A look at the ThinkPad T480

[@mmv1503]

I love how "last thinkpad" ranges from T43 to t480

[@mashy712]

The “Last” thinkpad is the last model under “IBM”

[@Raphaelwelingston]

@@mashy712 So T60 then xD ? Even if it has been made by lenovo x) ?

[@robertvuitton]

@@Raphaelwelingston But I think Lenovo were the ones making the laptops for IBM even before IBM decided to sell their computers/laptops to them, kind of like how FOXCONN makes the PlayStation for Sony.

[@Raphaelwelingston]

@@robertvuitton Good question ! I don't know the answer frankly ! So if you have any clue, it might be interresting !

[@herrfaust2020]

@@robertvuitton The last model made by IBM was the 600X. They used to have a plant in Mexico and Ireland(?). All T/A/X/i series were outsourced. I believe the i Series, and maybe the 390, were the first models outsourced. I think the 570 was still IBM-made, but not positive about that. I don't know who actually made the T/A/X/i models, though.

[@sophiaonyoutube]

I just bought a T480 in 2022 with the i5-8350u, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. Honestly, I couldn't complain about anything. Laptop has been good, hasn't experienced any lags with it. And upgrading some parts of it feels satisfying. Anyone who ever uses a Thinkpad should learn how to service and upgrade it themselves, because it's super easy (and satisfying). It's like a mini desktop because of how upgradeable it is. Things on the T480 that you can upgrade on your own: - Screen (to WQHD, full HD 400 nits etc) - The stock trackpad to a glass trackpad - Keyboard to a backlit one if yours isn't - 72Wh battery which is hot swappable with the current 24 Wh - The plastic lid to magnesium lid - Buy up to 64GBs of RAM - Dual SSD using the LTE slot (useful when dual booting multiple OS) Those are the upgrades I know, but who knows if there are other ways to upgrade it.

[@Muhammad14W]

Very nice review. My T480 is on it's way to my home.

[@EVILAKUMA]

Wow nice ....I have a T740s I7 256GB I got for pics browsing and some snes retro games. How long do these laptops last ?

[@mohamedaminerai7132]

would you recommend the t480 over the 480s?

[@scooupa]

Did you buy it from Amazon?? Pls reply

[@zhila5958]

@@mohamedaminerai7132Did you pick one sir?

[@NiGhtPiSH]

The problem is that most electronics these days are made less and less serviceable and upgradable and in case of failure they just end up in landfills, since repairing them is nearly impossible. It's a great way to create e-waste, but this mentality has spread in most manufactured goods - from small appliances to cars. But the T480 will be on my radar if my X230 ever gives up.

[@hugomd2718]

ur x230 will never give up...these laptops are immortal my friend...they dont build these anymore unfortunetly

[@danielhandika8767]

That's how they make money

[@drkastenbrot]

my P1 is a new laptop with beautiful serviceability for its size

[@cla1814]

X1 Extreme, P1 Gen 2, P53/P73 all have none soldered Ram. P15/P17 are coming with removable Video card. I guess serviceability is now comes at premium price...

[@User9681e]

Yeah there should be some worldwide regulation to prevent such damage to our environment or wallet

[@Chaswick_felipe]

Just bought a T480 in March of 2024 and it was the first ThinkPad in a while since I had traded my T400. I felt at home again when I first booted it up, there's something about a ThinkPad that sets it aside from other windows laptops. The build quality, upgradability and of course the track point nub which I prefer over the track pad. My father daily drove a T430 for years for work and that was where the obsession began.

[@jocazjoejo]

Certified Lenovo Tech here, the one that rarely made it to my bench for repairs was the t420. It was a solid performer with sometimes a thermal paste issue, but not much more than that.

[@thiruvetti]

Hey good to hear that.. I am looking for uses Thinkpads.. pls suggest a good model that is still competent, not too expensive (may be around 300$), but still can be configured and specs bumped up in future?? I liked the T430 but I was told I need to think a bit newer model since it will be upgradable.

[@agy234]

I loved my t420 and x220 Sandy bridge still ran pretty hot but it was still better than the t410s

[@thiruvetti]

@@sudo3870 Ya true that. upgrading old laptops are always a risk. but in general TPs tend to run for many years without any issues unlike any of the new gen laptops which are fragile and slow down in just 2 years

[@Simsonlover222]

that was my second thinkpad :D it was A HUGE UPGRADE to the first T410 that i had... it felt so snappy with an ssd... it felt like a normal pc while webbrowsing and stuff... now rocking a t460p... the most nice thing is the upgrade in GPU performance, wich makes it more usuabla for my needs (light video editing, even some more demanding software and effects works no problem t420 was so lovely though... loft how sturdy it felt... still more than usable in 2023 for basic stuff

[@Simsonlover222]

@@thiruvetti if you love what you do it doesnt matter... and if something breaks, get a second laptop for spare parts? i dont know... so many parts out there

[@wombat1238marsupial]

There's an old saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Listen Lenovo

[@niuchajianfa6222]

Nokia and Motorala listened and they are all DEAD. Companys sure dont seem to want to hire people like u who like to manage companys by "old says".

[@Kikker861]

@@niuchajianfa6222 Nokia and Motorola died not because of old sayings, but rather because they threw buckets of money into developing their own version and failing. It was entirely possible for Nokia to survive with their camera quality as a selling point, but Nokia went with Windows phone and died while Android existed long before the Windows phone initiative. What worked back then was Android and Nokia just didn't listen.

[@LouisSubearth]

@@niuchajianfa6222 Nokia and Motorola "died" because they dismissed the iPhone as a fad.

[@Locutus]

@@Kikker861 While Windows Phone was newer than Android, it has its origins in Windows Mobile, which was a form of CE. Microsoft were involved in the portable computer market long before Google. Even Apple were a couple of years before Microsoft with the Newton.

