Ode to the ThinkPad X2[67]0

My daily driver for the past 6 years has been a ThinkPad X2[67]0. Allow me to explain. This laptop, having an el cheapo plastic chassis, is subject to flexing, especially if you hold it on a corner often. Over time, the motherboard flexes and it will eventually start locking up hard when a trace becomes marginal. So, I have gone through 2 X260s (yay eBay) and an X270 (current machine) over the years, only because it is the only machine really without compare. The X270 even came with a SATA Express sled (which the X260 could use, too, but had been theretofore mythical since SATA Express is a failed standard) for using NVMe drives.

This laptop is (still) unmatched. It can take a 32GB DIMM. It can accept an LTE radio. It has two batteries. With a 72Wh second battery, the battery life is simply amazing. And it still has real S3 sleep. I bought a Framework 13 and had to return it because the battery life was not nearly as good, sleeping or otherwise. It drained the battery very quickly under S0ix sleep, and took 10 seconds to wake up from S3. Also, no way to have a built-in LTE radio.

I just wish the ThinkPad had Thunderbolt, but it’s not really that big a deal. Sure, it’s only a 7th gen, but I primarily use my laptop as a fancy web browsing SSH terminal and in-a-pinch Linux machine that has very serviceable local capability when off-grid. Between the batteries, 12" form factor, and LTE radio, it is a true road warrior machine. Also, it is a ThinkPad that is still surprisingly user serviceable. I even transplanted the backlit keyboard from one of the X260s into the X270, which did not have one.

Also, fuck S0ix sleep, but that is whole ‘nother post.