Using a 15-year-old laptop in 2022

[@xyz.anonymous]

Aw yes comfy old ThinkPad vid

[@Pokadex]

8GB of DDR2 memory? My condolences for your wallet.

[@basrahsymbol5489]

Yes maybe 100buck S

[@gavinstarling8737]

I was looking to upgrade my HP 6730b. CPU upgrade super cheap but the DDR2 so expensive

[@plvto9509]

@@gavinstarling8737 fr, I gave up on an old pc cause of this

[@dominoespizza1756]

I had like 6 sticks of coursair 4gb ddr2 laying around for years and now I’ve got no idea where they are

[@erenaydin]

they are kinda cheap in my country, i bought 2×2 kingston 800mhz kit for like 5 dollar brand new

[@ethann_browne]

Earlier this year, I replaced my 2008 MacBook with an X201. I have to say, the difference between Intel's Core 2 chipset and the first gen i series is night and day for many basic tasks. Unless you're a collector, definitely don't look older than anything Core i for basic tasks.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I agree at this point. The very latest laptops with Core 2 processors and faster chips like the Core 2 Quad/Core 2 Extreme might still be usable, but it's just not worth the hassle and money of trying to upgrade everything unless you got the laptop for a good price or already had it.

[@AM-mk3zc]

i've just bought a thinkpad x200 on ebay for 49 euro

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@AM-mk3zc That's not a bad deal. It will probably be a little slow but the X200 is still a very nice machine.

[@trandinhvietdung9357]

yeah, the i5-520M just wipe the floor compared to the fastest Core 2 Duo

[@AM-mk3zc]

@@SebisRandomTech with libreboot :P

[@klwthe3rd]

I own several T61's because of this channel. Sebi's videos made me fall in love with the older style T61 and T400 laptops many many years ago. I still have them all in their original IBM Thinkpad travel cases and i break them out occasionally to cycle the batteries so they don't go dead. After this video, i fired up my T61 with the upgraded T9300 Core 2 Duo CPU and i noticed for the first time that watching videos even on my Linux distro(Linux Mint Mate) seemed to studder quite a bit. Acouple years ago i never had that problem. Today's internet is just get too intensive for these older machines. The only way i can more power is to upgrade to the Core 2 Duo Extreme as outlined in Sebi's video. Otherwise they basically will have very limited use going forward. It really makes me sad to see these older Thinkpad become obsolete. I grew up on them and i loved their many unique features. What do the new Thinkpad still have?? A spill resistant keyboard?? That's it. All the classic features are gone. Hot swappable batteries- gone. Classic keyboard-gone. indicator lights for activity-gone. Latch to hold the top cover down-gone. Upgradable components-gone. dedicated volume buttons-gone. Lenovo is doing away with everything that made their laptops unique. There's nothing left to distinguish them from other laptops anymore. I do own some modern Thinkpads but to use them is NOT satisfying at all even if they are fast. I hate them.

[@h.b.5577]

For youtube try using a front end site like piped, the browsing experience improvement compared to normal yt is immense on older machines.

[@teleman07]

We had ThinkPads as old or even older than this in a factory I worked at. Electronics department was still using them actively... For all those years I remember not a single dead pixel or dysfunctional key on them. Even their mouse knob things were good. I was blown away.

[@joemarisdwihariyadi497]

i know it aint 15 years old, but my t440p is STILL running strong until now, still uses it to do my daily work from home or out about, the only thing i ever did to the machine was upgraded it to the full HD panel and installed an SSD, other than its declining battery efficiency...it still runs like a champ. not to mention i have dropped it quite a few times through the years, man do i love thinkpads

[@billoverson2263]

T440p also my daily driver - i7-4800MQ - 16GB - 1TB SSD. Sits in a dock hooked up to a 27" monitor, remote KB and mouse. Haven't noticed a huge difference to my T14 (G2) i5-1145G7.

[@itstheweirdguy]

I've worked on many a Lenovo thinkpad in the 2nd-5th gen Intel core range. Great machines. I have an x220 which is only a sandy bridge i5, but it has 8gb and a 120gb ssd, got it for free (recycled by customer) at work it's my service call laptop. Just had to order a new caddy so the ssd fits in right, whoever refurbished it before used tape. Great great laptop, I love how it's light up keyboard is an actual light next to the camera that flips open and shines on the keyboard, now that's "GOAT with the sauce" if I may say so myself.

[@Pasi123]

I also have a T440p as my main laptop, i7-4800MQ, 12GB RAM, GT 730M, 250GB SSD, 1080p panel. The only thing I've upgraded is the RAM and a dead battery, though someday I'm going to upgrade the SSD to a bigger one and max out the RAM to 16GB

[@BilisNegra]

Well, we're talking at least 6 years newer laptop, close to 7. A long time in computing, and at that time stuff was still getting old faster than today (though not as much as in the 90s-early 2000s), so quite different animals. Buy yeah, Thinkpads are so great. Well, they should considering their original asking prices, but for some reason, there has been a steady supply of second hand units for years at excellent prices. The value is terrific.

[@techno-sorcery9852]

​@@BilisNegra With the exception of video games/rendering/virtual machines, the amount of processing power required for most tasks has seemingly plateaued over the past decade. My T530's i5 holds up just fine for 90% of what I need to do; for the other 10% (playing modern video games), I just use my desktop.

[@piedro2688]

Loved the video, T61 is a beautiful machine. I personally bought myself a used T450 a few months ago and it's awesome! It's upgraded to 16GB of RAM and 500GB SSD, so it's running quite smoothly. The battery life is decent too, with light use i can get to around 4 hours with no problems. I would never think about getting a thinkpad if i hadn't watched an older video of yours, where you recommend an older thinkpad as a great budget laptop, so thank you very much!

[@SebisRandomTech]

Glad I could help steer you in the direction of ThinkPads! Thanks for watching!

