How old second-hand ThinkPad?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
K

koala

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
7,579
  • #1
    I'm using a ThinkPad X1 Carbon gen3. It was built in 2015, I bought it second hand in late 2019. I love this laptop, but this week I've been using it temporarily for work, and it really can't handle well videoconferencing.

    We use Discord (¬ ¬U)... and calls were excruciating, esp. when screensharing was going on. Perhaps this is that apps are not well-optimized for Linux, but neither Chrome, nor Firefox, nor the Discord app worked well.

    This is a i5-5200U with 8gb of RAM.

    Really for personal use it's not a big deal, and I'll be getting a work laptop soon, but the ThinkPad is also showing it's age- sometimes the screen disconnects, it has gone through periods where it wouldn't power up... I'm thinking it's time to move it to be a backup laptop.

    So I was thinking about getting a second hand ThinkPad- probably a Carbon too. Backmarket in Spain seems to be decent, so I was eyeing that.

    I'm wondering... how old should I go? I think it's best if I go 16gb of RAM (I really don't mind my 8gb most of the time, but...), and I'd like USB-C. But I think I really want a significant upgrade over a i5-5200U. Which generation should I look at?

    Gen 5 seems to already support USB-C.

    I got my Gen 3 for 500€, which was a bit steep for a 4-year old laptop, but I could check the laptop beforehand and I could return it. I'm wondering if 330-360€ is right, and whether a G5 (2017) or G7 (2019) are OK or I should go more modern (after all, my current laptop was a 4yo when I bought it, a G5 would be a 7yo, and the G7 would be a 5yo...).
     
    Paladin

    Paladin

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    32,552
    Subscriptor
  • #2
    For that price range, I would think you could get up to Gen 8 or maybe even 9 if you get lucky.

    www.ebay.com

    Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 8th Gen 14" Laptop i7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM Win 11 (SNB) | eBay

    Storage512 GB SSD. ModelThinkPad X1 Carbon 8th Gen. We only install genuine Microsoft software on our refurbished PCs. Never the fake stuff! Certified in the leading standard for responsible electronics repair and recycling.
    www.ebay.com

    I know you're not buying from American sellers but hopefully it's not too different where you are.

    Basically it all just comes down to what you can find for the price you are willing to pay. For me, I got a great Lenovo Ryzen machine from Costco for under $600 that has a 2k screen, 2-in-1 chassis, 16GB and 512GB of PCIe storage, fingerprint reader, etc. Great machine. Don't constrain yourself to a particular model just because that is what you had before. There may be good options that are cheaper once you go outside the X1 Carbon models.
     
    K

    koala

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    7,579
  • #5
    Paladin said:
    I know you're not buying from American sellers but hopefully it's not too different where you are.
    Click to expand...
    ISO keyboard laptops are less abundant and slightly pricier. G8's start at 600€, which is a bit jump from 360€ for a G7...
    Paladin said:
    Basically it all just comes down to what you can find for the price you are willing to pay. For me, I got a great Lenoo Ryzen machine from Costco for under $600 that has a 2k screen, 2-in-1 chassis, 16GB and 512GB of PCIe storage, fingerprint reader, etc. Great machine. Don't constrain yourself to a particular model just because that is what you had before. There may be good options that are cheaper once you go outside the X1 Carbon models.
    Click to expand...
    Well, I'm good with 1920x1080 (1920x1200 would be great, but that's G9 :(.

    Storage, fingerprint reader... not really important for me. I do want a CPU that can handle some Electron apps and videoconferencing, but really I don't need much more over that.

    I do want a ThinkPad, though, with a full-sized keyboard, not bigger than 14". I could go for an Edge or L-series, but I'd prefer a T-series or a Carbon, really... and the laptop goes in a bag frequently, so I'd prefer a Carbon.

    Oddabe19 said:
    As a point of reference, the i7-8640U w/ 16gb ThinkPad from 2018 my work provided me in 2021 still handles everything just fine (though at 1080p). We don't use Discord, but it chugs away with Teams meetings/O365/VSCode/Chrome/everything on W10 without issue. Most issues are the agents running in background (security and management stuff mostly).
    Click to expand...
    continuum said:
    4 core Coffee Lake is a good current minimum. Not sure if the OP's budget goes to more cores from the discussion so far.
    Click to expand...
    Well, the G5 I posted is an i7 Kaby Lake, which apparently is the previous generation to Coffe Lake. The G7 is an i5, but it doesn't look too bad.

