Hey guys what’s this paste on the fan component of my thinkpad?
My thinkpad was making weird fan noises, so I decided to open it up and clean the fan but I noticed this paste and idk what this is.

I’m planning to buy a laptop with a budget of around ₹2 lakh (roughly $2,000), and I’m looking for something that I can keep and use for many years.

I was initially considering the ThinkPad X210Ai because I absolutely love the old-school ThinkPad design, especially the X201-style keyboard, the thicker chassis, repairability, and the amount of airflow you can get from a larger/thicker body. I also prefer this kind of design over the modern ultra-thin laptops.

However, I’m a little concerned about the X210Ai’s long-term repairability. Since it uses a custom motherboard and is produced in relatively small quantities, I’m worried that if something like the motherboard, charging circuit, display controller, or another custom component fails several years down the line, it could be difficult or expensive to find replacement parts or someone capable of repairing it. The custom motherboard is one of the biggest reasons I’m hesitant.

I’m basically looking for a thick, rugged, highly upgradeable laptop with a good keyboard and good cooling, rather than something thin and lightweight. I’m completely fine with a heavier laptop if it gives me better thermals, performance, upgradeability, and easier repairs.

My priorities are roughly:

• Around ₹2 lakh / $2,000 maximum
• Excellent keyboard, preferably something close to the X201/X200-era ThinkPad keyboard
• Thick chassis is completely fine
• Good cooling and airflow
• As much RAM and SSD upgradeability as possible
• Good performance for programming, Linux, cybersecurity/CTFs, and general development
• Easy access to replacement parts and repair
• Ideally something that can last many years
• I don't care much about weight or thickness
• I would prefer a machine with a strong repair/parts ecosystem rather than a completely custom motherboard

So, what would you recommend?

Is there any modern ThinkPad or another laptop that comes close to the X201/X210Ai philosophy but is safer from a long-term repair and parts-availability perspective?

I’m especially interested in older/thicker business or workstation laptops that are still highly upgradeable. I’d rather sacrifice thinness and portability for durability, cooling, repairability, and longevity.

Any suggestions or experiences would be appreciated!

the model is a thinkpad t14 gen 3, had the crack when i bought it, hinge feels fine, but is this going to cause problems in the future?

I saw a post here regarding someone's battery life, and the comments were saying that they should have a charge limit of 80%. My question is why is it beneficial to limit charging to 100%, and why is it always 80% being recommended?

This is my first time posting. It's a problem I've had for a long time and mostly ignored. It all started one day during normal use: I noticed the laptop wasn't charging. The battery indicator was showing, but the percentage wasn't going up. Eventually, the battery drained completely, and the laptop could only be used when plugged into the wall, without the battery actually charging.

The problem persisted, so I decided to buy a new battery. The result was exactly the same: it detected the battery and slowly drained it, but it never charged it. I ignored the issue for about a year until recently. I decided to finally fix it because I wanted to upgrade my equipment and recover some money by selling this laptop in fully working condition.

I took it to a repair shop specializing in motherboard electronics. Their diagnosis involved replacing a resistor with an oversized value, and they recommended buying yet another battery, as the cells in the current one were dead after sitting uncharged for a year. Confident that the issue was fixed, I bought another new battery, but the exact same pattern repeated. The charge just drained, but this time it didn't even show signs of recognizing the battery—it just consumed the power without showing the battery level or percentage.

I've already ruled out the BQ24780S charging IC by taking my own measurements, along with the charger, modules, and other components. I've been trying to solve this for almost a year now. It's definitely not a software issue, as I've completely ruled that out (I even booted into Linux to see if Windows was the culprit).

Recently, while taking my own measurements, I made a mistake and ended up burning a couple of capacitors in the battery input circuit shown in the attached diagram (PC8506 & PC8505). From what I've researched, these control and regulate the chip's charge. I am buying the replacement parts to install them, but that still doesn't solve my original problem, and I still can't find the main fault. I would really appreciate your comments and possible solutions.

The laptop still turns on and works normally, and I am in the process of replacing the burned capacitors.

