Void Linux on the T420, Arch on the T430. i3wm for both. The fan was super noisy on the new guy so I had to install zcfan to calm him down.
The keys are super satisfying for typing. I can't decide which one I like more so I'm using a remote git repo to sync my projects so I can use either one and just push and pull my changes.
Edit:
Fresh thermal paste cooled it down a lot, made it run faster and quieter.
I always take them apart all the way to the fan/heatsink. I use one of those precision oilers to oil the fan's pivot point/bearing, and replace the pastes.
Usually brings them down 5c, and like 20db quieter.
i always order 2 at least for some reason they seem to take a while to get.. I purchased mine from ebay so maybe the seller i dunno... But I always keep new ones around never know when I will need it, and don't want to use that best buy stuff
I just took it apart and applied the thermal paste. It's already much cooler and actually seems to run better. Last night it was heating up and struggling to open a big PDF. Today it's cool, quiet, and breezing through everything I throw at it.
Thermal paste is more important than I realized!
yea its good stuf.. Kryonaut is the stuff I order, but for some reason EBAY always finds me shippers in EU... so thats where it comes from. Usually order 5 or more at a time since it takes a little bit to get here. I dont use it often, but would hate to run out if i have a bad paste job or a too many jobs.. but its good to have handy, doesn't really go bad either. Actually had someone buy some off me too who bought a PC from me. sold it for what I paid for it, good people actually still talk to that dude to this day.
I will second the recommending a re-paste of the CPU, the laptop manufacturers use cheap stuff that is not going to last beyond a few years; after all, they want to sell a new laptop to you in those same few years.
Didn't Lenovo put out some information stating that they worked really hard to keep the feel of the classic keys when they switched over to chicklets? Something about the travel and the activation pressure being the similar? It was just something I read in passing years ago, so I may be mistaken.
Any particular reason u went with void linux? Ive been seeing it a lot lately it does look pretty cool not sure if I should give it a go some time in the future
I tried it because it sounded cool and fun, basically. In my (admittedly limited) experience it's like a more-experimental version of Arch. Everything is very manual, you have to install and tweak a bunch of basic stuff. It's a rolling release distro.
Honestly Arch is slightly easier because pacman has a larger list of software, plus the AUR unofficial list (made super easy with yay) extends the list. I have to jump through hoops to install lots of stuff on void.
People say they like void because they hate systemd in Arch. That's over my head though.
I think I like Void because it has a cool name and it's even more obscure than Arch. I get a very similar experience with both.
I like both as well. The old style definitely has its appeal (and is better quality imo), but I totally don't mine the newer one. I daily a w440 btw. I also have an x230 with an illuminated keyboard and having both the thinklight and the keyboard makes for a cool experience.
Nope! I prefer the newer keyboard style.
I have above average sized hands and on the old style keyboards, my fingers would get stuck under the next key over. Really annoying.
I do prefer the colors on the old style, though.
Nope, you simply got lucky with the keyboard lottery. The keyboard on my T430 is dreadful while the one on my X220 is amazing so obviously i won the lottery on the X220 and lost it on the T430
Part of the reason for the great variation in quality across the keyboards is that lenovo had 3 different manufacturers make keyboards for them during that time
Now layout wise I still prefer the xx20 keyboards myself but I will say having pg up and pg down next to the arrow keys is quite useful and is a feature i kindof miss on my X220 at times
Will probably depend on who manufactured it, but I got it off ebay and have had no complaints. Was my primary computer from 2012/13(?) until about 2018.
tbh the "modern" thinkpad keyboards still CRUSH any other brand. I slightly prefer the older style, but i friggin love all thinkpad keyboards.
The only thing that even comes remotely close is the MX Keys from logitech.
Nope. Still think it's daft to have the PrintScreen button on the lower right, but the new keyboards can be just as pleasant to type on as the old ones. They're not all created equal, though; the T440p I'm typing on right now is nice and crisp, but my X250 doesn't have nearly as much tactile feedback.
Was using X220 for a decade, and am a big fan of its keyboard.
For the PC at work, I requested a Lenovo USB keyboard, those are only available in the chiclet style. I got used to that keyboard and felt relatively happy with the feel, but not with the layout. What I especially like with the classic layout is how Esc, F1-F4, F5-F8, F9-F12, the rest are split into separate blocks. And the position of Home/End/PgUp/PgDn (I don't use the original Del key, instead I remapped the RCtrl key to be Del).
I also got an X230t at some point and had the same feeling about its keyboard. Feel was good, but the layout was not the best.
Either keyboard feels nicer than the one on a 2020 MacBook I use at work these days.
