Gen 1 X13 currently go for 100-150 bucks, they are the best value but compiling time is gonna be pretty trash
this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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Buy a different thinkpad (an older gen T/L/E 14) (but check the upgradability), there is too much demand for it for it to be normally priced.
I wanted one in ~2023 and couldn't find one under 300€, I then bought a Dell Latitude 5290 with the same CPU (i5-8350u) as the T480. The Latitude is working well enough, Dells (Latitudes and Precisions) are also a great thinkpad alternative - keep in mind they don't have a trackpoint (since 2018).
Web Dev and JS Python then sure, t480 is fine. But t14 or something a bit faster for c++ or Rust etc with compiles.
Check if https://freegeek.org/ works for you, they also have an eBay store
Looks like that site is dead and has being an AI slop domain squat.
Fixed the link, wrong tld, its .org Thanks for letting me know
Lenovo have progressively stripped away a lot of the features that made Thnkpads great. Rollcages, lack of a latch on the lid, steadily worsening upgradability, worse trackpads, worsening hinge design and poorer quality plastics across the board. T420-T430 would be my pick but I would also recommend used Dell Latitudes or HP Pro and Elitebooks
I'd check Ebay for HP elite books, one gen old still has good performance, and fwupd pulls updates for them
Funny, I just posted about buying a t480. I wont lie and say its the latest and greatest, but its a good machine. My main reason was the Linux support, but as others mentioned, Linux runs on just about anything.
I think it would depend on the kind of software you're developing. If you're doing web development, I'd say you're good, game Dev, maybe not. There are also different models with diffrent specs. Some come with 8 gigs or sometimes more, some have a TN panel or an IPS, i7 vs i5 so just be on the lookout for what specs you want/need.
Last I checked the highest spec of thinkpad t480 only has i7 8th gen with 4c8t, if you do a lot of compiling you probably gonna have to wait for a long time for medium to larger size projects, get anything with ryzen 6 cores or more instead
Yeah that's my biggest concern
it's fine but honestly there's much better machines (performance wise) for better price these days, and the screen on T480 is usually pretty shit. i'd get something else if this is gonna be your primary machine.
Old Dells are cheaper and got great support
What's your budget? T480/580 are still good but they're getting expensive.
Not sure. $200-300 is the range where I would almost certainly get one. If it's more than that now then there's other options I'd need to weigh.
5825u laptops are like $300 for the same amount of ram and storage as a T480. They are much faster and quite efficient.
T480s are around the $200-300 range. I will be honest, it's not worth it at that point.
Linux runs on almost anything these days. I've installed Mint on Lenovos, Dells, and HPs without issue (even media keys all worked out of the box). As others have suggested, I'd probably look into used business workstations from the last five years to ensure you'll get a solid five to ten years out of it.
I'm personally on a refurb thinkpad t14. Works great
I don't think you need to limit yourself to a Thinkpad specifically. Linux should work on almost any laptop these days. I would look around for secondhand business laptops. They tend to be reasonably priced and often gently used when they are coming from business environments.
Sure but other brands tend to have a lot of issues in general and the Linux support is worse, whereas a T480 was like $200 last I checked and has a huge Linux community behind it and supposedly they last a long time
Dells are great and supported by Canonical itself
If you dont care about hinges sure
Let's leave the OP, who's on a tight budget, to decide. But I have a 10+ years old Latitude running fine.
Sure, there is certainly nothing wrong with a T480, and if you can find them at a reasonable price then go for it. That said, I would not exclude any other brands out of hand if you can find a good deal on, say, a 3-5 year old business laptop from the likes of Dell or HP. For all the durability of a T480, bear in mind that it will already be ~8 years old when you get it.
I think historically Linux users had to be a bit more particular about laptop models due to spotty driver support on laptop hardware, hence the love for Thinkpads which had good Linux compatibility, but these days I think the only real compatibility concerns are around fingerprint sensors with proprietary drivers and the occasional oddball wifi chip.
Upgrading BIOS is also a concern as @PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world mentioned, but in some cases I have used a bootable Windows USB drive to run the .exe-based FW upgrades on my HP laptop, for example.
I'll keep the business laptops suggestion in mind. Consumer Windows laptops are the ones I've had a lot of problems with.
