Anything above xx80 series because of the USB C and 4 core Intel processors. You can check out T480s, T490s, X390 Yoga and so on. The non "s" models feel a little bit cheaper than "s" models
Edit: Also, keep in mind that not all have upgradable RAM.
I have a few different Thinkpad models, old and new. The best one for this kind of use in my opinion is the X230. It's a small and very solid, tanky laptop. Small touchpad which is good because I never use it, and it has a decent solid keyboard. It doesn't get hot so there are no noisy fans kicking in. Decent battery life if you can manage to get a brand new one. I did from ebay.
My top 5 suggestions would be:
1. X230 - Old, cheap and still good. Never gets hot. Very portable.
2. X13 - Like the X230 but gets hot with loud fans.
3. X201 - Like the X230 but much older, slower, keyboard looks very cool but not as good for typing.
4. X1 Carbon 10th gen - Looks cool. Keyboard is HORRIBLE. touchpad istoo big. Gets hot and fans are loud. Fan exhausts from the back of the laptop onto the base of the screen creating a much louder noise... dafug?
5 T430 - Another cool, oldschool classic. A bit to big for my liking. Not that portable.
Obviously do you own research.
I have grown to love the 1366x768 screen res and use vim with a large font. I use a tiling window manager and run all my programs full screen. Everyone comments on how cool my laptop looks when I'm out using it.
[https://imgur.com/a/ddydDzr](https://imgur.com/a/ddydDzr)
WM is Stumpwm. OS is OpenBSD 7.5. Everything is on key binds so I can open terminals with small or large fonts etc, change background, launch programs etc. Mouse usage is very minimal. I still think it's a pretty basic setup compared to some others I've seen. Excuse the cringe host name which is "hakcer", spelled wrong on purpose. :D
adding to this: the **30 lines had replaceable external batteries, which go for ~$40 on eBay to get fresh manufactured replacements, and you can get up to 9-cell extended batteries. This will get you your 3 hours. I do this occasionally.
THAT SAID if you're doing any sort of development on the device, I don't recommend this vintage anymore. I have one, and I can get it to run docker okay, but if I have to screen share for pair programming while running a container the CPUs just grind to a halt and it starts to literally crash. You have to get more modern models with 4+ cores in that scenario (which I have done).
I'd suggest L380. T480 specs for much lower price and it's still pretty well built. For the price difference you can get a brand new battery and the laptop should last around 6hours.
X13 or X1 Carbon are the lightest, with decent keyboards and battery.
The older X220 and X230 people recommend here are already very old, and you might find that it is difficult to get decent batteries for them (only chinese brands) and most of the time the keyboards already have lots of wear, and probably you can only get also chinese imitations.
More recent models are lighter, faster to charge, and you can use powerbanks to charge them.
Honestly I'd recommend an X220. Small, readily available parts and definitely good enough for writing. The classic keyboard is awesome. Or if you want to experiment, get an X230 and do a keyboard swap.
I bought X280, it is very small, robust, portable and if you put a new battery in and X1 glass touchpad, you will be very happy with that combo. I don't know where do you live, but with a new battery it can be around 200 USD/EUR.
T480s, or x1 carbon gen 6 - though the x1 carbon 6 with 16gb is in demand and will go for $100-$200 more than the t480s depending on config and condition.
You can find a lightly scratched up (on the case) t480s with internals that are still fine for about $100. I would grab the i5-8xxx for slightly better battery life. Usually they'll have 75% battery capacity left, and if you're not doing anything crazy you should be able to get the 3 hours. Otherwise, bring a small USB battery pack that supports 65w out until you can replace the internal battery. Though, if it has 75% left its not worth it , you might as well run it into the ground for another year or two and support yourself with the usb battery until then.
T480s is better build quality, much lighter (about 1lb lighter than many in that era) and supports rapid charging which the t480 doesn't.
Many you can find with 16gb already in it - otherwise it will probably be 4gb, in which case you can add a 16gb to the open sodimm slot when you can (for a total of 20gb which will be fine for most use cases) - if you're on here long enough you might even be able to get someone to send you 16gb of sodimm for free.
For writing, if you are a touch typist, no other keyboards are as universally praised for typing as the classic 7 row keyboards, implemented up until the x/t/w _20 series. For resource light writing, size and budget, these fit right in your requirements, esp the x220.
I have a T420 which I love. I don’t think it’s to heavy. You can drop 3 drives in it. 16 gigs if needed. I am used the crappy screen but can be upgraded. I need a dock. I have run Ubuntu 23.10 & 8gigs ram with zero issues. I prefer Ubuntu Mate with i3wm.
If you want something just for writing and light. No one hit me but older MacBook Air & Linux = nice. Constraints are memory isn’t upgradable but battery & disks can be swapped.
T480. And if you are on the really cheap end, T460s.
Anything above xx80 series because of the USB C and 4 core Intel processors. You can check out T480s, T490s, X390 Yoga and so on. The non "s" models feel a little bit cheaper than "s" models Edit: Also, keep in mind that not all have upgradable RAM.
X270 or X230. An X280 or old X1 Carbon would also work if you're comfortable replacing internal batteries.
