Lenovo ThinkPad W510

I'll add to the chorus regarding the W5xx series. I have a W510 here that is 2 years old, and has been used heavily all that time. I also have a W520 that is 1 year old, similarly used, and has also traveled overseas a dozen times. No problems with either (both used for various Linux distros). Prior to Lenovo owning the brand, I owned IBM ThinkPads for years. I can testify to over over 15 years of their reliability.

I love these old ThinkPads. I refurbish and sell them all the time. Just moments before writing this, I finished fixing up a T580; earlier today I did a heatsink replacement on a W510 which is going strong with an SSD and 20GB RAM. The older they are, the better they are, but even the modern ones are still pretty good. Like the OP mentions, the market for parts is strong and it's easy to get what you need. Then when you go to sell them, they sell for a good amount. That W510 is worth at least $100 in its current condition.

haha, a number of years ago I stepped on my W510. It fell out of bed and under the covers without me noticing, it fell screen down and I stepped right on the display flat against the floor. I didn't put my full weight on it before I realized it was there, but I figured it was toast anyway, surprisingly it was fine! I really miss the Ultrabay as well. I did the same thing, used to use it for a second HDD for extra storage. Really though I miss the old old days when you could get an ultrabay battery. What do I need in a laptop more than storage? Battery life. I had a Fujitsu Lifebook which had an "ultrabay" (their version of it, at least) and that was the feature I used most for it. It seemed to disappear all at once, I wonder if it was FAA regulations around flying with batteries that killed it or what.

I'm still using my W510 from 2010 every day. Since most of my work is done on remote computer I don't need much power anyway. I have only updated the old hard drive with a good SSD. I also have plenty of ports (VGA, DP, RJ45, 3 USB), and the laptop is very sturdy I let it fall many times by mistakes and even through there are some cracks in the case it is still perfectly usable. Although it's not perfect, the laptop is heavy (about 3kg) and thick (about 3cm). But when I look at possible modern alternative it seems there aren't many which offer multiple ports and easy to do maintenance in a somewhat slim and lightweight case. The closest I've seen is the Fujitsu Lifebook U741X series (if someone has used it with Linux please share your experience). I'm also aware of the Framework laptop but it's bleeding edge so I better wait and see how it turns out to be repairable and robust.

I dual boot 12.04 on a Lenovo X230, very pleasurable experience. Great laptop overall. I've also used a W510 without any problems.