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I Tried Using A $100 Lenovo ThinkPad In 2026...

Dawid Does Tech Stuff

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In this video I get my hands on an Old Lenovo Think Pad to see how it stands up in 2026.

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20 Comments

@RandomRider570 2 months ago

Never look at mAh, look at Wh. The amount of mAh may seem lower, but the voltage is higher so the amount of energy it can store is bigger.

@Kyomara1337 2 months ago

5:30 that's a finger print reader, just gotta swipe your finger over it

@dustinschings7042 2 months ago

Wanted to mention that lots of folks, myself included, swap the panel for a 1080p panel from another model, and swap the trackpad for the regular kind with buttons on bottom from another model. ThinkPads are awesome like that and several parts are cross-compatible. Lots of forums about upgrading these bad boys!

@DragoGehinnom 2 months ago

Someone give him a T480

@frankfioretti3945 2 months ago

The "scroll wheel" is a fingerprint reader, and if im remembering right the second ram slot is under the keyboard.

@FrenziedManbeast 2 months ago

I can really tell Dawid's younger "tech age" from him having no idea what the fingerprint reader is on this. ADORABLE! These things were everywhere on general IT mobile devices for generations, and I can't tell you how many soccer moms and boomers I had to teach how they work. DON'T MISS THAT!

@JustAMan-Sunbathing 2 months ago

Bro that thicker battery should be on all laptops 😮.
Build in breathing room for the bottom and extra battery life that's can be swapped out ❤

@user-he7jm7mp1t 2 months ago (edited)

That small die next to the main CPU die is the PCH, it isn't supposed to have any thermal paste on it because it runs cooler than the CPU, if one puts thermal paste on it, it will heat up with the CPU and cause slowdown or maybe shutdowns as well. PCH usually run below 90C.

And yes that keyboard is spill resistant, any small amount of liquid is supposed to drain out via that drain hole on the bottom.

@UltraklystronMusic 2 months ago

4:30 - The nice part about the laptop dock is that if you have an old thinkpad whose charge port is dying, you can track down a dock and charge through that instead if you don't feel like trying to swap the charge port.

@DuXQaK 2 months ago

My ThinkPad X230 is over a decade old and still is going strong, never misses a beat, now running Linux like a champ!

@da1l616 2 months ago

There is propably a second RAM slot below the keyboard.
It can be accesed by removing the keyboard screws from the bottom. No removal of the bottom case is needed. Service manuals are available online.

@Dave5281968 2 months ago

I'm surprised the fingerprint reader (you called it a scroll wheel!!) had you mystified.

It's too bad that was a Haswell generation. That was when a "U" in the processor number meant useless, even though Intel claimed it meant ultra low power.
Fun video. Thanks a lot!

@AgedComponents 2 months ago

i respect you so much for choosing an actually old thinkpad, and a bad one at that! shows how nice these can still be.

@little_fluffy_clouds 2 months ago

Fun fact: you can restore the soft plastic bits on ThinkPads by applying Nivea hand moisturiser cream. Dab it on generously, rub all over, leave it for a few minutes and then clean it off with shop towels or a microfibre cloth. Makes it look brand new

@jackmacker99 2 months ago

i had a t440p for about 4 years, best laptop i've ever owned. upgraded the cpu from a low power i5 to an i7 4702mq, big battery, 1080p ips screen and lots of ram.

@nletsom 2 months ago

5:10 that's exactly what those are and what they mean. The keyboard sits in a tray with channels down through the chassis to drain spilled liquid.

@CHEMLECTRON 2 months ago

love thinkpads man

@anarcy7777u 2 months ago

I have loads of experience with this gen of Thinkpads. Couple things:

1) The terrible touchpad was thought of as terrible at the time. Thankfully, they are interchangeable with the original thinkpad with the mouse buttons above the trackpad and is very much suggested to be replaced

2) Screen is also replaceable! Lists exist online with all the compatible screen models, but 1080p is possible with those

3) You can replace the board with the I7 version, which does come with dual channel memory slots! and they are pretty cheap to replace

If you wanted to do a follow up, that would be my direction ;)

@h4ppydr4gon 2 months ago

You should make a series an go up in generations for every episode :D

@boldiegoldie 2 months ago

06:15 tbf the t440's trackpads were famously terrible because they removed the dedicated light and right click for the trackpoint, it was so bad they reverted it in the next laptop lol