[@nielsdebakker3283]

@@niuchajianfa6222 Guess who builds motorola phones nowadays. (lenovo)

[@MattTheriot]

I absolutely LOVE my T480 and have upgraded it significantly. Two upgrades addressing points you raised are A. getting a glass trackpad from an X1 Extreme, and B. Getting a dual heat-pipe cooler, allowing the CPU to stay cooler and achieve higher frequencies for longer. I do agree that having charging ports not soldered to the board is a good idea, but to me that is the ONLY downside to the T480. With the updated thunderbolt firmware apparently fixing the bug, it is unfortunate that happened and Lenovo should repair any units, but it is no longer an issue. Full list of my mods and upgrades: Glass Trackpad from X1 Extreme LowPower FHD Display from T490 (Part number N140HCG-GQ2 Rev.B1) 72wh external battery 2x8gb DDR4 1tb 2.5inch Sata SSD Intel AX200 Wifi 6 Patch WWAN antennas installed HP branded Cat 9 LTE Modem installed (Same part as Lenovo part, but $30 instead of $150) Dual heat-pipe cooler (for DGPU models) Modded BIOS to remove WWAN Whitelist

[@andrealin6159]

I suggest to buy a type c magnetic adapter, so U wont risk to break USB c ports

[@jaysonibanez1088]

Thats nice. Im planning on getting one myself. and thankfully most of the problems are already resolved

[@Simon-xi8tb]

Hey! That is great. Do you have any blogpost on those upgrades for DIYers ?

[@j0w03l]

I realise this is a very old comment, but do you happen to know where you found this BIOS? Wouldn't mind modding mine..

[@BotchedGod]

You're a G for this upgrade list i know what im getting next, my X1 carbon just doesnt have the ports to do the work i wanna do

[@xilw3r]

I got a P1 gen1 through my uni. Best machine I could have asked for. ram not soldered, 2 nvme slots, full size sd, 80wh battery, everything is rather easy to replace. and its so light and thin its amazing.

[@jordanredd2519]

I have x1 extreme gen 2. I’m highly considering buying the P1 this Black Friday though.

[@matthewextra9168]

I found a great deal on one, had some issues with fast bootup which caused instability. But now I love it, the 100% srgb screen is amazing as well as the performance

[@jameskirk3]

The P series is the flagship. The T series is great, but it isn't a P series.

[@w1ck3dz0d1ac]

I loved the ThiccPad. It reminds me the happier golden age of the internet.

[@Makedonac007]

all of the folk' at work' watching 70's, and 80's tAtToO'd tEen FriEnd PoRn Xx SAID THE DATA BILL CITY HALL ALL" KJV* Amen Upper Canada autumn nipple' 🌻

[@jameskirk3]

You need a fully upgraded T430 😂

[@tthermic]

as someone who mainly uses a t480 for my personal work i'd say it's a decent laptop for the price. Here are a few of my thoughts: - The build quality is very sturdy and the laptop is very rigid. Good keyboard and trackpad. - The display is very ugly in my opinion, despite being 1080p it is very whitewashed with poor contrast. It is really the biggest weakness of the laptop in my opinion, makes everything unpleasing to look at. Every other laptop i've used in the last 7 years has had a more pleasing display with better colors, even if it had lower resolution. - Stock performance is ok. I am a linux user and after using the laptop with ubuntu i would often cap out the RAM doing web development work. (running mongodb, nodejs backend server and react server as well as a few chrome tabs would put me at 8 gigs). Using the laptop with ubuntu for about half a year it became very slow, but after making a fresh install with a new linux distro it became relatively fast again. Overall it's passable. - It would be nice if lenovo supported drivers or at least open sourced their windows ones for the fingerprint sensor, because on linux it is basically a place holder. But thats a lot to ask for. Overall its a decent little machine, very reliable and discrete.

[@michaellk2254]

Hey Seb, I just wanted to let you know that I modded my t440 with a t450 trackpad and my t430 with an I7-3632qm, dual heatpipe fan, Artic Mx4 paste, 500gb ssd and 2x8gb DDR3L ram for a total (including the machine) of roughly 300$ CAD. I bought an Asus with the 3632qm for 100$, sold some of the parts, which greatly brought my cost down.

[@DFiNEdotnet]

Its really sad, that the charging port is not a separate part. It hurts the survivability of the laptop so much! Ive changed charge ports on so many thinkpads, giving them the chance to live even longer.

[@klwthe3rd]

Doesn't surprise me cause Lenovo wants the unit to fail. Then they will get the repair money to fix it. There is no more user serviceable products anywhere anymore. It sucks.

[@iamdmc]

I agree it was the worst design decision of this range. It could and should have been on a daughter board which would have made it much more repairable

[@MineMiguel40]

it's pretty weird, too. I was always under the impression that Thinkpads were built to last like 10 years easily.

[@Sadenki]

Its 2020 bro, micro soldering is a thing now, fairly cheap

[@flaviusstilicho5311]

Anyone knows why Lenovo now has soldered RAM in almost all their models ??? What is the objective ??? Is to prevent repair in case of failure or is to impede upgrades??? Those laptops with soldered RAM do they have the DIMM slots also or they don't??? Any input appreciated

[@koolioperson5534]

Censored to prevent a comment war over how much thermal paste I should use, hahahaha, I remember when LGR did the same thing hahahah

[@TheMasonkerr]

id be happier with a thicker laptop as long as the keyboard/repairability/ports are good

[@oOignignoktOo1]

I just picked up 2x thinkpad t480's for $237.50 ea. After repasting the cpu with Arctic MX-6 and cleaning out the fans the machines are working wonderfully for the use cases I have them for. Only thing I wish I could've done was done a dual heat pipe cooler mod but the stock cooler works good enough.

[@escapetherace1943]

you paid over 300 dollars more than you should've, easily. Lol.

[@oOignignoktOo1]

@@escapetherace1943 I probably could've got them cheaper sure but you have to find the right people looking to liquidate their equipment. In the end though it wasn't me that paid for em but it was a relative that did and they were happy with the machine, haven't heard any complaints from them with the laptop since they got it.

[@eduardoavila646]

Other downside of soldered ram is if it gets bad. Ram chips can die, and if its soldered, goodbye motherboard....

[@beandrive]

You can always send it the Rossman Group in NYC for repair.

[@weltschmerz88]

@@beandrive they only do mac repairs

[@orjanjhmagnusson]

weltschmerz Since when, are you sure about that ?

[@maxmasterton4138]

weltschmerz no they don’t

[@herrfaust2020]

Even if Rossman only works on Macs, they're not the only company in the world to do board-level repairs.

