Lenovo ThinkPad X200s

I also have an x200s that I got new in 2009. I've replaced the keyboard, battery (multiple times), palm rest, upper shell, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting about. I haven't put new parts on it for a few years, but as recent as ~2020 they were very easy to get and affordable. My little x200s is a dedicated HaikuOS machine now and I hope it keeps running for another two decades!

thinkpad x200s from march 2009 - steadily approaching 15 years -, still works great to read news-sites, browser hackernews, watch some vidos on youtube etc. ... using the current version of linuxmint / mate edition :))

Ahh, a topic dear to my heart. > Thinkpads are repairable [...], durable [...]. What's not to like? > Thinkpads are “Cheap” because nobody who worships the things buys one new. Confession time: over the years, I've bought 4: x200s, x270, t490s t14 (gen5). All were new when purchased. All were purchased for work + personal use. All run Linux. All are still in my household and still work - the x200s is old enough to drink in some countries. For context, I also bought me one Macbook Pro (at a weird time where PC laptops were more expensive than an equivalent Mac), so it's not like I haven't seen the grass on the other side. > [IBM and Lenovo] are typical companies, who just happen to have some good designers and engineers. That sounds like a good thing. > Yes, Thinkpads are good laptops. I agree. > -A saccharine twenty something. My oldest, still working, ThinkPad is almost older than the author of this blog post?!? Get off my lawn! I'm not sure what the author aims at: maybe "TPs are good if you buy them old, and nobody buys them new". Besides myself, I know a bunch of people who have bought new ones (and no, we're not in some crazy TP fan club). I only have experience with X and T lines, though. Maybe others are crap, dunno.

I used an X200s for many many years. Loved it to death - even though it only had 1280 x 800px - and no touch pad. I now use an M1 MacBook Air. It is better in many ways, but I miss the Thinkpad keyboard!

I just got off my X200s from like....2008. the 1.8 Ghz dual core was getting long in the tooth. But it had upgrades otherwise (newer ssd, though i had a factory ssd from day 1), and upgraded to 8GB of ram. Ran multiple linux distros on it great, including debian with awesomewm and even ElementaryOS. I will not admit what i bought to replace it, but im happy for the time being and it replaced by desktop and laptop in one (but wasnt cheap). I know theres no way it has the longevity i got out of that x200s. Technically the x200s is still in service though. I let my daughter use to get better with mouse/hand-eye coordination and do some reading/website work on it.

Very recently I bought a Thinkpad X200s (12inch screen) from ebay (<£200). I put in 8GB of RAM (£50) (max the chipset will support) and a 256GB SSD (OCZ Octane, ~£120). Total cost £370, which is just under $600. If you skip the extra ram and get a lower capacity SSD, you can get this under $500. I installed Crunchbang 64bit. I do lots of coding on this machine. My battery lasts about 7 hours. Very lightweight. The Thinkpad keyboard is excellent. I would consider the SSD essential for both speed and battery saving, but you could make it cheaper still without. You could go back another generation and get an X60/61. These are even cheaper. The Thinkpad build quality is excellent. I expect mine to last for at least 5 years.