[@laserdiscbisque]

I was 10 in 2007, and I remembered being awed by modern laptops at the time and wondering how computers could ever get any more advanced

[@M1szS]

i was 0 in 2007, don't remember shit

[@doctahjonez]

@@M1szS i was 2 in 2007 lol

[@M1szS]

@ParisFletcher tbh that's nothing advanced comparing to the electronics in it

[@ZIonDaWolfo]

I was 0 and I have the thihnkpad x301 now lol

[@ndositwechizimbi7299]

My ThinkPad T430s is 10 years old now... it is still solid. I have loved the unit due to its ease to service and upgrade. It has an i7 3520M CPU with 8GB RAM. Upgrades came after six years of usage, replacing the HDD and Optical Drive for two SSDs: a 500GB for Windows 10 and 250GB for Ubuntu Linux.

[@pthomasgarcia]

I love my ThinkPad T61s (I’ve three of them 😅) and they get regular usage. I upgraded the RAM to 8gb and run Ubuntu and a couple other Linux distros. Aside from regular www and word processor use, I mainly use it to program in Python and for emulation. Nothing graphically intensive. However, on my main T61, it can overheat, which is the one problem I typically have with them. Especially, ones that ship with Nvida graphics

[@RanenPo]

You should do a state of the collection video with your ThinkPads, older Macbooks, keyboards, and desktops! I think it is somethig that your audience will find interesting.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Not much of a collection at the moment, I got rid of those MacBooks ages ago. The footage was previously unused from a scrapped video of mine. Glad I got to showcase it a little here! :)

[@dordly]

I have a stock X200 that I still use to this day and it's perfect. I obviously don't do anything graphically intensive on it, but for programming, home network/server maintenance, and simply having a dedicated system for user security and privacy for business and travel I really don't need or want any other laptop. I run a Debian-based Linux distro so I have more control and resources and the only part I've had to replace after all these years was the cooling fan and thanks to the laptop's design it wasn't a difficult task despite having to remove essentially everything else to get to it. It's a shame IBM aren't still making computers because everything they made was the closest thing to perfection any manufacturer will ever get. The market would benefit from their simple but highly efficient and modular designs and rock solid hardware that's stood the test of time.

[@tlarson91119]

I've been using an old Dell Latitude 6400 (2008 model) for longer than I can remember. I replaced the old drive with an SSD some time ago and have been using Lubuntu on it for maybe 8 years now. I mainly use it as a bed laptop to watch videos on and it's great so far.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Nothing like a good "nightstand laptop"! Currently typing from my T430 in bed as we speak, although I still take mine out and about.

[@mattbosley3531]

I have a Dell Inspiron 9400 which I bought in 2006 still in perfect condition. It's got a Core Duo 32 bit processor running Windows 10 32 bit. I did upgrade it from a hard drive to a SATA SSD many years ago, and it has two USB 3.0 ports in a 54mm ExpressCard. It has GeForce Go 7800 graphics. It's got a 17" FHD screen. I've replaced the battery twice in 16 years.

[@carnelianknight5713]

Very impressed with the performance of a 2007 laptop even if it's maxxed out. Think I'll go with an X201 as a linux entertainment center as these laptops look amazing and charmingly old. Might even get a trackpoint only palmrest lol. Depends on supply chain and the availability of different units. These older machines are disappearing... But as always thank you sebi this was one of my favorite videos you've made thus far. Takes me back to your old R series thinkpad video. It's so nice to have content about these amazing machines.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I'm glad you enjoyed the video! As always thanks for watching, and I'm amazed you even remember my R series video as that was well before I was known for this sort of stuff. Unfortunately that machine succumbed to a motherboard failure a few years ago, but it will always have a place as my first ThinkPad.

[@carnelianknight5713]

@@SebisRandomTech RIP R52. Forever in our hearts.

[@anirbanpatra3017]

Hello, I have Lenovo G580 with no upgrades How do I know what is the max upgrade possible for the laptop? Plz guide me.

[@anirbanpatra3017]

@@SebisRandomTech amazing video.but i would like to know how did you learn to do all these

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@anirbanpatra3017 Google is your friend. For a bit more detail look on Reddit, Lenovo's spec sheet for your model (they usually call it the psref document, so look up "Lenovo G580 psref" to find the highest supported upgrades for that model).

[@rocketassisi]

I've just spent most of the day on a Thinkpad x61 reading and replying emails, surfing the web to gather information, using whatsapp web to communicate with my banker across the globe, filling, printing and scanning forms, transferring funds, uplifting and placing fixed deposits at various banking websites, , organizing finances and keeping accounting notes on TreeDBNotes. Right now on my x61, I am reading and making web-clippings of the day's corporate news with an old version of Evernote (where web-clipping was possible without a paid subscription). In front of me over at the left side, I have a live telecast of a Italian Open tennis match playing on my Thinkpad x201 and over at the right side (also in front of me), I had your video playing on my Thinkpad x200 (which is still on a mechanical HDD). All my old machines have been converted to SSD except the x200. All machines are running Windows 10. Now who says old Thinkpads running Windows 10 are unusable in 2023? I have a fairly new Thinkpad L14 Gen 2 gathering dust at a corner.

[@carlos2004]

this is pretty much like the used x220 i bought around 5 or 6 years ago. it came with an i5 2540m, 200gig hdd, and 4gb ram. after a few additions, it is now running a new battery, win10, 6gb ram, 128gb msata ssd (decided to take out the extra hdd), and also replaced the screen once after it broke. the "right" key is now malfunctioning, and i might replace the keyboard later, but i just stopped pressing it, so not a real problem. as an extra portable pc, it has served me well. anything i don't really trust gets downloaded/opened on it. was my main when my actual main pc was getting upgraded for about a week, and a couple of months i was away from home. it also was a school laptop for a niece for some months when the pandemic started. it can emulate the retro systems and can run very old or indie pc games. and it can run everything on a browser just fine. while it doesn't get that much actual use, it has been useful throughout the years. i'm thinking about adding usb charging since with usb pd, it can now provide the required 95 watts, but for now, the x220 is still going and it seems it should be fine for such for another few years.