[@v1deo.hunter.d317]

I've been using an i7 X230 for all my remote work throughout quarantine and it's great

[@ovidioe.cabeza4750]

Using windows or linux?

[@v1deo.hunter.d317]

@@ovidioe.cabeza4750 windows

[@papercut1987]

Bought my W520 in 2012, still using it today (upgraded hdd in 2014, left speaker cable were having contact prob, but it was a easy fix). I think 20/30 era were really the greatest.

[@RobsRedHotSpot]

I bought a refurbished t460 about a year ago and your videos have me wishing I went for either a t480 or an older model + upgrades! That said, I'm happy with the computer I bought and the retailer upgraded the specs during the refurbishing to 16 GB ram and a 500 GB SSD.

[@SebisRandomTech]

As long as you're happy with the T460, that's what matters! It's still a very good machine.

[@NickHopkinsMedia]

i got a 460 also cause i didnt know much when i bought it. works well enough for under 200 dollars

[@DiegoTorresNavarro]

At my work I've owned, T420, T440, T470, and T490s (now) . My favorite T420 the real tough laptop. I work at a mining cooper, 4500 masl, 20C below zero in winter.

[@EternalxFrost]

Actually, thermal throttling can occur long before a CPU reaches 100C. It just depends on the CPU, some won't thermal throttle only around 100, some will around 70-75. Mobile CPUs are more prone to thermal throttle at much lower temperatures, since laptoip cooling system in general is not that efficient compared to a desktop / gaming rig one (even though there is exceptions to the rule).

[@sihamhamda47]

If laptop CPU are designed to not thermal throttle until 90C but you experience it when your CPU is only 70C, your laptop may be vendor/OEM locked. A custom BIOS/UEFI can somewhat fix it, but it's not recommended because it's very very high risk, as not many laptop has custom BIOS support and it could potentially brick your entire laptop

[@Svaren]

I got a T480s just a couple months ago. I’m really loving it! Currently running Linux mint and running my web design business on it. I’ll have 50+ tabs open on firefox and it just keeps truckin. I even edited a few (simple) videos on it and it handled better then my old dell. 16gb of ram and 156gb SSD currently.

[@cpan2552]

With mt current laptop Dell Lattitude E5330. I have such a hard time with Photoshop being so slow. As well as Logitech webcam sync. Forget about the software that helps edit the video for upload to youyube. Is T480 up to the task/speed( if I add in extra memory)?

[@Svaren]

@@cpan2552 I can't really say because I'm using Linux which runs leaner than Windows would. Which you would need if you want to continue using Photoshop. I actually recently switched over to a Mac Mini with the new M1 and man it's freaking game changing fast.

[@cpan2552]

@@Svaren I got me an MSI gaming laptop. It is fast. No problem we're with photoshop or editting. What a difference $1400 makes!

[@saraofnorthwales]

@@cpan2552 My goodness, I'm editing full HD on a T400 with 30 mins of video rendering in just over 2 hours. On Linux Kdenlive in 4GB RAM. And its snappy, too. Mind you, T9900 processor of course, yet anything above 2.4Ghz is ok.

[@computerherz1]

@@saraofnorthwales what is your secret i want to do video editing full HD and iam afraid that the t430 wouldnt be enough powerfull

[@abhileshxd621]

I just want a new Thinkpad with the old classic keyboard and all the green LEDs. Is it too much to ask for?

[@SebisRandomTech]

Unfortunately in the eyes of Lenovo executives, it is. Closest you can get is a T25 for the keyboard, P series for the LED's, and T430/W530 with classic keyboard mod for both.

[@Trevski2001]

Thanks for this very informative video. I've been using a T420 for a few years and it has served me well. I've heard some horror stories about newer models so have not felt the urge to upgrade. The only slight niggle is that the webcam stopped working about two years ago after a windows update, I've tried several 'fixes' since then, none of which work. This seems to be a common problem. One thing I like about the older machines is that they have a cd/dvd drive. I will likely upgrade to the T480 when the time comes.

[@tomschmidt381]

I'm using a T420 as a poor man's server on our home LAN. I replaced the main HDD with an SSD and stuck a multi TB drive in the CD slot. In addition to the T420 both my wife and I have T520 laptop. Not cool and sexy like modern ultra thin laptops but we like them.

[@Chirp_Bunny]

I still have a T430, as well as a T500, both still working very well. The newer things tend to break easier.

[@boxwoodgreen]

I bought a T430 about 5 years ago from a very competent Microsoft Certified Refurbisher. It's still my favorite device. I added a second 8Gb memory stick myself, which required the removal of the keyboard. Thinkpads in this class are winners, and if you find one in good condition, I'd highly recommend one.

[@comicsans1689]

Did you do a keyboard swap on it? Because that's the only way I would use a T430 over something like my T420.

[@boxwoodgreen]

@@comicsans1689 I had no experience with any of the other models in that line, Hence no reason to think of that. For the price ... easily a third of the price of a new laptop of that capability I'm still very happy with it. What's the keyboard difference ? That would be good to know, as I'm going to have to replace the hinges soon.

[@comicsans1689]

@@boxwoodgreen The T430 was when Lenovo decided to move from the classic keyboard to the chiclet keyboards. I personally hate chiclet keyboards, so I never moved beyond my T420 and X220t. I recommend trying out the classic keyboard from one of the older Thinkpads just to get a feel for the difference. If you still prefer the chiclet keyboard on the T430, then it's perfectly fine. It's just that me and many other Thinkpad enthusiasts much prefer the classic 7 row keyboard because of how more tactile they feel.

[@boxwoodgreen]

@@comicsans1689 Thanks ! I appreciate you passing on your knowledge of the range.

[@comicsans1689]

@@boxwoodgreen You're welcome. The T430 is still a fine Thinkpad outside of the keyboard because it's essentially the T420 with 3rd gen Intel processor and the chiclet keyboard.

[@J-Stoic]

I'm still using my X220 for a laptop dedicated to my hobby research/education (Fish keeping)

[@IronicTonic8]

I've been using ThinkPad's for work since 2010 and my personal favorite model is the T480. I liked it so much I bought one for personal use and got a great deal on it. I'm not knocking the older models because I've had a great experience with them too. I was particularly fond of my T430 before it was upgraded by my IT department.

