I only have ever bought 1 laptop ever. Every single laptop after that shitty gateway I bought in like 1998 I have gotten for free from places that I have worked. Companies throw away computers like crazy and all of my laptops after that have been from these throw away machines. If you work somewhere get to know your IT staff and more then likely they have a bunch of old stuff laying around that they would be happy to let you have.... just don't steal stuff tho :P
When it comes to USB ports, please keep in mind that USB 3.0 is available only in i7 version of X220. If you get i5 or i3, you will only get USB 2 ports.
Thanks for making this video. I looked up at least 3-4 videos about repasting an x230T and yours is the only one that mentions that the Thermal Pads also need replacement. Everyone else just glosses over it, and only mention how to apply the thermal paste.
I’m totally on board with this. So many wasted older computers that have plenty of life in them. In fact most people think they need to upgrade a pc just because the OS gets a little sluggish but I do a clean install of Windows every 2 years or so. I also built a home server and have a dedicated Linux laptop. For me computers are a hobby but I can build most people a great computer for a few hundred dollars. My Lenovo ThinkStation server has a Xeon 8 core/16 thread processor, 96Gb RAM, 1Tb NVMe SSD and 16Tb of HD storage and it cost me about $750. I just laugh when people buy $2500 Macs that they don’t need with the exception being video/music editors. You don’t need a MacBook Pro to be a college student or surf the web.
@@TripOfALifestyle also you mentioned that you don’t use your second drive bay. I always do because I keep my OS on one drive and my data on the other. Makes things easier when it comes to refreshing the OS or if it dies but I also know you mentioned your husband backs up the data. I just like the compartmentalization.
after watching this and a few other videos i got a thinkpad x220 in crappy condition for 40 dollars and fixed it up. Im a lot into it and it still has some minor issues but i like it a lot. one of my favorite laptops i have
I do a very similar thing! As a cyber security engineer, my company supplies me with a laptop for work. But, for college and all personal use after college I have been using/upgrading a Lenovo Thinkpad E580 that I bought in high school. It didn't have a windows license when I bought it so I've been running Ubuntu natively since day 1 (I prefer standard Ubuntu to Xubuntu even though standard Ubuntu is slightly more resource heavy).
@@TripOfALifestyle Fair enough. The most important thing is that they are all free! Thanks so much for interacting! I love y’all’s content! Keep it up!
Got an old x220t which I've only now replaced with a newer laptop for its intended function. Two tips I can mention: -Get H264ify plugin for your browsers. YT and other streaming sites are starting to use H265 encoding, which is great if you have hardware that can handle it (anything after around 2016). Anything older can request the older codec instead which these laptops can handle. That should stop stuttering or fan spinup on higher definition screens. -Consider getting the dock. Most of the business line have/had docking stations you could buy. They'll perform better than 3rd party USB docks and can keep your setup cleaner at home -If yours has a low resolution display, you may be able to upgrade to 1920x1080. Check the original specifications and models available for your laptop, many came with higher resolution options. If you can get either the model number it refers to or the panel number you can upgrade it. This isn't super hard to do on older systems, but one side effect is that some of the feature buttons may not longer match up correctly. All of the features are there, you just need to figure them out for yourself.
We are in a club😀. I use my Thinkpad X220 since 2011 too, and it is still kicking. Upgrades: RAM 8 GB -> 16 GB mSATA drive (128 GB), that is when I made it dual boot Windows/Linux spinning disk -> SSD (1 TB) (Stumbled across this video when searching for a new secondary battery) Things that no longer work: Touchpad - it got erratic about 5 years ago, so since then it is the red "joystick" or a mouse Touchscreen - Well, it works on Linux and on battery on Windows too, but with a plugged-in power adapter the mouse jumps to a random point on the screen on Windows about every second. Weird, but fact.
Awesome video, so many great ideas for my old pads I had not thought of and probably wouldn't have without this video. Top notch info. The overall video presentation was generally easy on the eyes too (:
i just got a thinkpad t430s for 100€ lately and it got an ssd and 16gb ram upgrade already i can say the performance is great with win11 thanks for the tipp about changing the charging port and the express card
Here i'd add that if you will change the thermal paste again maybe look in to PTM 7950. That i7 likes to run hot so excellent heat transfer and life-time longevity are quite usefull. You also might want to do an IPS mod if not done already. Your X220 has lived a wonderfull life :D
These old ThinkPads are something else. I've received old X200 for free (4 GB of RAM, no hard drive and Core 2 Duo P8600). Over the years I've upgraded the RAM to 8 GB, threw in a 120 GB SSD, USB 3.0 Express Card, new battery, swapped motherboard from X200 to X201 one with i3 CPU and installed modded BIOS without WiFi whitelist. Right now, I'm waiting for two adapters, which will allow me to install small NVMe drive and two additional SD cards (internally) for storage boost. I have plans for upgrading WiFi card in the future. Also, this unit (even with X200 motherboard) runs Windows 11 just fine.
@@arikowidtrash7074 It runs Windows 11 fine. It's a little bit slower than modern Intel Pentium laptops but otherwise pretty snappy for it's age. It does all the office work fast enough. UA-cam FullHD playback works. For 1200 frames it will drop about 5.
Never seen such a gorgeous techno-blogger!😍😍😍 I had x220 with i5 I gave it to my wife. For myself I bought T430i because I needed a wider screen. Still kicks in the mid 2024.
The X220 was also the last laptop they made with that particular keyboard. For that reason alone, it's great. On mine, the fan stopped working -- IDK if it's a hardware or software problem. I will try to replace the fan. And thanks for a very pleasant and helpful video.
