Don't get a screen that's too shitty, your eyes are important. I had a little Asus netbook and even the linux VT would leave a lasting purple rectangular scar in my vision, might've stayed until I went to sleep. All the things you do every day leave lasting effects on your body, from the gradual acidity of the air around you to every time you bump your pinky toe on the doorway.

>>2
There's not much choice between displays anyway. It's either 1080p touch screen or 1080p non touch (I don't see the point of a touch screen on a laptop)
specs are: FHD (1920x1080) IPS 250nits Anti-Glare

Reviews say it's dim and has a poor coverage of sRGB. I presume I'm ok with what they call "dim". And I don't need that many colors. Sure a Macbook screen looks nicer if you want to show off outside. But they're glossy and reflective. I can't stand to look at myself procrastinating in the mirror of xterm.

Besides, I can easily upgrade later with a better 1440p screen. I intend to keep that computer for a long time so it's not out of the question. Soon there might be no more China exports, no more computers and nuclear holocaust. It has a good keyboard, hot-swappable batteries. That's more vital than a last-gen proc for a computer intended to survive the Apocalypse.

[...]

I just ordered it, here goes:

CPU: i5-8350U, 4 cores 8 threads 6MB cache 1.7GHz, turbo 3.6Ghz
GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620 in processor
RAM: 4GB DDR4 <- I will immediately upgrade to 32GB (2x16)
Display: 14.0" FHD (1920x1080), anti-glare, LED backlight, IPS, 250 nits, 16:9 aspect ratio, 700:1 contrast ratio, 170° viewing angle
SSD1: M.2 SSD / PCIe NVMe, PCIe 3.0 256GB <- will upgrade sooner or later
SSD2: _ <- this one first
Smart card reader: yes, why not
HD720p camera with ThinkShutter camera privacy <- that shutter is probably the main reason I bought this model, you don't need tape on the camera with this!
WLAN: Intel AC 8265, Wi-Fi <- will replace with Atheros AR5B22 AR9462 which has a free Linux driver
Keyboard: English-Europe (same as US ANSI keyboard but with a Euro sign, I'll have to deal w/ it)
Battery: integrated Li-ion 24Wh battery and external Li-ion 24Wh <- will buy one those huge ass swappable 72Wh external battery
AC adapter: 65W USB Type-C
Warranty: 3-year/1-yr battery depot repair service
Mil-Spec test: MIL-STD-810G military testing
Coronavirus: from an exhausted slave worker little girl working in the assembly line unit who sneezed on the mainboard <- will run Prime95 benchmark for an hour+ to roast the virus
No fingerprint reader (no driver for that in Linux)

But most of those specs are just meaningless numbers and acronyms. The main selling feature for me was that you can change the BIOS boot splash image! That's fresh! Can Macbooks do that?

It just needs to be a .png less than 60KB. I already made a sketch with the boot message to get an idea of what booting on my future navi will be like.

Now I'm trying to source a wireless card supported by Linux-libre (I want to give Guix System a shot, yes)

Easy, let's just visit the ``Respects your Freedom endorsed by the Free Software Fondation'' hardware page. Perfect, they have this respect-your-freedom-endorsed wireless card: https://ryf.fsf.org/products/Wi-Fri-ND2H
Click on the product page: https://shop.libiquity.com/product/wifri-nd2h
Ohhh. $59. Yeah. Fuck you, Libiquithing Wi-Fri.

What's the chipset? Atheros AR9382? Ok then that's just a rebranded $5 chinese card. Chinese man better for business. I go deal with Chinese man directly.

AR9362 is a newer chipset, even if there's a 6 instead of a 8 and 6<8. Don't ask. It's also supported by ath9k driver and it has a (working) bluetooth module.