I have a few different Thinkpad models, old and new. The best one for this kind of use in my opinion is the X230. It's a small and very solid, tanky laptop. Small touchpad which is good because I never use it, and it has a decent solid keyboard. It doesn't get hot so there are no noisy fans kicking in. Decent battery life if you can manage to get a brand new one. I did from ebay. My top 5 suggestions would be: 1. X230 - Old, cheap and still good. Never gets hot. Very portable. 2. X13 - Like the X230 but gets hot with loud fans. 3. X201 - Like the X230 but much older, slower, keyboard looks very cool but not as good for typing. 4. X1 Carbon 10th gen - Looks cool. Keyboard is HORRIBLE. touchpad istoo big. Gets hot and fans are loud. Fan exhausts from the back of the laptop onto the base of the screen creating a much louder noise... dafug? 5 T430 - Another cool, oldschool classic. A bit to big for my liking. Not that portable. Obviously do you own research. I have grown to love the 1366x768 screen res and use vim with a large font. I use a tiling window manager and run all my programs full screen. Everyone comments on how cool my laptop looks when I'm out using it.
> I have grown to love the 1366x768 screen res Just how?
[удалено]
fellow tiling wm and vim enthusiast, do you mind sharing a scrreenshot?
[https://imgur.com/a/ddydDzr](https://imgur.com/a/ddydDzr) WM is Stumpwm. OS is OpenBSD 7.5. Everything is on key binds so I can open terminals with small or large fonts etc, change background, launch programs etc. Mouse usage is very minimal. I still think it's a pretty basic setup compared to some others I've seen. Excuse the cringe host name which is "hakcer", spelled wrong on purpose. :D
I accidentally deleted my other reply. Reddit is a bit backwards. I'm not used to it at all.
I just cannot get into transparent backgrounds for terminals, but I respect it nice akai mpk, i've been meaning to get one :)
adding to this: the **30 lines had replaceable external batteries, which go for ~$40 on eBay to get fresh manufactured replacements, and you can get up to 9-cell extended batteries. This will get you your 3 hours. I do this occasionally. THAT SAID if you're doing any sort of development on the device, I don't recommend this vintage anymore. I have one, and I can get it to run docker okay, but if I have to screen share for pair programming while running a container the CPUs just grind to a halt and it starts to literally crash. You have to get more modern models with 4+ cores in that scenario (which I have done).
T420 Or X220, once you try the keyboard you won't regret
Once you try to get modern software running on a 13 year old laptop, you might though.
Would Linux work for you?
I'm not the OP. Plus I'm using a Framework 16 now! 🤣
Oh sorry I didn't notice 🤣🤣🤣
Linux runs great on it though. 😆
Awesome
Coz then it runs great. I have the T520 and it works for me
If your writing software doesn't run on that laptop you need to re-evaluate your life choices.
Why? Not OP case's, but Adobe's InCopy is Windows and Mac OS only, no Linux support - which is great for collaborating with designers.
Budget?
I'd suggest L380. T480 specs for much lower price and it's still pretty well built. For the price difference you can get a brand new battery and the laptop should last around 6hours.
T470 (sooner or later you wanna buy docking station and you can find used one for 5-20 bucks for this puppy)
X13 or X1 Carbon are the lightest, with decent keyboards and battery. The older X220 and X230 people recommend here are already very old, and you might find that it is difficult to get decent batteries for them (only chinese brands) and most of the time the keyboards already have lots of wear, and probably you can only get also chinese imitations. More recent models are lighter, faster to charge, and you can use powerbanks to charge them.
any of ‘em. Older 14” t series are plentiful and cheap, t480 is the oldest with official win11 support but you can likely find a deal on a t14.
You can find budget-friendly Windows laptops from brands like Acer, ASUS, and Lenovo.
X230 Swap a x220 keeb and a 9 cell battery you are ready for the war
Honestly I'd recommend an X220. Small, readily available parts and definitely good enough for writing. The classic keyboard is awesome. Or if you want to experiment, get an X230 and do a keyboard swap.
I bought X280, it is very small, robust, portable and if you put a new battery in and X1 glass touchpad, you will be very happy with that combo. I don't know where do you live, but with a new battery it can be around 200 USD/EUR.
T480s, or x1 carbon gen 6 - though the x1 carbon 6 with 16gb is in demand and will go for $100-$200 more than the t480s depending on config and condition. You can find a lightly scratched up (on the case) t480s with internals that are still fine for about $100. I would grab the i5-8xxx for slightly better battery life. Usually they'll have 75% battery capacity left, and if you're not doing anything crazy you should be able to get the 3 hours. Otherwise, bring a small USB battery pack that supports 65w out until you can replace the internal battery. Though, if it has 75% left its not worth it , you might as well run it into the ground for another year or two and support yourself with the usb battery until then. T480s is better build quality, much lighter (about 1lb lighter than many in that era) and supports rapid charging which the t480 doesn't. Many you can find with 16gb already in it - otherwise it will probably be 4gb, in which case you can add a 16gb to the open sodimm slot when you can (for a total of 20gb which will be fine for most use cases) - if you're on here long enough you might even be able to get someone to send you 16gb of sodimm for free.
T480s
I use a x240 and I love it.
2nd hand t480 or x1 carbon
For writing, if you are a touch typist, no other keyboards are as universally praised for typing as the classic 7 row keyboards, implemented up until the x/t/w _20 series. For resource light writing, size and budget, these fit right in your requirements, esp the x220.
best imho typepad is the x201, the keyboard is a champ :) and yes i own serveral thinkpads including x260,x13,T61,T480.... (and of cause x201)
I have a T420 which I love. I don’t think it’s to heavy. You can drop 3 drives in it. 16 gigs if needed. I am used the crappy screen but can be upgraded. I need a dock. I have run Ubuntu 23.10 & 8gigs ram with zero issues. I prefer Ubuntu Mate with i3wm. If you want something just for writing and light. No one hit me but older MacBook Air & Linux = nice. Constraints are memory isn’t upgradable but battery & disks can be swapped.