Whoa, hold the phone...you went from a Barrel Charging port to a USB C Charging port??? Can I please see the explainer vid on how you did that? I thought I was good until I came to this channel. You've got some nice mods.
Your video is inspring as I have a few retired laptops sitting at my storage room collecting dust and these retured laptops are actually younger than your Thinkpad. I think I am trying to do some refurblishing work to rejunvenile them.
The happiest part is considering how much e-waste you haven't created, as a lot of people treat a laptop as a throwaway item and renew when the next fastest thing comes along. For myself I've never bought new, just by used and upgrade what you can😊😊
This is kind of girl I love to be with. Not a girl that spoiled with her latest MacBook Pro. I also now focusing on buying a futureproof laptop so that they can last 10+ years. I would have been happy with a Lenovo Thinkpad W520 but my 4K video editing work requires like a Pascal Quadro GPU so Fujitsu Celsius H780 is perfect.
You've pretty much pushed it to the max! I like it. I've got same X220 with i7. Where did you get the USB-C charging port? Was unaware of that, so appreciate it. I'm checking Aliexpress but haven't seen one. If you wanted to squeeze every bit of performance out of it, you could look at compiling with Gentoo but I doubt it'd be worth it + you'd have days of compiling ahead of you. Think if you wanted to go further mods, you'd have to go X230 but I appreciate this is your original laptop so likely quite attached to it
@@TripOfALifestyle Winner, thank you. I often forget to look there. I've read that Kingsener batteries on a Aliexpress are generally quite good, that's my next stop. I'm mostly plugged in each day, so I've used TLP to set my battery thresholds to 40-50% charge, i.e. extending the lifetime of the battery before it degrades. I'm also interested in recelling the battery but just don't have the time or equipment just yet. I'd definitely watch a video on that if you're looking for another challenge
This is so cool, I wonder if I could do this with my current laptop in the future I'm guessing probably not considering it's a newer model, I already own 2 laptops! My old laptop and my current one
I'm a Thinkpad fanboy. My wife and I each have a Thinkpad T520 in addition to our desktops. In addition I'm using a T420 as a poor man's server mainly for automated backups and personal web server. It has an SSD as the main drive and a 2TB HDD in a caddy replacing the DVD drive. We have had good luck buying off lease PCs and laptops on eBay. Normally use recyclers rather then one-offers trying to sell their old computer.
I think the point is to do these sort of upgrades as-needed, as you did. When you do them all in a short period, your money is probably better spent on a "new" thinkpad from ebay. Just a few months back I picked up a T470s (i5-6500u) with 20G ram for $130 shipped. It has usb-c (data+charging). It was missing a power-brick and I wanted to upgrade the small+slow nvme it came with, so that was another $70 shipped.
These now rather old machines are still amazing value today. I still have a Thinkpad X201 tablet from 2011 and use it occasionally, especially when I am traveling. I did the same upgrades as you did to your X220, it really is a big upgrade. My X201 has major limitations compared to the X220 however. For example, adding a USB 3 Expresscard only bumps the speed to about 40-45 MB/s because the bus speed is low. Not worth the upgrade. The only really weak point is the battery. I am also on my third battery, and for the X201 it is really hard to find a good and inexpensive original. I have to stick to third party batteries which are expensive too, and not as good. I get maybe 90 minutes of battery life right now... Overall, I am still really happy with it, and do not know what to buy as a replacement. I am really happy that I upgraded my X201 to its limits (SSD, 8GB RAM), the newest Thinkpad has only an upgradable SSD. RAM and even the USB C charging port is soldered on the motherboard, where those are separate parts on both the X201 and X220.
Totally agree that it's still an awesome computer, and yeah, batteries are the weakest point on the X220 in 2024...It's tough to find high-quality ones from third-party sellers. Still getting 2 hours or so though, and with USB-C, it's a little easier to charge anywhere!
I got an old X360 laptop from a pawnshop for $50. It is an 8th gen Intel. All I did was slap some thermal paste onto the GPU and CPU and installed 8gb of ram for $20 to make it 16gb total and a 2tb M.2 I got for 100 and the final thing I did was to replace the battery for $28.. I got it over a year ago and still use it. today.
Amazing! First time I see a barrel charging to usb c charging upgrade. I didn’t think that was possible. Can you share more details about that? What parts to look for and how to make the replacement?
Good advice if you already have an oldpad from way back and you want to upgrade it. Picking one up today expecting it to go another 12 years would be weird though (where are you getting the Thunderbolt port from? Like actual Thunderbolt with charging and DisplayPort?). For such a purpose I'd probably get a Framework (if I weren't so married to the ThinkPad TrackPoint).
I got x230 which is similar. great laptop. my only problem is getting a good battery since lenovo has long stopped producing battery for this series. after bought 3 batteries that each only lasted for one year I got sicked of it so I uninstalled the battery. to power the laptop I use power bank 65 W which has type C port that can deliver 20V 3,25A. the good thing is you can get much bigger capacity with powerbank. the battery capacity is only 5300mah but you can buy powerbank 20000 mah that will give you longer usage time.
This is a great video as all the 2022 and 2023 laptop suck right now. 2016 Fujitsu Lifebook T726 I have beat the heck out of my new 2022 Fujitsu Lifebook U7312 in terms of modularity and repairability and for some reason it’s more efficient than my new laptop too. 720p screen is alright as Intel HD 520 can’t handle 1080p games. Also I really wish that ExpressCard make a comeback it is awesome that you can expand usb 3.0 port that way. I owned an older Thinkpad (X200 and T420) as a back up laptop too so that where this video is useful at I say my money is wasted on a new laptop that is worse than my old one
Awesome video, I totally relate to this lifestyle, tech minimalism (nevermind tens of Thinkpads I've accumulated, but slowly getting rid of). It isn't just about saving money and reusing old stuff, it's that the old stuff is actually better, in terms of design and general usability. There isn't a laptop currently available on the market, for which I would trade my X230 with i7-3612qe and IPS screen. I don't care whether or not my laptop has a warranty or not, if I can cheaply buy another, if this one eventually dies of old age. At the end of the day, it's about getting the work done, shouldn't put more than necessary time in thinking about this. Modern trends of following technology, every year new phone model, new graphics card, the comparisons and other nonsense, are just the worst type of consumerism, a plague of our late stage capitalist society.