    I can stretch over 360€, esp. if the 360€ is going to struggle in videoconference. But if a cheaper laptop can deliver, I'm fine with an older model.
     
    K

    koala

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    7,579
  • #7
    Yeah, I mean... my Carbon is flaky, and might die soon. It would be nice to have a newer laptop with USB-C... and actually having this Carbon to play with new distros, or to use occasionally Windows would be useful. So if I can do that for not a whole lot of money AND give something slightly beefier that doesn't lag so much with modern stuff, that'd be great.
     
    steelghost

    steelghost

    Ars Praefectus
    4,975
    Subscriptor++
  • #8
    I got a decent X1 Carbon (i7-8650U, 16GB RAM / 500GB SSD, 1440p touch enabled display, Thunderbolt / USB C) for £210 late last year, from an IT reseller via eBay. So far it's been a decent little machine. Confusingly it says 3rd Generation on the back, but the CPU is apparently "Kaby Lake R", putting it 2 or 3 generations newer than your "Gen 3". Either way, seems like a decent entry point, being old enough to be inexpensive, but new enough to be a reasonably step up in CPU, especially if you can find an i7 with a bit more RAM.
     
    continuum

    continuum

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    94,897
    Moderator
  • #9
    steelghost said:
    Confusingly it says 3rd Generation on the back, but the CPU is apparently "Kaby Lake R", putting it 2 or 3 generations newer than your "Gen 3".
    Click to expand...
    Not trying to get too off-topic but does the serial number/part numbers on the back match what's in the UEFI? If it doesn't I'd suspect the bottom cover was replaced.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: steelghost
    Nevarre

    Nevarre

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    24,110
  • #11
    8th gen (Coffee Lake) with ideally a 4C/8T is really the break point at which they "feel" pretty close to a modern CPU for most tasks when given enough RAM.

    It's also the minimum point at which (roughly speaking) Windows 11 compatibility starts so there's a price jump over 7th gen Kaby Lake arbitrarily not making the list.

    Windows 10 not going to be supported past October 2025, so anything 7th gen and older is pretty much disposable in 18 months if you only ever want to run Windows...
     
    • Like
    Reactions: continuum
    K

    koala

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    7,579
  • #12
    Oh, my workstations run Linux exclusively, so I'm not too worried about Windows 11 compatibility.

    In fact, that reminds me I have two desktops (in each flat I live in). They both have Nvidia cards and are running Windows for gaming purposes. One of them is a bit old, and not Windows 11 compatible- I tend to use it as a workstation too. I had already planned to reinstall that with Linux before Windows 10 goes out of support.

    I could probably move to using them as my workstations, and keep my 3rd Gen Carbon for sporadic mobile use... They only have 8gb RAM each- I could expand that depending on RAM prices.

    Still, need to mull it over. If there's more advice about which proc gen to buy, keep'em coming, though.
     
    Nevarre

    Nevarre

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    24,110
  • #13
    That's all fine, but you'll see price increases around the 8th gen and above, especially faster 8th+ gen laptops with 16+ GB of RAM because plenty of buyers know that the value proposition for anything older is low simply because you're stuck on an OS that's on a timer that's rapidly counting down. That's not to say that Kaby Lake is massively slower than Coffee Lake-- it's definitely a generation behind, but it's still usable given sufficient RAM.

    It's competition with all the people who do want a computer for Windows.
     
    K

    koala

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    7,579
  • #15
    Nevarre said:
    That's all fine, but you'll see price increases around the 8th gen and above, especially faster 8th+ gen laptops with 16+ GB of RAM because plenty of buyers know that the value proposition for anything older is low simply because you're stuck on an OS that's on a timer that's rapidly counting down. That's not to say that Kaby Lake is massively slower than Coffee Lake-- it's definitely a generation behind, but it's still usable given sufficient RAM.

    It's competition with all the people who do want a computer for Windows.
    Click to expand...
    Yeah, I mean- I feel myself lucky... I use Linux, so if processors incompatible with Linux are relatively beefy and that drives prices of those laptops down, good for me.

    In fact, my desktop that doesn't support Windows 11 is because of the processor. And that box is plenty snappy!

    (In any case, I repurposed a gaming gig into a desktop for this location. If I do that in my other location, then my immediate need for a snappy rig for work is temporarily averted. But still, it might be a good idea to upgrade my personal laptop anyway.)
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Jump to latest Follow Reply
    Jump to latest Follow Reply