Getting a thinkpad...to buy old or new?

[(G{in}[AK)TION]]

I have been thinking on whether i should get a used and preferably barebones thinkpad laptop so i can install the SSD and probably new battery and use it for work (job is a WISP field tech) and other small things at home or just buy a newer one.

I have been reading here and there about the old vs. new thinkpad and from what i can gather, its basically "lenovo does not understand how to make a thinkpad and IBM did better" or something like that.

And the reason why i really want the think pad is because of the track point. i had a Thinkpad T20* back when i was in high school and liked it alot for typing and playing half life mods but had to dispose of it because its screen broke and i did not have the knowledge or money to fix it. A choice i really regret now.

So I wanted to know what would be the better choice here. get something like a t430 think pad and use it for work? or focus on buying a brand new think pad?

EDIT: to rephrase the question a bit, "What model would you recommend?"

 

[ihrsetrdr]

I'm thinking battery life, so for that reason I'd be looking at a new laptop. Of course, if you can still get a replacement battery for such old laptop as you might be considering, that would work too.

 

[(G{in}[AK)TION]]

i rephrased the question, but i might consider that if newer models are still good.

 

[custom90gt]

I have no issues with the newer ThinkPads. They may not be as robust as the old IBM ones, but they are still much nicer than the majority of the laptops out there. You didn't list a budget or what your plans are for the laptop so it's hard to recommend a model.

I currently have been using an A485 with the ryzen pro 2500u cpu and for the price it's a nice little machine. I also had (and recently sold) an X1 Extreme and it was a great laptop, just far more spec wise than I needed. The T480 and T580s are nice as well.

If you wanted to tell us what your usage and budget is maybe we could help more.

 

[(G{in}[AK)TION]]

I am hoping to keep it all under 250 dollars at most. If it goes above that, then i believe the best thing to do is to buy a new think pad.

I will be mainly be using it to setup and service broadband antennas for the Wireless ISP i work for. So i will be placing it into sleep mode a lot.

 

[custom90gt]

If that's the case, I don't see why an old thinkpad wouldn't fit the bill. Thankfully replacement parts (like batteries) are plentiful for them (and you'll likely need them since the batteries after a few years will probably be bad). At $250 you're not going to be walking out with a newer thinkpad by any means, but for what your use case, I don't see why something like a T420 or X220 wouldn't work well for you.

I ran across a few A485s for $500 and that was a smoking deal ($1300 MSRP), but sadly that's still out of your budget if you were thinking about a new one.

 

[(G{in}[AK)TION]]

Actually...(and i should have mentioned this) i was gonna spend the 500+ dollars on a newer thinkpad like the a485 you mentioned or t480.

But yeah ill go ahead and check out the t420 or x220.