[@gmitchellfamily]

My previous workplace furnished me with an (at the time) 3-year-old refurbished T410. I didn't complain, the price was right, I was able to consolidate SEVERAL machines into it, and it was an absolute tank. The laptop had originally shipped with XP, and still had the XP license sticker on it. But during the refurb process, it gained a Windows 7 license for refurbished computers. Windows 7 was upgradeable to Windows 10, so once I got tired of fighting with Linux on it, you bet that's what I put on that laptop. I used it for about six years as a daily driver, and it was a champ. I gave it to my neighbor and he continues to use it to this day, though a driver issue prevented it from updating past 1909. So I think that T410 was the only machine I'll ever lay hands on that ran Windows XP AND Windows 10 perfectly. And yes I did try XP on it at one point. All the drivers are available from Lenovo still, and it ran flawlessly. Made a decent retro-XP-gaming machine with its Quadro GPU!

[@JohnWilson-hb5qc]

Great video as always! Liking some of the track shots and “glory shots” of the laptops

[@themegaman91965]

Excellent video! One of the coolest ones I've seen in a long time! I forgot that IBM even still made their series of Thinkpads in 2006, as I thought that Lenovo had already occupied those by then.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Thanks for watching! The whole IBM versus Lenovo branding on ThinkPads is kind of interesting, technically all ThinkPads made since early 2005 are Lenovo products, as it was in late 2004 that Lenovo acquired IBM's PC division. However, as part of an agreement made during this acquisition ThinkPads were still branded as IBM products for a while, and some in the T60/61 era were jointly branded as IBM/Lenovo ThinkPads. Some early T60's like the one I used for my FrankenPad project have no Lenovo branding at all (save for a very small "Manufactured for Lenovo" sticker on the bottom cover), while later T60's and T61's lack any IBM branding. By the time the T400/500 and X200 came out in 2008, Lenovo dropped all mention of the IBM name. Additionally, some consider the T60/61 models to still be IBM products as their development began while still under IBM, and the same engineers responsible for the design of older models worked on the T60/61. It's all fascinating to go down a rabbit hole into and just fuels the age-old debate of what the last true IBM ThinkPad was. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and learned something!

[@SelfSufficientZ]

Glad to see you back Sebi! I love your videos! I have a Thinkpad T480 that is my dedicated TV machine and it runs amazing and was only 250 bucks :D

[@SebisRandomTech]

Thanks for watching! That's a pretty interesting use for the T480, how do you have it set up?

[@SelfSufficientZ]

@@SebisRandomTech Hey Sebi! I just use the HDMI out and a Logitech pebble mouse and K380 keyboard. It works surprisingly great for browsing the web and KZbin. Especially with those wireless accessories 🙂 Thanks for asking!

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@SelfSufficientZ That's a pretty cool way to use it, I like seeing hardware repurposed in interesting ways like that.

[@JohnDoe-wi7eb]

I love your content I'm glad your back. FYI Libreboot in 2023 is VERY important!

[@wnewbury4]

Thank you for all the good advice. My inexpensive x220 is performing very well. Doing everything I want.

[@SebisRandomTech]

The X220/230 are rock solid models. Glad yours is doing well!

[@Norrecito]

Since you made me a Thinkpad fan like 2 years ago, I'm always looking for them on flee markets and picked up quite a few for very cheap. (T2x-T6x. Some X series models and even found a X60 tablet) If you are into Windows 9x/XP era retro gaming (like I do), old Thinkpads can be perfect. Sometimes I'm surprised by the screen some old models use. A few months ago, I've managed to get my hands on a R50p. I has a 15" 1600x1200 IPS display. Never seen icons this small in Windows XP before :)

[@SebisRandomTech]

I don't think the R50p is a very common model, you scored a good catch there! I believe that model was at one point available with an even higher resolution 2048x1536 panel. That must have been insane in 2005.

[@Norrecito]

@@SebisRandomTech Yep and according to the Thinkpad Wiki, all R50p models came with an IPS screen. 1600x1200 was the inferior one :)

[@techno-sorcery9852]

The electronics swap meet in my area is the perfect place to get old laptops; both my $15 X220i and $20 T530 came from there, and I've seen plenty of other -20 and -30 series machines going for under $30.

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@techno-sorcery9852 Sounds like a great place to get stuff like that!

[@divinehatred6021]

@@SebisRandomTech it is more insane now if you think about it, its above 1440p even? fricking wild.

[@TheMirzaProduction]

I'm glad you finally uploaded a video. Kind of my favorite KZbinr out there...

[@sehofin]

Nice video! I'm still using my X200 with Linux Manjaro and I still use it weekly (mainly for JavaScript coding)! The keyboard is perfect on these older Lenovos.

[@SebisRandomTech]

The keyboards on these late IBM/early Lenovo ThinkPads are truly spectacular. That was probably my favorite part about filming this video, getting to type on the old keyboard. My T430's is still fantastic and even my X1 Nano still has a nice keyboard, but I think the T60/61's is ever so slightly better than any of those.

[@andljoy]

Older thinkpads are very useful for people who use mainly text based apps on linux without a desktop environment and running something like DWM. I have a much more modern T450 with an upgraded screen when i use a laptop outside of work but i still have my trusty x61s upgraded to the max with a new old stock US keyboard ( i am in the UK but prefer US layout). Honestly when not on chrome/firefox i cannot tell the difference and the x61s boots faster with the same custom arch linux + larbs install i have on it.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

I've used Gentoo Linux since 2003 so I entirely agree with you about using optimised "roll your own" Linux builds to get the "best bang for your buck" out of old Thinkpads.

