I've had X220s and X220Ts for a few years, and I agree that they're probably one of the best laptops you can get second-hand. But they aren't <i>as</i> cheap as they used to be on eBay and they're only getting older. I had to cycle through three X220/Ts in four years because they failed for various reasons. Screen died. Bios just decided to stop working.<p>Finally I decided to ditch my last one by choice this summer and got a Thinkpad X13 Yoga Gen 3 and I really love it. Battery life of at least ten hours for what I'm doing. Still great Linux support. It's not too much lighter than the X220T, but it's a whole lot thinner and that's important trying to shove a whole lot of stuff in one bag. Also: USB-C charging means I no longer have to carry around a big proprietary brick and cable. I can just use the same charger as my phone. That's also important when it comes to weight and space savings.<p>The reason I chose this model in particular is because like the X220T, it also has the digitizer pen garaged in the frame. Really hard to find laptops that met that, and USB C, and thin, and Thinkpad keyboard + mouse nub. In fact I think it's the only one.<p>If this (fingers crossed) lasts me a while, amortized I don't think the cost up front will be that much more than what I would've had to have spent upgrading and transferring parts between eBay franken-ThinkPads over the same time.
As counterpoint for the repairability I never liked how hard it is to access the fan assembly on thinkpads. You basically have to fully take the laptop apart to access it. And for the laptops from a decade ago I typically wanted to clean the fan assembly properly every year around springtime.<p>For example for the X220 the fan assembly is removed <i>after</i> the system board, no way around. Before the system board can be replaced, the following components need to be removed:<p><pre><code> • “1010 Battery pack” on page 63
• “1020 Hard disk drive (HDD) and solid state drive (SSD)” on page 63
• “1030 DIMM” on page 65
• “1040 Keyboard” on page 67
• “1050 Palm rest or palm rest with a fingerprint reader” on page 69
• “1070 Backup battery” on page 73
• “1060 PCI Express Mini Card for wireless LAN/WiMAX” on page 71
• “1080 PCI Express Mini Card for wireless WAN” on page 74
• “1090 Keyboard bezel” on page 76
• “1100 LCD assembly” on page 77
• “1110 Base cover assembly and speaker assembly” on page 80
</code></pre>
<a href="https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/0a60739_01.pdf#889359401" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://download.lenovo.com/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/0a60739_01.pd...</a><p>T220 is not better in this regard either.<p>There are other decade old laptops with similar quality service manuals that don't have this issue and the fan assembly can be removed without too much hassle.
It is a great machine but the screen resolution was already rubbish when the X220 was introduced.<p>And crucify me if you will but the new ThinkPad keyboard can feel _great_ on the models where it is deep enough (T series mostly). I just miss the 7 rows of the old layout.
I agree. I stopped buying Apple and switched to Thinkpads. Refurbished. With a decent backup system in place I can replace one on the fly as needed without breaking the bank but more importantly I can repair them. One spill was all it took to destroy my last Mac Pro: the whole machine was useless. I have kids and spills happen. As do drops, tugs, etc. My T450 suffered a spill: nothing. Disassembled, cleaned, back in business. But if it had been toast? Less than $200 to get another refurbished one.
Strictly in my opinion, the M1 mba is perhaps a tie or even slightly edges out the x2_0 series. Solidly built (would I use it as a melee weapon? no, that's what actual melee weapons -- like model m keyboards -- are for), fast, quiet, great screen, insane battery life, usable unix under the hood. I'll grant that the older IBM keyboards were top notch, but the M1's is good enough and having a modern screen to read code on is worth the trade (at least for me, I spend way more time reading and thinking when writing code than physically banging away on the keyboard). I feel kind of weird gushing about hardware to be honest, but it's just that good a machine and I guess that's in keeping with the author's love of the x220? :)<p>If I didn't have an m1 air though, an x200-series thinkpad running linux of some form probably would be my go-to! I still eye minifree.org from time to time when the temptation for a dedicated portable linux machine has me in its grip.
