Currently running mint on a 15+ year old HP laptop but I want to update to a ‘modern’ second hand Thinkpad. The second hand market is just full of different model numbers and I’m not sure how to filter to what I’m after.
I get most tech basics (ram, ssh) but I’m not sure what all the models numbers, generations or processors mean.
Looking for something with a memory card spot, HDMI output and ideally touchscreen.
I don’t use it for gaming but have an ultra wide screen high res monitor (possibly 2k cant quite remember) that I’d like to take advantage of.
Larger SSD and 16gb ram wouldn’t hurt too but I assume I can upgrade them.
I don’t need the Yoga tablet style folding.
Sadly more and more modern thinkpads come with soldered RAM, which IMO is a deal breaker. Work gave me an X1 Carbon Gen 13 to use, which was indeed both shockingly fast and lightweight, but had soldered RAM and a mobo failure in the first 3 months, so I kept looking for a personal device.
Ended up with a Thinkpad E14 Gen 7 with a Ryzen 7, SODIMM ram and built like a tank. Also much cheaper than the X1. It’s heavy, but I’m also not worried about it getting thrown around in my bag.
I think all of the G7 Thinkpads are back with SO-DIMMs or LPCAMM2, depending on the model.
Ifixit gave them a 10/10. I hope Lenovo keeps with this trajectory.