[@dstinnettmusic]

I love old Thinkpads. T430 to me is the best option for most people. Plenty of room for upgrades (up to an i7-3840QM, 16GB of Ram, SSD upgrades both internal and via the hot swappable slot that stock has the DVD drive), display upgrade, can install the T420 keyboard and a whole world of options via the express port, including some GPU options. If you can find a model with the GPU then you are set. Put a good Linux distribution on there or even hackintosh it. Such a great little project PC) I have mine as a hackintosh but plan I switch it back to Linux now that I have a 2015 MacBook Pro. The thinkpad can’t run Ventura as of now, and I’ve replaced the utility I was getting from Mac OS, the ecosystem integration, so I should try to find some use for it, probably running my media. But that kicks the Mac Mini out of its job….so idk lol

[@SebisRandomTech]

I'd like to eventually Hackintosh my T430, I have a MacOS-compatible wireless card standing by and just need to install 1vyrain before I'll be ready to go. Future video project maybe...? I agree with you, the xx30 series is the best blend of classic and modern. Old enough to still have that classic IBM-inspired aesthetic and design, new enough to still be relevant. They're all very solid machines.

[@tdaonp]

I still use my T60 (Lenovo/IBM) as my daily driver. Only upgrade is a new battery and an SSD. It runs Manjaro (Linux). These things are built like tanks and last forever. For my use case it works like a charm. Even though I bought later era ThinkPads for other people, recognising that not everyone's use case (and patience) is the same. ;)

[@MegaManNeo]

Talking about the retro gaming part, that is what I actually did with my old X60t. Lenovo luckily still keeps everything on their website and using my very first SSD with just 64G storage space is plenty for XP and pretty much all games I played back in the day, plus music and some tools if I so desire. If nothing goes, I do it like the old man who wrote Game of Thrones as typing on these older ThinkPads is a pleasure.

[@therobb5738]

Watching this on a Dell Latitude E5500, Core2Duo t9550, 4 gigs of ram, slow spinny HDD, and running Windows 11 is no problem for this machine. I can watch KZbin with no buffering problems, this old thing has amazed me. Very solid old machine, and everything works, minus a Bluetooth driver that I'm not too worried about. I'd say your video is pretty well spot-on.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Glad you liked it! Those older Latitudes, like ThinkPads from the era, are built like tanks and really easy to upgrade. I'd like to take more of a look at them sometime in the future. Thanks for watching!

[@MartinLasTerrenas]

In my home, we have 2 X230 (1 for me and 1 for my wife), main workhorse, we do everything with them. I also have a T430 as my 2nd work PC. And my hobby laptop is my X201 running Kubuntu. Works just fine (for work, we stay on Win10)

[@SebisRandomTech]

Solid lineup of laptops you have there! Typing this from a T430 as we speak! ;)

[@DilbertMuc]

Oh my god. I have been working office stuff on my T61p all the time and haven't realized that 15 years have passed. But the machine, with 15" UXGA IPS display still rocks. And the big screen is just gorgeous! Much better than those awfull 16:9 widescreens.

[@coegj]

Still using an upgraded w530 and my backup is a sweet t530, I like the 15 inch thinkpads without the designated number pads, all the 2014's and up have them. As soon as I find out that the Frameworks laptop plays nice with Linux/Ubuntu I will have one of those, right now they still have hiccups. Might move on to the t480 cause I like the two battery system and will have decades left to mess with my favorite MX Linux. Missed seeing your videos, take care.

[@SebisRandomTech]

The X1 Extreme and the P1 offer 15 (and on the newest versions 16) inch displays without a separate number pad, so that could be something to consider for an upgrade when your W530 finally dies (if it ever does!). I'd like to check out the Framework machines but like you said, they still have their hiccups that need to be worked out and the lack of a pointing stick is a dealbreaker for me. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for watching!

[@guytech7310]

Still using my TP W520 - 2013 vintage. I used it as my primary laptop until about 2019. I upgraded it to a P51. The only issue I am running into is the keyboard, I worn dimples into the keys after using it for nearly a decade. Before that I had a T60 which I think I got in late 2005 or early 2006. I replaced it for a better processor that supported virtualization.

[@bencemervay]

A new Sebi's Random Tech video! OMG! Finally!

[@Brave-Octopus]

Have a IBM laptop from 2004. Put AntiX 19 on it and was able to handle web surfing and basic tasks well. But thats mostly it.

[@Aeglos15]

Another Sebi video! So pumped.

[@keeper__88_]

I´m working in the upgrade of an old Dell D620 (2008), lovely device. Works fairly good with Linux and a mechanical hard drive. Not a gaming machine but usable for basic taks. Hopefully will work better with and SSD and a faster Core 2 Duo.

[@LloydLynx]

I use one with a T7200 and Samsung 860 EVO and I love it. I'm hoping to put a D630 board in it for even more speed and power. The Latitude D-series are the best laptops ever made IMO.

[@aaroncheah2088]

Been trying to find the DVD caddy for the T60 and T61 for ages. Hard to find these days because the connector is nonstandard.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I purchased that caddy back in 2015, it was one of the first "upgrades" I ever made to a ThinkPad. That model (an R51) has since succumbed to motherboard issues and I salvaged most of its parts to fix up other machines, and have kept the caddy around for other stuff. I suppose nowadays there's a little less demand for those kind of parts for laptops from 2005/2006.

[@DIGITAL_DECAY.EXE_]

These older machines are still great for offline use. I use mine for file storage and documentation purposes. Yeah they can't go online really anymore but that's more reason to keep them around.