I don't think it's a coincidence that author has picked a laptop whose processor came out in 2011. Intel has basically had a lost decade in terms of performance. I remember going from my 2012 Macbook Air (i7) to a 2015 Macbook Pro (13inch) to the 2014 Macbook Pro (15inch) to finally getting a Thinkpad X1 and I <i>never</i> felt like the 2012 Macbook Air was struggling in the way that the subsequent laptops struggled.<p>Now my X1 doesn't have the build quality of the X220 - but it's still very good and I finally bit the bullet and did what someone well paid who relies on a tool for work should do. I bought the full 5 years support package for my X1. Any hardware issues? Send it in they'll fix it no questions asked. I need the laptop for work, I get paid good money, it's a good investment to have that business level support.<p>The only area where the X220 is really showing it's age today though - you just gotta have USBC ports I'm afraid.
Best laptop ever made.<p>«
Why Thinkpad X220 is the best laptop ever made<p>Published on 10.05.2020<p>I’m rather certain that you will come to the same conclusion, esteemed reader, as I did, namely that the Thinkpad X220 is the best laptop ever made, in consideration of the following points.
»<p><a href="https://okigiveup.net/blog/why-thinkpad-x220-is-the-best-laptop-ever-made/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://okigiveup.net/blog/why-thinkpad-x220-is-the-best-lap...</a><p>I have 2 of them, and I love them dearly.
A 10yo used eBay X220 got me through four years of college. I did Verilog synthesis on it. I learned how to use i3, and even used my own fork of Sam, an old text editor for Plan9. I wrote my first from-scratch RTOS on it. It's a tremendous laptop even today, but it's also one that holds a special place in my heart.
Another great thing about those laptops is that Libreboot is supported (<a href="https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/#laptops-intel-x86" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/#laptops-intel-x86</a>).<p>One can buy an X230 with Libreboot pre-installed at <a href="https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x230/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-x230/</a>.
The X220s only serious flaw was the screen resolution. If it had 1920x1080 it would have been perfect. My favorite laptop of all time. I use an X1 now.
I’m using an X220 with Archlinux short before 10 years now :)<p>The best feature is the seven row keyboard with regular size and regular key drop. The mobile form-factor in a size of A4/Letter combined with power and docking-ports. Also a small notch to lift the display and USB 3.0 port. Maintainability is great, you can upgrade the BLE 4.0 from the later L-Series, add 16 GB (unofficial) or even swap the entire WiFi/BL (requires MOD-BIOS).<p>The weak points?<p>The PCI-Express card slot reduces stiffness of the palmrest. The remaining flat four cell batteries from Lenovo are deep discharged and cannot be charged. The USB 3.0 tends to go into low-power state (use powertop or /sys to change). Some IPS-Displays could show “ghosting”.<p>It will be replaced now by an X13 Gen3 AMD. It ships in Europe without an operating-system (130 EUR not for Microsoft shareholders - spend that for the FSF, GNOME or Mozilla or your fav Distribution!) and can be shipped preinstalled with Linux.
I had to replace the screen by the HiDPI option myself because Lenovo is weird.<p><i>Why not Gen4?</i><p>I avoid the Gen4 because of the <i>reverse notch</i> sticking out of the chase. The reverse notch is ugly and parts sticking out of the device surface tend to break and hinder save storage. Furthermore the keyboard is hard to replace which is bad because that is the most stressed part.
I'm still in love with my x201s, the x220 predecessor. It was 16:10 and could have a super high res of… 1440x900, a rare thing in such a small format for the time. These small thinkpads were solid as hell, packed with I/O. Perfect keyboard. You could set it with a 90Wh battery. For a 12" laptop. Haha. Screen quality, speakers, touchpad were all garbage but oh well. So much other stuff was perfect. Good times.
I'm sorry to be that guy, but what is a "screen lock" button? Does the X220 have a button to lock the display, or (again, I'm sorry) are you talking about ScrLock (Scroll Lock)?<p>Writing this on a ThinkPad with great appreciation for them. And, in fact, I'm genuinely unsure what magical buttons a ThinkPad might have squirreled away.