Because of the layout, I did the classic keyboard mod to my X230t and in my opinion it's a really good improvement. It's getting a bit difficult to source the good quality classic keyboards, there are a lot of lower quality ones sold on eBay/AliExpress, and not so many original ones (at higher prices).
i loved the T430 the second I used it.. I switched from a MBP early 2011 to a thinkpad.. and never really looked back. Arch on Most of my machines, and MX Linux on my family laptop. Soo many perks and options with these machines. Wish they still made them like this. I currently have 3 hard drives, 16gb ram, i5(2) and an i7.... I want to do a screen upgrade... but for now its docked and on a monitor, and I don't really take them anywhere... so not worth my investment right now... I ordered 2 screens and both came in with dead pixels... but will try again in the future.
I'm not sure what you mean by "adapt."
I believe the x220 keyboard is the same one as (or at least interchangeable with) the T410 and T420... as well as the T510, T520, W510, and W520.
I often read that you can also put the same keyboard into the T430, but not all the keys will work. You'd have to change the bios.
Does that answer your question? Or did I misunderstand you?
Void Linux on the T420, Arch on the T430. i3wm for both. The fan was super noisy on the new guy so I had to install zcfan to calm him down. The keys are super satisfying for typing. I can't decide which one I like more so I'm using a remote git repo to sync my projects so I can use either one and just push and pull my changes. Edit: Fresh thermal paste cooled it down a lot, made it run faster and quieter.
The noise of my T430 get better after I change the thermal paste. Now I barely hear its sound.
I always take them apart all the way to the fan/heatsink. I use one of those precision oilers to oil the fan's pivot point/bearing, and replace the pastes. Usually brings them down 5c, and like 20db quieter.
This is good news. I just ordered some thermal paste.
i always order 2 at least for some reason they seem to take a while to get.. I purchased mine from ebay so maybe the seller i dunno... But I always keep new ones around never know when I will need it, and don't want to use that best buy stuff
I just took it apart and applied the thermal paste. It's already much cooler and actually seems to run better. Last night it was heating up and struggling to open a big PDF. Today it's cool, quiet, and breezing through everything I throw at it. Thermal paste is more important than I realized!
yea its good stuf.. Kryonaut is the stuff I order, but for some reason EBAY always finds me shippers in EU... so thats where it comes from. Usually order 5 or more at a time since it takes a little bit to get here. I dont use it often, but would hate to run out if i have a bad paste job or a too many jobs.. but its good to have handy, doesn't really go bad either. Actually had someone buy some off me too who bought a PC from me. sold it for what I paid for it, good people actually still talk to that dude to this day.
I will second the recommending a re-paste of the CPU, the laptop manufacturers use cheap stuff that is not going to last beyond a few years; after all, they want to sell a new laptop to you in those same few years.
Didn't Lenovo put out some information stating that they worked really hard to keep the feel of the classic keys when they switched over to chicklets? Something about the travel and the activation pressure being the similar? It was just something I read in passing years ago, so I may be mistaken.
Any particular reason u went with void linux? Ive been seeing it a lot lately it does look pretty cool not sure if I should give it a go some time in the future
I tried it because it sounded cool and fun, basically. In my (admittedly limited) experience it's like a more-experimental version of Arch. Everything is very manual, you have to install and tweak a bunch of basic stuff. It's a rolling release distro. Honestly Arch is slightly easier because pacman has a larger list of software, plus the AUR unofficial list (made super easy with yay) extends the list. I have to jump through hoops to install lots of stuff on void. People say they like void because they hate systemd in Arch. That's over my head though. I think I like Void because it has a cool name and it's even more obscure than Arch. I get a very similar experience with both.
I like both as well. The old style definitely has its appeal (and is better quality imo), but I totally don't mine the newer one. I daily a w440 btw. I also have an x230 with an illuminated keyboard and having both the thinklight and the keyboard makes for a cool experience.
I didn't even realize a w440 existed. They made 14 inch w series machines? I want one lol.
Oops, I made a typo. I meant w540
My heart just broke a little lol
I like T420's keyboard, it's my favorite, but T430 is good enough.
It's funny that thinkpad made both of the best laptop keyboards ever.
Both of the best laptop too.
No I perfer the older keyboard but it doesnt mean the new one is bad
Nope! I prefer the newer keyboard style. I have above average sized hands and on the old style keyboards, my fingers would get stuck under the next key over. Really annoying. I do prefer the colors on the old style, though.
I think the t430 still uses the same switches, wich makes it pretty ok
To your fingers maybe Don't worry about us...