[@tomaszgalec864]

Why?...Ive got Lenovo ThinkPad R500 and its going strong online

[@hornox4life]

@@tomaszgalec864 youtube / hq video will stutter

[@tomaszgalec864]

@@hornox4life ....but still, they can, lower than hq runs perfectly :)

[@hornox4life]

@@tomaszgalec864 Yep, it works, only a few seconds of waiting time now and then😄

[@tomaszgalec864]

@@hornox4life Nope...below hq runs smoothly, you are wrong my friend...or you have bad internet connection.

[@yanni6556]

T61 were a very sought after thinkpad when released. They allowed a lot of multitasking

[@Bunstonious]

Looking at that older Thinkpad, man I love the chassis. Timeless!

[@gatherdust4035]

I currently use a T61 for everyday use - indeed it’s my main computer. I agree this isn’t worth it as a replacement but this laptop has bested a X220, T400, T410, T520, P1, and others. That 4x3 screen and that era’s keyboard are worth its limitations. Also some older programs like Office 2007 work just fine.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Your username seems to be a misnomer since your T61 is indeed *not* gathering dust! :P But in all seriousness the 4:3 screen is one of the reasons I keep my machine around, however the 16:10 panels that newer ThinkPads are shipping with are quite nice (typing this from my X1 Nano Gen 1). Glad your machine is still kicking though, if it's still working just fine you might as well get as much use as you can out of it before it breaks for good or becomes too slow for modern tasks, it just isn't smart to go out of your way to get one now with the intent of using it as a daily driver. Thanks for watching!

[@seanholmes8290]

I have a t61 and t61p. One has windows Xp and the other has windows 7. I keep them around for old software, they have good windows 98 compatibility. I have a docking station with a gpu as well. Ive also got a t440p, a p71 and a yoga 390.

[@jovaraszigmantas]

He is alive, thinkpads are back on top. Great vid.

[@primarygavr]

I still use a 2008 Dell Insipiron laptop running Windows 7, I tried using Windows 10 but it slows a little bit the pc. Everyday tasks such as (Web browsing, microsoft office and media playback) are more than fine; however it is bulky and heavy, not that great carrying in a bag.

[@rocknroll6760]

watching this vid from my t61p which works still good for me even in 2024 full hd youtube works with no problem, microsoft office is just perfect with that keyboard, some light 2010 era gaming also more than enough for me))

[@randomraven2519]

The T60 is a really good laptop in my opinion. Even though I have a powerful desktop and a laptop I still actually find myself using it pretty often for writing and other lightweight tasks.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I love the form factor of the ThinkPads from that era, hence why I did the FrankenPad upgrade to have a newer T61 motherboard in one!

[@let_me_explain8572]

I'm still using ThinkPad Yoga S1 from 2013, mainly because it has a touchscreen and comes with a stylus. At one point I was considering to replace it since SSD upgrade didn't do it any good, but then I replaced cheap cacheless A-Data SSD with a beastly Samsung 860 Pro (top of the line SATA III drive on the market) and things got way better. I also installed Windows 11 and the laptop actually runs it better than my other not-so-old IdeaPad.

[@alvin612]

Very comfy video indeed! I still have my t60 from 2006. For a while it was connected to an external mouse, keyboard, and monitor for my folks, so when they gave it back to me, the keyboard and screen is very well preserved. I since gave it t7200, maxed out to 3GB ram, and an SSD. With a lightweight Linux distro with a window manager, it plays 1080p KZbin just fine. That's about the most taxing in my casual use case for this good old machine. I really like the 1400*1050 screen, so I may just throw gnome and KDE on it, just to enjoy the UI for a bit haha. Alternatively, get XP back on and install some retro games. Either way, it's going to be a comfy geeky project. Haha. Back to my point...good video as always, Sebi!

[@SebisRandomTech]

I love the 4:3 display on these models, the FlexView display in mine looks absolutely gorgeous. I'm sure I could squeeze another year or two out of it if I used a lightweight Linux distro, but it just wouldn't be worth it since I have much more capable models like the T430 at my disposal. Even after these machines are too obsolete for everyday use they will still get some love for long typing sessions and retro gaming. Older standard definition TV shows and movies that fill the whole screen also look fantastic on this thing.

[@terrydaktyllus1320]

@@SebisRandomTech I have a T60 with a 4:3 display that sits on my workbench and is perfect just for displaying PDFs of manuals and electronics spec sheets.

[@apex0824]

I still use my early 2011 MacBook Pro. I use it as much as I use the M1 Mac Mini in my office. Still works great for everyday use which for me consists of web browsing, streaming, light word processing, FaceTime and discord. Granted, I've done some upgrades to it. I've replaced the HDD with a SSD, I also replaced the Bluetooth 2.0 chip for a 4.0 chip so that modern devices would be supported and upgraded the RAM from 4GB to 16GB. I believe the stock CPU is a 2.3Ghz Core i7.

[@Someone-wall]

8:30 HAHAHA you fail to take into account the sheer power of STUBBORNNESS! I have been using a ThinkPad t43 from 2005 as my main laptop for nearly a year, and through many trials and tribulations I am able to maintain productivity! Nothing can stop me and my windows xp running, loud as hell, ThinkPad t43!

[@iq152alpha]

Cool video your views on a thinkpads are always great

[@SebisRandomTech]

Appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

[@rocksalts]

I've been waiting for a new vid. Awesome.

[@1teamboy]

Just bought one myself 2 months ago! Love thinkpads with all my heart

[@SebisRandomTech]

Agreed, ever since I got my first as a hand-me-down (an R51) I was hooked.