Check out Framework laptops. That's what I moved to after my old Lenovo. Decent keyboard (I'll admit I still prefer my x220t a bit), and upgradable in the future.
Cool video. I am still rocking my 2013 Sony Vaio, but sad that the brand no longer exists. Has your 2011 Thinkpad suffered any cracks on the laptop body?
@@hello838 Nice! Yeah, the ThinkPad has some small cracks that I repaired with super glue 😓...but still going strong in 2024 as my everyday computer! 💪 -Lauren
unfortunately the USB3-Port is ONLY AVAILABLE if the I7 is installed on the X220 the I5 and the I3 has only USB2. If this is an issue go for the X230 this has an USB3 on each version.
I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad X230t and it's blowing my mind how upgradable it is compared to my newer laptop. And all the upgrades cost around 100 dollars in total! (Ram + SSD + Battery)
@@nostalium Battery life has never been the best in most Thinkpads, compared to others. I also have the impression that they die earlier than others on average. When my X201 tablet from 2011 was new, it had only 2 hours of battery life compared to 2.5 or more on HP Elitebooks of the time. I have bought my third battery 2 years ago and have only 90 minutes of battery life left.
@@darkknight8139 The x220t series had 9-cell options, so my original battery life was 6-8 hours. The main reason why Thinkpads generally suffer worse battery life is that they have full power processors. Most ultrabooks can give you longer life because they're undervolted. It's one of the reasons why older Thinkpads are still pretty usable today.
I've also the same machine! X220 has THE most incredible keyboard, it's a pleasure to use. On a side note does your Thinklight work with the hotkey? I can't find a fix for that on Linux? :-)
@@algavone You're not actually upgrading any of the existing USB ports. You're ADDING 2 extra USB 3 ports via the ExpressCard slot. The card needed to do this is linked in the video description! 😊
Thank you for the excellent video, I will definitely use some suggestions on my X220T. Quick question though, is it really necessary to replace the charging port in order to use a GaN charger? I am in the market for one to save me the hassle of taking several chargers when travelling but I would rather just get a 2$ type-c to barrel port adapter, the reason being that I also have a slice battery and can't replace the port on that, being a sealed unit. So is the port replacement really necessary, as in, will it tell the charger what is the correct wattage and voltage in order for everything to work as supposed, or can I safely connect a type-c cable to the stock port using an adapter dongle?
1. The needs are different. I do love gaming and I do CAD work, so I need a more beefy computer. 2. You will reach a point of diminishing returns, where it would make sense to buy a new PC instead of constantly upgrading. I had my old i7 4770K system for over 10 years. It wouldn´t have made sense to upgrade it as instead i could get the new DDR4 or even DDR5 RAM modules etc. 3. If you want to save even more, get a PC in a big box. Easier with cooling, more performance, easier to service and replace stuff.
1. It's true this this old ThinkPad won't handle everyone's computing needs, but it's still in service as a daily driver right now in September 2024! It works great if you're a "normal" computer user. 2. That's true. We probably won't be doing many more upgrades on this ThinkPad X220 in the future, but it's still got lots of life left! 3. Interesting! Personally, we're always traveling and focused on small, lightweight laptops for our needs.
It's a bit of a process to install it. But it is open source, allows better access to hardware, and allows you to have a computer where all the code running on your system can be trusted. Pretty neat.
@@geostokes8573 Libreboot on X220 doesn't remove all proprietary firmware blobs and Intel ME, so it doesn't make your computer fully free. It's still nicer, but less benefits for more effort because Libreboot doesn't distribute the proprietary stuff it needs. X200 though can be fully librebooted (pretty much the newest thinkpad that supports it + Richard Stallman uses it), and T60/X60 can even be librebooted just from software, no taking apart and connecting anything required!
I have a ThinkPad X230 with an i5-3320M CPU (2.60 GHz) and 4GB of RAM. I also have a spare HP laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card and Beats Studio speakers. Would it be possible to transfer these components from the HP laptop to my X230 to upgrade its graphics and sound capabilities?
We think the X1 Carbon is really cool and great for travel, but it's not as upgradeable as the X220. The best strategy nowadays might be to just buy a slightly used ThinkPad (like the X1) on eBay at a big discount. Here's an affiliate link to shop around with: ebay.us/Bu2I86
My 13 i7 MBP gave up after 11 years of use but I think money spend well, I upgrade its RAM and SSD. I miss the old build and the upgradeable old laptop. To replace it I choose 14 inch MBP M1 last year since I am so deep in Apple ecosystem even though I don't like the soldered RAM and especially SSD since it will brake eventually.
MacBooks are built really well and typically last a long time, but yeah, you're right...soldered SSD sounds like a bad idea. Didn't know they did that!
It's mostly just Windows 10/11 that are bloated, Windows 8.1 and earlier will fly on this machine. Only somewhat issue is browsers are dropping support, but r3dfox exists so it's kinda moot.
The only real drawbacks are the small added cost and the fact that you have to disassemble the entire computer to install the port. It works great once it's done! Also worth noting: Like most laptops, it will only charge from USB-C ports capable of delivering 65+ W of power. Don't expect to use your phone charger.
