I just ordered a T490 for college since they're cheap and I'm not doing anything crazy, no special programs required for my courses, just web browsing, word documents and reading visual novels.

I have seen post from years ago and not sure if anything has been fixed at all? Does suspending and waking the laptop work? Any problems with Intel CPUs?

Going to be trying out Void and Chimera Linux to see which one I like most.

I've been using Linux Mint (Cinnamon) on my Thinkpad T14s for around a year now, looking to possibly move to something new, any suggestions, mainly use for learning code, browsing, spreadsheets.

I've been using CachyOS on an ASUS gaming laptop for about a year and recently go a secondhand P14s Gen 5 (Intel), so I just put Cachy on that too. Everything works well except the battery life isn't great so I'm thinking of changing to Fedora, which has a rep for pretty decent power management. Is there any difference when it comes battery consumption between Workstation and KDE?

I've heard a lot of good things about them and I'm curious as to wether i could get one to work for me.

Running games is the most taxing thing i would want out of a computer.

EDIT: for everyone asking for specs, my favorite game is warframe wich asks for these minimum specs:

OS: Windows 7 64-Bit (32-bit not supported) Processor: Intel Core i7-860 or AMD FX-4170 (CPU must support SSE4.2) Memory: 4 GB System RAM Graphics: DirectX 11+ compatible video card Hard Drive: 75 GB free HD space Internet: Broadband Internet Connection

Unfortunately I barely know what half of these mean, but that would be my baseline.

EDIT 2: So I'm hearing I want to look for a P series and feed it extra ram? Or find a way to give it a gpu?

Hello, I recently bought a ThinkPad T470 (obviously) planning to use it with Linux, but I don’t have an idea which specific distribution I would go for… I use Ming XFCE on an old iMac from 2009 and I like mint very much! Is mint a good option (probably not XFCE but Cinnamon or something like that) or are there any other alternatives, I also like the idea to use something new. I’m open for suggestions :)

Hey everyone, I'm about to start IT and Telecoms high school. I found a T480 (i5-8th gen, 16GB RAM, FHD) for 198€. I plan to use it for coding, Kali Linux, and as a desktop replacement with a dock. Is it still a "beast" for a student in 2026 or should I look for something else? Thanks!

So I wanted a modular laptop with a CD-drive, cheap but still functional.

And bought the Lenovo ThinkPad T430s. It's refurbished. And comes with an Intel Core i5-3320M and 8GB RAM and 240GB SSD.

I have a main desktop PC with way better hardware for video editing and gaming. So I won't do such a heavy task on the ThinkPad, However I want to have a second mobile device, sturdy and okay for tasks like browsing, streaming and super light gaming (like just Stardew Valley and some Visual Novels) comfortably.

So I plan a RAM upgrade to 16GB anyways and maybe another, bigger SSD.

But now I'm thinking about which Distro. I had Ubuntu as a teenager on my laptop back than for some years (dual boot with windows back then tho because I didn't want to miss out on gaming with my friends), half a year ago I put Mint (Cinnamon) on my bfs old laptop which is okay for watching some YouTube or DVDs in bed. But I dislike how Mint is so.. simple and boring me. I saw Fedora Workstation and some ArchLinux in YouTube videos which I think would be pretty cool with GNOME. But I just can't decide. ArchLinux and the amount of terminal work and especially the installation process still overwhelms me..

I use the Terminal on Mint a lot but sometimes I like a fall back to a graphical user interface (Bluetooth in Terminal was my boss fight I resigned from and went back to the graphical app). But using the terminal for installations, updates, organising files is easy for me.

Any recommendations on which Distro I should go with on the T430s also considering the specs?

Hi everyone, I’m a complete beginner with Linux and I’m interested in trying it out on my laptop.

My laptop specs:
Model: Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 1
CPU: Intel Core i7-10510U
RAM: 16GB
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics
Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
OS: Windows 11 Pro

I have a 16GB USB stick and I want to put Linux on the USB so I can boot Linux directly from the USB.
I don’t want to replace or install Linux over Windows. I want Windows to stay on my SSD, and when I remove the USB stick, I want the laptop to boot back into Windows normally.
I’m mainly doing this to learn Linux and get some experience with it as a beginner.

A few questions:
What Linux distro would you recommend for a complete beginner?
Is 16GB enough for this type of setup?
Is there anything I should be careful about when creating the bootable USB?