[@1teamboy]

@@SebisRandomTech that’s awesome. Pretty insane to see old models of Lenovos sold out completely on retail EVERYWHERE you look (Best Buy etc.) but going for hundreds on eBay. Lenovo is having an underground renaissance

[@ThatGuySizzleMac]

My mom got me one of those when I was a senior in high school in 2007 and it was the best thing I could use at that time. Now I still have it sitting on my shelf and pull it out whenever I want to play some of my old computer games that refuse to work on newer graphics cards, and to clean it and make sure everything is still in working order (besides the battery being dead completely so I keep it plugged in and I'm not really going to take it anywhere anyways). The case lost a screw, but besides that it's still in fairly good condition.

[@kosztaz87]

I don't think the T61 motherboard in your Frankenpad has the infrared port. If I remember correctly Lenovo has removed it after the T60 series, although I could be wrong.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Whoops, that was a slight error on my part! I'll make note of it in the description.

[@ThePuuFa]

My wife still uses a X61s from 2007 with a friggin 1.6GHz Core 2 duo LV as her only computer and she's still happy with it :) She thinks it's really cute. It's running Linux Mint Xfce on an old 128GB SSD and the performance really is surprisingly good for what it is. It's still a very usable machine for light internet browsing and office stuffs like printing, scanning and word processing. Only 480p KZbin videos are perfectly smooth but the 12" 4:3 screen is so tiny that the lower resolution doesn't actually look too bad imho.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I was originally going to use an X60s for this video, but it was having motherboard issues so I wasn't able to use it. They're really nice little laptops!

[@horashio1593]

Bought a x230 7 days ago! Was feeling down as my dell latitude d620 had started to become unusable. So went onto ebay and took a look around. Bidded on a laptop and lost. Found the x230 and bidded and won! Did not know what I had gotten myself into as I wasn't familiar with the ThinkPad series! After buying it I read up on it as I only had a few minutes to bid when I stumbled upon it haha. I was delighted to find such good things about ThinkPads and the x230. I'm very much into technology. Programming, building pcs etc but I had never known much about the infamous ThinkPads! Anyways cut to the chase I received it 2 days ago and it's been a delight. Truly awesome. Light, powerful and good looking. Great for college. I mainly do programming and work so I don't need a super computer! I'm going to dual boot it with Linux so I have bought a 256GB msata SSD to put in the laptop so I can keep windows and Linux on separate drives. Anyways thanks a bunch! Binge watched nearly all of your videos over the past week :D

[@SebisRandomTech]

The X230 is such a solid model, as you've probably seen with the one showcased in a few of my videos. With an IPS display and the classic keyboard/palmrest swap it's probably one of the best blends of classic and modern that you can get today. I'm glad you're happy with yours and thanks for watching my videos!

[@horashio1593]

@@SebisRandomTech Heck yeah! I have been thinking of upgrading the screen on my x230 actually. A month of usage and i love it. I put a msata ssd in so now ive dual booted it with windows/ubuntu. I am actually typing from the x230 in ubuntu rn. Really solid laptop. I would like to try the T series of thinkpads but I use my laptop for college, presentations, coding etc so I need an x series thinkpad for portability. Recently my friend wanted to get a laptop 2nd hand so i looked around for him and found a very nice deal. X270 16GB ram 520GB ssd very nice indeed. Catch is that he isnt getting payed till the end of the month so I have bought it and hell buy it off me haha. So thats arriving today so thats going to be fun to play with even if its for a short time haha.

[@xoanaraujo02]

I recently discovered your channel and Im enjoying every single one of your videos :))

[@dohuynhduc4699]

What a shock.....I got it since 2008 and still keep it till today Its working pretty well.

[@jakob_mierscheid]

I'm pretty sure the info that only 3GB can be used in a T61 is wrong. A (German) quote from the ThinkWiki: "Erst die ThinkPads mit Santa-Rosa-Chipsätzen (T61, R61, X61) können dank Memory Remapping volle 4 GB RAM (inoffiziell sogar 8 GB [2x4 GB]) nutzen"

[@SebisRandomTech]

3 GB is the max for the T *60,* however the T61 as you pointed out can handle 4 or (unofficially) up to 8 GB of RAM.

[@johncate9541]

2009 Dell Inspiron 1545 here, maxed out to the C2D T9900, an SSD, a 1TB HDD in the optical drive slot, and an ExpressCard USB3 card in that slot. This is the model with the ATi dGPU, which helps some, and I run PCLinuxOS. This can go up to 900p streaming video just fine, which matches the screen it has. I'll hate it when this old laptop can't do the job anymore, but so far, so good.

[@pdt4776]

Watching on my T500 with 8GB ram. I will use it until it dies.

[@chelastgamer55]

Since mid. 2018, I own a Thinkpad R61i and basically did the same upgrades you did (except only 4GB RAM, T9300 for processor, a 2016 802.11ac-compatible WiFi-Card and LED Backlighting) that got me through all of my Software Engineering degree until now and will probably continue to do so. I also chose a model with Intel Graphics, because I did not want sudden failure because of the infamous "NVidia Bug". My perceived experience with productivity, web browsing and video streaming/playback matches yours (the screen is only 800p anyway, but this also means 1280x720 fits without any scaling) and I currently don't feel any need to replace it. It even ran Windows 11 for a short period of time and, if it's still possible in 2025, I will install it again when Windows 10 reeches the end of its life (meaning, this old computer outlived 5 whole generations of Windows)

[@SebisRandomTech]

I have a revised T61 motherboard that shouldn't have the dreaded Nvidia issues, however I still try to run it on the cooler side just to be safe. It'll be interesting to see if the T61 is still usable by 2025.

[@superlativeb]

using old tech for YTers - super sweet epic video man , can it run Cyrsis???!?! using old tech for everyone else - just booting up their main pc to watch a few videos and get ready for bed

[@MatteoPascolini]

these are good if you want to have an oldschool Unreal tournament lan party, HW like this is great for that!!

[@mordecaiepsilon]

There's a good chance you can get full quality KZbin playback by playing videos in VLC

[@Ashkimbo]

would love to see a video on the Thinkpad Advanced Docking Station. I had one a few years back but never got much use out of it so it went to another home!