Thank you for that video! Does a better Wifi-card also increase Wifi-reception or only speed? I often do not get a good wifi signal, but when I have wifi, speed is ok. Thank you if anyone knows about that! :)
I couldn't get through the whole video because of the light ring reflections in your glasses. You either need glasses that don't directly reflect light or just don't wear glasses on video.
How can you talk so fast? But it's interesting. You talk so fast and I can understand everything you say. How? there's one last thing you need to do to the laptop. Install Coreboot. That's an open source bios.
I got a T400 I owned since 2008. It still works! Got X220 tablet with i7 and touchscreen + stylus for 80 USD. I still use it until now because the stylus is so nice to use in photoshop (Im an artist). Im not saying that the performance is the best of course, but it ls far from laggy.
I use my laptops for average 10 years each but I’m always happy when I buy a new one. It’s kinda funny to be cheap when you have one life only. Treat yourself!
You only have one life, which is a great reason to live frugally, so you can avoid spending the majority of it at work. Here's the concept behind how we retired at age 29 through frugality: www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/financial-independence-101/
Hey I was wondering what kind of Ram I should buy for me t560. I just bought it for 140 francs ans wanted to upgrade it to at least 16gb. 32gb would be nice but I dont want the laptop exceeding 200 francs for now XD
I only have ever bought 1 laptop ever. Every single laptop after that shitty gateway I bought in like 1998 I have gotten for free from places that I have worked. Companies throw away computers like crazy and all of my laptops after that have been from these throw away machines. If you work somewhere get to know your IT staff and more then likely they have a bunch of old stuff laying around that they would be happy to let you have.... just don't steal stuff tho :P
This is so true! Really good tip. Pinning and sharing to our Instagram story (@tripofalifestyle).
When it comes to USB ports, please keep in mind that USB 3.0 is available only in i7 version of X220. If you get i5 or i3, you will only get USB 2 ports.
Correct! But you can still get some level of USB 3 support through an ExpressCard!
Doesn't really matter imo.😊
Thanks for making this video. I looked up at least 3-4 videos about repasting an x230T and yours is the only one that mentions that the Thermal Pads also need replacement. Everyone else just glosses over it, and only mention how to apply the thermal paste.
Glad you liked it! Please feel free to share in any communities you think would benefit from it. 😊
I’m totally on board with this. So many wasted older computers that have plenty of life in them. In fact most people think they need to upgrade a pc just because the OS gets a little sluggish but I do a clean install of Windows every 2 years or so. I also built a home server and have a dedicated Linux laptop. For me computers are a hobby but I can build most people a great computer for a few hundred dollars. My Lenovo ThinkStation server has a Xeon 8 core/16 thread processor, 96Gb RAM, 1Tb NVMe SSD and 16Tb of HD storage and it cost me about $750. I just laugh when people buy $2500 Macs that they don’t need with the exception being video/music editors. You don’t need a MacBook Pro to be a college student or surf the web.
Fresh OS install solves so many problems...and costs nothing!
@@TripOfALifestyle also you mentioned that you don’t use your second drive bay. I always do because I keep my OS on one drive and my data on the other. Makes things easier when it comes to refreshing the OS or if it dies but I also know you mentioned your husband backs up the data. I just like the compartmentalization.
after watching this and a few other videos i got a thinkpad x220 in crappy condition for 40 dollars and fixed it up. Im a lot into it and it still has some minor issues but i like it a lot. one of my favorite laptops i have
Super cool. It's a great computer, still today!
Foreign countries have such nice prices for used laptops. Here in Italy it's impossibile to find a Thinkpad under 100/150€!
I do a very similar thing! As a cyber security engineer, my company supplies me with a laptop for work. But, for college and all personal use after college I have been using/upgrading a Lenovo Thinkpad E580 that I bought in high school. It didn't have a windows license when I bought it so I've been running Ubuntu natively since day 1 (I prefer standard Ubuntu to Xubuntu even though standard Ubuntu is slightly more resource heavy).
Cool! We were on regular Ubuntu until they switched to Unity. 🐧
@@TripOfALifestyle FYI: Ubuntu has gone back to using GNOME since 18.04 LTS. I also prefer GNOME over Unity.
@@andylightfoot7508 Loved GNOME 2. Not quite as fond of GNOME 3 and onward. Just personal taste though!
@@TripOfALifestyle Fair enough. The most important thing is that they are all free! Thanks so much for interacting! I love y’all’s content! Keep it up!
Got an old x220t which I've only now replaced with a newer laptop for its intended function. Two tips I can mention:
-Get H264ify plugin for your browsers. YT and other streaming sites are starting to use H265 encoding, which is great if you have hardware that can handle it (anything after around 2016). Anything older can request the older codec instead which these laptops can handle. That should stop stuttering or fan spinup on higher definition screens.
-Consider getting the dock. Most of the business line have/had docking stations you could buy. They'll perform better than 3rd party USB docks and can keep your setup cleaner at home
-If yours has a low resolution display, you may be able to upgrade to 1920x1080. Check the original specifications and models available for your laptop, many came with higher resolution options. If you can get either the model number it refers to or the panel number you can upgrade it. This isn't super hard to do on older systems, but one side effect is that some of the feature buttons may not longer match up correctly. All of the features are there, you just need to figure them out for yourself.
Thank you for the tips on the plugins, I just got my x220 and keeps on wondering with its so laggy when I tried to listen to YT video :)
We are in a club😀. I use my Thinkpad X220 since 2011 too, and it is still kicking.