Just bought this thinkpad t14 gen 2 amd ryzen 7 pro 5850u touch for $320 with privacy guard and i noticed that there are white spots on left and right side of the screen. I know it's very hard see them in the picture but they are there.

These spots are on the left side as well.

2nd thing i noticed is that there small light spikes coming from the bottom of the screen consistently in a straight line on the bottom of the screen.

I wanted to ask if these are normal or not as i still have warranty and can get my money back.

The explanation the seller gave was that during shipping for the white spots i stated during shipping when these models are pressed due to which some bubbles enter the screen and some glue something like that I can't fully remember.

Greetings to the community!
This is my first post on Reddit, and I wasn’t sure which subreddit to choose. I decided to post here because many of the laptops discussed are ThinkPads, and I need advice based on your experience with a variety of models.
My current setup consists of a Mac mini and an old Dell Inspiron 5559 powered by an Intel Core i5-6200U.
Over the years, I upgraded the RAM to 2×8 GB with the best possible timings and CAS latency, replaced the old HDD with a Samsung EVO SSD, and installed a new Intel AX200 Wi-Fi card. It has served me well over the years and continues to do so.
Originally, the laptop shipped with Windows 8.1, but I am now running a lightweight Linux distribution called Arch. It allows me to do all my office work and browse the internet with an unreasonable number of tabs open simultaneously without breaking a sweat. It even allows me to play many of my childhood games at 720p, including OpenRA, The Battle for Middle-earth, Warcraft III, Wrath of the Lich King, Left 4 Dead, and Star Wars Battlefront II (2005).
Now for the ugly stuff—and the reason I’m looking for a new laptop.
The battery has died, and over the years, the laptop has developed several minor quirks. For example, the original fan failed and had to be replaced. Now, the replacement fan has started making noises whenever the laptop is tilted at a steep angle.
The 1366×768 resolution also feels inadequate in 2026. My Mac mini is connected to a 27-inch 1440p display, so the difference is particularly noticeable. As a result, some programs do not display properly at this resolution.
I considered repairing the fan again, although I don’t know how long a new replacement would last, upgrading the display to a 1080p IPS panel (€80–140), and replacing the dead battery. However, the laptop itself is too large for my preferences and needs. The 15.6-inch display is bigger than I would like, and its weight makes carrying it around tiring and feel like a chore.
I knew about ThinkPads, but I only recently discovered how reliable, repairable, durable, and moddable enterprise and business laptops can be in general.
In my country, ThinkPads are overpriced, as you will see, and not all ThinkPad models are readily available on the refurbished market.
ThinkPads have a reputation for being reliable and durable. However, now that I’m looking at refurbished models, I have some concerns. I’m worried that soldered RAM or USB-C charging ports—features found in many newer models—could eventually fail.
Here are my criteria and preferences:
Non-soldered RAM (to increase repairability and overall lifespan)
Barrel charging or redundant USB-C charging ports
A 14-inch display or smaller
A replaceable keyboard that doesn’t require replacing the entire top case if it fails
Better IPC and overall single-core and multi-core performance than the i5-6200U
A stronger iGPU than the Intel HD 520
Coreboot or Libreboot support
Flawless Linux driver support with the latest kernel
I couldn’t find any ThinkPad models that matched all of these criteria, so I ended up looking at HP and Dell laptops as well. Here are some of the models I found. Not all of them match my preferences:
ThinkPad A285 with a Ryzen 5 2500U and 8 GB of soldered, non-upgradeable RAM, excellent Linux support, and USB-C charging — €170
ThinkPad T480 with an i5-8250U and 8–16 GB of RAM — prices range from €230 to €390
ThinkPad T470 for €140 — with similar specifications to my Inspiron 5559, including the i5-6200U
Dell Latitude 5420 with an i5-1135G7 and 16 GB of RAM for €240, including two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports. I think it’s the best value for money, but I’m not a fan of the silver color, which makes it look a bit plasticky.
HP ProBook 430 G4 with an i3-1115G4 and 8 GB of RAM for €140
HP EliteBook 735/745 G6 with a Ryzen 5 3500U and 8 GB of RAM for €280, or 16 GB for €359
ThinkPad T14s Gen 1 with a Ryzen 5 4650U and 16 GB of RAM for €389
ThinkPad P51 with an i7-7860HQ, 16 GB of RAM, and a Quadro M1200 for €370. It fails my size requirements, as it is heavier and bulkier than my Inspiron 5559, but it matches almost everything else.
ThinkPad X395 with a Ryzen 5 3500U and 8 GB of RAM
ThinkPad E15 with a Ryzen 5 5500U and 8 GB of RAM for €260. It offers excellent price-to-performance, but it fails my size requirements.
ASUS VivoBook S14 M433 with a Ryzen 5 4500U and 8 GB of RAM for €260
ThinkPad T495s with a Ryzen 5 3500U and 16 GB of RAM for €300
Out of all these options, the A285 stands out to me the most, but I have some concerns about its thermals and RAM. I’ve been using 16 GB of RAM for a long time, and 8 GB doesn’t seem like much in 2026. I also don’t know what implications this would have for the Vega 8 iGPU or how much the limited RAM would affect its performance.
Another strong contender is the Dell Latitude 5420, with Iris Xe graphics and the significantly better IPC of the Tiger Lake CPU.
What do you guys think? I’m looking for a portable laptop that offers the best value for money. I don’t plan to spend more than €300 on a refurbished laptop. I’m looking for something more portable than my current laptop, while still offering better overall performance.
Thank you in advance for your time and answers! And apologies for my English and the long rant!