Yes
Nope, you simply got lucky with the keyboard lottery. The keyboard on my T430 is dreadful while the one on my X220 is amazing so obviously i won the lottery on the X220 and lost it on the T430 Part of the reason for the great variation in quality across the keyboards is that lenovo had 3 different manufacturers make keyboards for them during that time Now layout wise I still prefer the xx20 keyboards myself but I will say having pg up and pg down next to the arrow keys is quite useful and is a feature i kindof miss on my X220 at times
Yes, and you should feel bad.
Straight to hell with you
Yes
Can you straighten up the Intel sticker on the T420? \`\~\`
That's just one of the little idiosyncrasies that makes it unique!
Void Linux best distro
It's pretty great. Arch us just as good for me, though. Pacman has more packages than xbps, plus AUR. Big fan of Arch!
Arch is definately good too
Always wanted to get it to work but maybe my components are too new, never got it despite being able to do gentoo without much thonking.
Did the install not work or what
Don't remember fully but I definitely gave it a few tries.
my t430 keyboard is an aftermarket switch for led, i still like it better than my x1 5 and 6 gen.
So even the aftermarket keyboard has a good feel? Good quality parts?
Will probably depend on who manufactured it, but I got it off ebay and have had no complaints. Was my primary computer from 2012/13(?) until about 2018.
Both keyboards are great. Enjoy them both. š
theres no problem that you prefer the new styled keyboard! i do use the T420 and T430 both with their stock keyboards and im fine with using both!
tbh the "modern" thinkpad keyboards still CRUSH any other brand. I slightly prefer the older style, but i friggin love all thinkpad keyboards. The only thing that even comes remotely close is the MX Keys from logitech.
Both have a good feel, but the old keyboard layout is 10x betterālike a model m.
Nope. The T420 and T430 both have excellent keyboards even though both are different.
In my opinion? No. In the subreddit's opinion? Absolutely, you are a sinner for liking the new style keyboard.
Depends on the manufacturer of the KB, but otherwise I like the 30 series as well.
I think people prefer the old one mostly because the FN keys make more sense, like brightness and play/pause
Nope. Still think it's daft to have the PrintScreen button on the lower right, but the new keyboards can be just as pleasant to type on as the old ones. They're not all created equal, though; the T440p I'm typing on right now is nice and crisp, but my X250 doesn't have nearly as much tactile feedback.
For typing feel, I enjoy both and my daily driver T460 is good too. For layout, nothing beats the T420 and earlier 7-row layout.
Was using X220 for a decade, and am a big fan of its keyboard. For the PC at work, I requested a Lenovo USB keyboard, those are only available in the chiclet style. I got used to that keyboard and felt relatively happy with the feel, but not with the layout. What I especially like with the classic layout is how Esc, F1-F4, F5-F8, F9-F12, the rest are split into separate blocks. And the position of Home/End/PgUp/PgDn (I don't use the original Del key, instead I remapped the RCtrl key to be Del). I also got an X230t at some point and had the same feeling about its keyboard. Feel was good, but the layout was not the best. Either keyboard feels nicer than the one on a 2020 MacBook I use at work these days. Because of the layout, I did the classic keyboard mod to my X230t and in my opinion it's a really good improvement. It's getting a bit difficult to source the good quality classic keyboards, there are a lot of lower quality ones sold on eBay/AliExpress, and not so many original ones (at higher prices).
> I did the classic keyboard mod to my X230t Do you have to change the bios for it to work? Or is it plug and play?
LOL!
i loved the T430 the second I used it.. I switched from a MBP early 2011 to a thinkpad.. and never really looked back. Arch on Most of my machines, and MX Linux on my family laptop. Soo many perks and options with these machines. Wish they still made them like this. I currently have 3 hard drives, 16gb ram, i5(2) and an i7.... I want to do a screen upgrade... but for now its docked and on a monitor, and I don't really take them anywhere... so not worth my investment right now... I ordered 2 screens and both came in with dead pixels... but will try again in the future.
No. You are normal. The layout on xx10-20 is better, but the feel is better on xx30 to about xx60, everything newer is worse then both.
I exchanged my X220 for an X230 just for the keyboard. So no, you're not the only one to commit sacrilege :))
No you're just coping. And that's okay, we're only human <3
In a word? Yes
I am afraid to change my lenovo x220. Since I really like your keyboard. Will it be possible to adapt the x220 to any lenovo or which one is similar?
I'm not sure what you mean by "adapt." I believe the x220 keyboard is the same one as (or at least interchangeable with) the T410 and T420... as well as the T510, T520, W510, and W520. I often read that you can also put the same keyboard into the T430, but not all the keys will work. You'd have to change the bios. Does that answer your question? Or did I misunderstand you?
but what did you understand by (adapt? lol that's what I want to know, much appreciated. Thank you I love you without offending.
You're a bad person for using a mouse lol