The consumer lines are total junk and are not even worth repairing, I think. The other nice thing about buying these older laptops is the trove of parts available out there on fleaBay.
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I've been using refurbished business laptops, thinkpads spesifically, for at least a decade. Both for business and for personal use. They just work and at least in here you can get pretty good deals from companies which re-sell previously leased machines. For some I've upgraded RAM and/or storage drive, but that 300-400€ gets you something far better than a new Acer from grocery store aisle. And reputable vendors even offer some kind of warranty even on used machines.
Other brands might work just fine too, but as I've had thinkpads since the brand was owned by IBM I've just stuck with them. T, W and X series are all pretty solid. And there's a reason why you don't see Acer or other consumer brands on refurbished market.
I think OP is right that most laptops run Linux fine and the business lines are best. I did have to flash my HP laptop BIOS/firmware using Windows as HP has no Linux tools for this yet. But with that said, I own seven or eight Thinkpads and run different distros (Mint, Cachy, Solus, etc). All work very nicely. I could not discourage you from buying a 480 at all.
For HP laptops you can just a flash drive now. You can extract the bios file and signature file from the bios updater.
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If you want to go really cheap, you can get a used Chromebook for like 50€ and put PMOS on it for full blown Linux 😂
does it still work for software development?
... Why wouldn't it? Like you could do other things but not write code?
I'm mainly concerned about the old CPU being a lot slower at compiling larger projects than I realize or not being able to handle people's latest JavaScript AI slop. If it can run stuff like Gentoo though then it should work.
I can sell you a 15” dell with a quad core and 32gb of ram.
E: this is not a joke, I have a 3520 from a couple of years ago with an 11th gen i7, a 256gb nvme, the sata kit included and 32gb of ddr4. HMU.
OP this is a great laptop if this commenter is selling at a reasonable price since Dell has official linux support on this laptop since dev work is one of its main purposes
Ty! I also have one of the same model, same specs, completely busted top cover that wiggles and wobbles around if they want to slum it and save some more bucks.
Framework is actually cheaper if you think long. I mean ownership cost
My ideal laptop right now is the Framework 13 Pro which looks like a massive upgrade over their previous models but the configuration I want is like $2000 and it doesn't ship until October anyways. There's other configurations for $1000 or less refurbished then I could upgrade parts over time but I would end up replacing everything anyways. Repairing my Macbook M1 is also something I'm considering so I have an appointment tomorrow with the Apple store, but I'm guessing the entire logic board would have to be replaced which is expensive for a laptop that's next on Apple's axe list and is 3 generations older than the oldest laptops they sell, and while I like the laptop a lot the lack of repairability and official Linux support is really annoying as well, and I want a working laptop with a swappable SSD for security/business reasons anyways. Getting a cheap backup laptop that's reliable is something I've been wanting for a while and would buy me more time to decide on a better laptop and find paid work.
If you're coming from an Apple M1 and are considering a FrameWork and don't want to get it, look at the ThinkPad P1 Gen 6/7. The T480 is old and won't keep up.
are they though? you're paying about twice as much and the upgrades/ parts aren't much cheaper
For laptops, I've successfully run arch on dell, HP, Lenovo, and a Surfacebook, all within the last 3 years. The only issues I had were on one of the dells and the SB, the touchscreen didn't work, which I had no issues with. I did have intermittent issues with the Lenovo fingerprint reader, but that laptop was about 10 years old when I got it, so less surprising.
I wouldn't limit yourself to manufacturer at all, and I would recommend a business class model, but if you can get a consumer grade for stupid cheap, I wouldn't say no to that either.
When my company cycles out laptops, they pull hard drives and then send them to recycling. We are allowed to take them. I had an older 2018 Dell and got a 2023 Dell to replace it. I just moved the nvme from one to the other and everything just worked. I didn't expect it to be so smooth, but I literally didn't have to do anything. I say that just so you know it's simple to upgrade if you find a better option later.
For development? I've been using old Dell Latitudes. They are easier to work on than HPs, generally sturdy, and Debian runs great on them. You can get a used E7440 for next to nothing, and old RAM is still cheap.
T4x0 series have never disappointed me
An old thinkpad that fell off the back of a truck and ended up on craigslist is still the best way to get a laptop
Correct
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