Upgrades:
RAM 8 GB -> 16 GB
mSATA drive (128 GB), that is when I made it dual boot Windows/Linux
spinning disk -> SSD (1 TB)
(Stumbled across this video when searching for a new secondary battery)
Things that no longer work:
Touchpad - it got erratic about 5 years ago, so since then it is the red "joystick" or a mouse
Touchscreen - Well, it works on Linux and on battery on Windows too, but with a plugged-in power adapter the mouse jumps to a random point on the screen on Windows about every second. Weird, but fact.
👏
You can find replacement touchpads on eBay!
200 views? I think yt meant to say 200k views 😂. The video is really high quality. I wish y'all the best
Haha, thanks! 😊
Awesome video, so many great ideas for my old pads I had not thought of and probably wouldn't have without this video. Top notch info. The overall video presentation was generally easy on the eyes too (:
i just got a thinkpad t430s for 100€ lately and it got an ssd and 16gb ram upgrade already
i can say the performance is great with win11
thanks for the tipp about changing the charging port and the express card
💪
Here i'd add that if you will change the thermal paste again maybe look in to PTM 7950. That i7 likes to run hot so excellent heat transfer and life-time longevity are quite usefull. You also might want to do an IPS mod if not done already. Your X220 has lived a wonderfull life :D
Thanks!
These old ThinkPads are something else. I've received old X200 for free (4 GB of RAM, no hard drive and Core 2 Duo P8600). Over the years I've upgraded the RAM to 8 GB, threw in a 120 GB SSD, USB 3.0 Express Card, new battery, swapped motherboard from X200 to X201 one with i3 CPU and installed modded BIOS without WiFi whitelist. Right now, I'm waiting for two adapters, which will allow me to install small NVMe drive and two additional SD cards (internally) for storage boost. I have plans for upgrading WiFi card in the future. Also, this unit (even with X200 motherboard) runs Windows 11 just fine.
👏
how that cpu run win 11 just fine?
but a bit slower right?
@@arikowidtrash7074 It runs Windows 11 fine. It's a little bit slower than modern Intel Pentium laptops but otherwise pretty snappy for it's age. It does all the office work fast enough. UA-cam FullHD playback works. For 1200 frames it will drop about 5.
Never seen such a gorgeous techno-blogger!😍😍😍 I had x220 with i5 I gave it to my wife. For myself I bought T430i because I needed a wider screen. Still kicks in the mid 2024.
The X220 was also the last laptop they made with that particular keyboard. For that reason alone, it's great. On mine, the fan stopped working -- IDK if it's a hardware or software problem. I will try to replace the fan. And thanks for a very pleasant and helpful video.
@@dipierro4 It's such a nice keyboard!
Whoa, hold the phone...you went from a Barrel Charging port to a USB C Charging port??? Can I please see the explainer vid on how you did that? I thought I was good until I came to this channel. You've got some nice mods.
Thanks! There's a link in the video description to all the mods used in this video!
Your video is inspring as I have a few retired laptops sitting at my storage room collecting dust and these retured laptops are actually younger than your Thinkpad. I think I am trying to do some refurblishing work to rejunvenile them.
Awesome! They probably have plenty of good years left.
: ) WELL DONE INDEED! THANKS MUCH for sharing! I still run older Thinkpads and sadly my newer HP CROAKED :( ALL the BEST and Cheers ! : )
@@martykong3592 Thanks for watching! 😊
The happiest part is considering how much e-waste you haven't created, as a lot of people treat a laptop as a throwaway item and renew when the next fastest thing comes along. For myself I've never bought new, just by used and upgrade what you can😊😊
I buy new, but I use them until they're dead. Old laptops make pretty decent home servers.
This is kind of girl I love to be with. Not a girl that spoiled with her latest MacBook Pro. I also now focusing on buying a futureproof laptop so that they can last 10+ years. I would have been happy with a Lenovo Thinkpad W520 but my 4K video editing work requires like a Pascal Quadro GPU so Fujitsu Celsius H780 is perfect.
You've pretty much pushed it to the max! I like it. I've got same X220 with i7. Where did you get the USB-C charging port? Was unaware of that, so appreciate it. I'm checking Aliexpress but haven't seen one.
If you wanted to squeeze every bit of performance out of it, you could look at compiling with Gentoo but I doubt it'd be worth it + you'd have days of compiling ahead of you.
Think if you wanted to go further mods, you'd have to go X230 but I appreciate this is your original laptop so likely quite attached to it
Thanks! There are links to every mod in the video description, including the USB-C power port.
@@TripOfALifestyle Winner, thank you. I often forget to look there. I've read that Kingsener batteries on a Aliexpress are generally quite good, that's my next stop. I'm mostly plugged in each day, so I've used TLP to set my battery thresholds to 40-50% charge, i.e. extending the lifetime of the battery before it degrades. I'm also interested in recelling the battery but just don't have the time or equipment just yet. I'd definitely watch a video on that if you're looking for another challenge
another thinkpad couple user. mine still daily use t440p and x230T
both maxed out
Awesome! 🤓
This is so cool, I wonder if I could do this with my current laptop in the future
I'm guessing probably not considering it's a newer model, I already own 2 laptops! My old laptop and my current one
I'm a Thinkpad fanboy. My wife and I each have a Thinkpad T520 in addition to our desktops. In addition I'm using a T420 as a poor man's server mainly for automated backups and personal web server. It has an SSD as the main drive and a 2TB HDD in a caddy replacing the DVD drive.
We have had good luck buying off lease PCs and laptops on eBay. Normally use recyclers rather then one-offers trying to sell their old computer.
The used market/eBay is great for ThinkPads!
Had my Lenovo y510p 12 years. 4th gen i7 held up till now.
