Yusuf Gürel

IBM and Lenovo ThinkPad Machines

March 13, 2021

Why ThinkPad is the Ultimate Choice for Programmers

I’m gonna tell about reasons to buy ThinkPad. If you are working on bootloaders, BIOS as a System Programmer, probably you have one of these machines because of Libreboot, coreboot and full GNU/Linux & BSD support.

Also, if you are working on basic programming, the best mobile machine to buy is a ThinkPad.

Before starting, if you’re NOT interested in majoring in Computer Science and you’re a computer normie, ThinkPads will become DumbPad for you.

ThinkPad

Why ThinkPad?

  • Used machines are plentiful and cheap (even for Turkey)
  • Excellent keyboards — tactile feel and quiet
  • Great durability — magnesium rollcage for structural integrity, high-quality plastic body panels
  • Utilitarian design — indicator LEDs, 7-row keyboard layout on older models
  • Docking stations that easily turn your laptop into a desktop
  • Easy to repair (most models), upgrade & maintain thanks to readily available service manuals for every model, spare parts easy & cheap to obtain
  • The TrackPoint™ is great for those who type a lot or hate people swiping their fingers all over a touchpad
  • Excellent GNU/Linux & BSD support

If you don’t want to leave any track and you care about CPU brands’ backdoors; T60 (check LCD), X60(s/t); X200(s/t. -s requires soldering), T400(s)/500;W500 are Libreboot-compatible models.