[@EB-xg1jf]

I would say go for a T450s. It's a great balance between older ThinkPads and the more recent ones, especially if you can't upgrade the T430 yourself as others recommend (T450s can be upgraded to meet your needs as well). I got mine last year for a good price (260$ - i7, 8gb ram, 256gb ssd, full hd IPS display) and don't see the need to open the machine to change anything. I also still use the batteries that came with the laptop and they work great (at least 6hrs with WiFi and Bluetooth ON).

[@AbuzarGhaffaree]

Still using ❓

[@tomis181]

@@AbuzarGhaffaree I've got a t450s with a dual core i5. Even with a new 72wh I recently bought it dies fairly quick just doing simple browsing. Whenever windows updates or I open a few too many tabs/applications it chokes up and the fans ramp up to a noticeably distracting level. Dual boot with debian and tend to get less fan noise, not much greater battery life. I would get at minimum a quad core thinkpad (t480 or later) if you are looking for a laptop still. Even with the downsides of the newer models its not worth having it stall out imo.

[@Bercik87]

7:50 THAT is how keyboard should look like: multimedia keys for volume, mute, microphone, rows above Fs.... oh man

[@chrono3690]

Always wanted one, now I am receiving a T450 as a hand-me-down for free, super looking forward to it. Seems like it's a decent step in-between T430 and T480. The replaceable power connector is a huge deal for me especially that I can simply get a USB-C adapter that should work with any 65-100w charging brick anyway.

[@waldamy]

"For the first time we have laptops, tablets and smartphones, that are all using the same charging connector" *puts a tablet with micro-usb and an iPhone as an example* Literally three different charging ports. Somehow I find it rather funny.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I think you’re the first one who understood the joke 😎

[@jamesm5192]

@@SebisRandomTech What about the T495? Not that much different, right? Plus it doesn't come with WinTel shit.

[@SebisRandomTech]

All of the same stupid design choices of the T490. Having AMD processors is its only advantage. Plus there is the A485 which is a T480 with AMD chips.

[@edwardkirby2204]

If you upgrade the heatsink on your t480 with the dual heat pipe unit you'll have a better time with thermals (and light loads won't even have the fan kick in). You do need to protect the pins for the GPU as it's meant to cool it down.

[@NoOne-gm4ml]

I've had one deal-beaker of a problem with the T480: some machines have problems accepting power (e.g., cannot even charge the batteries). A post on a Lenovo forum had said that Lenovo had some bad chips in some of their machines (or something to that extent). Mine stopped accepting charge (plus a bunch of other symptoms), so I got it fixed at a local repair shop (there was still the start-up screen issue; but that seems common and benign). Shortly after getting it back though, something else broke. It will still charge the battery when turned off; but the other symptoms depend on the OS. Qubes: battery slowly drains. Windows: complains about power issues, but battery stays charged (however, I didn't buy the machine to run Windows, so I didn't exactly put it through its paces).

[@retomeili6690]

These seem to be very common. Mine randomly stopped accepting Lenovo's charger - I almost gave up on it, then tried out a Macbook charger and my Huawei phone charger. Funnily enough, it seems to accept all chargers except the official Lenovo one. The charger itself is fine, though, it works just fine with the T480 of a friend of mine.

[@deepblue007]

Almost 3 years with my T480 and still going strong. Think it can go for another 3 years.

[@vincentdrake6065]

I bet it will last even 9 )

[@maniacaudiophile]

I bought my T480 with MX150 about 6 month ago and I did notice it is somewhat challenging to cool this laptop. I used an utility to run the fan at max all the time, as the fan is quieter than my ambient noise level even at full speed. I also used much better thermal grease from Cooler Master, which did help a few degrees. What I finally did was to cut open the grills of the case around the fan blades to let the fan suck in more air. I did purchase a complete new bottom case (they call it D shell, same name convention as A, B, C pillars in cars), so in case I need to return it back to original condition, I can do that too. So far it's been working great for me, I can't really go back to the older ThinkPads for daily use anymore, due to the significantly better graphics performance of MX150. Which completely steamrolled W541's Quadro graphics card.

[@williamsquibb5249]

My fan runs full tilt just on charge and running something like chrome.

[@maniacaudiophile]

@@williamsquibb5249 replace thermal paste with high grade ones, and carefully clean out all dust and dirt from the fan and heatsink when you have it out. It will make a huge difference.

[@VirtualizerExtreme]

Even if it was 150 in US dollars instead of mexican pesos that's still a steal

[@maniacaudiophile]

@@VirtualizerExtreme MX150 is the model number of the graphics chip, not money.

[@VirtualizerExtreme]

@@maniacaudiophile oh sry I haven't heard of that model

[@ricardomaggiore5518]

T430 is the perfect machine. I am Using it since 2016, bought it used, it's the best notebook ever. Easy to repair, lots or parts available online.

[@comicsans1689]

It's perfect as long as you swap the keyboard with a T420 keyboard.

[@TheEricsheng]

Although there is many people complaint the design of current Thinkpad model. But every time I have a chance to touch these Thinkpad, I still fall in love with them.

[@sophiaonyoutube]

Thank you for the 22-minute review. Enjoyed every minute of it. Looking forward to your future video about T480.

[@herrfaust2020]

I had considered this model, since the T470 and T480 replaced the T440s/T450s. I like having the option for an m.2 SSD + 2.5" HDD. Also nice is that the touch function is now "baked" into the panel, so there's no glass overlay to affect the image. But what killed it for me is the terrible IPS panel, with ~60% sRGB gamut. The T440/T450 series had a ~95% gamut AUO panel. The 2016 X1 models even used a newer revision of the same AUO panel. Shame that Lenovo cheaped out for the T470/T480. I wonder if it was intentional, to create (more of) a gap between the T480s and the X1 Carbon, since the Txxxs models have gotten slimmer. However, I picked up an X1 Yoga with QHD screen, which isn't as bad as I thought at 100% scaling, so maybe I will consider a T480 QHD in the future. BTW, I lucked out in getting one with an OLED screen, and whatever drawbacks you've heard about OLED, you don't care when you're actually looking at the awesome quality. PS. I never cared for the older non-S variants. You might as well go back and get the last real ThinkPad, the 600X, designed and made by IBM. Everything after was made in China.