I’ve seen people with custom Linux boot screens, including anime characters and other custom artwork. How are people doing this? Is it possible to customise the boot screen on a ThinkPad X13 Gen 1, and is it safe?
I don’t mind keeping things simple I mainly want to experiment and learn without messing up my Windows installation.
Thanks!

I've been using Linux for about a year on an Asus A15 and am thinking of getting Thinkpad T14 Gen 6 AMD (as I've found one for a decent price) and running either CachyOS or Fedora on it. Anyone running Linux on either the Ryzan 5 or 7 version of the T14 G6 and are there any issues to look out for?

Which ThinkPad should I get for Linux Mint? E580 vs T440

I'm planning to buy a used ThinkPad and install Linux Mint on it. I have two options:

- ThinkPad E580 — i5-8250U

- ThinkPad T440 — i5-4300U

Which one would you choose for Linux Mint, and why? I'm mainly looking for good overall performance and a smooth Linux experience.

Is the E580 significantly better than the T440, or is the T440 still worth considering?

Bought a new Lenovo E16 Gen 1 AMD in 2023 and I immediately installed Ubuntu on it. I have many other computers successfully running a Linux OS and I hate windows.

Linux on this computer has been a nightmare since day one. Random screens issues every couple weeks, every couple months including:

- no display after wake up from sleep

- no display after wake up from hibernate

- no display from cold boot

Each time it "breaks", I spend 5-10 hours trying to fix it, with help from AI. It works again for days, maybe months and then suddenly it is broken again. I literally have hundreds of hours into fixing it. I've tried different BIOS tweaks, power settings, drivers, different kernels, changed to Debian 12 three months ago, Tumbleweed 2 days ago. Today it broke again.

I see so much hype about Lenovo being the ultimate machine for the linux OS. Not mine. There is apparently a fundamental bug with these AMD graphics CPUs and linux which has never been resolved.

Research confirms I am not the only one experiencing these issues.

Has anyone discovered a fix or workaround?

Hi! I recently installed a battery in the internal slot of my T470 (because it has fewer charge cycles, the controller prefers using it over the external battery)

Thus, if the built-in battery drains to 0%, the laptop simply shuts down.

I'm currently running Arch + Hypr (if that matters). Has anyone encountered a similar issue, and if so, how did you solve it?

Is fedora the best distro for my Thinkpad t460s with 20gb of ram? I asked Gemini and it's said is fedora for its compatibility, it's true? What is the best?

Figured this might fit here as well.

I have a Thinkpad X1 Gen 3 with 8gb of RAM (it's basically Lenovo's version of a Surface Pro—detachable keyboard/tablet mode, etc) and 256gb ssd that I've been using as my daily driver and Windows has been getting real long in the tooth. What I care about in a shellnut:

• Desktop environment is touchscreen friendly w/ virtual keyboard easy to setup or is basically default

• Idle RAM usage is low (only got 8gb and cannot expand, gotta make the most of it)

I've looked up that anything with KDE Plasma is good with touchscreens, but I've read it's heavier than most. If it's my only choice, how can I easily debloat it or prolong my battery life easily with stopping extraneous background software running or even something like ThrottleStop on Windows?

I don't mind using the terminal but I won't lie... It kinda goes over my head on that stuff but I am willing to figure stuff out.

Hi everyone!

I have a ThinkPad L13 Gen 2 (i5-1135G7, 16g ram, 256gb SSD) and I'm in love with this machine.

The display is not sufficient for good photo editing tho (dci-p3, Adobe rgb, srgb, brightness). Anti-glare treatment makes things even worse, brightness is also pretty low.
I haven't run any test but results from notebookcheck confirm my impression.

Can I replace the screen? Which one should I get?

I'm looking for color accuracy and NITS (400 would be a good step, mine is \~240). FHD is just fine and I don't need high refresh rates.

Thank you in advance!

Edit: it was too wordy

Hello everyone. I have a Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 3 running Windows 11 Pro. I am thinking about switching it completely to Ubuntu or Ubuntu Studio. How has your experience been switching over? Do you have any useful advice before I commit? I do not want to dual boot this PC. Thanks in advance for any comments, ideas or suggestions.

