Intel chips. Unfortunately it looks like the project's been quiet since 2022. Hopefully there'll be more who try.

[1] https://www.xyte.ch/t700-crowdfunding/

▲

wao0uuno 8 months ago | parent | next [-]

I’ve never heard of a thinkpad without a replaceable ssd.

▲

mgiampapa 8 months ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I have a 25th Anniversary Edition Thinkpad, 7th gen i7 that I keep running PopOS specifically because it has the old magic style IBM keyboard. It's the only laptop I can stand typing on, but it's video card is getting so old in the tooth that it's starting to have problems with compatibility.

▲

kombine 8 months ago | parent | prev | next [-]

T14 Gen 5 AMD is perhaps the current best you can go for with non-soldered RAM.

▲

theodric 8 months ago | parent [-]

I have a P14s Gen 5 AMD, which afaik is just a T14 with some certifications, and it's flimsy. The whole chassis is plastic and quite flexible. It's also currently at a Lenovo service center because the battery lasted a whole month before failing and claiming to be "non-genuine."

ThinkPads ain't what they were. My x230 is still going.

▲

kombine 8 months ago | parent [-]

I wasn't aware of their build quality degradation. I've been using T14s Gen 3 for a year now and I thoroughly enjoy it, the chassis is magnesium and really sturdy. Something must have happened around Gen 5 time.

	▲	bigpeopleareold 8 months ago \| parent [-]
		The worst for me was also my first one, T570. Two motherboard changes because of a flex-y body that put too much pressure on the hard drive connector. I had to use it for a few months because my main computer had to be fixed. I thought I can get more time out of it - nope. That flex-y body probably put too much pressure on something else and after many attempts (for some reason) of resetting the CMOS battery and using it a little, the thing would go right into a boot loop. I bought a new T480 (can use the battery from the T570! :D ) and this is soo much sturdier. Also have a T470p -- besides my screen issue, that thing is a really sturdy. I have a P14s Gen 3 (so basically a T14s with the power-hungry GPU :D ) from work. I don't think the fit and finish is great, but it properly feels sturdy at least.

▲

ladyanita22 8 months ago | parent | prev [-]

Doesn't NixOS hog on your hardware?

▲

Weetile 8 months ago | parent | next [-]

It's very unlikely that performance would be hindered by a particular Linux distribution, but usually rather the desktop environment that it employs. NixOS with LXQt would run very differently to NixOS with GNOME.

▲

SuperSandro2000 8 months ago | parent | prev [-]

How?

The package manager needs more RAM than the average other package manager because it is doing a lot more behind the back.

	▲	ladyanita22 8 months ago \| parent [-]
		Because it's source based and there's probably a ton of compilation in the background