Lenovo ThinkPad T460s

Can also vouch for this. Bought a 2nd gen AMD Thinkpad T14 ~last year and haven't had any issues at all running Debian testing (bookworm). Swapped the m.2 with a 4TB one and added an extra 16GB of RAM to supplement the soldered 16GB. I believe they're on 3rd gen now but I imagine hardware compatibility is probably similar to 2nd gen. The size/form factor is basically the same as my old T460s which I've had for ~8+ years and is still running, but a bit dated now with a 2c/4t Intel CPU. I believe back then the T460s was the "slim" version of the T460, but Lenovo seems to have dropped the "s" for the T14 even though the dimensions of both seem the same to me, maybe a couple extra mm in height on the T14.

I stopped buying new and started buying second hand about a year ago. Honestly, it's worked out just fine. I got a 6th gen i7 Lenovo T460S with 20Gb RAM, 512Gb M.2 and 1920 x 1080 display, all for about USD 700, about a year ago on eBay. It's still going strong today, and pretty much using it for the same purposes as you listed. It runs most modern linux distros flawlessly. WSL wasn't a great experience for me, but maybe things have improved since last year. Considering the specs of cutting edge vs., 1 or 2 generations ago, it's rarely ever more than 30% bigger/better/faster/brighter/etc. It just doesn't make sense to me to pay 100% to 200% more for a 30% improvement. The other huge plus (for me) is that I really don't care what happens to the laptop. I treat it with as much care as I treat my 2018 15"MBP, but at $700 (or $2 a day spread out over the last year), I really don't stress about it. Keyboard is THE BEST. Touchpad, on the other hand ... well, PC trackpads suck so very much, especially if you're used to Apple touchpads, which are just such a pleasure to use. Do consider buying second hand, especially if it's a secondary machine. Best of luck!

My 2020 Walmart-brand Motile M141 is still my main personal laptop. I have another Thinkpad T460s (2016) that still works fine. My wife still uses her 2019 Surface Pro. I have an ASRock Vision 3D (2010) in my closet running some SDRs. I've got a Supermicro X11SBA-LN4F (2016) in an old Shuttle SFF chassis (2009). And that's just the old stuff that still gets regular use. Aside from the Surface tablet they're all very repairable. I disagree that Mac things tend to last longer. There might be trash out there, but there's tons of stuff that's just fine and lasts a long time. You don't even need to always spend a lot on it; that Motile was like $300 for a 14" 1080p laptop.

My two T460s work just fine. They are not as expandable as my T420 but I can change the M.2 SSD and the RAM. That is enough for me at this point. RAM and STORAGE has to be upgradeable.

I do own a T460s as well and have to say, the build quality of the Framework is not as good in comparison. But given that the Framework is cheaper, I think it's still a fair deal. One thing I should point out here: you can order a Framework without RAM and SSD, then buy these components from a regular store with regular pricing.

It is NOT a hardware issue. I used Hackintosh on my T460s and the macOS experience was nearly as good as on a MacBook Pro (hardly noticable difference). Switching back to Linux / Windows was the usual "meh" experience.

I use a Thinkpad T460s (Linux), 4 year old Android phone and an old Garmin running watch I bought off ebay. The simple fact for me is that all of these types of devices are thoroughly comoditised now, and almost perfected, so even old tech runs well, for my needs at least. I don't experience any issues not being "up to date" and it feels satisfying to not have blown thousands trying to keep up.

I only recently replaced my T420 with T460s as my daily driver. M girlfriend got a T570 or 80. There have been zero issues with Linux compatibility, just install and good to go. I only recommend and would buy thinkpads. Also because as you said you get them very affordable after they spend 2 years in a office.

It's weird. I own two Thinkpads, a "golden era" model with the 7-row keyboard (x201) as well as a newer Skylake model (T460s). The difference between the two is noticeable, but not as much as people make it out to be. The older model feels like a really solidly built device, and the performance is surprisingly good while running Linux. It idles on the hot side (little less than 40c no matter what you're running), but CPU usage is low even on high-bloat desktop environments like KDE. Without anything running in the background, CPU usage stays below 2%, which kinda blows my mind for a machine pushing a decade old. The newer model I have is much the same way, but it's thinner and idles at a much more reasonable temp (28-30c). Frankly, I think they're both fine. The new keyboards aren't mind-blowing, but I'd still put them leagues beyond Dell and Apple's offerings these days. I'd frankly recommend either of them, as long as you can find one without a TN panel. The other advice I'd give is to not buy directly from Lenovo, since their prices are all over the place and tend to screw you over if you don't do your due diligence.

Worth considering Lenovo Thinkpad - can be pricey, but you know, you don't have to buy brand new! I recently purchased a refurbished T460s (1080p, 6th gen i7, 20Gb RAM, 512Gb M2) for about USD 700. It's a complete typing pleasure to use, with lots of travel and a satisfying 'thunk' at the bottom of each key. It's not as fast as my 2018 15" MBP for multi-core work, but I've not really noticed any performance issues with dev work (watching, building, compiling). It's also about 35% lighter than the 15" MBP. Another plus is that you can configure the keyboard via their management software (Lenovo Vantage) to swap around the 'fn' and 'ctrl' keys if you're used to 'ctrl' being at the left edge of the keyboard.

Lenovo thinkpad t460s. I got it in part because of a great deal. The biggest complaint I have is the screen brightness. Battery life could also be better. Otherwise, I love the keyboard feel and it feels really solid while remaining compact and light. In my research, the real other contenders were the dell xps line or other thinkpads.

> What's worst, however, is the deterioration of customer support. Lenovo has introduced this 'community' concept where users are expected to post their woes to a forum, hoping that a mix of other users and Lenovo affiliates (not sure whether they are employed by Lenovo, or just volunteering) would solve their problem. ... but there's still regular customer support you can call. The forums are optional. My T460s is the best laptop I've ever used btw. They reverted to the old trackpad, it's as light as a Macbook.