[@brendanfarthing]

Good video. I have a T480 and would not recommend it, had too many USB dock issues due to problems with the laptop's USB controller. It's not great fun when your 2nd monitor stops working all the time because it's connected to the dock that is connected to the laptop's USB port and the USB port goes on the fritz. Only fix is a hardware reset via the little pin hole on the bottom of the laptop. This happens over and over and no updates to BIOS or the laptop can fix it. I've heard of the same from others with a T480. ThinkPads are really not what they used to be back in the IBM days.

[@diogokamioka]

Still having these problems? Anyone else? I was looking to get a used t480

[@hiddenman7868]

@@diogokamioka me too kindly suggest should i buy t480

[@RERM001]

I really like the nod to the fact that a lot of us Thinkpad users find the Trackpoint more appealing than the touchpad. Personally, the first Trackpoint I used was the one found on the 2011 HP Elitebook, which was a decent laptop, but definitively not on the same mark as Thinkpads are, that thing had rather awful feeling left and right click buttons, while my T460 feels like a dream compared to that.

[@postnick]

I've had a T430 - T440 - T480 and the T440 is fine as long as you never ever used the trackpad or internal screen. The T480 is pretty great as well. The T430 was used so long ago but after I got work to give me an SSD and 16 gigs of ram it was much better. I got lucky all of mine have had pretty good i7 chips with dual batteries.

[@Ilidan1985]

I wanted to buy ThinkPad P73, but I quickly switched to Zbook 17 G6. I was surprised how modular Zbook is and no screws to open it and swap some devices. It also uses daughter-board for graphic card so I'll be able to upgrade later. From what I heard next P-line devices will go back to modular philosophy, but some people don't have time to wait ;) Cheers.

[@My_Old_YT_Account]

Fun fact, the AMD card from that Zbook is one of the few that makes old iMacs able to run modern versions of MacOS without many drawbacks

[@MohamedAli965]

I love my T430s, one of the best purchases I've ever made. Never let me down when I need it. I use it as a portable uni/work computer and its excellent for my use which has a lot of engineering software and simulation programs.. Just wish the battery wasnt awful

[@SebisRandomTech]

That’s my biggest gripe with the T430s. Even with an UltraBay battery (those are slowly but surely becoming impossible to find) the battery life is still sub-par at best. My T430 (not -s) with a 9-cell battery lasts far longer.

[@ultrametric9317]

My W520 is still rocking strong after 8 years. It has three disks and can run Windows and two VM operating systems natively (e.g. Windows XP and Linux) all at the same time. IMO it's the best Thinkpad ever made.

[@N2RI1]

what dock does it use? can it dock on a 2503 adv doc?

[@stuartgreen5631]

My W500 just keeled over. My T60p is still working fine. I still like those keyboards best. Bought a T430s i7 16G. Different keyboard but still excellent.

[@kansnex]

I initially didn't fully understand why many people praised the Thinkpad so much, but after watching your videos on them, I finally decided to take the plunge. Last month, after some research and money savings, I decided to purchase a T480 to replace my 2011 Toshiba Satellite with a broken keyboard connector(repaired with a note card piece by yours truly). After some searching I landed on one with an i5-8250U, 1080p IPS display model with no SSD or RAM for about $150. Put 16GB of ram in, a 256GB SSD, updated the firmware to fix the weird thunderbolt bug, and I love it. Getting it open was scary, but after opening it swapping parts was incredibly easy. It's quiet, fast, surprisingly thin, rugged, has great IO, good battery life even if the external battery is dead, and while I didn't really like the keyboard initially, it's really grown on me. Thank you Sebi, and the Thinkpad & Linux community for showing me the light :)

[@SebisRandomTech]

Welcome to the club! Glad you're happy with your purchase!

[@luyangche8278]

Watching this on a Thinkpad A485, which is basically a T480 with an AMD chip instead. I managed to get it for almost half the price of the T480 during its launch because Lenovo was running some AMD discount on their website, which is really fortunate for me. I just wished that the cooling was better on this computer, but it has been awesome to use otherwise.

[@metal571]

Extremely well made and informative video. From a fellow diehard ThinkPad fan, thank you

[@antoinechabas9380]

I got a new T480 in Jan, superb all around daily use workhorse, you can Netflix end of a long day, and with the bridge battery system I'm getting 18 to 22 hours on a single charge with a hot swappable backup 24Whr battery to boot!

[@gramoukdoom]

Can someone please tell me what I should do about this thunderbolt issue, this is stressing me out. I have a 480 and really love it. Could choose between a 495 and 480 for a relative but it seems like the 480 is more reliable. Ryzens have much better graphics though.

[@leandrolaporta2196]

Update the bios from the manufacturer, using the type model, or sell it and get a T460/470 o the new amd one that doesn't have Intel crappy thunderbolt port 495? Don't remember the model

[@elbe-ds7iu]

@@leandrolaporta2196 i would not consider the t460 or t470 a good Deal. They only support dual core Processors. But, if it's powerfull enough for You...

[@TheRailroad99]

495 is great. If you stay with the 480, apply the newest BIOS and Thunderbolt firmwares instantly. Also look for BIOS updates more often in the future so you can fix those issues as fast as possible

[@Sin3w]

@@elbe-ds7iu They both have a quad core variant

[@elbe-ds7iu]

@@Sin3w No, they don't. According to official Lenovo sources they just have dual core CPU. But if I am wrong You can link me your source

[@seanlong9049]

The dual heatpipe heatsink intended for versions with the external GPU nearly doubles the cooling capacity for models without the GPU. It is a simple bolt-in replacement, just add a little foam to the gpu heat plate so it doesn't short out anything.

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

"For the first time we have laptop, tablets and smartphone all uses the same charger." **shows an iPhone**

[@SebisRandomTech]

😎😎😎

[@acos21]

@pat UISB-C only is a trend Macbook pushed and set the standard for. They just make too much money on cables to kill it for iphone and ipad.