I absolutely adore this machine. Even the little LED lamp in the lid. I use Mac computers for my day job and real life stuff. But when it comes to machines for hobby/linux/hacking around this is still my go-to. It's an amazing machine, especially when you consider the ample supply of cheap units, and replacement parts/batteries/etc. There are aftermarket upgrades including 4K display replacements and more.
X230 seems like a better option to me, you can replace the k/b with a 220 keyboard.<p>But even though they're built like tanks, these 220/230s are getting old now. Given a choice of old X series thinkpads, the x270 makes more sense - still very decent build quality, modularity, etc, but pretty much better everything. The X280 has soldered ram and other undesirable changs.<p>For T series, the T480 seems to be the sweeet spot.
Still have one. Still an amazing machine. And still performing quite nicely despite being more than 10 years old by now.<p>The only limiting factor is the iGPU, which is way too old even for 1080P playback and DX10-level features.<p>I wish there were any expresscard-sized video cards available, even an heavily downclocked current-day mobile chip would be good enough and within the termal and power requirements of the integrated port; The x220 is fully capable of deactivating the internal video card and sending the signal from the pci-express bus to the integrated display when it detects a discrete one, I've tested it with no issues using an nvidia 750GTX ti and a pci-express adapter.
I've been following (and tempted by) someone on faceboock (lcdfans / Jackyzhang - <a href="http://www.cnmod.cn/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.cnmod.cn/</a> ) who has a business of rebuilding x220 / x200 series laptops with modern hardware - the latest I've seen is a "X2100" - an x210 with I7-10710U and 13 inch 3000X2000 IPS...<p>One day if I have and extra few $k that I'm willing to risk I may ordering one...
I have an X230 that runs Debian. It has a newer keyboard than the X220. A lot of folks seem to prefer the old keyboard but I think the new one is an improvement and is the best laptop keyboard I’ve found. I put the modern MacBook Air keyboard second to it, and the old X220 keyboard is behind that.<p>The X230 has a miserable screen though, and the touchpad is so bad they just shouldn’t have bothered. The Trackpoint is good.<p>It runs Debian stable with no effort at all.
X270 is my PC when I am away from my home office - wish it was a bit faster but then I look at my colleagues lugging around their HP/Dell "gaming" laptops and I am not so envious anymore.
I still have an T440p and a X220 in the workshop they are workhorses. I am Linux only these days but the T440p with MacOS is the perfect laptop if someone sends you a keynote file or you need Xcode.
Never used a X220 but am extremely happy with both my X240 and later the X270, which I'm using right now to write this post. I chose those models because for years I used my motorcycle and scooter most of the time and needed something with more beer than the usual netbook, yet very compact, and after adding a bigger external battery I could reach 10+ hours easily. Linux support also is complete, which is common with Thinkpads.<p>I would be interested in upgrading them one day, but the lack of external batteries in newer models worries me; I want something with serious battery life and would happily add one centimeter thickness for a few hours more.
I don't know why Lenovo likes to throw money to the pit and don't go back to the IBM keyboard layout, I have a t430 with a t420 keyboard mod and despite not being mechanical it's amazing to type on.
There's no good reason to limit yourself to an X220 in favor of an X230.<p>The X230 is practically identical physically, and can have the X220 keyboard swapped in.<p>But in the X230 you get a newer gen SoC and the iGPU is vulkan-capable.
i currently use x2100 (x200 with 10th gen motherboard and a 3000x2000 13" ips)<p><a href="https://www.xyte.ch/mods/x210-x2100/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.xyte.ch/mods/x210-x2100/</a> (note: the seller is awol)<p>would be happy to upgrade to a similar x220 mod with e.g. amd zen 4.<p>unfortunately, from what i understand lenovo sued the 51nb folk (motherboard designers) out of their business.
