# ThinkPad X220



## balanga (Feb 3, 2020)

I have two ThinkPad X220's which ran FreeBSD just fine until recently one of them just switched off and would not reboot.... After looking around for a possible solution, I came up with this bad news:-

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkP...ound-power-button-flashes-every-3/td-p/659779

It looks as though if you have one with a serial number starting R9- you could be at risk and you are living on borrowed time.
Mine lasted a few years and worked fine without any indication that it would suddenly die. This is very disappointing for me since I've always been a big fan of ThinkPads, but recently quite a few of mine are giving up the ghost.


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## kpedersen (Feb 3, 2020)

Oof!

If I experience similar with mine, I doubt I would have any solution since I bought all of mine second hand. More shite for the landfill and that annoys the hell out of me.

Old stuff unfortunately breaks and I have yet to find a company that specializes in manufacturing the exact same hardware for 50 years+ (the issue seems to be at the processor level).

Quality since Lenovo has slowly been regressing but unfortunately Thinkpads are *still* the more robust choice overall in my experience. I am hoping a better company steps up one day. I have zero loyalty to any hardware manufacturer these days.


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## vermaden (Feb 3, 2020)

X220 costs around $100-150. Just get another one, or two while they are still available.


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## GlitchyDot (Mar 30, 2020)

vermaden said:


> X220 costs around $100-150. Just get another one, or two while they are still available.


You can get X230 for that money and just swap X220 keyboard


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## vermaden (Mar 30, 2020)

GlitchyDot said:


> You can get X230 for that money and just swap X220 keyboard


Some keys do not work properly, some do not at all, the CPU and GFX upgrade is not worth the compatibility problems. The screen and size are the same.


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## GlitchyDot (Mar 30, 2020)

ThinkPad-EC.
Which only 2 options won't work - Battery and Hibernate. obviously you need to do a bit of work but if only a few bits are not working ( bat and hibernate ) oh and caps light  - and you like a bit of DIY - why not? but that's my 2 ct.  or if you don't care - get x230 then or even better - x240 and you can swap touchpad but then yes - you have new style keyboard  these days you have plenty to choose from when it comes to ThinkPad's and it won't be too expensive ( obviously, some of them hold a bit more of that value but with a good search you can get one pretty cheap ) just biggest issue is the screen


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## vermaden (Mar 30, 2020)

GlitchyDot said:


> ThinkPad-EC.
> Which only 2 options won't work - Battery and Hibernate. obviously you need to do a bit of work but if only a few bits are not working ( bat and hibernate ) oh and caps light  - and you like a bit of DIY - why not? but that's my 2 ct.  or if you don't care - get x230 then or even better - x240 and you can swap touchpad but then yes - you have new style keyboard  these days you have plenty to choose from when it comes to ThinkPad's and it won't be too expensive ( obviously, some of them hold a bit more of that value but with a good search you can get one pretty cheap ) just biggest issue is the screen


Thanks for reminder about that great work to make *30 ThinkPads mostly work with *20 keyboards.

Last time I checked the compatibility was a lot less useful. I can live without 'Battery' and 'Hibernate' keys just fine which means that I will definitely look into *30 ThinkPads now


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