TPG 5.x – X/L/S/A & Yoga Series – Nov. 2021

Google Sheet link

Last year I had the tablet/yoga as a different section, they are all in one. Also… 11e isn’t accurate, as there is a fucking difference between Yoga and normal 11e. Als

ThinkPads Added:

• X6x Libre – Specifically searched for Libreboot models, except in tablet
• S30 Series – 10.4″ homage to the 701c in new T/X/R/A form factor
• ThinkPad 13 – Only 3 versions I can find
• C13 Yoga – Is it the TP 13? Chromebook only, maybe 11e Chromebook successor?
• G2 X13 & L13 – Now they come with 16:10 displays! WUXGA IPS as standard & WQXGA as god tier

ThinkPads NOT in here:

• X1 anything – No Yoga, Tablet, Nano, or whatever the fuck
• ThinkPad Helix – Slate tablet, it’ll be with X1 series
• TP Tablet – It sucked & is on old android OS.
• X300 Series – Although we have 13.3″ X390, this model was the precursor to the X1, which it’ll be better suited at a later time.
• P40 Yoga – I forgot about it 😉
• ThinkPad Yoga 15 – Forgot about this one… and forgot on the T15″ guide too xD

ThinkPads that SHOULDNT be in here:

• 14″ Yoga – It was on the previous T14″ guide, but throwing it here for lulz & inconsistency
• 15″ Yoga – Way too fucking big but w/e
• 17″ Yoga – Why didnt they make one
• W700 & W701 w/ digitizer – Sadly these are “rare”.

As standard, list them all and then comparable units separately.

Vintage X Series 4:3 | 2000 to 2005

Cant find much in the old models. Didn’t know there was an anniversary edition of the X30, which had a glossy lid which looks to be a sticker of some sort? They put it in a weird category, which like, I can’t seriously search all categories thanks to part compatibility would just put too much results… All use DDR memory, with the exception X41 which is DDR2? Best of luck getting that trans note for cheap… ugh ;(

Classic X Series 4:3 & 16:10 | 2006 to 20010

These are… end of life/ Possibly it’s real use is vintage/ With the exception of the X201 & maybe a LibreBooted X200, the power of these systems are limited for normal use in Windows 10 or web. Parts for a lot of these are getting more scarce, so you’ll might have to buy a whole other unit for parts scrapping. X201 is the last genuine ThinkPad, it has 7 row, it has the fucked FN key location, it has indicator lights, ThinkLight, and you can charge a 2nd battery w/ it’s dock. Unlike the T410 or T510 which has the ruined keyboard layout, and no IPS panel option, the X201 & likewise W701 are the last decent performing ThinkPad w/ the “real” IBM keyboard.

• As always X61 or X201?
  • X60’s wifi run hot, X61 put a 2nd fan in it but was still hot, but X200 & X201 run cooler bc good wifi
  • X6x requires a wifi upgrade, which needs bios whitelist removal…
• Edge 13 has no sales… good, reminder that fuck the Edge & E Series
• Libre X200 seem to be slowly getting in higher prices
• X210 obv the best X modded ThinkPad to get
• X6x tablet going up in price, X2xx seem to be stagnant since V4
  • >accidentally delete V4 info
  • Yeah im not loading another page.

Classic-ish X/S/E-Series 16:9 | 2010 to 2012

X100, X200, E200, & Twist all mixed in…. I don’t feel like putting them all in different categories. These are semi-sorted by year & release date. X100 kinda cheated bc its during X201 timeline, but its 16:9, so I put it here :). S230u, X230s marks the end of the classic keyboard & build era. All laptops have 2 RAM slots except the S230u Twist, which is one. Having used one, I… sort of like it, but that chonky X220 & X230 build is feel is so much better. Twist hinges haven’t really aged that well since the folding back hinges of the Yoga and other laptops. I wonder why it took so long for laptops to have this hinge type in the first place, maybe a lot of manufacturers didn’t want to pay royalties & the patent ran out.