Chinese man make business at alibaba site, GOTO alibaba.com, search for "Atheros AR5B22 AR9462"

Now could someone tell me what the difference may be between these seemingly identical products?
1. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32892406438.html $4.30 for PC/laptop mini PCI-E slot such DELL/ Asus/ Toshiba/ BenQ/ Hasee or many other (NO for Lenovo/ HP PLS NO BUY IF YOU LENOVO OR HP)
2. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32890589457.html $11.20 (almost 3 times more expansive!) Compatibility: ONLY work Lenovo laptops PLS BUY CARD ONLY IF YOU LENOVO

Nevermind, I just spotted it. It's the antenna connectors. Thanks for your attention.

>>4
Nah it was a picture from the back side. It's not the antenna connectors. I don't what difference there could be. There should be no WiFi cards whitelist in this model.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32241217045.html
> fit all brand laptop,no include Dell/HP/Lenovo
Why?

fit all brand laptop,no include Dell/HP/Lenovo

Compatibility: ONLY work on lenovo laptops

buy yourself a real computer, kid

>>8
And what's a real computer? A desktop tower (can't carry that) or a Macbook (can't afford that)?

>>9
ｷﾀ━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━!!

>>10
Is that an Apple I?

What the hell are they doing in OP's picture??

>>12
You know. Girls stuff.

Still sourcing parts, please don't delete my blog thread for it is where I keep notes. The list of FRUs (Field Replacement Units) is here: https://libthinkpad.github.io/fru/?t=T480

Models with a discrete GPU have a better dual pipe cooling system. I'll install one in mine (which doesn't even come with a discrete GPU) for better cooling. How cool is that?
* https://aliexpress.com/item/32810503441.html
* Arctic Silver M4

The WWAN port can fit a small 42mm NVMe M.2 SSD. There's not many NVMe models with this size .
* https://aliexpress.com/item/4000645358009.html
The other choice is Toshiba RC100.

If I were to install a WWAN card instead, I have to remember there's a whitelist in the BIOS. And I'll have to install the antenna myself:
* WWAN card: https://aliexpress.com/item/4000579436492.html
* The antennas: https://aliexpress.com/item/32907127375.html
* how to install the antennas: https://www.computerbase.de/forum/threads/business-thinkpad-mit-amd-ryzen-erhaeltlich.1816505/page-6#post-21764055

Based Chinese men. Custom order was planned to ship 04/08 but it's already travelling.
I bought the heatsink and the wifi card from aliexpress. Will order RAM and SSD right now.

Eric Raymond used a Pentium 2 well into the new millenia until that fidgety guy that smells like gross cologne and leather put together a desktop for him. I spent $40 on a Pentium 3 Thinkpad, and it runs Emacs and surf perfectly fine. When I compile something big, I just leave the heavy work for my home server. When you know what you're doing, you need less, not more. Flashy, expensive equipment is for poseurs.

>>16
And your Pentium 3 is your workstation? You just tell your boss "sorry boss, I can't run 64 bits binaries" ?

Emacs, yeah sure.

Sub-$1000 laptop is a budget computer. I made this thread here because it gives me a reason to post something on a regular basis. Like, why not injecting some life in a board where I'd love to see some activity?
If it hurts you for some reasons, if you feel like I'm bragging, I'll keep those notes for myself. I understand there's nothing inherently interesting in them anyway. Delete the thread, I bought the aliexpress parts already.

If it was about the money, don't feel bad Anon, I'm not exactly rich (for a grown up person, not living at his parents)

>had to sell my NEET body for those $1000
So.. you're now a disembodied psyche? Or you had a back-up body in whither to embody your psyche? What sort of body did you sell that only fetched $1000? (Are they any cheaper to buy in-the-flesh than on the nets?)

>I'm not exactly rich (for a grown up person, not living at his parents)
That's not good. If you're rich, as you say, you should make sure that you're exact with your money. Otherwise, you become a rich slob.

>>18
This.

I am really curious what OP did to earn that kind of money.

>>18,20
Pic related.

>>21 Looks kind of nice...

You will scrape semen off used computers, and you'll like it.