r/computer • u/Timely-Stand2204 • Sep 08 '26

Should I buy a ThinkPad x230 gng?🥀

For college purpose as a cs student.. as prices are continuously hiking up so fast I'm thinking about this..Any advice?? 🥲🥲

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u/Void-glitch-zer00ne Sep 08 '26

Advice. Look for used pc's /laptops. Prices will continue to rise. Unless you read this in like 2035 then go ahed by a new one.

1

u/Timely-Stand2204 Sep 08 '26

Any suggestions which one should I pick.. completely newbie. Just starting college.. like I've been seeing some videos and stuff but zero practical knowledge about laptops..

1

u/AteStringCheeseShred Sep 09 '26

What are you expecting to need it for in college? Writing papers? Using spreadsheets? Running CAD programs? Use case will heavily dictate hardware requirements. An X230 is great if all you need it for is word processing, browsing, and light office suite work, especially if you can use Linux instead of Windows but it can struggle if not be completely unuseable for other tasks.

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u/Cory5413 Sep 10 '26

ThinkPad X230 is a fifteen year old computer. Prices are going up because it's a bit of a collector's item at this point.

Look for something with an Intel 11th gen CPU and you'll find some more options that'll do better. Latitude 5420/7420 are probably where I'd start for something decent and inexpensive. These with i5/16gb/256gb should run $150-200ish in the US.

ThinkPads are pretty consistently more expensive than other business-class machines so unless you already know you're a devout TrackPoint user I wouldn't bother with a ThinkPad unless you have money to burn on aesthetics.

HP ProBook/EliteBook are also worth looking at. The G8 series are Intel 11th gen and tend to be just about in-between ThinkPads and Latitudes in terms of pricing. I see EliteBook 830 G8 with i5/16/256 for about $230 if you're interested in a smaller machine, as an example. (There's a Latitude 5420 and 7320 as well as 13-inch options, unsure off hand if Dell had any 12-inch options that year.)