I think the point is to do these sort of upgrades as-needed, as you did. When you do them all in a short period, your money is probably better spent on a "new" thinkpad from ebay.
Just a few months back I picked up a T470s (i5-6500u) with 20G ram for $130 shipped. It has usb-c (data+charging). It was missing a power-brick and I wanted to upgrade the small+slow nvme it came with, so that was another $70 shipped.
Buying used, upgradeable laptops is great too!
@2:03.. Those are not SODIMM
Guilty! We pulled some random old desktop memory out of the closet as a prop for the video. 😂
i love my thinkpad too!
These now rather old machines are still amazing value today. I still have a Thinkpad X201 tablet from 2011 and use it occasionally, especially when I am traveling. I did the same upgrades as you did to your X220, it really is a big upgrade. My X201 has major limitations compared to the X220 however. For example, adding a USB 3 Expresscard only bumps the speed to about 40-45 MB/s because the bus speed is low. Not worth the upgrade. The only really weak point is the battery. I am also on my third battery, and for the X201 it is really hard to find a good and inexpensive original. I have to stick to third party batteries which are expensive too, and not as good. I get maybe 90 minutes of battery life right now... Overall, I am still really happy with it, and do not know what to buy as a replacement. I am really happy that I upgraded my X201 to its limits (SSD, 8GB RAM), the newest Thinkpad has only an upgradable SSD. RAM and even the USB C charging port is soldered on the motherboard, where those are separate parts on both the X201 and X220.
Totally agree that it's still an awesome computer, and yeah, batteries are the weakest point on the X220 in 2024...It's tough to find high-quality ones from third-party sellers. Still getting 2 hours or so though, and with USB-C, it's a little easier to charge anywhere!
I got an old X360 laptop from a pawnshop for $50. It is an 8th gen Intel. All I did was slap some thermal paste onto the GPU and CPU and installed 8gb of ram for $20 to make it 16gb total and a 2tb M.2 I got for 100 and the final thing I did was to replace the battery for $28.. I got it over a year ago and still use it. today.
Excellent! 👏
Amazing! First time I see a barrel charging to usb c charging upgrade. I didn’t think that was possible. Can you share more details about that? What parts to look for and how to make the replacement?
There's a link in the video description for every upgrade, including the USB-C port!
x200 here 👍
I just got the X220 for free! 😃 I'm watching this video on it now! 😮
@@abaneyone Free is our favorite 😍
Good advice if you already have an oldpad from way back and you want to upgrade it. Picking one up today expecting it to go another 12 years would be weird though (where are you getting the Thunderbolt port from? Like actual Thunderbolt with charging and DisplayPort?). For such a purpose I'd probably get a Framework (if I weren't so married to the ThinkPad TrackPoint).
I got x230 which is similar. great laptop. my only problem is getting a good battery since lenovo has long stopped producing battery for this series. after bought 3 batteries that each only lasted for one year I got sicked of it so I uninstalled the battery. to power the laptop I use power bank 65 W which has type C port that can deliver 20V 3,25A. the good thing is you can get much bigger capacity with powerbank. the battery capacity is only 5300mah but you can buy powerbank 20000 mah that will give you longer usage time.
Cool idea!
This is a great video as all the 2022 and 2023 laptop suck right now. 2016 Fujitsu Lifebook T726 I have beat the heck out of my new 2022 Fujitsu Lifebook U7312 in terms of modularity and repairability and for some reason it’s more efficient than my new laptop too. 720p screen is alright as Intel HD 520 can’t handle 1080p games. Also I really wish that ExpressCard make a comeback it is awesome that you can expand usb 3.0 port that way. I owned an older Thinkpad (X200 and T420) as a back up laptop too so that where this video is useful at
I say my money is wasted on a new laptop that is worse than my old one
Thanks for the comment! It really is becoming harder to find modular laptops these days. 😓
Awesome video, I totally relate to this lifestyle, tech minimalism (nevermind tens of Thinkpads I've accumulated, but slowly getting rid of). It isn't just about saving money and reusing old stuff, it's that the old stuff is actually better, in terms of design and general usability. There isn't a laptop currently available on the market, for which I would trade my X230 with i7-3612qe and IPS screen. I don't care whether or not my laptop has a warranty or not, if I can cheaply buy another, if this one eventually dies of old age. At the end of the day, it's about getting the work done, shouldn't put more than necessary time in thinking about this. Modern trends of following technology, every year new phone model, new graphics card, the comparisons and other nonsense, are just the worst type of consumerism, a plague of our late stage capitalist society.
Check out Framework laptops. That's what I moved to after my old Lenovo. Decent keyboard (I'll admit I still prefer my x220t a bit), and upgradable in the future.
@@TheInsomniaddict But no nipple ;(
@@Wisankara There's a marketplace for parts starting up. Maybe there's no nipple right now, but one can hope there will be in the future.
my acer i3 laptop was $100 in 2012, add ram $15, ssd $30, new battery $40 = $185/13 years = $14 a yr = $1.6 a mo= 3cent a day
Bravo 👏
Cool video. I am still rocking my 2013 Sony Vaio, but sad that the brand no longer exists. Has your 2011 Thinkpad suffered any cracks on the laptop body?
@@hello838 Nice! Yeah, the ThinkPad has some small cracks that I repaired with super glue 😓...but still going strong in 2024 as my everyday computer! 💪
-Lauren
Use state shifting materials instead of thermal paste. It costs more initially but it is service free and the performance is way better.
unfortunately the USB3-Port is ONLY AVAILABLE if the I7 is installed on the X220 the I5 and the I3 has only USB2. If this is an issue go for the X230 this has an USB3 on each version.