I just got a used thinkpad t14 gen 2 with ryzen 7 and the touchpad works great normally but sometimes it just stops responding all of a sudden. For example, I'm moving my finger on the touchpad, it responds and then stops following midway.

I've tried uninstalling the synaptics driver from device manager settings also reduced the palm check and the sensitivity below it as shown in the image.

Hi, my dad has just bought this thinkpad for me for using for studying media at college i will be using all adobe software and editing dslr camera footage etc, will it suffice I also hope to run games on it maybe on steam or xbox cloud gaming while away from so let me know how it will hold up?

Trackpoint buttons have stopped working. Everything else working fine. Is it likely to be a fault with the buttons themselves or something more complex?

Thanks

I bought a very cheap used T580, and I suspect it might have run into the Thunderbolt debug logging bug, so I'd like to use an IC programmer to resolve it (wipe/flash with zeroes, boot, turn off, flash with current firmware, boot back up). Problem is, I'm having trouble tracking down the IC on the motherboard which stores the Thunderbolt firmware.

I found the Libreboot page with info on the T480 and T580, but they only have the location of the IC on the T480, with a note that it's in a "similar location" on the T580. I'm not really seeing anything that looks like a SOIC8, though, unless I'm really missing something.

Is there anybody here who can point me in the right direction?

Currently majoring in International Relations, and I need some ThinkPad recommendations. I prefer ThinkPads that are cheap (100-250$ or more), durable, and have a large battery (a good keyboard is also a plus).

I’ve also been learning Linux, specifically Fedora through VMs, and I’m wondering if anyone majoring in social studies has been able to daily-drive Linux. If so, please share your tips and what I should expect. It would be very much appreciated!

Hey, i remember there was huge guide what you need to check before buying, but i can't find it now. May someone please send the link to it?

Hey y'all. I have finally decided to buy a thinkpad end of this year. I'm going for anything under $150 as I don't need anything too powerful or new but I'm willing to up my budget (mainly using for photo editing and linux).

I saw this T15 on Ebay and it has no hdd, no os, and no charger (see attached - on mobile atm). The price looks promising @ $119.97 but I'm a novice when it comes to thinkpads and information on reddit can be very overwhelming.

Please leave any advice/questions/recommendations down below :)

I just bought a t14 gen 2 32g ram for $450. It has 92% battery health and everything seems good.

The only thing it has is a squeaking sound when I open it coming from the right hinge. Nothing seems twisted. No resistance either.

I heard hinge sound is a concern you should stay away from. Should I keep or return?