• X220 & X230 are a little bit lower than V4 (pandemic) but nowhere close to V3 (December 2019) prices.
  • Nature is slowly healing, later systems aren’t as chep
• i3 X131e? Yeah there are a few! Both in 2nd & 3rd gen CPUs, nab them in low, don’t spend over $100 🙂
  • X100/X120e is a classic TrashPad to grab, but X130e is DiaperPad tier sometimes
• X220 have low priced units with HDDs, but the X220 Tablet I couldnt find them in that way til mid… :/
• No X121e, idk why but I guess it wasn’t sold that many, not that your missing much.
• X330 ThinkPad Info – Oh damn lotta into… be a shame if i…? copypaste it >:) doubtful
• Although T420 can win over the T430, the same cannot be said about the X230 v X220
  • Unless you want to coreboot/libreboot the X220
• Best model to get here? X220 or X230

Late Modern X/L/A/Yoga Thinks 12.5″ + others 16:9 | 2013 to 2018

There is a lot of ThinkPads here, I truly don’t know if they could all be bunched up together, as some have USB-C type chargers & some start to have NVMe drives. Kably Lake R quadcore performance is way better than the dualcore of regular Kaby Lake, perhaps the 8th gen Thinkpads are better suited to the 9th gen machines, however the X280 will forever be fucked as it has 7th gen CPUs & such can’t really be compared with the 9th gen in a way. IDK if it should go there or not, but most importantly is that the successor of the X280 is the X390, so 12″ to 13.3″, so these are the last of the 12.5″ machines. Why did I bring that shit up? Oh yeah like I say, skip the T410 & T510 in other guides, skip the X240, bc of the clickpad shit, unless you want to do the mod, its at least $25 for that part, so you might as well try to get the X250… oh nvm its much more pricey wtf, i guess ppl dont wanna do that lol.

• Mix of 11″, 12.5″, 13, 14 & 15″
  • To know the screen size, whatever the first number is on the model, add 10 to it.
    • 11e is 1 + 10 = 11
    • A285 is 2 + 10 = 12
    • Yoga 15 is 1 + 10 = 11… wait a second, that’s actually a 15 inch model
      • ok so add 10 to it, EXCEPT if it says Yoga first…
        • Minus the Yoga P40, bc it has a suffix still
          • prefix, then number, then add 10 to that number
            • Oh so X1 is 11″ and X1C is 11 too?
              • Then what about X1 Yoga
                • What about TransNote or the S30??????
                  • IBM & Lenovo are never consistent, welcome to ThinkPads!
• The 11e prices are both non-2-in-1 laptop & Yoga models, YES i only have one MTM shown, maybe one day I’ll actually break down prices, but even if I did that, people would list 11e as 11e Yogas and 11e Yogas as 11e’s
• Also reminder, 11e doesn’t have trackpoint RIP
• The ThinkPad 13 is kind of ThinkPad E ish, but idk they had it for a few years, then pulled it, maybe C13 is the spiritual successor idk
• X240 super cheap vs X250, which itself isn’t that far away from the X260 or the X270 initially
• P40 is a Yoga 460 w/ Quadro graphics, no quadcore :/
• Strangely there is a X280 in 12″ but the Yoga version is in 13″ X380 or L380
  • Probably because it is the successor to the Yoga 370 but in two class tiers
• Best All Around – L380
• Best higher end – X260
• overpriced – Yoga P40

Modern X/L/C & Yoga ThinkPads | 2018 to 2021

This shit gets confusing, so I can be wrong here on some of the specs/MTM/release date (on the first table, not fixing it :)). For some reason the L Series is released before the X Series, while as much as 6 months. So this is why the L Series is ahead, and yet…. I am sorting them based on CPU, w/e, L13 came out in Nov 2019, X13 on May 2020, I will just leave them like that bc if i sort based on year, we have different CPUs & model numbers. Best part is when the AMD version gets released months later, & has higher RAM limits in some cases. X13 G2 and L13 G2 have 16:10 screen ratio, despite wishing there was a power house 3:2 ThinkPad (other than the X1 Tablet), I may grab one of these maybe over an X1 Carbon due to it having a slightly better upgrade path.

• I haven’t used a ThinkPad newer than a T460… so this is all numbers & benchmarks
• C13 Yoga is like a fancier 11e but not windows based & is AMD
  • I wish my PixelBook had a trackpoint, but I wouldn’t want to go back to 16:9…
• X13 G2 Ryzen had limited results, but there ws that one that sold for super cheap, best of luck at $700
• For 14″ Yoga’s you’ll need to go the X1 Carbon route, though there are plenty of touchscreen T14, T15 and I think P15 & maybe the P17, with it’s Wacom(?) Digitizer support.
• Best all around – L13 G1
• Best better – X13 G2 Intel or AMD
• overpriced – X13 G2 Yoga
  • a lot of the G2’s aren’t available on eBay, so you’re probably better off buying/financing direct from Lenovo

email or discord me if you want me to add photos of your thinkpad & credit