I recently acquired a used T14 gen 4 Thinkpad (perfect condition, everything works just fine), only to find out that a BIOS supervisor password is enabled. Is there something I can do to bypass / reset it? I am in the need of accessing the BIOS to switch to a Linux distro, since it's currently running Windows 11.

If someone has some sort of solution, please let me know.

I’m new to buying ThinkPads, and I need one to start studying and learning about technology and programming, and to get started with Linux operating systems.

Hi there, just got an E16 Gen 2 for a really good price. Installed Debian 13 GNOME and autocpu-freq and feels so smooth. One thing that I wanted to know is, is it possible to "improve" the low mic audio? I don't mind some more white noise as long as other people can hear my voice.

Best to mention I personally have a Toshiba Portege R600-13X sporting Arch + i3. It's small and has many qualities I love that are shared with older Thinkpads from the same era. It's generally been great, although I fall back on my ROG G14 for work when i need the performance.

Frankly I really enjoy using the Toshiba but frequently run into points where it under-performs or frankly just does not meet requirements to run many simple applications. It makes me wonder why many people choose to use older Thinkpads (beyond their oddities and nice to haves that newer devices don't have anymore) as daily drivers. Is it as simple as some people do not demand much out of their computers? Or is it that I'm unaware of some software others are taking advantage of?

Let me know what computer(s) you use daily and what you generally use them for and why you prefer it to more modern computers

Bonjour tout le monde !

Je cherche à acheter un ThinkPad d'occasion que je peux utiliser pendant plusieurs années, principalement pour la programmation et le développement Linux.

L'un de mes principaux projets est de créer un jour ma propre distribution Linux légère, un peu inspirée par Linux Mint. L'objectif serait de faire quelque chose de simple, léger et adapté aux ordinateurs plus anciens.

Je veux aussi utiliser le portable pour :

Développement web (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.)

Création de sites web

Apprendre la programmation et éventuellement développer des applications

Utiliser VS Code ou des IDE similaires

Git et GitHub

Compiler des logiciels

Faire tourner Linux comme mon système d'exploitation principal

Tester ma distribution Linux dans des machines virtuelles

Naviguer sur le web et utiliser des outils AI tels que ChatGPT et Claude

Étudier, lire des PDF, regarder YouTube, etc.

Je ne prévois pas de faire du jeu vidéo, du rendu 3D, du montage vidéo professionnel ou d'autres travaux intensifs en GPU.

Ce que je recherche :

Bonne compatibilité Linux

Un CPU raisonnablement puissant pour compiler et développer

16 Go de RAM minimum, de préférence évolutif à 32 Go ou plus

Un SSD remplaçable/évolutif

Bonne qualité de clavier et de construction

Bonne fiabilité

Bonne autonomie de la batterie

Idéalement quelque chose de facile à réparer et à mettre à niveau

Bon rapport qualité-prix sur le marché de l'occasion

Je m'intéresse spécifiquement aux ThinkPads car j'aime leur réputation de durabilité, de réparabilité et de compatibilité Linux.

Je n'ai pas besoin nécessairement du modèle le plus récent ou le plus puissant. Je préfère acheter un ThinkPad plus ancien avec de bonnes spécifications et évolutivité plutôt que de dépenser beaucoup d'argent pour un portable plus récent.

Quels modèles de ThinkPad me recommanderiez-vous pour ce type de charge de travail ?

Je suis particulièrement intéressé par les modèles qui offrent le meilleur équilibre entre performance, compatibilité Linux, évolutivité, fiabilité et prix sur le marché de l'occasion.

Merci !

I recently got a p14s gen 5. I was using Cachyos on an ASUS TUF F15 and it worked really well. On the thinkpad Cachyos has been less problem free though. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Over the summer, I had to replace my x220T battery because it wouldn't charge anymore. I bought this off eBay > https://ebay.io/m/vroWFQ

At first, the new battery was all fine. It charged, held a charge for a couple hours, and didn't cause me any issues when it drained to 0% and I plugged it back in a week later.

After a month of not using my laptop, I went to plug it back in and found that it'll turn on but not charge. I got these power statistics to pull up, but I'm not sure what to diagnose. So it'll turn on when plugged in, but it'll stay at "0% not charging" and unplugging the charger will kill the laptop immediately.

It seems like the power supply charger is still healthy, right? It's just that my battery doesn't want to collect any charge it's getting. Is this an issue with a third party Kingsener battery for an old model, or something wrong with the connectors and motherboard area?