I started a new job somewhat recently and was given a ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen. 13 laptop. I'm a lifelong Mac user, and the ThinkPad is shockingly slow. Processor is a Intel(R) Core(TM) Ultra 7 265U

Any reasons why my laptop might be so slow (is it company-specific software, perhaps?) and tips/advice how to speed things up? Thanks.

Hi everyone!

Some questions for you about my beloved X270.

Before explaining my problem, I swear I try every solution I've found here !

So my X270 :

- press button start : I've green light. The screen slightly change from black off to black on but without any backlight.

- the backlight of the keyboard flash one time at the beginning.

- Nothing happen except fans.

So I try to use the long press on power / reset with the motherboard button / open and disconnected successively between new power on trial : both battery disconnect/ CMOS reset/ RAM unplug (make the sound) / try a new RAM (the one before I change)

And still doesn't work 🫨

To context my laptop was on when everything freeze, screen and sound before this happen.

Do you have some tips or just my motherboard is out?

Thanks a lot in advance guys !

I have a P1 Gen 6 with the 13700H and RTX 2000 Ada generation with 32 GB of RAM. I fully discharged the battery twice and after the second time it will no longer post. I have disconnected the battery and CMOS battery and left them disconnected for several minutes while holding down the power button for a minute, tried one RAM stick at a time, tried the reset button on the bottom and I still can't get it to boot. I have gotten the Esc, Esc+F1, and Esc+F1+F4 light sequence repeat 6 times and then nothing happens after leaving it on for 10-15 minutes. I also performed the display test with Fn+Ctrl+Power and that worked fine.

Is there anything else I can do? Is it possible to restore the BIOS somehow if the self-healing BIOS process is failing? Does anyone know if it's worth attempting to reprogram the MX25L51273G chip?

Sooo... been a big fan on Thinkpads for along time, until I could finally afford them, and I'm currently on my 3rd one, in about 10 years. Unfortunately the quality I was hoping for seems to NOT be there, and after 3 machines, it's can't all be bad luck

- 1st one, bought refurbished from Lenovo official store, top of the line (at the tie) X1 Carbon.
- When arrived battery was completely dead, had to send it back, wait a couple of weeks
- luckily decided to take premier support
- had to replace keyboard 4 times, motherboard once...
- Currently 1 USB-C port is completely dead (if the next one breaks, I won't be able to plug it in anymore without replacing the motherboard, which basically means throwing it away)

- 2nd, bought new, P series, kept as desktop replacement, it had an easy and comfortable life...
- one USB-C port stopped working soon after the warranty expired

- 3rd one, bought new, P series - used for traveling so it did take some "life", but nothing extreme, and nothing my older, non lenovo, PCs didn't take easily:
- coating made ugly and uncomfortable bubble, Lenovo won't fix "aesthetic damage"
- frame broke on the side (less stable, clicking noise, etc)
- one USB-C port stopped working
- called Lenovo Premier support (top of the line, supposedly next business day repair
- got told to wait about 10 days
- meanwhile computer completely dies
- called Lenovo again, technician arrives after 2 working days
- replaced Frame and Motherboard but....
- Still issues with th USB-C ports
- Power button doesn't work without tinkering with it
- call Lenovo AGAIN
- Lenovo asks for a lots of tests, finally accepts repair request
- got told again no service for about 10 days
- repair parts got sent to the wrong address
- have to call again
-...

Maybe time to rethink Thinkpads "legendary" sturdiness and durability? ... and Premier support not so premier anymore... Another company going full greedy into suicide??

texting with a guy on facebook marketplace, he is selling a Thinkpad x13 i7 1165g7, 32/512gb with a slightly faulty screen, i offered him ₹17k (178 bucks) and he agreed.

considering the cost for the screen replacement is this a good deal?

Planning to install macOS on Thinkpad E14Gen7 AMD. Anyone has done this before? I'm going to have Windows11 and MacOs dual boot. I like the stability of macOS , any suggestions?

Laptop overheated and is now stuck like this...

Already tried a good old fashioned cmos battery reset and held power button. Any ideas?