My lappy has bitten the dust, and I’m in the market for a laptop. I’m thinking about going Thinkpad.
I only plan on this being for web browsing, text editing, coding, etc. Any gaming is done on my desktop.
What would be a good Thinkpad model? I do t mind getting an older/refurbished one. Haven’t been on the laptop market in nearly 8 years, so I don’t know what to look for anymore
Framework laptops are op buy it once use it for ever
They’re also significantly more expensive than ThinkPads and might be a bit much for what OP plans to do
I hear this a lot but in my experience the Framework is often in the same range and sometimes slightly cheaper. Right now a framework with i7-1360P and 16GB Ram is $1469. An X1 carbon with a (slightly slower) cpu is $400 more. Ryzen is similar. Not hating on Thinkpads but the Framework is a lot more competitive than you’ll often hear and the upgradeability is obviously a massive financial incentive too.
I think normally when people are referring to buying a ThinkPad they aren’t talking about a modern model. Usually not even the X1 Carbon series; especially past the 6th gen. They’re referring to models in the X,P, or T series before the T490. Models that can be bought relatively cheap and upgraded however the user wants.
The T480 can be bought for around $200. The CPU is going to be a fair amount weaker but for $1,200 some people are willing to make the sacrifice for a casual personal use machine.
That makes sense. Buying used is always going to be more economical (and ecological) than new, no matter how “anti waste” it is.
I think a Framework laptop could make sense for a power user who is using it for work or gaming but I feel like upgrades are needed less frequently with web browsing, coding, and word processing.
I’d be curious to see how many people essentially use ThinkPads as a secondary computer that’s just a bit more traditional and customizable than a Chromebook.
This is definitely the biggest concern. Somewhat short battery life is also significant.
For ThinkPads?
No, Framework. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.
Oh it’s fine. Do Framework laptops have a lower battery life than ThinkPads?
Than Thinkpads? I don’t know, but probably lower. My Framework only gets 8 hours of use, and 30 hours sleeping if I’m lucky. Definitely not the best, but being plugged in isn’t too bad, and the adapter is nice and small.
For a new laptop, the initial cost is higher. But the idea is that future maintenance and upgrades would significantly lower the long-term cost of laptops. If a part breaks, you don’t need to buy a new laptop, just that part. If a new CPU comes out that you want, just upgrade your mainboard for less than the cost of a new laptop.
I love the idea of framework but they’re so expensive for the hardware you get
I get why that is and I will surely at some point end up with one but might wait til they’re more readily available second hand
I get the price premium, but they refuse to sell a lower tier motherboard (i3/ryzen 3) so you gotta splash out 1k+.
guess the intention is to get 2nd hand boards but they’re still quite pricey since it’s so new