[@SebisRandomTech]

I'd like to make a video about it eventually. I obviously have one but am still trying to figure out how I'd like to go about doing a video on it.

[@nathanruben3372]

They are very very capable computers for linux. If you are using X window along with some window manager, it will feel as fast as up to date computer with windows 10 or 11.

[@hariranormal5584]

I love those LED status lights. I remember them back in 2010 era from my dad's work laptop.

[@SebisRandomTech]

They're cool and actually useful in some situations. For me it's a handy way to tell if the drive is actually working or if the system is responsive or not - especially when troubleshooting it's a small but handy feature.

[@barebarekun161]

I still use my 15 year old Sony Vaio FW for mostly CD and Blu ray ripping the built in disc drive on this were a luxury and quite a unit. With its Core2Duo 4 GB of RAM and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470. Its still doing fine I can even get it to run PPSSPP emulator and run certain PSP game like Daxter up to 3x resolution with FXAA on at mostly stable 30 fps. Not bad for an old timer still kicking and useful for my music and movie archiving purpose. I'd say it have better build quality than many of today's comparable work and entertainment laptop I mean the hinge doesn't creak or squeak at all after 15 years where my latest gaming laptop did a little right out of the box.

[@Sterling_Silver04]

I'm still rocking a 2011 model Hp Probook 4430s as my daily driver, and have been since I bought it secondhand in 2016. It came with an i5-2520m, 8gb DDR3 (2x4) and the original 500gb Rust drive. I used it in that configuration until I refurbished it in 2022 with an i7 2630qm, 16gb (2x8) RAM, a 1tb 2.5" SSD, and a 750gb HDD I slid into an optical drive adapter caddy. Still gets around 3 hours in power saving mode on the original battery as well, (even with the change from a 35W cpu to a 45W) which is nuts to me. I did put windows 11 on it but wiped it and reverted back to 10 as I plan to ride out 10 for as long as I can, but I would love to see this thing hit 15 years old as well, considering how much abuse it has taken from me over the years. It starts right up every day like clockwork still, though I have been told multiple times that I just need to let the bloody thing die lol

[@elektron2kim666]

I don't expect more than a museum level experience in the T/X-60/61 pile I decided to buy/repair.

[@jasonwilliam2125]

2 vids in and im subbed. Great looking channel.

[@jonfroin]

My T61p Core 2 T9300 / Nvidia Quadro FX 570M / 8Gb / 15.4" Widescreen / W10 still in daily use here!

[@raymondgradzewicz]

I have a T60 with a Core2Duo T7400, 3GB RAM, and ATI X1300 graphics with a 14 inch 1400x1050 display. It's fine for most basic uses, web browsing (chrome) is a little sluggish, but it's usable. Playing KZbin isn't so much though. I've found it will only stop dropping frames when not in fullscreen, and even then, only at 480p 30fps. Even then, as soon as you move your cursor and the UI comes up (pause, volume, captions, settings, etc) it starts dropping frames again. Still it's amazing that such an old laptop is still usable at all, especially when running a less ram intensive operating system like Linux. (devuan with openrc btw, 67 megabytes idle ram usage) While I certainly wouldn't use it as my main computer, I would totally use it for basic office use.

[@SebisRandomTech]

I've managed to get some websites to load fine on a T42p I used to have, with a lightweight OS and some tweaking you *could* still make machines that old somewhat usable, but it'll still be a sluggish experience unless you limit its usage to the basics.

[@raymondgradzewicz]

@@SebisRandomTech huh, didn't know the T42p was usable at all on modern OS'

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@raymondgradzewicz Was using Windows XP with a patch to get security updates until 2019. Opera at the time was still supporting XP, not sure if that is still the case. Actually ran decently as long as you didn't try to play any videos on KZbin, Reddit, etc.

[@jujuseducer6055]

We use our 2 T60's for playing the Sims 2 with all bar 2 expansions!. Handles it well.

[@TheRailroad99]

The NVidia might be very error prone, however it is much better than the ATI. It supports H.264 decoding which helps a lot when the CPU is barely able to do so. Also supports DX10. The Radeon X1xxx does not support H.264 as far as I know. However with more and more of the web switching to better codecs like H.265, AV1 or VP9, even those are not usable anymore.

[@Milko.Enchev]

I have small business selling computers, so many times i say that i will use something like X1 Carbon or similar for my University work. Many times tho, i find a buyer and i sell it. Having to install all of the programs and copy every file to a different one. That why i picked a Lenovo X200 Tablet, that i had in my vintage collection and decided to give it a try. I am impressed, first of all, it's the perfect choisce, because i will never sell a laptop from my collection, the secondary bonus is that all of the software required for my University tasks are old or not as demanding (like mathlab). I upgraded it to 6GB RAM, SSD and Win10, the laptop is doing excellent, the only obstacle is the CPU (C2D 1.6 Ghz). Watching your video motivated me to do something more to this old workhorse. I will look for a nice CPU Upgrade. Thanks.

[@Milko.Enchev]

The CPU can't be upgraded, shame.

[@LinuxLoader1287]

Ive gotta say for a 15 year old thinkpad its in pretty good condition you've looked after it 👍 nice video

[@VelidAgovic]

Awesome! I am also using t60, it is wonderful

[@goldibollocks]

Every time I hear "Middleton BIOS", I imagine Kate sitting in Windsor castle, hacking away on an old ThinkPad while William is away at some posh event. 😅

[@SebisRandomTech]

🤣🤣🤣

[@s000x]

I use an x200 daily. It works well for notes an programming, lasts around 5 hours.

[@kamalmahmoud2385]

Thank you for upload ♥️

[@SebisRandomTech]

Thank you for watching!