[@adueppen]

@pat "waiting to see what's trending" my phone from 5 years ago had type-c, it's not exactly a new thing and it's certainly tried and true

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

@@acos21 But that also Thunderbolt, which is make it more useful and versatile (also allows for some "expansion" too e.g. eGPU, external PCIe slot, etc). Not to mention USB-C is more durable than microUSB.

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

@pat That simply exagerrating. The unibody aluminium + black keycaps design of Macbook Pro is only aged 11 years now and their last minor redesign is back in 2016.

[@rocketscientist007]

I bought a T490 a few weeks ago for $200. 1440 IPS display, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD. Am using it as a desktop with Lenovo Ultra Docking Station. It's extremely difficult to remove the bottom cover; the X1 Carbon Gen 6th are much easier to remove. I have 2 of them.

[@MarkJay]

Nice video. I've also noticed thermal issues with my T480. The cpu clock speed will drop as low as 0.4ghz and basically crawls until I restart.

[@recovery_rider]

i think this is the best laptop review / breakdown kinda video i've ever seen on youtube, my first time on your channel sebi, you have a such a great way of explain things comprehensively, really helpful. i'm considering this laptop, i wonder if it'll last me a long time or not.

[@daftpunk672]

Watched this on my T460 and I love this thing especially after I installed a 1080p panel, installed a ssd and linux. All thanks to you Sebi

[@RandomGuy-ux9zc]

I just got me a second handed T470 touch screen variant. This one is, as I'm seeing in your video, almost the same computer as the one you're reviewing (same keyboard, same fingerprint sensor, it does come with thunderbolt and has the caps and Fn indicators). Differences are then the processor (huge one here) and some ports and aesthetics. I guess it was a nice purchase then.

[@lorcro2000]

I got a T490 at work (the company standardized on Lenovo). It's a great laptop, but I do lament the lack of battery swappability and such.

[@benfreeman9717]

I've used a T480 as my daily driver for over two years and I'm still pleased with it.

[@Sasha-ff5ce]

God thank you, the first source to confirm for me that the T480 processor is soldered in and non-upgradable. I think I still may go for a T480 given the RAM and storage room, though I wish it had a CD drive. Still may choose it over a T440p for the battery life. Also for the purposes of clarity and anyone who may want to reply, besides getting an upgradable, older thinkpad, I might just shill out and get a new X390 for the simplicity.

[@GMKiko]

had a t70 for work - so reliable and got shit done... Then i came across a t480 for a 7th gen for 100 bucks, jumped on it. Fell back in love with the T series. Handed that one to my GF for school work and got a quad core i7 version for 150 that needed major refurbishing. Working on it now, but plan to keep this one for a while.

[@kiranm25x]

I've 2 Thinkpads with me till now T440s and L480, must say I somehow got used to the click style T440s touchpad! Still love my Thinkpads and looking at getting new ones once they are affordable. I feel that T470 would the be true last Thinkpad (Removable battery, old detachable square charge port, Full size SD slot, old style dock connector at the bottom, full sawpable HDD RAM & WiFi cards) Lenovo is just trying too hard to be like and compete with the XPS, HP Spectres and Razer blades with the latest T490 and T14(2020)!

[@bendermi]

I've just bought a T470 with i5 6300 2,4 GHz 8 GB ram . Can it be upgraded or is everything soldered? I can still get my money back and buy something else . What would you recommend?

[@jmx6718]

@@bendermi you can upgrade ram and ssd

[@toddnode]

I have this laptop, before I had t420 and I fell in love with both!

[@kiuderx]

Great review (as always, and I especially enjoy seeing ThinkPads with the Pittsburgh area scenery) with comparisons of past and recent thinkpads. I can only hope that there will be a return to more modular, upgradeable designs. Surprising that the T14 only goes up to 16 GB of soldered RAM (unless I’m missing something). I had a charging connector on a T450s that snapped off and it was such a breeze to replace. Oh well!!!! One can only hope that the Lenovo design team will go to bat for us one day and urge management to not make decisions based solely on cost -- there are enough ultrabooks out there). Look forward to seeing your T430 upgrade videos.

[@Yakiniq-n7o]

t14 has soldered ram + 1 slot up to 32gb stick i think

[@bencze465]

This comment has aged well, with the frame.work laptop being around. My only problem is I could only ever like the classic Thinkpad keyboard, and can somehow tolerate the new type, and I hate anything else and can't type properly on them. Still browsing around to decide whether to get a t480, a new e14 gen3 amd, or just try and sneak a frame.work out of the US somehow. Modifying an older model seems a hobby in itself, not sure I want to do that, but I would love if we could really upgrade ourselves anything... EVERY notebook in the world should get Thinkpad keyboard (or better), I would be so much happier and choice would be easier...

[@jm036]

@@bencze465 framework is a meme, hp elitebooks never ditched socketed memory

[@jujuseducer6055]

We use our t410 s with 8 gig ram to play the sims 3 and it does very well.

[@Vlad-1986]

Liar! No computer now or in the next 20 years will ever play "The Sims 3" very well

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

I assume you might only have the base game, no cc. Sims 3 ran slower than Sims 4 due to its open world map.

[@Vlad-1986]

It might be. I also found that my 2019 laptop dies with the Sims 2 while my 11 year old Core duo runs it fine. That is because it only uses one CPU and the older CPU is much faster per core than most modern ones. Sims 3 would have a similar problem, because it can only use 2 cores max

[@hahaiseewhatyouredoing9086]

@@Vlad-1986 The Sims is quite a CPU intensive game.

[@comicsans1689]

@@Vlad-1986 The Sims 3 is an interesting game because it will run on the trashiest of hardware, but will struggle on modern hardware. I have an old 32 bit Lenovo Thinkstation with a Pentium 4D, 2GB of RAM, and Windows XP that runs Sims 3 almost as well as my Ryzen 7 2700 PC.

[@mikethorpe746]

Thanks for your videos Sebi. You inspired me to buy and upgrade the T430 after a while looking around for a good machine and not being able to find one. I've not looked back since!

[@christopherwilson6527]

Love the t430. Very simple dual core cpu, integrated graphics, big cooling vent so it never seems to get about 50c. It does everything it was made to do. This is when engineers made things.

[@baguskusumaloka]

very sad t490 lineup didnt have external batery, soldered ram to become more thin if customer want slim, they buy X1 Carbon T series must be minimum like T480 or before

[@STK34761]

fan on the right side ...

