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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

by tyushk 1y ago

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/ https://www.xyte.ch/t700-crowdfunding/

kombine 1y ago
T14 Gen 5 AMD is perhaps the current best you can go for with non-soldered RAM.
- theodric 1y ago
  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 1y ago
    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 1y ago
      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.
wao0uuno 1y ago
I’ve never heard of a thinkpad without a replaceable ssd.
mgiampapa 1y ago
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.
ladyanita22 1y ago
Doesn't NixOS hog on your hardware?
- Weetile 1y ago
  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 1y ago
  How? The package manager needs more RAM than the average other package manager because it is doing a lot more behind the back.
  - ladyanita22 1y ago
    Because it's source based and there's probably a ton of compilation in the background

by tyushk 1y ago

kombine 1y ago

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

theodric 1y ago
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 1y ago
  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 1y ago
    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.

wao0uuno 1y ago

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

mgiampapa 1y ago

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.

ladyanita22 1y ago

Doesn't NixOS hog on your hardware?

Weetile 1y ago
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 1y ago
How? The package manager needs more RAM than the average other package manager because it is doing a lot more behind the back.
- ladyanita22 1y ago
  Because it's source based and there's probably a ton of compilation in the background