[@GordonFreemanC13]

I got an used T61 with 4GB dual channel RAM and 250GB HDD, X3100 integrated graphics and Vista HB more than 10 years ago. I use it daily and rarely got problems with it. It is the most reliable laptop I've ever had. Sure it does get a bit hot nowadays ( but not that much up to 70C) on Windows 10 browsing the internet, watching youtube and such usual activities. Simply, I love this machine, and its unmatched keyboard, for typing this is godsent. It can run older games like Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Far Cry 1, Doom3 even with its integrated graphics. Original battery lasts more than an hour browsing the internet, and 2 hours on standby. What can you ask more from this nice little friendly machine?

[@pagofr]

For many years i have daily driven an T-60 and even used Win10 on it (even if the loading time were horrendous). I lately gave my T-60 a new life with WinXP for retro gaming.

[@iliketurtles50000]

I have a dell latitude e5500. I planned on doing the same thing as you and transplanting another motherboard into it to get more than 4gb of ram and a better cpu. Don't know what motherboard I could use but I'll find one eventually

[@frankolwenda5128]

I had a T61 between 2010 and 2015. It was a "gift" rather, a discarded laptop from my sister's work place and it served me pretty well. i'm sure i would still have had it if it weren't stolen!

[@zzz-cb3xe]

Very high quality laptop

[@KwanLowe]

This was a great watch. Old(er) hardware is so much more fun. I'm not running anything quite 15 years old, but I recently picked up 4 HP G2 systems. With shipping, 4 units set me back $120. Add another $120 for additional memory and storage (in addition to those sitting in a junk drawer), I had 3 new to me servers and a decent desktop (on which I'm typing this). It was so much fun tweaking the kernel to eke out as much performance as I could, tuning drivers for performance, and other configs to make it feel as good as a low-end modern PC. By this I mean that KZbin plays at full screen, there's no lag when loading apps, and for day to days browsing and work in the terminal, it feels no different than the modern workstation in the next room. And maybe it even feels better. There's no buyer's remorse as I had with a recent Dell XPS 15 purchase and TBH it's like I stole it from the seller based on how useful it is to me.

[@SebisRandomTech]

The T60/61 are probably among my favorite models to actually *use.* The keyboards feel great and the palmrest feels very ergonomic. Same goes for the T420/430 and their 12" counterparts. My newer X1 Nano is nice and I like using it, but it just doesn't feel the same.

[@KwanLowe]

@@SebisRandomTech Looking forward to more videos about those T60s. I picked up a T440P, replaced the screen with a 1920x1080 panel and it's been a workhorse.

[@SebisRandomTech]

@@KwanLowe The T440p has a few design choices I don't care for, but it is certainly one of the easiest models to upgrade/repair. Just two screws to remove the bottom cover and then you have access to almost everything. It's really a good "beginner's ThinkPad".

[@jozsiolah1435]

Diablo 2 keys for the quests, are actually keys for hardware locked in computers and laptops. By unlocking the chests, you unlock the batteries, the power saving functions. The cells heating up, need more keys in the game to enable them heating up equally. An inverter exists in the batteries, similar to the power banks. To enable all these, gameplay is needed on battery, finding the chests, and the laptop is set to power saving mode. Then, you can hibernate at 1%. To enable performance mode, discharge the battery in BIOS, reaching 47 minutes. Only each 11th discharge moves up the time in BIOS. The other discharges should be in Windows.

[@ZILOGz80VIDEOS]

@5:30 I'd be interested to see how it handles Davinci Resolve.

[@tokisuno]

a fellow old thinkpad user. respect.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Likewise!

[@grzegorzzazirski4620]

My cousin still has lenovo t400 which is used for web browsing, movies and school. Only upgrade i made with it was ssd drive :)

[@somecoolthingsrighthere5038]

Amazing tutorial buddy!

[@Rusikulya]

I just restored my R61 of 2008. Installed Linux mint, upgraded the RAM from 2 GB to 4 GB, replaced the HDD as it was non responsive. I have not installed SSD and kept the original motherboard. Its works well for all basic tasks and even runs KZbin well

[@gaucovyaero]

My main PC broke this year (ASUS mobo blew up) and I needed a PC, so I grabbed my father's old ThinkPad R61 with a T8100, 3GB RAM and a 320GB HDD. Installed Manjaro Xfce onto it and voila, I had a PC to use :D Minecraft 1.19 w/ OptiFine with some shader patches ran at 100fps at 448x252 resolution, CS 1.6 ran at 100fps too, at 640x480 resolution. Honestly, I was pretty surprised about that kinda of performance on the Intel GMA X3100 graphics, pretty cool to see how these old thinkpads hold up nowadays xD

[@SebisRandomTech]

Even if it isn't buttery smooth with some modern tasks, it really is neat that machines that are over 15 years old are still remotely usable in the modern world. Glad the R61 could keep up with your computing needs!

[@gaucovyaero]

@@SebisRandomTech yep, the laptop is still in very good shape physically and I never had to replace any hinges or such, these old thinkpads are really sustainable :D

[@alcatraz6275]

I had 1 of those back in 2010 used to play red alert 2

[@alouisschafer7212]

I was gifted a Thinkpad R60 but ive found out its Supervisor Password locked 😪 Attempts at bypassing it with the usual method of shorting 2 pins on an EEprom chip while turning the laptop on have not worked.

[@niksn022]

All students in my secondary school (me included) were using similar laptops to this one that were running windows 7 (upgraded from windows xp or vista ) up until 2018/2019, then they finally switched them all out with chromebooks once I left and went to high school. They were absolutely terrible. We had constantly problems with them and the problems ranged from terrible battery life to really bad performance and other technical problems that IT had to deal with. I feel so sorry for the poor souls who had to deal with all that crap for years and eventually having to deal with the chromebooks during covid.