[@pascalconrad1982]

@@STK34761 I just call it a built-in hand heating. It's truely great!

[@herrfaust2020]

I guess Lenovo figures that people who want to swap batteries can use an external charger. Yes, it is inconvenient, but instead of carrying an extra battery that is only useful to the ThinkPad, a person can carry an external powerpack that can also be used to recharge a ThinkPad, a phone, a tablet, etc. If you want something like the old T series, try a P series.

[@baguskusumaloka]

@@herrfaust2020 is p series have 14 inch? P in my knowledge is too big, T is excelent size and balance for power user but not too bulky

[@fabricatedego]

I would love to get a T480 to tinker on and enjoyed the video. Although old and outdated I am enjoying my refurbished Edge E545 I bought from a recycling plant. It books up pretty quick and is very functional even though it's from 2013/2014. As much as I would love to get a newer laptop, I am not a fan of the soldiered on parts as I like to upgrade and swap things out.

[@boomoperator90]

"Socketed processor" Me: Wait WHAT?! I'll take your entire stock.

[@kwye4883]

i thought the cpu is soldered on the mainboard on the the t480?

[@neohubris]

@@kwye4883 it is. he was talking about T430

[@NhanGordon]

Still have my T420 i5 4gb ddr3 working as a typing laptop, working along with my Precision 7510 Xeon 32gb ddr4. I will consider Precision 7540 and Lenovo P53 when I need a 64gb laptop.

[@Lavimoe]

17:05 OMG I'm so glad to see someone else also has a broken fan shield! I was so sad when I saw mine was broken XD

[@TheRealTrimBrady]

Just received my x240. Good device. I love it!

[@rafski123]

I bought a T470p when it came out, fully specced out with docking station. Had a issue where if you touched the bottom while using the laptop on your lap or on the road it would just power off. So I requested support fix it. After two weeks I got the replaced unit back but they swapped out the i7 motherboard with a i5. Initially I was quite upset, but the i5 runs cooler and haven't really noticed much of a difference in performance. Will I buy a Thinkpad in the future? Yes, but a used one - not for the price of a new one that lost so much value in 3 years.

[@ChrisD__]

Do you think the T470p is an okay laptop compared to the T480? I'm split on keeping my 68+ battery and buying a T470p and selling it and opting for a T480 instead. My T450S died.

[@rafski123]

@@ChrisD__ I had to get my T470p serviced, problem was when in laptop (not docked) it would sometime hard reboot - issue was that the motherboard was too close to the lid and something would kill it. I mailed it, and the "fixed" but when they mailed it back they put in a i5 not the i7 processor I had. Long story short, it still works fine, but in the future I don't know if I will get another thinkpad. Ideally I would like a PC without a fan and passive cooling so I don't need to worry about dust killing the fan. Battery life depends on how much RAM you have - more RAM (I have 32g) then much less battery life

[@dergrunepunkt]

I have a X1 Cabon and I just noticed the camera shutter cover!, thanks for that mate.

[@TheCodeTinkerer]

Great and thorough video explanation the evolution of the T series in the 2010's. I'm about to get a refurbed T480 for about 260 bucks. My last ThinkPad was a T61.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@narcissistinjurygiver2932]

@@SebisRandomTech i am confused. there are 2 hard drives? So If i want to install the 2.5 sata ssd with windows 10 pro would I also have to change that m2 hard drive?

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@narcissistinjurygiver2932 There is a 2.5" drive bay on the T480 that, depending on the configuration when it was built. comes with a 2.5" SATA hard drive or a bracket and a 2282 NVMe SSD. Either or.

[@syedia]

17:16 as someone who lives in the UK where it's always winter that can be useful 😊

[@Full_Throttle_no_Brakes]

17:15 If you think about it, It's nice to have a hand warmer. I like that! One more advantage for the T480.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Maybe when I'm outside waiting for the train a hand warmer would be nice...

[@yegenek]

The real thinkpad was over when they stopped T series with external batteries.

[@PPSRHD]

@@melvinharris7859 basically with the addition of inbuilt battery, Upgradibility takes a huge hit. More hit swap is a VERY important feature. It can theoretically lower the charging time to 0. Plus the newer ones are usually not service friendly and they just so happened to be the ones with in built battery.

[@JR-uy2nd]

I understand you but, you can use a power bank on new laptops, Lenovo sell one for ThinkPads with the square connector, and now with UBS charging you can use any power bank for charging the laptop. People don't really needs extra batteries, because now we have other options that don't existed some years ago. The same can be said for the TrackPoint, I really don't like, maybe for small movements like in word but for scrolling the two fingers gesture is so much better, but in the ThinkPads is not so good because the lack of vertical space in the trackpad taken by the TrackPoint buttons. But even if I don't like this so distinctive ThinkPad feature, ThinkPads are fantastic because after I use a ThinkPad keyboard, even the new ones, any other thing on the market is crap.

[@TexasCat99]

As person who has sold and owns 61 series Thinkpads. The removable batteries for modern notebooks don't mean much. In the OLD T420 and older days, battery life was under two hours. Today, my modern Thinkpad can do 6~7 hours easily. Swapping is a non-issue. As long as I can get a replacement battery, it will take about 10 minutes. Also, my modern is so thin, I can fit two of them inside my old T61 15". Try finding a legit/working replacement! The Amazon seller who sold me a fake Lenovo battery send me a replacement and gave me a refund, neither of them worked and they almost look legit.

[@stephenhall3515]

This is a superb overview and you are very fair. What stands out for me is that your analysis confirms the fact that Lenovo has been "cheaping out" since the T420 and T430. With the T420 the lack of USB 3 has long been soluble by using an express card USB 3 slot in card but some inferior ones can get hot, often because the supplied software is still in the world of Windows 7. Lenovo Service used to be effective in assisting with this in detail but has since gone down the same slippery slope as the products. The full upgradeability of the T 420 is remarkable and with patience and care will still beat any business machine today. Using e-SATA slots never really caught on but for very fast and reliable transfer and cloning it has advantages over USB 3. Full size SD cards used by photographers are very different from micro in an adapter thus by dumping full size Lenovo showed that it had lost its way in assuring the highest quality. Similarly, a lid lock saves dirt getting into various places and maybe this is why Dell is using them again. Lenovo will have to listen to you and others like you if they are to retain the trust of professional customers. Many educational customers here in Europe have ceased their loyalty and no longer bulk purchase but try machines as they are released and if they show no change in the trend to poorer quality old Lenovo stocked machines are chosen and Dell's return to quality at the highest end direct from the company could come too late for Lenovo to remedy.

