Lenovo is doing a reversal when it comes to the repairability of its ThinkPad T series: The new Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 features two SO-DIMMs and a user-replaceable internal battery. To prove its progress in modularity, the Chinese manufacturer had it reviewed by iFixit - the new ThinkPad laptop scored a near perfect 9.3/10.
Isn’t it possible for you to buy it from the US through your relatives and to install linux yourself ? If it’s anything like the older models I have, everything works out of the box with most popular distributions.
I assumed that I would get a 7040/8040 series for cheap. Turns out that it is pretty damn expensive. I am supposed to spend under 600$, but I’m kinda hung over those Zen4 mobile processors and their amazing iGPU.
I would have bought a 7440U or a 8440U with 16GB of RAM, but laptop with that particular processor isn’t available anywhere.
My second choice was supposed to be a 7540U/8540U with 16GB of RAM, and sure, there’s a few laptop with this, but the PRO variant of this processor is extremely expensive. So far, haven’t seen any normal variant. Maybe the HP ProBook 455 is the only device that comes close to my requirements?
My reason for avoiding Windows is that it costs ₹5000 to get the Home edition. I could spend that money to upgrade the process from a Ryzen 3 to a Ryzen 5.
Right now, I feel like the ThinkPad is IdeaPad rebranded, so maybe it isn’t worth getting the device. It still resembles the old brand, but some of it’s personality has been stripped off. The XPS is always expensive, so that’s out of question. Elitebook is the HP equivalent of Linux devices, but expensive. The ProBook is basically budget Elitebook, which could be a better value for money. But I really don’t trust HP, I feel like their products are of a poorer quality and that their customer service is bad.