My daily driver was a used T530 from 2012 - it was the version that had the best GPU. It was a hefty machine. I used to always tell friends - if I ever dropped it on the floor, I'm checking the floor first for damage.<p>I used to push that machine like crazy. My greatest achievement was running Fallout New Vegas on it. I put everything as low as possible, and installed mods to remove extra things from rendering. When I would stare out at a desert I would see absolutely nothing - all the rocks and trees were removed. My other greatest achievement was getting Metro 2033 running as well.<p>For both games it made my poor T530 sound like a jet engine.<p>All that being said, I always wish I bought a X220. The repairs seem a lot easier. Taking apart my T530 to clean the fans was much, much more difficult than doing the same for an MBP Unibody 2012.<p>I've since purchased an M1 MBP off of a college kid. He bought the MBP so that he wouldn't game, and then he sold it to me because he wanted to game.<p>I miss Linux and my thinkpad though. This post is really getting me thinking of buying a thinkpad again.
I have had a lot of think odd and almost always enjoyed them.<p>The talk of the x220s has me looking at x270:a<p>I’m surprised there wasn’t a mention of a 12” MacBook listed here.<p>One of the last macs that easily dual boots to Linux, only 2lbs, and the 2017 version has the keyboard figured out (finally). Handles up to 16 gb ram and an i7 too.<p>It’s portability like the x220 is hard to skip of.
I love this style of writing: Opinionated, togue-in-cheek and unapologetic. Such a better review that those dry, overly-diplomatic reviews on most tech sites. Give me someone who uses the device every day and has strong opinions over someone who reviews a half-dozen new laptops each week.
I bought a second hand X230 about three years ago and was so impressed I bought a second one for my Wife. Thinkpads from that era feel so well built and for a laptop thats a decade old at this point it still holds up as a daily driver now that I have replaced its battery with a new one.
I had an X220t once. It was a great machine, but I kept my W500 instead. The latter is even better built and easier to disassemble. I like its keyboard quite a bit more as well. To me, the T/Wx00 line was the last of the best the brand had to offer.
A few years earlier I found a some quantity of this laptop just before they go to garbage. I installed Debian on it and send all of them to africa. I'm sure they are still working, somewhere on a little island in the Mozambique Channel.
It was truly one of the best, and with a docking station i could literally have my business with me all the time. Its a mystery why other manufacturers don't iterate on this awesomeness
Strange. My brother was running this laptop and had to replace display twice because there is a mechanical point of failure with how the display cable is layed out within the case.
If Lenovo hadn't ended up 10 years behind Apple in display technology I'd probably never have made the jump to Apple and would still be using one today.
Its sad to remember how fast those things got changed to unrepairable junk. I have an X280 repurposed as a server with Debian because its display got crazy and unusable. Repairability of X series is almost non existent now. Corporate greed has no bounds I guess.
I used an X200s for many many years. Loved it to death - even though it only had 1280 x 800px - and no touch pad.<p>I now use an M1 MacBook Air. It is better in many ways, but I miss the Thinkpad keyboard!
My first exposure to a ThinkPad laptop was when work issued me a T60.<p>It was absolutely awful in virtually every aspect. Performance was terrible, the bundled software was complete garbage (but the machine wouldn't function properly without it), the fingerprint reader was incredibly temperamental (it never worked), the ergonomics were terrible (carrying it was physically painful thanks to the sharp edges), etc.<p>I honestly couldn't believe that a ThinkPad, which had such a stellar reputation, could be this terrible.<p>That T60 completely ruined the ThinkPad name for me. When it was time to replace it I requested a MacBook Pro and I've never looked back.
I bet the author would be happy with a Dell Inspiron 7490, my personal candidate for the ThinkPad x220 of 2023.<p>Sent from a Dell Inspirion 7490 purchased in 2023
God I miss chonky laptops. Instead of toting it around or throwing it in a bag I have to put it in a protective case first that makes it just as thick as the old one. I'll never get over the loss of the sheer convenience of being able to store a bluetooth mouse inside the laptop's ExpressCard slot.