[@zeonos]

We are using a lot of T480 from Circular Computing. they come looking as new and we only have minimal issues with them, mostly related to batteries which are easily replaced.

[@JoseAngelFlores]

I`ve got a used T440 and I simply love it! It´s got an i5, it came with 4 GB, only one slot. I replaced it with an 8 GB and runs fast. It has two batteries, and two other slots for storage, one for a small 15 GB SSD for cache, but since I replaced the drive for an SSD, I use it for storage. I also discovered another slot, underneath the internal battery, for an MSata drive, I got one in Amazon, 128 GB, so now it has three drives. It is also touch, with fingerprint reader. I really love this machine.

[@unwarranted657]

I have a T430 in really good condition. Bought it more than five years ago to use while studying. The only thing that needed a replacement was the original six cell battery that I switched out for a nine cell grippable one. Aside from being a heavier piece of kit, I'll still swear by it. Great laptop for everyday use as far as what I need out of it.

[@AMJADKHAN-do1nd]

YOU CAN WATCH A THOUSAND SUCH GREAT VIDEOS. AND WILL STILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHICH ONE SHOULD WE BUY, T480 OR T480S????

[@ThePhenomenumz]

I've been using my T480S a lot since 2017 and still love it - it's simply a great laptop. I'll soon be treating it to a new battery, as it's very easy to change.

[@justin-hurd]

fun lil bit of info, someone modded a t480 with the thinkpad 25 anniversary keyboard, if I rememeber correctly. It looked lovely.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Yes, I briefly mentioned that towards the end of the video.

[@aoeuidhtnsnthdiueoa]

I still miss my T61p. Died a few weeks out of warranty and Lenovo told me to pound dirt :(

[@reoencarcelado5904]

Thanks to this video I'm looking-at the T470-series instead-of the T480-series, because of the fact that the power-port is soldered in the T480-series but-NOT in the T470-series.

[@ensom]

excellent review. the charging port should definitely be a separate, user replaceable part, and this almost caused me not to order my T480. However, a deal came up for mine, FHD IPS display, with 512 NVME for $600, new from lenovo site. So I went for it, and I don't regret it. Very nice machine imo, nice and snappy, performs much better than my T420 dual core. My "solution" to the USB-C charging port, is using a magnetic adapter, which should prevent any sort of mechanical stress or wear from damaging or wearing out the port. I applied the patched firmware / driver for the thunderbolt chipset as soon as I got mine, so I'm hoping it won't be an issue in the future. Time will tell! I do tend to think, that the T480 may indeed by the last true thinkpad, despite it's charging port. I was able to upgrade my RAM to 32 GB, there are multiple NVME options, and I still have replaceable external / internal battery options, so the T480 should have a long lifetime!

[@SebisRandomTech]

I hope it works out for you! I'm curious to see how mine holds up.

[@myricaesenex6584]

Did it hold up?

[@willk7184]

Still love my T480, but your criticism of the USB-C charging port is valid. Mine broke awhile back and cannot be repaired. One down, one to go ....

[@stevemartinish]

I have a t470s which does have the docking station, but it is dual core and doesn't have swappable battery option. It's ok. But I think i prefer the smaller x260 because of portability. :) At one point, I thought x260 was too small, but I've really warmed up to it.

[@MnemonicCarrier]

I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the T14 with the 8 core AMD Ryzen.

[@comicsans1689]

The Ryzen processor seems nice, but soldered RAM is a big deal breaker.

[@mamaradlowhitney25]

I’m still using my T510. Bought it for $155 or Php8,400.00. It still works like a horse. 😃

[@andrewb9708]

I've been running a T460S with an i7 6600U for years, currently running Windows 11. I usually use my i9 powered desktop, I use my Thinkpad when I'm on the road or vacation. I've upgraded it to 20gb of ram, a 1TB M.2 NVME hard drive, and replaced the fan/heatsink with a new OE unit using Artic Ice thermal paste. It runs Windows 11 beautifully and still has plenty of power for modern applications.

[@BrianM180]

I can also recommend the A485 as it is basically a T480 but with a Ryzen Processor. I have one with 8GB Ram and larger Battery and I love it so far. The build quality is excellent just like the T480 and the Processor is very good for daily tasks. Also it is in general a little bit cheaper to get.

[@squatch545]

What's an A485?

[@JackBandicootsBunker]

Joe Smith Lenovo ThinkPad A485. If it has an A prefix and/or a 5 suffix, it means it has an AMD processor.

[@squatch545]

@@JackBandicootsBunker Good to know, thanks.

[@BrianM180]

The A485 is basically a T480 but with a Ryzen Pro U Processer. They feel pretty much the same but battery life may be a little bit shorter then on intel processors. however with my large battery I can still use it almost all day. The succesor A495 has all the quirks of T495 so sadly the A485 is also one of the last truly good Thinkpads.

[@alen2937]

@@BrianM180 And the graphics are way better.

[@jamesowens7148]

So..I'll just stick to my upgraded t430 that doesn't have parts failing by design.

[@9a3eedi]

I got the T430. It's great, but I wish I could say the same about the battery. It just seems to fail very quickly and I gave up with replacing it.

[@rocklee1764]

9a3eedi how long does it last?

[@9a3eedi]

@@rocklee1764 about a year or two. Actually even when I buy it new, it's not great cause it's not newly manufactured

[@rocklee1764]

@@9a3eedi cool. how about the battery?

[@9a3eedi]

@@rocklee1764 I was talking about the battery itself But the battery life (ie how long the laptop can hold a charge) is about an hour or two. It now abruptly switches off as well. I got the larger 9 cell battery that's supposed to last 7 hours from what I remember

[@duartefh88]

glad I'm still rolling with my fully modded T430 :)

[@chregig7967]

Got the same model myself and absolutely loving it