You can also get limited USB 3 support with the ExpressCard mod mentioned in the video.
One of the rare beauty with brains....i am talking about laptop
Steven is one lucky SOB
I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad X230t and it's blowing my mind how upgradable it is compared to my newer laptop. And all the upgrades cost around 100 dollars in total! (Ram + SSD + Battery)
Good one, the X230t is an amazing machine too. Really easy to upgrade to good specs, the only weak point of these Thinkpads is the battery.
@@darkknight8139 What is the weak point about it?
@@nostalium Battery life has never been the best in most Thinkpads, compared to others. I also have the impression that they die earlier than others on average. When my X201 tablet from 2011 was new, it had only 2 hours of battery life compared to 2.5 or more on HP Elitebooks of the time. I have bought my third battery 2 years ago and have only 90 minutes of battery life left.
@@darkknight8139 Yeah, mine also holds 2 hours. But it's a completely different story when their batteries aren't worn out.
@@darkknight8139 The x220t series had 9-cell options, so my original battery life was 6-8 hours. The main reason why Thinkpads generally suffer worse battery life is that they have full power processors. Most ultrabooks can give you longer life because they're undervolted. It's one of the reasons why older Thinkpads are still pretty usable today.
Beautiful video this sort of content kicks ass!
That's a dope laptop, well done
Thank you!
waiiiiiiit....is that a scimic sticker?!
Yes! 💧🌳
I've also the same machine! X220 has THE most incredible keyboard, it's a pleasure to use. On a side note does your Thinklight work with the hotkey? I can't find a fix for that on Linux? :-)
Keyboard is great! ThinkLight has always worked without any extra configuration on Xubuntu Linux. 🤔
Very cool, will you make further upgrades?
@@LeNguyen-cf5nw Probably done now, but never say never! 😉
What a genius!
🤓
yo, what is the track playing in the background? bout to bust a move
Curious why Steven didn't show ya the KVM VMs
Is upgrading the USB from USB 2 to USB 3 simply a matter of changing a USB card, or do you have to change the connectors as well?
@@algavone You're not actually upgrading any of the existing USB ports. You're ADDING 2 extra USB 3 ports via the ExpressCard slot. The card needed to do this is linked in the video description! 😊
X230 is master race
Thank you for the excellent video, I will definitely use some suggestions on my X220T. Quick question though, is it really necessary to replace the charging port in order to use a GaN charger? I am in the market for one to save me the hassle of taking several chargers when travelling but I would rather just get a 2$ type-c to barrel port adapter, the reason being that I also have a slice battery and can't replace the port on that, being a sealed unit. So is the port replacement really necessary, as in, will it tell the charger what is the correct wattage and voltage in order for everything to work as supposed, or can I safely connect a type-c cable to the stock port using an adapter dongle?
@@davidcarreira536 Never used a C-to-barrel adapter before, but it should work fine if properly manufactured!
way to go Xubuntu!
🐁
1. The needs are different. I do love gaming and I do CAD work, so I need a more beefy computer.
2. You will reach a point of diminishing returns, where it would make sense to buy a new PC instead of constantly upgrading. I had my old i7 4770K system for over 10 years. It wouldn´t have made sense to upgrade it as instead i could get the new DDR4 or even DDR5 RAM modules etc.
3. If you want to save even more, get a PC in a big box. Easier with cooling, more performance, easier to service and replace stuff.
1. It's true this this old ThinkPad won't handle everyone's computing needs, but it's still in service as a daily driver right now in September 2024! It works great if you're a "normal" computer user.
2. That's true. We probably won't be doing many more upgrades on this ThinkPad X220 in the future, but it's still got lots of life left!
3. Interesting! Personally, we're always traveling and focused on small, lightweight laptops for our needs.
How about its battery life, is it good enough for programming😊
@@godfatheryt7626 Great battery life, but it's getting slightly harder to find good quality new batteries as it gets older.
Thanks for a really great video.
Thanks for a really great comment! 😊
somebode probably already commented it but I would recommend getting libreboot which will speed up boot up times!
Interesting! Never heard of that.
It's a bit of a process to install it. But it is open source, allows better access to hardware, and allows you to have a computer where all the code running on your system can be trusted.
Pretty neat.
@@geostokes8573 Libreboot on X220 doesn't remove all proprietary firmware blobs and Intel ME, so it doesn't make your computer fully free. It's still nicer, but less benefits for more effort because Libreboot doesn't distribute the proprietary stuff it needs. X200 though can be fully librebooted (pretty much the newest thinkpad that supports it + Richard Stallman uses it), and T60/X60 can even be librebooted just from software, no taking apart and connecting anything required!
thanks!
@@jimd1617 No problem! Thanks for watching!
doesn't x220 came with fingerprint scanner I'm bit confused have some had fingerprint scanner and some don't
@@shadowx5985 It's an optional feature! Some don't have them.
can you make a tutorial how to install the usb c charging port
Wow amazing content!
I have a ThinkPad X230 with an i5-3320M CPU (2.60 GHz) and 4GB of RAM. I also have a spare HP laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card and Beats Studio speakers. Would it be possible to transfer these components from the HP laptop to my X230 to upgrade its graphics and sound capabilities?
I have the x230 ips screen high pixel density and 2.4/5.0ghz bt, 16gb RAM and 512gb ssd
For the ultimate versión i need the backlight keyboard
Nice!
Thats the wifi i want
If I were to get a thinkpad now and use it for the next 10-15 years, which one would it be?
We think the X1 Carbon is really cool and great for travel, but it's not as upgradeable as the X220. The best strategy nowadays might be to just buy a slightly used ThinkPad (like the X1) on eBay at a big discount. Here's an affiliate link to shop around with: ebay.us/Bu2I86
Hi. USB-A to USB-C adapter can be used to usb-c headphones?
@@ogdan1173 Most likely yes!
@@TripOfALifestyle Thank you.
About the type C charger, do you need to adapt the power input? Don't you use any kind of resistors or something?
The modded port (which is linked in the video description) has all that stuff built in!
I'm sure this video is not rendered with that computer. But it's true, sometimes people change laptop without any necesity, even me.
This video was rendered on an old MacBook with only 8 GB of RAM that we literally got for free. 😂
What about i3 laptops ? What easily and cheaply can be done and is it worth it?
It really depends on the specific computer you're talking about! But a lot of these upgrades can be done to many different machines.
My 13 i7 MBP gave up after 11 years of use but I think money spend well, I upgrade its RAM and SSD. I miss the old build and the upgradeable old laptop. To replace it I choose 14 inch MBP M1 last year since I am so deep in Apple ecosystem even though I don't like the soldered RAM and especially SSD since it will brake eventually.
MacBooks are built really well and typically last a long time, but yeah, you're right...soldered SSD sounds like a bad idea. Didn't know they did that!
found one in $120 should i buy for code in python java and C please reply
@@shadowx5985 If you need it! Might be fun, haha. 🙂
Put on Windows 11 (you can Bypass the tpm 2.0 and CPU )
02:58 I have yet to find a USB3 Express card that actually fits; works; doesn't overheat...
The one in the video rarely gets used tbh, but we haven't had any issues with it.
It's mostly just Windows 10/11 that are bloated, Windows 8.1 and earlier will fly on this machine. Only somewhat issue is browsers are dropping support, but r3dfox exists so it's kinda moot.
also r3dfox browser
@@djtnm Yeah this comment was before r3dfox existed. Supermium is kinda sus nowdays, Thorium-Legacy is better for Chromium base. r3dfox is best.
for the usb c charging port
what is the biggest con for it? Looking on doing it on mine but but scared of not a lot of info on about it.
The only real drawbacks are the small added cost and the fact that you have to disassemble the entire computer to install the port. It works great once it's done!
Also worth noting: Like most laptops, it will only charge from USB-C ports capable of delivering 65+ W of power. Don't expect to use your phone charger.
Also note that USB-C maybe isn't quite as durable as the original connector. I've seen a lot of USB-C stuff, both ports and connectors, break.
Not only that. Older machines weren't designed to fail straight after the warrenty ends.
Here before this video becomes viral ❤
😂 🤞
Have u never changed keyboard, it's a surprise to hear that,
@@creatork7030 Original keyboard! It's getting a little shiny though. 😅
Luke Smith will be proud 🥲
wow. that is amazing
Thanks! It's still going strong!
interesting!
@@rohitrajasekar1334 Thanks!
Lucky guy( I'm serious) also pls don't blow your fan to make it spin while it's connected to your motherboard.
Would you still recommend this laptop in 2024 as a second ‘only coding’ laptop? It wont be my main pc.
Definitely! Still using it as main PC today. The keyboard is very nice, so you'll probably love it for coding, especially on the go (it's very small).
Nice, thank you!
USD100/year - neat
really cool vid. Keep it up girl
Thanks!
Thank you for that video!
Does a better Wifi-card also increase Wifi-reception or only speed? I often do not get a good wifi signal, but when I have wifi, speed is ok.
Thank you if anyone knows about that! :)
Seems to mostly be speed. The same antennas are used with the new card.
@@TripOfALifestyle Thank you! Do you know if it make sense to connect the unused antennas too, to the one wifi card (doupelling tha antennas?)
@@Hermann-ok9uh Not sure 🤔
The yellow barrel charging port lasts longer...
In about 12 more years, we'll see if you're right. 😅
Alright!@@TripOfALifestyle
I couldn't get through the whole video because of the light ring reflections in your glasses. You either need glasses that don't directly reflect light or just don't wear glasses on video.
How can you talk so fast? But it's interesting. You talk so fast and I can understand everything you say. How? there's one last thing you need to do to the laptop. Install Coreboot. That's an open source bios.
How heavy is this bad boy
It's an X-series ThinkPad, so it's designed for travel. Pretty small and light. Somewhere around 3 lb.
I got a T400 I owned since 2008. It still works! Got X220 tablet with i7 and touchscreen + stylus for 80 USD. I still use it until now because the stylus is so nice to use in photoshop (Im an artist). Im not saying that the performance is the best of course, but it ls far from laggy.
I use my laptops for average 10 years each but I’m always happy when I buy a new one. It’s kinda funny to be cheap when you have one life only. Treat yourself!
You only have one life, which is a great reason to live frugally, so you can avoid spending the majority of it at work. Here's the concept behind how we retired at age 29 through frugality: www.tripofalifestyle.com/money/financial-independence-101/
@@TripOfALifestyle I got a lazy job which I like with a good salary n a good climate country, so I’m happy
Should i buy one in 2024
It's still a great computer (the one in the video is still the daily driver in 2024!). See if you can score one super cheap.
扩展的usb3 用处不大,供电发热是个问题,平常用的也少.
Is there a special app where you find girls who don't use Apple products?
Sell your x220 and buy the x280. I think it will be cheaper than the upgrades😅
Hey I was wondering what kind of Ram I should buy for me t560. I just bought it for 140 francs ans wanted to upgrade it to at least 16gb. 32gb would be nice but I dont want the laptop exceeding 200 francs for now XD
Hi! We don't have a T560, but you can get some info about its RAM here: www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/lenovo/thinkpad-t560
thanks alot ! i was able to upgrade it.
can I be your Stiffmeister? :)